Reflecting and Researching

For my last and final blog post of the year I was told to reflect on my journey throughout the whole semester about my field and what I have learned by exploring my field. From the bigger picture that I can see right away, I feel like I have gone leaps and bounds just by learning more about what chemical engineering really is about. Also, by having this blog post many hours have been spent on finding researching different ways renewable energy is being utilized today. It is quite interesting to see how far I have gone from the beginning of the semester to where I am right now. As I reflect back on this blog and its whole process here are my top three things I have learned about my field and about myself as a researcher.

The top three things that I have learned about my field of chemical engineering are as of right now the most efficient way to obtain renewable energy is through wind power, there is actually many more ways of finding renewable energy other than the obvious ones like sun, water, and wind,  and lastly chemical engineers play a big part in the foods we eat. It is quite fascinating to see how far I have been able to dig in the world of chemical engineering. I never knew that there can be so many different parts in this field and each field has its own affect on human kind.

Throughout the whole semester I have learned a lot of who I am as a researcher. The top three things that I have learned as a researcher is that to have good evidence for my research paper I need to have multiple sources to backup my claims, working in advance on my research helps me be able to pick out the most appropriate sources that bolster would my essay, and finally analyzing the research that  I have found with the knowledge I have gained from all the research. All three of these keys have helped me understand how to write a good college research paper. The more evidence I have to back up my claims the better it will be for the audience to see where I am coming from.

After all this research and really finding out what chemical engineering really is there are still a couple of questions that loom in my head that I have yet to be able to figure out right now. Here are some of the questions that I would like to find out in the future. What is the most optimal way to convert solar rays into renewable energy? Why is it so tough to only rely on renewable energy? How long will it take for more of the world to switch over to renewable energy and rely less of fossil fuels and gasoline? Hopefully in my future education at MSU will help me explore and understand these questions that I still have. Reflecting on my journey so far, I feel that I have really been able to explore in depth about chemical engineering and it makes me feel good about the path I have chosen so far. There is a lot that the future holds indeed!