4 offers and one interview - SUCCESS!

Newcastle University Open Day

After a long 5 hour journey on a Friday afternoon, we arrived in Newcastle where we attended our last (but definitely not least) university open day. We travelled up on Friday and stayed in a hotel, ready to go to the university at 9am on Saturday morning. This meant that we could fully explore the amazing city at night-time and what better night to go exploring than on a Friday night when the atmosphere is truly buzzing. I must say that after visiting Newcastle for just one night, it is definitely my new favourite city. Everyone - young and old - is partying and is out on the town until the early hours of the morning. There are nightclubs on every corner and the millennium bridge looks so amazing at night. I could imagine sitting down as a student by the river Tyne, looking out onto the colourful Tyne and millennium bridges and admiring the illuminated Sage Gateshead.

  

Millennium Bridge

 

Tyne Bridge 

 

Sage Gateshead

In the morning, we made our way to the university which was a 5 minute taxi drive as the city is surprisingly small and compact, which makes it very cosy. The university was very beautiful and on every horizon there was a castle to look at. I liked the contrast of traditional exteriors but modern interiors.


Newcastle University

We started our open day by exploring the accommodation which was of a high standard. My favourite accommodation choices are Castle Courts and Windsor Terrace. Castle Courts is situated about a 15 minute walk away but it is like a mini campus alongside Castle Leazes (another set of halls) where there is a bar, coffee shop and castles surrounding the 'campus'. I liked this as it was like having another area to hang out with your hall friends. However, the 15 minute walk may become a bit of an issue when I have 30 contact hours per week. Therefore, we found Windsor Terrace which is a small flat-like complex for 6 people on each floor (3 girls and 3 boys) and has a really modern and very nice shared kitchen for them to share. I particularly liked this hall as it is situated 1 minute away from the library and less than 5 minutes away from the Chemical Engineering department - which would be a much more practical location for me.

Castle Court/Castle Leazes Accommodation

The library was so fascinating and it had recently been refurbished so it is very modern. It has 4 levels with special study areas and group tables for practicing presentations, touch screens for searching the book database and so much more! Next, we looked at the campus and student union building. The campus was really nice and it wasn't too large or too small. There was plenty to do and everything was easy to find. The student union building was great as well - with multiple cafes and shops along with a fantastic underground bar/stage area.

Me and Dad on the campus

Green gardens

After all of what we had seen so far, I was really hoping that the ChemEng department would live up to the high standards of the rest of the university. I was so right - it was exactly what I hoped it would be. The labs were spacious and modern and the lecturers were so typically Geordie friendly. There were multiple labs/computer/study areas for students to use and the professors seem very approachable and willing to help.

I cannot fault anything in the whole university and it was exactly what I was looking for. Therefore, I can really see myself enjoying studying at Newcastle University and it is a definite contender for my first choice.

Headstart Bath Chemical Engineering Course

I feel so isolated from school at the moment as I have missed this whole week due to a Headstart Chemical Engineering course at the University of Bath. There were 29 of us year 12's from all over the UK who attended the course and we were split into teams of 4/5.  I had a great team and everyone on the course was so friendly that by the end of it, all of us had become good friends and didn't want to leave!
Our task was to investigate the different structures of biodiesel produced from the oils present in a range of different coffees which are on the market today. We did this by extracting the coffee oils on our first day, followed by producing the biodiesel and lastly, we analysed our fuel structure using NMR. Each team was given a different coffee type ((Headstart Heroes (my team i.e. the best team) had Guatemala)) and by the end of the course we analysed our results against each other.

Here is the basic method of our experiments:

1. Extract the oils from our allocated coffee by measuring and mixing the coffee granules with heptane in a 1:5 ratio. This was followed by stirring the mixture with magnetic mixers which, when put over a magnetic counter, moved around in the solution by magnetic fields. The next stage was to filter this solution to separate the coffee grains from the heptane and the coffee oils. This whole stage must be repeated multiple times to ensure all the oil is extracted and obtained. Lastly, we took the mixture of heptane and coffee oils to a rotary evaporator which lowered the round-bottomed flask into a water bath at 60C and rotated it to allow the mixture to heat up evenly. This meant that the heptane could evaporate off and leave the desired coffee oils in the flask as heptane has a lower boiling point than the oil. 
2. Production of biodiesel from our obtained coffee oils. This was done by adding measured amounts of methanol/sulphuric acid, glycerol, chloroform, acid and distilled water to the oils. Sulphuric acid is required as the catalyst. We used reflux condensers to heat a hot plate and  allow this mixture to heat, stir and react overnight.
3. Purification of biodiesel by removing all of the previously added substances. As there were liquids and solids involved, we had to undergo a variety of separation methods to obtain just the biodiesel. There was an unknown solid substance in the mixture so we filtered it out and weighed it's mass. The second step was to add chloroform and distilled water, then use a separating funnel to allow an emulsion to occur and form two layers: an aqueous layer on top (consisting of methanol/sulphuric acid, glycerol, acid and distilled water) and the denser organic layer on the bottom (chloroform and biodiesel). When these layers had separated we ran off the desired organic layer into a clean conical flask and removed the waste aqueous layer. This was repeated to ensure all of the chloroform/biodiesel was collected. Finally, we transferred the chloroform and biodiesel into a round-bottomed flask and repeated the rotary evaporator process to be left with just the biodiesel. We recorded this mass.                                                                            

After we did these experiments, all of the groups made some calculations (I won't confuse you with the maths) to find the oil and biodiesel yield (percentage of oil/biodiesel produced from the coffee) along with the percentage of different esters within the biodiesel. This allowed us to estimate the freezing point and cetane number of our specific coffees and compare these to one another:

 

Results from the biodiesel investigation

 

As we could see from our results, all coffees followed the trend (except the 'Vietnam anomaly') of having the largest proportion of polyunsaturated esters and smallest amount of monounsaturated esters. This means that all the biodiesels produced would make efficient and safe fuels and we concluded that even though the coffees followed the same trend, they still differed in biodiesel/oil yields hence supporting the hypothesis that coffees will differ in oil production depending on where they come from. We found that as the Indian coffee best matched the results which the professors achieved earlier, it would probably abide within EU standards and be the most effective fuel.

Throughout the duration on the course, we took part in a variety of activities each evening such as beach volleyball, BBQ, pub quiz, Frisbee in the park and my personal favourite: an All You Can Eat Buffet in the town of Bath. This meant that we got to see a massive amount of the University of Bath and the town of Bath as well.  

University of Bath

I found the whole campus very beautiful and welcoming which also describes the town very well too. Every view was of green grass, trees and ponds and it was very peaceful. Furthermore, it had a look of tradition about it and the students only had positive words to say about the university. However, what really impressed me was the sporting facilities. The sports building was HUGE and there was a state-of-the-art 50m swimming pool, a modern gym, big astro pitches, tennis courts and much more! Not to mention, a beach volleyball court with actual sand!
 

Breath-taking indoor swimming pool

 

Where we spent most of our breaks - by the lake

 

Stunning scenery

 

I found the course to be very beneficial as I had a great insight into what chemical engineers do and what they study in their degree. It made me realise that Chemical Engineering is definitely the course for me and I cannot wait to start studying it! I have learnt a great deal from the course including - teamwork skills, the ability to think independently and how to apply knowledge to real-life situations. We also had to write a student-standard lab report on our projects which was 5 pages long and over 1,000 words. We had a third of the time that real students have and they weren't expecting work of art but it was still challenging and it was judged professionally. This was a hard task but it has prepared me better for when I will start university as I have had a practice run at referencing and writing up a proper lab report so hopefully I will have a head start (excuse the pun) when my time comes to write my first one at university. Additionally, we had a day of problem-solving heat and mass balance/transfer maths questions which I found difficult but I learnt how to do them (nearly) so when I start studying Chemical Engineering, I will be ahead again. Lastly, we had to do a presentation in our teams on our projects/biodiesel and I made the PowerPoint for our team. We each had to speak for 2-3 minutes and I have always secretly enjoyed presentations and speaking in public so when Headstart Heroes WON I was so happy! We received 'University of Bath' T-Shirts (which I cannot wait to wear in front of my friends) and the pride of beating the other 5 teams. Although it was really sad leaving my new friends and returning from our short-lived university experience, I am happy that I went on the course and it has made me even more excited about attending university. There is a Facebook group from the course so we can all keep in touch there and we have already spoken about arranging a meet up this summer in London!



 

 

Leeds and Birmingham University Open Days

So this weekend I have spent my time in the car travelling across the country to check out some universities which I am interested in. First up was Leeds University - a very popular choice within the Lee family.

 

University of Leeds

 

 

We were greeted by many helpful and friendly students who were always able to help and direct us to the facilities we wished to see (which came in handy as my whole family has a horrible sense of direction.) I was surprised by how big the campus was and just how much there was to see. At first, I thought the university was very city-based as the ChemEng department was on the outskirts of the campus, so we had to access it from the road surrounding the campus and I was worried as I would prefer a campus-based university: but I was wrong. In fact, I was so surprised to see just how much of a strong community feel it has inside the university. The campus is your typical movie-like campus with it's beautiful tiles and trees stretching out along the whole area. Additionally, there are so many places for students to hang out and the hall's common rooms just scream FUN - there are pool tables, air hockey tables, Ping-Pong tables and more! Let alone, the amazing Terrace where there is a huge bar filled with every drink you could think of and the multiple night-life clubs situated underground for Friday night's 'Fruity' events (I found out about this from a current student.) The university is situated right in the middle of the buzzing Leeds city - therefore this university has the best of both worlds with a strong campus life and a different and exciting city experience at only a 5 minute bus ride away. (There is also a £1 'nightbus' which returns students right to their doorsteps after a night out!)

The beautiful campus 

View of the City of Leeds from the top level of a multi-storey car park

We first checked out the Chemical Engineering department: its only fault being that it is on the outskirts of the campus (typical; the department I'm interested in is the one which is furthest away.) The professors were very friendly and we listened to an interesting talk on the department from a current professor. We were given a tour of some of the facilities in the department and we saw the under-graduate lab along with some presentation rooms. The labs were very modern and large with many high-tech experimental equipment. Overall, I was impressed with this department.

The accommodation is very cosy and modern - the ensuites are also very modern and spacious (I have decided that I definitely want an ensuite bathroom!) We saw the catered and self-catered halls and the dining hall for the catered halls looked very good and I now think I will probably go catered for my first year to keep from having to worry about cooking for myself. I thought that the Charles Morris hall (especially the Storm Jameson complex) was my favourite Hall as it would suit me best and I liked the ensuite bathrooms and the style/set up of the rooms.

After we saw the accommodation we went to check out the other facilities in the university such as the sports hall and the library. We found a large fountain with benches where students could hang out and I thought it was really pretty:

Me and Dad by the large fountains

I was really impressed by the whole university and I felt a real vibe coming off from the students and the campus in general. I loved the aspect of city AND campus nightlife to mix things up and allow affordable student housing options for after first year. Leeds is now definitely in my top 3.

That night we drove to Birmingham and stayed overnight to allow a 5 minute drive to Birmingham University in the morning. Back-to-back open days allowed for direct comparison between the two and although it was raining for the whole duration of our visit at Birmingham, I still was impressed by this University as well.

 

Birmingham University

When we first arrived, we immediately saw the famous 'Old Joe' clock tower - the tallest free-standing clock tower in the world. This gave the impression of the university being old but also very traditional and beautiful: which is exactly what I thought it was. I actually found many contrasts between Leeds and Birmingham, one being how much more spread out the Birmingham campus was which perhaps lead to less of a sense of community for me but is still very student-friendly. I thought that the great hall was magnificent and some of the buildings possessed very intriguing and exciting architecture.

'Old Joe' -  the tallest clock tower in the world

Firstly, we checked out the Chemical Engineering department which wasn't as far away from the campus as Leeds which was more convenient. The department was very modern and big - there was huge variety in the different laboratories available and we got to see all of them when we went on the tour. The equipment was modern and there was a diverse mixture of different machines available. We also attended a talk by a former ChemEng professor who was very enthusiastic and easy to listen to. He gave more insight into what Chemical Engineering entails and confirmed my thoughts of studying this subject at university. I'd say that this department was very well equipped and I could see myself enjoying studying Chemical Engineering at Birmingham.

We didn't have time to see the accommodation but we spoke to a student who told us about it and how there is self-catered and catered, but the major issue is that all the halls are off-campus.  This would make walking to and fro more complicated and time-consuming which is perhaps not very appealing to me. However, I found the University as a whole enticing and I will consider this as a university choice.

To top off this jam-packed weekend, I am going on a Chemical Engineering course at Bath University from Monday until Thursday. I am very excited as I can learn about some more in depth aspects to ChemEng and it will also allow me to thoroughly see Bath University, which is another one of my university contenders.

New Deputy House Captain!

So finally I am on study leave, meaning that when I return in June I will be a year 13 as our school has a roll-over. This is so weird to think about as it feels like just yesterday I was a year 9 with 5 long years ahead of me at Cranbrook School. Now I can finally believe the year 13s who said that their time has flown by so quickly!

As we are becoming the leaders of the school we will have new responsibilities and be expected to present role-model behaviour to the younger years. As some of us will have more leading roles than others, it is important that we fulfil our responsibilities to the best of our abilities. Our house has 3 main positions: House Captain, Deputy House Captain and Sports Captain. With all this in mind, I decided to apply for Deputy House Captain as I would like to have a strong role in the house but I think that I would suit a more supporting role better than House Captain. I wasn't too hopeful as 5 other girls were also applying for House/Deputy House Captain but it was announced on Thursday that myself and one of my best friends were chosen to be these positions! I am very happy as this will give me great opportunities to shine as a leader and contribute as much as possible to Webster Girls. My other best friend and I also received our other choice of Year 9 Mentors so that we can attend their tutor sessions every other week to give them input/advice and help them to feel as comfortable as possible in their new school. I think that we will perform this role really well as we are both approachable/caring and we can remember very clearly what it was like to be in year 9!

I am currently preparing for my first exam on Tuesday, but luckily this news has put me on a high! Wish me luck!

Fitness Fanatic?

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while, I've been very busy and stressed out with revision for my summer exams.. which start in two weeks.. eek!

As I have been revising hard and trying to juggle revision with homework I have become very stressed. So much so that sometimes I don't even know what to do because I have such a large amount to get done! So to deal with this stress I have found a good release mechanism: jogging.

My friend and I have taken up jogging as a good stress-reliever. It actually works and when I am running on our old-but-recently-rediscovered treadmill I forget about exams and feel refreshed after a good workout. (Plus we are hoping to 'get fit for summer'.) I have actually been following the NHS choice couch-to-5k plan which consists of podcasts which gradually transform a beginner runner (me) to a pro (kind of) who can run non-stop for 30 minutes in the duration of 9 weeks. I am currently on week 4 and I am definately seeing the difference in my stamina and endurance.

I never thought I'd enjoy running but I actually do. Every other night I now do a mixture of running and walking for half an hour and it really helps me to de-stress which is important around exam time. My friend is getting along really well too; so much so that we have applied to take part in the Race for Life in July to raise money for Cancer Research UK. It is 3 miles long and thousands of people are involved - it is a 5k run and so hopefully by then I will have completed my podcasts and be able to put myself to the test!

I am really excited about the Race for Life and it feels good to do exercise and raise money for such a vital charity. We even made a fundraising page to track how much we donate from sponsorships: https://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/pretty-in-pink96/.

How does this tie in to chemistry you may ask? Well it doesn't really, but I feel that as I have been really busy revising and trying to get good grades in my subjects I wanted to update you on what I do with my breaks and how I cope with the dreaded stress which just keeps on growing!

Hanna and I are up for the challenge!

Chemical Engineering or Chemistry?

As summer exams are approaching quickly, my sand-timer for deciding what I want to do with my life is running out. After my engineering course at Loughborough I was enlightened into the world of Chem Eng. It looks like great fun and the good thing is that you get to apply your knowledge to the real-world, which perhaps is a pro over chemistry which is mainly theory and working in the laboratory. However, I rather enjoy theory in chemistry and the thought of working in a laboratory seems quite exciting to me. A chemist or an engineer? That is the question.

Recently, I have been doing some research and I am surprised to see that many people are in the same boat as me. There are endless forums of aspiring undergraduates who are desperately trying to figure out which field to dive into, as they are actually very different from eachother. From my research I have divised that:

• Chemical engineers apply principle knowledge in order to solve problems which involve the manufacturing of chemicals on a large-scale production level.
• Chemical engineers apply principles such of physics and mathematics as well as chemistry and it is mostly engineering.
• Chemical engineering DOES involve a lot of maths.
• The chemical aspects to chemical engineering lie mainly within thermodynamics/physical chemistry, materials science and kinetics.
• A chemist cannot do a chemical engineer's job and vice versa.
• Both chemistry and chemical engineering are good degrees to have on your CV as they both teach valuable skills such as; teamwork, independance and problem-solving.
• Chemistry is the study of matter and 'why?'
• A chemistry degree involves 3 main branches: organic, inorganic and physical.
• A chemistry degree usually will lead to a job in researching or the pharmaceutical industry.

Quite a few people say that a Chemistry degree will give you broader options after university and that you should only do chemical engineering if you are really passionate as this is more specialised and perhaps harder to obtain a wider range of careers in after graduating. I always thought that a chemist was more tied to specific industry (research in pharmaceuticals/drugs etc) than a chemical engineer who could basically do anything related to industry and manufacturing?

I think that at the moment, after researching and attending my Loughborough University engineering course, I am 70-30% for studying chemical engineering. Even though I really enjoy learning about all things chemistry-related, I think being able to learn why the knowledge is important and how it can be applied to process new products would be a really interesting degree and possible career. Perhaps chemical engineering would be more exciting as there are many different aspects to the course such as safety, environmental issues, maths, physics, chemistry, processing etc. and chemistry is just chemistry. However, I am not completely sure as I often have moments where I think I would definately prefer to do chemistry. Decisions, decisions - but very important ones!  I need to decide soon though as some universities which we want to look at only do chemistry and not chemical engineering (and vice versa) - such as Durham, Warwick, York and Southhampton all doing only chemistry. I will get to see a lot more of chemical engineering when I attend my Headstart engineering course at Bath University for 4 days in June though.