Engineering choices

Hi guys, I've officially started my course at UCL. I'm enrolled with my student card and everything. I attended a meeting to meet key staff members and my coursemates. They all seemed really nice people to work with but the most important thing is that I gained a lot of information. This really put my apprehension to bed because knowing things helps me relax more.

I learned that I had to choose some option modules and that I had to select an Advanced Design Project as I hadn't done one before because I come from a non-engineering background. This is a key criterion that I need to gain chartered status further down the line as I gain experience in the area. The list of option modules was pretty uncommunicative and it was hard to discern what each module contains. A quick look on the UCL website and the module synopses was available. I had a look at each of them and also had a talk with a fellow course mate who has experience in the department. She said a little about each of the choices and that seemed consistent with what the UCL website had to say.

After some careful deliberation and bearing in mind what my tutor had said before, I decided to go with Advanced process engineering, process dynamics and control and chemical reaction engineering.

The first, because it has a good portion of computer software use and I feel that if I am to work in a professional capacity as an engineer, I'll need to understand the various softwares and their limitations in an industrial setting. The second I chose because, like the first one, modelling and understanding how systems can react to unintentional and intended changes is important in industry. Also, control is the reverse of the safety coin and I'll need to be able to exercise control when handling a process. The third is a personal choice because it has a high degree of kinetics and stoichiometry. I've had experience with this as a chemist and I can do these things well. This made that option easier to select.

I've got the first meeting to start the advanced design project tomorrow and I'm really excited. Wish me luck.

Expanding gas infrastructure

In a recent report by publisher GlobalData, there is set to be a great increase in the infrastructure of gas transport networks. The report states that the top 5 countries responsible for the increase in the gas pipeline length will be responsible for more than 50% of the total increase in pipeline length this year. The top 5 countries were found to be Russia, India, the US, China and Canada. This is no surprise because India and China are fast developing countries and are in great need of clean burning fuels to power their massive numbers of citizens and Russia and (by shale gas exploitation) the US are large producers of Natural gas. Canada has access to the shale gas and the tar sands in its northern parts. All are great users of oil too. This goes to show their reliance on fossil fuels.

The report also gives the prediction that through the period 2011 - 2015, the proportion of new pipelines added to the existing network will tip more in favour of gas production / transportation than oil. In the context of todays energy production, this makes sense because more and more gas and shale gas fields are coming online over the next few years. This infrastructure will enable their exploitation. BP Energy Outlook predicts an Annual Average growth rate over this period of 2.7%, consistent with a greater increase in gas production relative to oil production.

Moved in

Yesterday, my Dad and I made the journey down to London and he helped me move into my flat which I will share with other people. It was a pleasant journey down because it was Saturday and there was no commuter traffic heading into London.

We made good time with the journey and we met my contact, Kevin and he gave me my keys and showed me around the place and even helped me move some of my stuff in. This was the start of a really good day.


After my Dad left to return home, I started to unpack my things and met more of my housemates. They're all really friendly and they told me about a party that night they were hosting and having a few friends over.

I was really glad that I had agreed to go along because the food was fantastic: lots of different dishes from all over Europe. I really enjoyed the Spanish tortilla. The company was really good too. There were people from all kinds of industries and they all knew my housemates in different ways. I'm a very sociable person and this was a great opportunity because I love meeting new people and chatting to them about what they're passionate about.

As  a large contingent of the party were Spanish, lots of Spanish and Catalan was spoken. I could understand the general gist of the Spanish as they were speaking quickly but the Catalan, I couldn't tell when it started and when it ended and my housmates ended up translating a few times for me. I speak Spanish but haven't used it in a while so it's coming back listening to these people and it's really helping me.

I spoke to one guy in English and he didn't understand so I switched to Spanish and he understood. Everyone was patient and kind when I spoke and a few asked about when / how I learned and applauded my grasp of the language. I was pleased to hear from the Spanish people that I could speak decently and I took heart from this.

After the party, we went down the pub and had a quick drink. It was a good night also because of all the new places I'd seen that day too.

That night made me feel that I'll get on really well here and I'll go far with the Spanish.

Holiday Snaps

As promised, here are some of my holiday snaps from my recent holiday in Austria.

Chem-eng Blogs

I've been looking for chemical engineering blogs to read as an opener to the MSc I'm due to start soon. I've looked quite a bit on various comparison webites listing blogs but I've not seen anything resembling a clear cut blog from a day to day engineer.

I've subscribed to a few PhD student blogs and have begun poring over those but I'd really like to see something from a professional engineer with experience in the field. That would be really inspiring to young people and it would help me as a budding engineer to see what I can expect ahead. Specifically I'd like to see something in the oil and gas arena because that's the area I'd like to take up work in.

I'll keep looking and perhaps start poring over company websites for something that fits the bill. I'll let you know if I hit paydirt and find an engineer sharing their experience.

Getting Affiliated

Today I applied for membership with the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE). As  I'll start reading an MSc soon, I'll want the support they can bring while I undergo my studies.

Other memberships
While I studied chemistry at York, I was signed up to the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and I had paid membership fees for the duration of my degree course. This allowed me to have undergraduate / student membership with the institution. This entitled me to the magazines RSC News and Chemistry World. Chemistry World is more of a trade magazine for the chemical sciences and it gives lots of summary articles based on cutting edge research from literature. RSC News keeps one abreast of the situation and happenings in the RSC and leans more toward the educational side of things.

New Beginnings
As I had been a member of the RSC during my first degree, I thought it a good idea to seek membership with the IChemE. If anything, the complimentary magazines are interesting and they can help direct your thinking toward the science as the articles are very focussed on the research / projects/ news they describe. There are many more benefits to being a member and as a young person starting out in their career, there is lots of support out there. There are discounts on course texts and discipline related books and there are opportunities to go to seminars, lectures and symposia too. These conferences are useful because one can hear what the captains of the industry are saying. This last part really excites me as it gives one the opportunity to talk to the people who are heavily involved in the field I want to move into. Certainly in the more social symposia and conferences, there will be the opportunity to network and meet people.

Reasonable Fees
As a member of the RSC, I pay £12 annually for my student membership and gain access to lots of resources and I think this is a reasonable price. For my RSC membership, the level of membership was easy to work out because I was an undergraduate student and so a student membership was appropriate. Because I was now a postgraduate, I was unsure on how to go forward. So I called the IChemE helpline to ask about the right membership for me. The service assistant on the other end advised me that given my previous experience in the chemical sciences, an affiliate membership would be right for me. An affiliate membership is for people who are out of their first degree or have a few years work experience in the chemical sciences. He said £20 would be the annual fee which, if I were to receive the same level of support as from the RSC, was pretty reasonable. He sent out the application form via email and I filled it in. I'm waiting to see if I get any shiny membership cards through the post.

Wholesome Character
Membership of an institution doesn't just give you access to great discounts and very readable 'trade magazines'. It can count as a part of a wholesome character from a professional perspective because being a member of an institution and maintaining that membership can be a sign that you're committed to your science. As a prospective employer, a maintained membership / active participation shows a love for what you do and can often be that extra cherry on the top of what employers expect from applicants. It's a small thing but it's important if you're trying to communicate you're passion for scientific industries in your CV.

FLNG

Not a video game abbreviation but a new age and very relevant acronym, FLNG stands for Floating Liquid Natural Gas. It is the one of the new ways that energy companies can exploit gas and petrochemical deposits with less risk and cost than traditional fixed platforms and rigs. The concept of a floating platform is new and currently, there are only 8 FLNG platforms in the whole world though more are due to come online in due course as the rush to capitalise on the new idea takes hold.

Natural gas has been used for decades as a means to heat and power homes. Now, the high demand for low-carbon resources to heat and power to homes is encouraging the uptake of natural gas. This in turn requires more gas and as a result, the production of gas has to increase. Traditionally, natural gas is reinjected into oil wells to increase the pressure and extend the life of the oil field. Alternatively, the gas is flared, simply burned through a boom hanging off the side of the facility. Now, the need for gas means that this 'waste-gas' needs to be harnessed for consumer use.

This is where FLNG comes in: the traditional rig is replaced with a giant tanker-style vessel with the topside incorporating a rig system with processing and refining facilities and the hold containting massive gas storage tanks. This allows the gas reserves to be safely tapped and processed at sea. The sheer size of the vessel means that they are less susceptible to storm damage and their inherent mobility means that they can be moved in the event of an impending natural disaster. Traditional gas tankers are moored next to the FLNG facility and filled with LNG. This can be shipped to buyers from the facility.

The main attractive point about FLNG is that the there is no need for fixed onshore facilities to process the gas and the LNG is obtained on the site of the gas field.

There is the expectation for many more of these floating behemoths cruising the seas in the next 5 - 10 years as more oil and gas companies weigh off the benefits against costs of FLNG and the rising need for clean energy. There is already heavy investment from Royal Dutch Shell in the technology as they have placed orders at Samsung Heavy Industries for 10 vessels of varying types to expand into the FLNG arena. The order included a few of the giant FLNGs and various support vessels and LNG transport vessels. From an environmental point of view, the FLNG represents a large step in the direction of clean energy provision and from a supply point of view, it's exactly the kind of technological development needed to ensure that the lights stay on in a world of ever increasing energy consumption.