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.

Discount Coffee review

I've just returned from a trip to a Lidl supermarket near by house: http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index.htm. It's a discount supermarket. The world discount when associated with a supermarket or retailer of any kind usually conjours doubts and negative images. Aisles and aisles of non-branded gruel, the customers all grey-faced people shivering in rags.

The reality couldn't be further from this image. It's a bright, airy place with many bargains and offers on close imitations to main brand products. I'm going to talk about the discount coffee that they sell there because in a recent coffee taste test, the value, non-branded coffee won out : http://www.supermarketownbrandguide.co.uk/search.php?SearchString=SSCoffee&Search.x=27&Search.y=22&score=&price=0&pricevalue=0.00&orderby=Price.

As I like my coffee caffinated, I selected Aldi's GranArom Highland Gold 100% Arabica instant coffee. First impressions, it looks good. The jar has a distinctive Aztec, hewn-of-glass look to it and the packaging has images of coffee beans on it. It's pretty plain and doesn't try to be anything else.

Popping open the hermetically sealed lid releases a powerful rich aroma. There's no hint of any mealy or bland undertone to the nose of this coffee. It fills the mind with images of warm, comforting, steaming cups of coffee and good times with friends. Long discussions over luxurious coffee.

Once water and milk are added, it tastes great. Really nice smooth flavour. Not too rich but with a powerful smell of real coffee beans. This is definately not from the dregs of the coffee industry, a good piece of evidence for the 'own-brand' / 'non-brand' foodstuffs besting their more expensive cousins.

I'd easily give this coffee a full-bodied 8 out of ten. It's definately a good quality coffee that you could get yourself up with in the morning but not a product that you'd use to impress friends with your sophisticated coffee knowledge. A true no-frills, but delivers exactly what it says kind of product.

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