October 17, 2014
From Chemical Engineering to Germany: Polymer-particle Composites Research under RISE DAAD
Removing bacterial growth in medical devices, providing anti-corrosion coatings, improving optical properties of cosmetics, polymer-particle composites are extensively used in many fields to control and enhance the properties of existing materials. Under the RISE-DAAD program in Germany, at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in the Thin Film Technology Lab, I investigated the rheological properties and adsorption behavior of these polymer-particle systems. Particularly, I investigated the effect of the polymer’s concentration on its gelation behavior. I learned many skills, such as using a rheometer, making polymer solutions, coating thin films with a batch coater, and watching a camera being built into a coater. Beyond this, I learned how to adapt to a new field, as chemical engineering and chemistry are quite different. Not only did I have to start from the basics, but I also learned how to adapt to a new working culture, of how students of all degrees interact with each other, of the different regulations in laboratories, of the daily life of being in a German university. From having two hour lunch breaks to having to rigorously check and crosscheck my data, research in a German university was very different from my past research experiences. Traveling extensively around in and around the country while building relationships with other RISE-DAAD students from diverse backgrounds, also greatly broadened my perspective of different cultures. It was a learning experience, of not only a new and exciting field, but also of a new and interesting work culture.
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