Lara Witjes
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
I knew quite early on that I wanted to study Chemical Engineering, at first it was driven by finding a combination of Chemistry, Math and Physics, which were the courses I excelled most at in my earlier education. Later I decided the relevance of the topic to a global perspective is also a great motivation for me. Although the degree isn’t quite what I had expected, I still enjoy all my courses. I did expect more number crunching theoretical math and pure physics of the whole world... It turns out to be exactly the difficulty where I excel most, just hard enough to keep me interested but not too hard to be demotivating.In chemical engineering projects are very important, and quite a few of the courses are focused on this. I’m currently working on one project, which looks for solutions of the process of making Dimethyl Ether (DME) from Methanol. This process has many challenges, but more difficult, it is an equilibrium reaction, meaning you can never get to a full conversion (most efficiently). Later I will work on my bachelor's thesis where I hope to research the potential of a new industrial solvent, supercritical CO2, which would create a huge impact on the industry.Throughout my studies here in Groningen I’ve really enjoyed the student culture, I have been a member of 4 student associations, and even done 2 board years. The study association de Chemische Binding is where I’ve made many friends and where I frequently spend my study breaks. After my bachelors I want to focus my studies to a more specific area of industry, namely, Bioengineering, a fusion of chemical engineering and biology.
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