Chemical Engineering Personal Statement Example

I’ve always been interested in the versatility and breadth of science, and I find Chemical Engineering to be the perfect balance of the natural sciences, offering a variety of real-world applications from fuels to food products.

One of the first things that interested me in chemistry was watching videos of graduates carrying out and explaining more advanced reactions such as NileRed. Many of his videos involve the synthesis of a specific substance or show the transformation of materials into something which may seem completely unrelated, such as turning plastic gloves into grape soda. In this experiment, he extracted a phthalate ester present in many vinyl gloves and artificial grape flavour, processing it into his own fizzy grape drink, explaining and showing his process in detail the whole way through. This prompted me to wonder and research what other unlikely materials may have distant relations, such as the use of monopropylene glycol in both antifreeze and e-cigarette liquid, which could lead to a truly unique experiment in the future.

Outside my academics, I enjoy cycling, camping, running; anything involving fresh air and the outdoors, which is why clean, green science is so important to me. During a summer course that I attended, one of the set work documents was a blog based on clean energy, which piqued my interest; our options of switching to sustainable energy or focusing on decreasing carbon dioxide emissions / CO2 removal, such as implementing Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).

When I first learned about this in GCSE Chemistry, it sounded like the perfect idea, and I thought - why isn't it widely implemented? This prompted me to carry out more research, where I read some articles, and while CCS could initially be an effective way to remove excess CO2 in our atmosphere, it is impractical and selfish to continually store it underground.

A quote from WIRED UK at the start of one of their CCS articles reads “intelligently taking advantage of natural processes will be key,” reinforcing my own beliefs. Most renewable sources derive energy from the Earth’s natural processes, such as solar and wind power from the sun, or the abundance of water in waterfalls, oceans, and other water reservoirs, allowing us to hone it into hydroelectric energy. With fossil fuels estimated to run out by 2060, renewable energy sources are becoming more and more paramount. Conclusively, renewable energy would be much more sustainable in the long term. My passion for this field drives me to instigate change for the future generations, so that we can amend our fuel mistakes.

Aside from sustainability, another topic I find fascinating is Pharmaceuticals, particularly the overdependence in antibiotics, which inspired my EPQ, entitled “How can we improve the Efficacy of Antibiotics in the future?” Within my research, I found that with the rise of antibiotic resistance, overprescribed over-the-counter medication, and genetic allergies, antibiotics are losing their efficacy and are soon likely to become redundant. This would lead to a bacterial epidemic, and potentially even pandemic, if not realised and resolved in time, due to the extensive overprescription of penicillin class antibiotics specifically. This raised many questions, namely, how are we to eradicate resistant bacteria such as MRSA and are we able to prevent more from arising? Prevention is, after all, better than cure.

The prospect of hard work does not faze me, as demonstrated by the three part-time jobs I held over summer. While I understand the importance of a healthy work-life balance, I enjoy keeping busy, as it allows me to continue to try new things and push myself out of my comfort zone, while enhancing my ability to prioritise. As a prominent member of my sixth form, I launched a Debate Club with a peer and also now run our Afro-Caribbean Society, which has helped to improve my confidence, communication, teamwork and public speaking skills.