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by Philipina A. Marcelo
Uhm-hmm, yeah, "hardcore-ness"... I can explain - at least, let me try. :)
First of all, I'm talking Engineering here - the best kind... so, it must be
Koffolts Lab, the Ohio State University
Department of Chemical Engineering
January 1996. Chemical Engineering, right? Right! =) Yeah, there maybe is such thing as "hardcore Chem.E."... and it's only because these so-called "hybrid Chem.E.s" might actually exist. And yet, I really think that this is just a matter of perspective.
Second, I am writing this post because, uhm, it's been a long time since I last wrote a nostalgic post on a Wednesday... and more importantly, one undergrad student of mine who worked on chocolate emulsification as a means of modifying melting behavior and texture asked how a "chocolate work" can be relevant and of impact to Chem.E. - and he asked me in a truly dejected tone, too! :) I had to remind him that some paints are emulsion paints, and when a Chem.E. works on them, no one ever asked how working on these emulsions can be relevant to Chem.E. :) And yet, emulsions are emulsions - in chocolates or in paints! :) Of course, I understand his concern. His work might be perceived by some as less of a "hardcore Chem.E." when viewed beside, say, mathematical modeling in a crossflow microfiltration system, and just because there are food-related disciplines where "chocolate work" is also being done, although I'm pretty sure they approach "chocolate issues" in a completely different manner. Question is, what exactly is "hardcore" and how "hardcore" is "hardcore"?
Hardcore Chem.E.s are probably those who think about eating as the size reduction of edible materials in the mouth and the gradual and
Appreciating the psychrometric chart-ish floor of
Stanford University, December 1995. uni-directional flow of the size-reduced materials into the stomach via muscle action-induced pressure gradient. :) And yeah, I've gotta admit - without shame - that I was one of them hardcores! :) In fact, I remember seeing all geometric art sketches as variants of the psychrometric chart! And that Runge and Kutta (and the numerical method they developed) were the most awesome examples of "divine intervention" when Reactor Design involving complex chemical reactions skids to a stand still! =) For a long time, I would absently marvel at the ingenuity of McCabe and Thiele whenever I climbed up (or down) the stairs. :) And the gentle rays of light from the Virgin Mother's merciful hands that I usually
Exploring the hallowed grounds of UC Berkeley
with a good friend, December 1995.seek solace from sometimes inspired throughts of those "tie lines" first drawn by Ponchon and Savarit. :)
During those years, after earning (with blood and sweat, I must stress) my B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chem.E. at the University of Santo Tomas and the University of the Philippines, respectively, I found myself visiting the hallowed Chem.E. grounds of UC Berkeley and Stanford University... and settled for a year at the home of the Buckeyes - the Ohio State University (OSU), of course - thanks to the Philippine Department of Science and Technology for the scholarship. :) And, boy, did I go crazy - in a crazily good way, too! :)
At OSU, I remember being awed as I sat in the Momemtum Transfer class of the great Robert S. Brodkey, even when reading
Buckeye for a year... exploring "The Shoe", home
of the OSU football team, October 1995. his books gave me the "mother of all headaches"! :) I remember wondering how an equation could be called a "mathematical equation" when all that it had were letters in the English and Greek alphabets - lower and upper cases, too - and did not contain a single number - nope, not even one! And Dr. Brodkey had countless of those equations in his amazing books! :) Well, uhm... they did contain mathematical operation symbols, ya know, "+", "-", "="! :)
I also remember making a vow, at some point of inspired realization, to do my best to become like the Department's long-haired and bespectacled Thermodynamics expert, David Tomasko, as I watched him derive equations after Thermodynamic equations in class. He was so young that time but already so great... and really cool! Aside from Advanced Thermodynamics and Novel Separation Processes, he
Bonding with my fellow Department of Science and
Technology - Engineering and Science Education
Program visiting scholars at OSU, October 1995.taught me how to appreciate and enjoy Netscape. :) He also introduced Adobe Acrobat to me in the '90s... and, of course, he made me fall for Supercritical Fluids and Electrophoresis! O, ya! :) Dang, I was such a freak, er, "hardcore"! ;)
While those "hardcore days" were fun, I couldn't resist contamination as the "yummy side" beckoned... and offered a delectable plate of "technological bilingualism" and an irresistibly "delicious expertise". :) (But that's another post topic....) This is not to say, however, that I abandoned my "hardcore-ness". As I wrote in one of those "official stuffs" that I needed to
"Hardcore", "interface"... or both, the chemical
engineering world is an awesome world!
(OSU days, 1995-1996) write, Chemical Engineering is slowly functioning more and more like a "basic science" because chemical engineering principles are becoming core principles in "stand-alone disciplines", like Food Process Engineering, for instance. So, yeah, contrary to what others might be thinking, even when I took a specific area as an "expertise", the Chem.E. "hardcore-ness" is still intact... it wasn't diluted by the "yummy-ness" of Food Engineering, it merely extended its reach to the "yummy side" to find a worthwhile application, to create a "delicious hybrid", allowing me - and "my kind" - to happily "free-style" at the interface, too. :) So, yeah, a matter of perspective... and one's perspective broadens a whole lot when he/she reaches out to stretch "hardcore-ness" a bit... or even better, stretch a whole lot! :)
Uhmmm... this doesn't sound so nostalgic, does it? =) Oh, well....
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