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Topics:
Where are you from?
South Glens Falls, NY
What school do you go to? What year are you?
Junior at Clarkson University
Do you hold any positions in your AIChE chapter or with AIChE nationally?
Vice-chair of ESC and was a regional leaderin the northeast region; treasurer of my chapter
Describe an event in your chapter that you are most proud to have been involved with.
I plan to pursue a PhD in biomedical engineering, focusing on immune engineering. I am very passionate about working towards finding a cure to neurological diseases, and I believe the intersection of nanotechnology with immune engineering has the potential to treat these diseases.
What are your plans after graduation? In what field are you most interested in having an impact?
Shortly after graduation, I will be moving to St. Louis, MO, to work for Roeslein Alternative Energy. I have always been interested in sustainable energy and will be working in repurposing waste for bio-gas production.
What is it about chemical engineering that you’re most passionate about?
I love the idea that if you solve the difficult chemical engineering problem of curing a disease with its complex biology, through using the chemical engineering problem-solving process, you have the potential to improve the lives of many people living with that disease.
What are you studying that you think could change the world someday?
I truly believe that the research I hope to start in February and continue through my PhD has the potential to cure Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. If my academic research is successful, I plan to use that technology platform to launch a start up biotech company, that will aim to treat other neurological conditions.
How do you think your experience within your AIChE Student Chapter will impact your career and professional goals?
Serving as the vice-chair of the Executive Student Committee has helped me improve my leadership skills. It was an honor and incredible experience to regularly interact with regional leaders from across the world. Through leading our 297 international chapters through these regional leaders, I have learned how to interact with and lead people from many different areas, and this will help me throughout my career. During my research, I will interact with and work with people from all parts of the world. Further, as I someday hope to lead a company, these leadership skills will directly improve my business' success.
How do you blow off steam and keep your sanity between classes, homework, and projects?
I love to work out, ski, and do pretty much anything outdoors. Through including these items during my regular weekly schedule, I am able to continue to keep my sanity.
What are you most looking forward to after graduation?
I cannot wait until I can dive into working full time in a lab, trying to develop this therapeutic to neurological conditions. Since my senior year of high school this has been my passion, and I look forward to completely committing to working towards this goal.
Do you have any advice to incoming students and underclassmen ChEs around the world?
Do not fall into the trap of, "You're young and you have tons of time to figure out what you want to do with your life." Of course you have no idea what you will be doing 5 or 10 years from now! But right now, I am sure you can list 3-5 fields that you are the most interested in. Don't wait to pursue them; start now!!! Do everything you can do to learn about that field and get experience in that field now! Read about that field; talk to people already in that field; look for a way to work with people already working in that field now! Do this during your free time, if not during the semester, during your breaks. If you put in this time now, it will pay off for you in your future as compound interest would! Even if you pursued a field you learn you are not really passionate about, that experience will make you much more attractive to someone in the field you are interested in, and they will be more likely to give you a job there so you can spend everyday of the rest of your life doing something you actually want to do.
You can reach Louis through his LinkedIn account.