Hey y’all!
I wanted to take some time this week to tell y’all a little bit about my favorite organization I’m involved with here at USC—the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE for short)! I’ve been involved with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers since my first semester at USC and have had so many great experiences at the various events AIChE puts on throughout the year!
Since chemical engineering is different from the other engineering majors in the sense that we don’t take our intro to chemical engineering class until spring semester, joining AIChE allowed me to meet chemical engineers in different grade levels right off the bat. This was super helpful because when I started taking chemical engineering classes the spring semester of my freshman year I already had a study group formed with people I had met during the various AIChE events the first semester. I actually still study with these people today!
I’m currently on the executive board for AIChE, which means I get to help plan a variety of social and professional events for all our members. Some of my favorite events have included making ice cream using liquid nitrogen at our first general meeting of the semester, going bowling, hiking the Hollywood sign, and having resume workshops and networking events with representatives from a variety of companies. This year I’ve gotten to help plan a new mentorship program AIChE is doing for it’s members where we are put into crews that are made up of a freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior. It’s so great to be able to get advice from older members about professors, internships, classes, and life as a chemical engineer in general!
Jacobs info session!
Making Liquid Nitrogen in our first General Meeting!
AIChE bowling!
Being involved with AIChE has helped me with chemical engineering so much throughout my time as a member. Being on the executive board has taught me to have better time management and how to delegate tasks to others. It’s provided me with a close group of study buddies and friends that I work with in all of my classes. It’s shown me just how fun chemical engineering can be, and has helped me learn how to polish my resume, network with professionals, and present myself in the best way possible during interviews.
I can’t wait to see what else I’ll learn from my time in AIChE! I’m currently super excited to go to the national American Institute of Chemical Engineers conference in San Francisco in a few weeks. I’m so excited to see what other college chapters are doing and how we can implement some of their ideas and techniques into our program to continue to help it grow larger and stronger!
