Life as a Chemist
At PPG, I work as a formulation chemist for the novel electrocoat technologies group. In this position I work closely with the synthesis team and my technical team to develop new product solutions for PPG's customers through hypothesis-driven research. In my day-to-day, I formulate coatings from my experimental plans and conduct a variety of tests to understand the structure-property relationships of my formulations. The summarization and communication of my experiments and results help to drive critical decisions on product formulation strategies. Outside of my project I have the opportunities to collaborate across PPG on new research ideas and contribute to the community through the Coatings Innovation Center tour team. While at PPG, I would like to grow into being a technical leader one day. Every day I am learning something new, so it might seem like this goal is incredibly far out into the future, I believe that I am fully capable of turning this dream into a reality.
Staying Close to Home after High School
I chose Mount Union because I was offered the Investment Alliance Scholarship when I graduated from Alliance High School. Having grown up in Alliance, I also explored Mount's campus frequently, so I never really felt like I had left home because I already knew the campus so well. A core memory at Mount Union was near the end of the semester, as I was finishing my research. I had just obtained a pure sample of my product that I had been working to get all year, which caused me to rush to tell the chemistry faculty. I even get this way now when one of my experiments works.
Recommending Mount Union
The chemistry program at Mount Union pushes its students to do research as a part of the requirements to graduate. This was extremely beneficial to me because I currently work at PPG as a research chemist. At Mount Union, my research was under Dr. Woodward in his organic chemistry lab. There were many times when after my classes were over, I would spend a majority of my afternoon in the research lab working. I bring this dedication to my work as I take the long days and failed experiments in stride to get to the successes. I also worked as a chemistry tutor on campus which has also helped me after college. Every day I am learning new chemistries that I implement into my own formulations. Part of my job is to also to relay this information to my team and teach new chemists about ideas I might have just learned. It not only taught me to communicate effectively, but to be a good teacher. I try to update Dr. Woodward and Dr. Mason every so often, as they were integral to my growth as a chemist and as a person. As well as this, I have attended homecoming and stay connected with the entire chemistry faculty on LinkedIn.