Mentor Visit #3

Mentor: Dr. Tim Barckholtz 

Profession: Senior Scientific Advisor at ExxonMobil

Location: Zoom Meeting

Date: 2/11/21

Time: 3:30 pm- 4:30 pm

Assessment:

        This week has not been as productive as I would have liked so I was a bit nervous headed into my mentor visit. I have been struggling immensely with my program and was getting worried that my mentor would become disappointed in my lack of productivity. Luckily, I have a very understanding and caring mentor who explained that a week of low productivity happens in the workplace and to not feel bad about it. We then discussed what I had worked on this week and what steps could be taken in the next week to ensure more progress on my final product. 
        The first thing we went over was my product proposal, as I completed the rough draft this week, but wanted my mentor’s approval before submitting it. As we were going through the proposal, my mentor had me change a couple of things to fit more in line with what he was thinking would be my final product. Originally, I was just going to create a map of proposed pipelines throughout the Gulf Coast region of the United States but my mentor suggested that, in addition, I complete a cost benefit analysis for these pipelines. This would include looking at the cheapest and most economical way to construct these pipelines and create a detailed plan of the order in which they should be constructed for maximum carbon capture. I had not thought about doing this since it seemed like the more business side of the project, but my mentor explained that as a chemical engineer I would not only be handling the science and math behind a project, but also the business and economic side of things. This was very interesting to me, and I am glad that my mentor decided to have me add that to my project. I think it will help me gain a better sense of what it is like to be a true chemical engineer. 
        We then discussed the progress that I have been making on my program. At this point I am close to being done with the first portion, which connects each source to the pipeline endpoints. I have only been focusing on Texas data right now but my mentor has encouraged me to expand my data to include the entire Gulf Coast region (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico). My next step after finalizing this first part of my program is to start working on connecting the sources directly to the lines, in an attempt to see if that is closer than connecting to the endpoints. When my mentor first explained this, I was quite confused as I was unsure how exactly I would go about writing this into my program. My mentor provided me with a place to start but challenged me with going about solving this particular problem. 
        Towards the end of the meeting, as I was frantically writing down what I needed to complete during the week my mentor suggested something that might help with my productivity throughout the week. He asked that after every meeting we have, I send him an email that recaps what we discussed during the visit and what exactly I would be focusing on in the coming week. Not only will this allow me to stay more on task throughout the week but it will give him the ability to remember what we agreed on and how he can help. With this new system regarding productivity, I set out on my journey for the coming week to see what all I could accomplish before our next meeting.