From Polymer Chemistry to Process Engineering
Currently a Process Engineer in training at Carbonet, Catherine Greenwood graduated from UBC Materials Engineering in 2021. Catherine’s fondest memory of her undergraduate years in MTRL involves spending quality time with friends, whether they were going out, swimming, hiking, or studying together. Her co-op experiences were diverse and extensive, covering powder metallurgy, nuclear fuel, battery cathode design and manufacturing, and advanced chemicals for water treatment at CarboNet.
1. Could you share about your current role and the journey that led you to it?
Currently I work for CarboNet. We develop specialty chemicals for water treatment and resource recovery. I work on product development and implementation, which involves both experimenting in the lab and going to various sites to test or rig-up our chemicals. I also help design and build our manufacturing processes.
My day to day varies greatly depending on the current priorities. Earlier in my career, my job was primarily lab-based, but as I gain seniority and understanding, it has become more people-facing and field-based. My job is split between the lab, the office, the manufacturing warehouse, and roughly 25% of my days are spent in the field or traveling.
2. How does your career now compare to how you originally envisioned your career in undergrad?
Some aspects of my job line up with my original expectations. In particular, designing and building processes. However, I didn’t think my job would become client-facing as quickly as it did, and I didn’t expect this level of leadership and responsibility, which has challenged me to progress in my career quite quickly. Additionally, my day to day is wildly more varied than I was expecting: working in water treatment, you may be working with execs, salespeople, engineers, scientists, and operators. All of these are reasons I love my job. I love meeting and working with new people in new environments all the time.
3. What opportunities do you see for materials engineering graduates in the field you are working in?
There’s some really interesting materials used in water treatment. For example, polymers are used for flocculation. Furthermore, there’s been quite a bit of development in new membrane materials used for water treatment and other applications. There’s also a market push for greener chemicals in water treatment that materials engineers could be helpful in.
“I think materials engineers learn a good balance of chemistry, processing, and manufacturing that makes them well suited for the chemical industry.”
4. How did your materials engineering degree lead you to get the job you have?
I found CarboNet’s website while sitting in our polymer course. I remember seeing that they specialized in polymer chemistry and this piqued my interest, so I sent them an email with my CV. I think the mix of polymer chemistry and practical engineering knowledge I had made me a useful team member, so they invited me to stay on. I continued working for them part-time, while I finished my last semester.
5. How do you think your MTRL degree sets you apart from graduates of other programs?
“I think materials has some courses that focus more on first principles, which created a solid foundation for my career. Understanding material properties and applications helped me start designing my own chemicals.”
Then, because we also had courses that focused on the more practical side of engineering, I was able to start designing processes to implement my own chemicals. Overall, I think the variety of subjects and industries covered in UBC MTRL helped me bridge into my industry.
6. What further advice do you have for prospective graduates of our program?
There are so many more career options than you may realize. I think focusing on the type of work, rather than the specific industry was helpful for me. My co-op experience showed me I could have that in a multitude of industries.
“I knew I wanted to work at a company that did good for the world, was technically interesting, was small, and that let me be autonomous.”
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