Education Extends Beyond the Classroom
ChE senior Dan Hanson is a busy guy, and that’s just the way he likes it. With his May graduation looming ever closer, he’s got classes to attend, a job search to conduct, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) student club to run, and a ChemE car to build. In addition, he is a community adviser (CA) at Frederickson Court.
It’s all in a day’s work for Hanson as he prepares for a career as a process engineer. Hanson says he knew before arriving at Iowa State in the fall of 2005 that he wanted to major in chemical engineering.
“I researched what chemical engineers do and liked the variety offered by positions like process engineer,” he explains. “Whether you’re making chemicals or chips or flexible circuitry, you oversee how it’s done. You get the big picture of the whole operation, and that’s what appealed to me.”
While his ChE classes and summer internships with Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies in Kansas City have provided Hanson the knowledge and skills he needs to be a chemical engineer, his out-of-class activities have also contributed to his education.
Hanson, who currently serves as AIChE club president, joined the Iowa State organization as a freshman. He quickly got involved helping to design and build a model car, powered by a chemical reaction, for the 2006 ChemE car competition. The team won the most creative design award and took third place in both the poster and performance events, giving them third place overall at the regional competition. That finish qualified them for the national competition in San Francisco.
There is a lot to be learned from participating in these kinds of events, according to Hanson. This year, he is leading one of the club’s three teams that will compete at the AIChE Mid-America Regional Conference at the University of Missouri April 3–4.
“Basically we have to design a car that can operate in an industrial setting,” he says. “It involves a lot of problem-solving skills figuring out what kind of chemical reaction to use and how to design the car to take full advantage of the reaction. Also, how do you make a car safe and still be able to go a specific distance while carrying a cargo? Teamwork is another thing. You have to set deadlines and goals and make sure people meet them, because if you don’t, you can’t compete.”
AIChE, of course, offers much more than the ChemE car competition. It provides social and professional networking opportunities. Hanson attended the national meeting in Philadelphia this past fall as the club president. Throughout the year, speakers are invited in to give presentations about their companies and spend time interacting with students on an informal basis.
While Hanson’s role as a CA at Frederickson Court does not involve engineering, it is helping him develop organizational, team-building, and communication skills that will benefit him in the professional world. “My job is to get people to cooperate in figuring out how to resolve an issue,” he explains. “It requires patience and saying things in the right way to motivate them.”
As far as where he will start his career, Hanson doesn’t know. “I like adventure and the opportunity to do new things,” he says. “I will have to see where that takes me.”
