Essay --

Over one billion people do not have access to clean water and less than 10% of the world’s population receive a treated water supply. I find this intriguing; as well as being essential to preserving life, water contributes to our lifestyle in so many ways, from the generation of steam for industrial use and electricity generation to the foods we eat. Today chemical engineers face the challenge of ensuring water is purified as well as finding solutions to the wasting of this precious resource. I am particularly interested in the process of water purification from subsurface aquifers and surface sources, such as lakes and rivers, to produce portable drinking water. The reason that this sector has sparked a significant interest is because I come from Somalia, a country where clean water is so difficult to obtain. Chemical engineering consolidates maths and chemistry, which is one of the main reasons I was first attracted to studying it. Mathematics has helped me approach problems in an analytical and rigorous way, formulating theories and applying them to solve problems. I particularly...