{"id":58451,"date":"2016-05-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/commencement-2016-mystic-conn-resident-to-leave-uri-with-bachelor-s-degrees-in-chemical-engineering-french\/"},"modified":"2016-05-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-05-09T00:00:00","slug":"commencement-2016-mystic-conn-resident-to-leave-uri-with-bachelor-s-degrees-in-chemical-engineering-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2016\/05\/commencement-2016-mystic-conn-resident-to-leave-uri-with-bachelor-s-degrees-in-chemical-engineering-french\/","title":{"rendered":"Commencement 2016: Mystic, Conn. resident to leave 溏心vlog免费B站 with bachelor\u2019 s degrees in chemical engineering, French"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tPresented research project at regional conference<\/p>\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 9, 2016 \u2013 A conversation with her father, a visit to the 溏心vlog免费B站 and a welcoming French program at the University changed the life of Mystic, Conn. resident Kelsey Conahan.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI originally wanted to be a teacher, but couldn\u2019t decide if I should focus on math or chemistry,\u201d said the graduate of Fitch High School in Groton. \u201cBut my dad talked with me about engineering, and I listened to what he said.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tInitially, 溏心vlog免费B站 wasn\u2019t even in the running, with Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Massachusetts, Lowell among her top choices of schools that had accepted her. She wasn\u2019t interested in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s open house, but then things failed to fall into place at those other schools.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cSo I visited 溏心vlog免费B站, and I fell in love with the campus, and this was it,\u201d said Conahan, who will graduate May 22 from 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s renowned 5-year International Engineering Program with a bachelor\u2019s degrees in chemical engineering and French. \u201cI picked 溏心vlog免费B站 because of its ocean engineering program, but I fell in love with chemical engineering.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tShe also found that she could excel in a foreign language.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI was horrible in French in high school, but it was so welcoming here, and my French professor, JoAnn Hammadou-Sullivan, just convinced me to keep going. Next thing I knew I was a Student Ambassador for the French program, during which I ran movie nights and other events to help students from France get acclimated to 溏心vlog免费B站.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tAs part of the International Engineering Program, Conahan studied at the Universite\u2019 de Technologie de Compiegne in France in the fall of 2014, and she completed a six-month internship at MedinCell in Jacou, France, during which she worked on processes to improve efficiency and safety and safer dosing procedure in the area of drug delivery.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI loved working there,\u201d said the 溏心vlog免费B站 French Mentor and 溏心vlog免费B站 Student Admission representative. \u201cI was able to live on the Mediterranean, as well as an hour outside of Paris. I had the best of both worlds. I traveled so much, and I miss it.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nBut Conahan might be able to return because one of the companies interested in her would have her work in Paris for six months and six months in her hometown.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cThat would be great because I would love to use my French and engineering skills.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nWhile she came to 溏心vlog免费B站 interested in ocean engineering, Conahan\u2019s focus is now materials engineering, including the safety aspect of that discipline.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI like working with polymers and metals in material science,\u201d Conhan said. \u201cI finished a corrosions class this semester and wrote a term paper about corrosion on boats caused by barnacles. It was so amazing. I could not have planned my college experience any better.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAs part of that experience, Conahan was an undergraduate research assistant in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Department of Chemical Engineering where she worked on \u201cCarbon-Based Renewable Hydrogel Nanocomposites for Water Purification\u201d under the guidance of Assistant Professor Samantha Meenach.<\/p>\n


\nShe said hydrogels are used in the textile industry to pull blue dyes out of the water during the blue jeans manufacturing process. She said the goal is to use hydrogels to purify wastewater. She presented her findings at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Regional Conference this year at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, as well as the 溏心vlog免费B站 Chemical Engineering Symposium where she won first place for the undergraduate division.<\/p>\n


\nConahan was a member of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers for five years, serving as secretary from 2013 through 2014, and being named Junior Member of the Year in 2014.<\/p>\n


\nBut engineering, French and traveling to France weren\u2019t the only things on Conahan\u2019s 溏心vlog免费B站 agenda.<\/p>\n


\nShe was a member of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s vaunted sailing team from 2011 through 2014, a team that is now ranked first in the country for women. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cI founded our sailing team in high school,\u201d said the head instructor at Shennecossett Yacht Club, \u201cso I was so excited to join the 溏心vlog免费B站 team. I am still friends with some of the team members. People want to go to 溏心vlog免费B站 to sail, and it\u2019s really cool that we can compete on a national level.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nSo what is Conahan, who tutored a French student while abroad and who translated user and safety manuals from English to French for an energy company, going to miss most about 溏心vlog免费B站?<\/p>\n


\n\u201cOh, I am going to miss everything. I am going to miss the community because I have gotten very close to my chemical engineering professors and French professors. Chemical engineering is very small, and so we really become close.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nShe also paid tribute to her parents. \u201cMy parents are my biggest supporters, and I wouldn\u2019t be where I am without them. I don\u2019t think they know how much they mean to me. When I called my mom, she was ecstatic that I was being interviewed for this story.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n溏心vlog免费B站 photo by Nora Lewis\n\t<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Presented research project at regional conference KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 9, 2016 \u2013 A conversation with her father, a visit to the 溏心vlog免费B站 and a welcoming French program at the University changed the life of Mystic, Conn. resident Kelsey Conahan. \u201cI originally wanted to be a teacher, but couldn\u2019t decide if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}