Stef Booij

Chemical Engineering

"I am working on my thesis and am nearing graduation. I really like the fact that Chemical Engineering is — much — more than just chemistry. And after two years of the Master’s I can say that chemistry is not the main part of Chemical Engineering, but just one of the aspects. Chemical engineering problems involve much more than the chemical part, and this study enables you to solve this. I really enjoy the toolkit and the problem-solving skills you develop to solve these problems: they are transferable and enable you to solve any problems that are thrown your way, even if you are not an expert in that particular field.

I am really interested in process design and sustainability and in combining those two by exploring whether conventional chemical production processes can be redesigned to make them more sustainable. With the electives and Master’s thesis I picked, I was able to make this a main focus of my degree. For my Master’s thesis, for instance, I researched nylon 66 recycling through depolymerization and made an initial process design for it.

I hope that after I graduate I can find a job where I will be able to do this as well."