(211e) From Lab Coats to Waistcoats

Chemical engineers coming out of undergraduate programs typically face two paths: working in industry or going to graduate school. The third, less traveled option is to pursue a path around government, where they can use their technical knowledge in support of public policy making. In this talk, I describe how I switched from an academic track and use my chemical engineering training to contribute to diverse topics, ranging from a project on stopping improvised explosive device attacks as a postdoc at the National Academy of Sciences to writing reports for Congress on the Department of Defense’s microelectronics strategy. I hope to show that chemical engineers can build a satisfying career in Washington while putting their hard-earned skills to use.