Seeking Genuine Vocations through Sustainability in Chemical Engineering

Sustainability in education is essential in raising awareness among pupils regarding the interconnected global challenges that we are facing and, at the same time, cultivating and transforming their mindsets to embrace and adopt sustainable lifestyles. In particular, college students who might briefly encounter sustainability issues during their courses of study would bring their values and attitudes regarding sustainability into their future workplace and beyond. In this article, we focus on sustainability in engineering education at the tertiary level, particularly in chemical engineering, and reveal how these potential engineers could seek genuine vocations when choosing their careers without compromising sustainability. The article begins with a description of what constitutes chemical engineering and its branches in plain language. It then outlines what to expect when one enrolls in a chemical engineering program as an undergraduate or graduate student. This includes the core subjects to obtain, skill sets to master, and other essential expertise that could be useful in the workplace. Since chemical engineering is one of the disciplines where the paradox of improving and impairing is conspicuous, it is also essential to delve deeper into the sustainability facet of the field, specifically in higher education. The discussion continues with career options for enthusiastic chemical engineers and how these young and early-career graduates could discover their reason for well-being and life purpose as aspiring chemical engineers, while at the same time maintaining and enhancing the sustainability in their vocations.

Diffraction-limited ultrasensitive molecular nano-arrays with singular nano-cone scattering

Large-library fluorescent molecular arrays remain limited in sensitivity (1 × 10(6) molecules) and dynamic range due to background auto-fluorescence and scattering noise within a large (20-100 μm) fluorescent spot. We report an easily fabricated silica nano-cone array platform, with a detection limit of 100 molecules and a dynamic range that spans 6 decades, due to point (10 nm to 1 μm) illumination of preferentially absorbed tagged targets by singular scattering off wedged cones. Its fluorescent spot reaches diffraction-limited submicron dimensions, which are 10(4) times smaller in area than conventional microarrays, with comparable reduction in detection limit and amplification of dynamic range.