tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46396792155155054232024-03-13T21:34:15.794-07:00P is for PolymersSome scientists fit in labels and some don't. For chemists: it's P chem (physical chemistry), O chem (organic chemistry), A chem (analytical chemistry), or Bio Chem (biological chemistry). I don't fit well into one of the above mentioned categories. So P stands for polymers.Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177919487093268663noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4639679215515505423.post-58665943226851966422010-05-11T16:44:00.000-07:002010-05-11T16:52:28.158-07:00LabelsJoining both an organic lab (an O-chem lab) and a materials science lab as a joint graduate student was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I've had to dive out of my comfort zone into something I'm not really that familiar with.<br /><br />In undergraduate, I majored in both chemistry and physics. In graduate school, this would put me in the very distinct category of "P-chemist." (I prefer the term "Chemicist" from "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Chemi</span>st" and "Physi<span style="font-weight: bold;">cist</span>") On a lot of my visit weekends to other schools I wasn't really invited to speak to non-P chem professors. Not a lot of the materials professors really knew what to do with me either.<br /><br />I love polymers.<br /><br />P-chem has a strange reputation for it's followers never touching molecules. I always wanted to touch them, I just never wanted to MAKE them. Somehow between budget issues and a strange amount of respect from one of my advisers I ended up as a joint student. I've been dragged out of my physicist shell into memorizing things and learning the different kinds of glassware and doing things that are decidedly qualitative rather than quantitative.<br /><br />I get a lot of strange looks when I tell people I work for my o-chem adviser. They wonder what a p-chemist is doing in a synthetic lab. I just know that P is for polymer.Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177919487093268663noreply@blogger.com0