Alex Irvine Email & Phone Number

Experimenting with chemistry and food science has been a passion since early childhood. My very first science experiment in kindergarten involved making a homemade pH indicator and then telling everyone I met how it worked. From there, each year I did something different with chemistry. I blew things up. I lit things on fire. I learned about the science of fireworks. Yet, what really made me the most fascinated with chemical engineering is how it has impacted me and my family. The first personal experience I had with chemical engineering, was with gluten-free food. My mother has celiac disease and was diagnosed when I was 15 years old. The advances in the quality of gluten-free foods have been life-changing. Pasta has gone from noodles that boiled down into mush to an almost perfect replica. Bread is no longer a structural material. I was fascinated by the interplay of chemical properties that affected the quality of each recipe. I now foster a passion for experimenting with flours, gelatin, and many different additives to make delicious treats.Pharmaceutical sciences are the second aspect of chemical engineering that shaped my life. As someone who is neurodiverse, I often find the answer to questions through outside-of-the-box thinking. ADHD is both my superpower and my struggle. I excelled in high school without support; however, I had to put in twice as much effort as my peers. I became anxious and depressed that I was not good enough or smart enough. After being diagnosed with ADHD and depression, I realized that through the struggle of being a neurodiverse high-achiever, I have developed high-level study skills, tenacious persistence, and a love of learning. I am at my best when I am pushed to the boundary of logical creativity. With medications developed by chemical engineers in pharmaceutical sciences, I can fully harness my creativity, passion, and energy. I’m excited to be a chemical engineer. I hope I get the opportunity to help develop the next innovations that change someone else’s life, the same way engineers advanced food and pharmaceutical sciences to change my life.