I was awarded the Athena-SWAN bursary by the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences. This award aims to improve gender equality in the research community. I was interested in carbon capture after briefly encountering it in my Chemical Engineering degree; I decided to do my research project based on this area. I conducted a remote research project based on the adsorption of CO2 by structured adsorbents of varying shapes. This area was a completely new field to me, but I received a lot of support from my supervisor Prof. Susana Garcia and also Dr. Manohara Gudiyor Veerabhadrappa and Li Anne Cheah.
I also had the opportunity to attend the RCCS Carbon Capture meetings before the start of my project to gain an insight into the research conducted at the RCCS. In the meetings, presentations were conducted by PhD students and Research Associates. I learnt the importance of explaining even minor details in the work you produce and how essential it is to give and receive constructive feedback. It was rewarding to learn about how versatile carbon capture research is, from process modelling to collecting data in the laboratory and presenting results. Later on in my project, I was also encouraged to present my project findings which was daunting at first, but it improved my confidence. Giving presentations also gave me the opportunity to be asked questions which later prompted me to do further research to better my understanding. I believe this internship has been beneficial, and I am feeling better prepared to tackle my final year research project. I am grateful for all the support I received.