Chemical Engineering Overview - Overview PDF - PowerPoint - Podcast

David Githuku

Project Engineer
Procter & Gamble
Cincinnati, OH
 

	B.S. - Chemical Engineering, McGill University M.S. - Chemical Engineering, McGill University Ph.D. - Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M
	Project engineer who is a technology leader in rheology.
	"I would advise you, if at all possible, to get a job in the process industry as a process engineer. You get your hands dirty and you really feel you're working on the things that you learned in school."

"I work in a central engineering organization and I really play the role of a technical consultant to all the different areas that have, that make liquids, that have liquids-related problems, be it the manufacturing of liquid products like Jif peanut butter, for example. How do you pump it and how do you mix it and cool it as you are manufacturing it in the plant? It's not a typical liquid like water so you have to consider all the different elaborate pieces of equipment."


Q: What is rheology, and how did you get interested in that?
Githuku: The word 'rheology' stems from a Greek word, 'rheo,' which means to flow. Rheology is really the science of the flow of fluids. I got interested in rheology when I took a senior elective class in my bachelor's program at McGill. We had an excellent professor of rheology and, through taking that elective course, I really enjoyed what he was teaching. That's why I decided to pursue my master's in the field, as well as my Ph.D.

Q: On a day-to-day basis, what do you do?
Githuku: The things I do as a rheologist are really varied. I work in a central engineering organization and I really play the role of a technical consultant to all the different areas that have liquids-related problems, be it the manufacturing of liquid products like Jif peanut butter, for example. How do you pump it, mix it, and cool it as you are manufacturing it in the plant? It's not a typical liquid like water, so you have to consider all the different elaborate pieces of equipment. You need an understanding of those kinds of liquid properties to design the right kind of equipment. On the other hand, when you make the final product, how does the consumer perceive the feel of this product? Is it smooth and creamy? Does it have those kinds of attributes that the consumer will like to buy? So we also measure those kinds of properties so that we can help others formulate the products better.

Q: How did you decide to work for a consumer products organization versus a refinery or other type of facility?
Githuku: I like the challenge of working in a consumer products company. They make so many products that have different rheological properties that I thought that would be a real challenge. So, as opposed to working in one particular plastics area where maybe it was more narrow, I thought this would be a lot more diverse. I like the challenge of doing many different things and learning many new things. I also like working in an area where I can really see the results. I go to a store and see a product that I was involved in making or helped make. From an economic standpoint, the consumer products industry tends to be recession proof. People are always going to buy products, unlike the aerospace industry, for example, which depends on how the economy is doing.

Q: What long-term career plans do you have?
Githuku: I originally come from Africa; I came to the U.S. to gain an education with the hope that one day I may eventually go back to Africa to develop industries. Procter & Gamble is a company where you can get the necessary experience. Being a global company, P&G is also opening up in Africa, so there are opportunities to go out there. Longer term, I was thinking of probably going back to Africa and developing industries in those countries, creating jobs there, and improving the lives of people there.

Q: What have you done since graduating?
Githuku: After my master's, I went back to Kenya and I got a job at the Kenya Petroleum Refineries. I worked there for about three years and after that I thought, based on the kinds of things that I wanted to do to help create new industries in the country, that one way of doing it was to get a doctorate that would give me the expertise to be an industrial consultant back in Kenya. Working at the refineries gave me some industrial experience, but it didn't feel like there was an opportunity to grow and do the kinds of things that I had wanted to do. That's why I went back to school.

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