Catching Up With: Patrick Bresnahan, WPI

In March and April this year, we were lucky to have four students from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in the USA on the ITP team for seven weeks, researching and developing ideas for an ITP mentor scheme. Fellows will remember their Skype, phone and email conversations with our WPI colleagues!

Patrick Bresnahan, one of our fantastic WPI students, has written to ITP fellows and followers below, to catch us up on his life post-ITP.

Over to Patrick:

When I left London at the end of April, I travelled to Ireland for a few days by myself which was a wonderful experience. I stayed in Dublin and did a couple full-day bus tours of the countryside, seeing Blarney Castle, the Cliffs of Moher, and Cork.

When I returned from Europe, I worked at my summer internship for three months. I worked in Waltham, Massachusetts at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals in their Oncology Chemistry department. I worked with an organic chemist helping them synthesize potential new drugs. It was a cool experience, but I know I like engineering more than organic chemistry. ?

I also had lots of fun over the summer, attending a few concerts, including one with one of my favorite bands, MisterWives (I also got to meet them).

My favorite part of the summer was my trip to New York City for a music festival. While I was there, I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art which was an amazing experience. It is a gorgeous museum, and it made me miss the British Museum immensely.

At the end of August, I returned to school, taking classes in Chemical Engineering. It was weird to return to a classroom setting, taking tests and doing homework and math, especially after working in a museum for two months. ?

Overall, my experience at the British Museum was beyond amazing and eye-opening. I really enjoyed learning new things beyond chemistry and engineering, and it was fascinating to see behind-the-scenes into museum operation. My work with the ITP was truly special, as I loved hearing from people of all different cultures about their experiences with the British Museum and the ITP. I grew as a student and professional while in London, learning how to work with a team and carry out a broad project. I also learned a lot about mentoring, and I will surely apply these skills to my career in the future. Even now, I use what I learned about mentoring to be a better teaching assistant for the freshmen in my general chemistry lab class.

Living in London for two months also made me realise that I want to live in the city when I graduate. Boston and London are similar to each other, so I think living and working in Boston will be so fun! Both are vibrant and cultural cities with so much history and character.

I hope to continue to be in contact with you all to see how the ITP grows and continues to flourish!

Patrick Bresnahan
Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Class of 2018
Networking Chair, American Institute of Chemical Engineers
Peer Learning Assistant, Dept. of Chemical Engineering
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry