Project Title: Fueled Up: A Study on Petroleum-Based Fuels and their Effects
BASIS Advisor: Dr. Elizabeth Pittman
Internship Location: American Fuel and Petrol Chemical Manufacturers
Onsite Mentor: Don Thoren
My research project will focus on petroleum byproducts in preparation for my field of study in petroleum engineering at university. As preparation for my field of study, I want to observe the use of byproducts of crude oil with regard to fuels used for transportation. Global warming is occurring at an alarming rate, with fuel emissions being a primary factor. I would like to look at specific reasons why this is occurring through fuel usage. I would also like to see how global warming could be slowed. I plan to create a simplified and straightforward collection of data that answers “How are diesel oil and gasoline utilized and what has been their environmental effect in the last ten years?” The American Fuel and Petrol Chemical Manufacturers (AFPM) is a representative trade agency of the fuel industry in America. Working with them allows me to see the downstream petroleum industry and the work that goes into trade policy-making. The result will be that the use of fuels will be the same amount or increase over the past five to ten years, and the emissions will follow the same trends. This data will be collected and organized in a way that common consumers of gasoline and diesel and understand the effects of these pollutants and the extent of these effects.
My Posts
Week 11: The Finale
May 29, 2020
AH! The time is now! This was the last week of my senior project! I am thankful to finally be here, as I have done a lot of hard work throughout. This past week I finalized my senior project video here which you can check out! I also participated on my weekly calls. This week […]
Week 10: Hard Work and Preparation
May 22, 2020
This week was not as intense as last week, but it was still busy. I participated in the three conference calls held Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. From there, I was able to work on my final presentation for the Senior Project. I used the presentation guide given by Ms. Irving, and in doing so, I […]
Week 9: A Busy Time!
May 15, 2020
This week was very busy, so I have many things to discuss. I participated in my team’s calls this week. From these calls, I learned that the office of my internship is still closed due to D.C.’s stay-at-home order still being in place. I am personally thankful for the news because I am comfortable working […]
Week 8: A Very Good Week
May 04, 2020
This past week was very eventful. However, I only have a bit of work to show for it because a WiFi and landline phone outage in my neighborhood on Friday which disrupted my plans regarding finishing my research and starting my presentation. On the positive side, I was interviewed for the Fairfax County Times about […]
Week 7- Safety and Writing
Apr 24, 2020
This week was eventful. I had conference calls Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for my internship. I was contacted by AFPM staff who work with Safety, and Risk Management. I then had a call on Thursday to discuss the AFPM safety portal. I plan to look into the portal much more in the upcoming week. For […]
Week 6: New Data and Events
Apr 17, 2020
This week was more eventful than last week. For my research, I used the Excel skills I learned last week and applied them to my research. So far, I have three tables: pricing of gasoline and pricing of diesel and highway usage. I’m glad I have these tables, as these are an easy way to […]
Week 5: What’s New?
Apr 10, 2020
As the title asks, what is new? For me at least, the days seem to run together. This week was productive though. There were team conference calls Monday and Wednesday, and a company-wide call on Thursday. However, not much as changed as far as my own workload. I mentioned previously that I did a chart […]
Week 4: I Miss the Office
Apr 03, 2020
As the title says, I miss the office. This week was not very exciting, which made me miss the office even more than normal. I sat in on two calls this week. The only new information is that refineries are moving towards making items that can help hospital staff such as masks and ethanol for […]
Week 3: Quarent-time 2
Mar 27, 2020
Hello! I am in the second week of teleworking. Honestly, I am enjoying it. Working from home has been pleasant. I have furthered my research by doing averages for the data on gas and diesel prices I’ve found. I plan to graph this within the next week or so. With my internship, I’ve finished both […]
Week Two: Quaren-time
Mar 20, 2020
This week was the first week of teleworking, which was pretty efficient. On Monday, I sat in on the weekly outreach team meeting. This meeting was in the place of the usual meeting held. My on-site mentor talked with the team about what will occur for the discussion of the national and international conferences. On […]
Week One: Hard at Work
Mar 13, 2020
As you can see from the title, this week has been beyond busy! If I’ll be honest, I did not think my first two days at my internship would be so eventful. Let’s bring it back to last Wednesday when I met with my on-site advisor. Mr. Thoren is a cool guy! We talked about […]
Introduction to My Project
Mar 02, 2020
Hello! My name is Robbi. I am a student who is passionate about the use of natural resources, specifically crude oil and its byproducts. My project is extremely important to me because it is the first step towards being a petroleum engineer. I hope my research will be a current reflection of the oil industry […]