Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Polymer Meeting

This past weekend I attended a meeting in Washington DC to discuss the future of polymer drag reduction. I’m not really sure what I’m at liberty to share from the meeting so I’ll just give my top five moments from the trip without any specifics.

1) My favorite moment from the entire trip was when the CEO of a company grabbed me after challenging his conclusions and told me to stop being a wise-ass…I suppose he assumed that since I was the youngest one invited to the meeting it was alright to treat me like a child.
2) When a government official looked like he was about kick the crap out of the same CEO that called me a wise-ass.
3) Getting the signature of a rather famous polymer guy, P.S. Virk, on a copy of his “Drag Reduction Fundamentals” paper (picture included as proof). At the time I was thinking this would be a great opportunity to really get my nerd ranking up.


4) Hanging out drinking beers with some experts that actually seem to care more about science then making a name for themselves…I wish I could tell everyone that they represent the majority but sadly they are in the minority.
5) Meet a guy on the flight back that works for the government looking for children that have been abducted from the US and taken to a foreign country. He also shared information with me about how their group also has developed some rather sophisticated methods for tracking down kid pornography rings. I told him that I’m thankful that there are people out there willing to do this work because it would so difficult (he told me everyone in that division is required to receive counseling everyday).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You weren't happy when I tried to sign the same paper. Virk is not even your friend. :(

Mrs. Starman said...

Interesting experiences!