How to write your job experience on your resume?

Quoting LifeHacker,

Here is a simple formula from Google's HR chief that'll help you put the best information on your resume:

"The key," he said, "is to frame your strengths as: 'I accomplished X, relative to Y, by doing Z.' Most people would write a résumé like this: 'Wrote editorials for The New York Times.' Better would be to say: 'Had 50 op-eds published compared to average of 6 by most op-ed [writers] as a result of providing deep insight into the following area for three years.' Most people don't put the right content on their résumés."

The only 3 skills graduate students need to learn (UniversityAffairs.ca)

Today I have an article that important points I want to keep in mind.

Quote from the article:
"If you’re trying to transition from academia into business, the first decision you need to make is the decision to improve your oral communication skills. The best way to do this is to start interacting with people in person.

Next, you need to decide to start taking action on your own. Show initiative by going to networking events and conferences to find job leads, instead of sitting behind a computer and sending out a resume. Start building up your online platform. Start commenting on LinkedIn threads related to your field. Start your own group. Just start.

Finally, decide to think about things in a different way. Make sure you’re choosing to focus on the right problems. Don’t get stuck putting out fires and don’t get pushed around by other people’s agendas. Zoom out mentally and identify the right problem for why you are where you are. Then, find a way to get to wherever it is you really want to go. Your choices will determine your path."

Link to the article: The only 3 skills graduate students need to learn

Is soaking wood pellets in glycerin a good idea?

It have been a while since I posted something. Let's have a literature update.
Today, I read a article that comes in my Google Scholar Alert. Article link here:  http://www.ijens.org/Vol_14_I_02/141102-8383%20IJMME-IJENS.pdf
A group of researchers from Lakehead University, Ontario, Canada decided to try crude glycerin on wood pellets. The results? mmhmm, not bad..?

Glycerin is a by-product from biodiesel production. Researchers have been trying to figure out more ways of using this glycerin by-product because this crude glycerin is expensive to purify for use in the food, pharmaceutical, or cosmetics industries. Thus, biodiesel producers must seek alternative methods for its disposal or value-added uses.

So, soaking wood pellets with glycerin to increase its calorific value might be a good idea. This is exactly what the group of Canadian researchers did.

Taken from www.srsbiodiesel.com

The test results on the pellet durability, percent fines and bulk density were not very good, i.e. soaking pellets in glycerin greatly decrease pellet durability (from average 96% for pure pellets to average 70% after soaked) and increase percent fines from average 0.05% for pure pellets to 5% after soaked). Bulk density decreased from 675 kg/m3 to 550 kg/m3.

It is not all bad news. The gross calorific values did increase and the emissions of NOx and CO2 decreased as a result of the addition of glycerin. However, the emission of CO increased, implying that the combustion of glycerin soaked pellets is less complete compared to combustion of pure pellets.

One type of pellets (pellet type C) performs better than other two. The researchers concluded that the producer of pellet type C should try glycerin on their pellets and. 

Personally, I think addition of glycerin might not be a good idea, as it increases the control parameters in the wood pellets production, and at the same time, results in poorer quality wood pellets, in terms of durability, percent fines and bulk density.

Idea Collection 3

Happy New year, I start the term with cleaning away my stacks of paper that filled information relevant to my research and studies

1. Recommended stack height for wood chip
   According to Office of the Fire Marshal of Ontario
   < 18 m in height
   < 90 m in width
   < 150 m in length
   This translates to maximum allowable volume of wood chip (assume windrow pile) to be 121,500 m^3.
   Assume bulk density of wood chip = 300 kg/m^3,
   The maximum allowable weight in one pile of wood chips is roughly 400 kg
2. Advice on thesis write-up from Dr. Tony Bi
   - put a summary on every chapters, especially on your results
   - Further discussion about figure must be in your write-up, i.e. point out maximum and minimum and try to explain the maximum and minimum in terms of "why" and "how".
   Attempt to put out explanation even though your result might contradicts the commonly understood explanation.
   - If you cannot verify your results by repetition, then you have to point that out
   e.g. Though one run, this was observed. But this is only for one run, thus it is impossible to assume that a different  batch of gas has the same properties
3. Surface Analysis in Brimacombe Building (AMPEL)
   - Dr. Philip Wong = Manager of Interfacial Analysis & Reactivity Laboratory (I
   - Dr. Ken Wong = Operating Manager
   Ken suggested me to look for a standard of wood material for analysis for Chemical Profiles. Because only very thin layer of wood materials (~100 micron) is accepted for XPS, micro-XPSToF SIMS analysis, SEM-EDS, FTIR, FE-SEM, and others.
   - It might be good to email them my purpose and then meet them personally to talk about my project objectives.
4. Methanol Formation in Pulp Mills (Zhu, 1999)
   Methanol forms in pulp mills through two processes
   (1) Demethylation of xylan by OH- ion, resulting in rapid alkaline hydrolysis reaction of 4-0-ethylglucuronic acid residues in hemicellulose
   (2) demethylation of lignin by OH- ions