You’d think a straight-A student in chemical engineering graduating from Kansas State University would have companies falling all over themselves for his services.
Ben Clubine found otherwise during career fairs in fall 2009 and again in spring 2010. Participating companies – fewer than in previous years – were after students, all right. But only those who would work for free through internships or for temporary stints, with no guarantee of a full-time position afterward.
“With the job market so bleak, I applied for graduate school,” said Clubine, who earned his Bachelor of Science degree in May 2010.
Clubine did stumble into a bit of luck in that he obtained a graduate research assistantship through the Department of Homeland Security to accompany his advanced degree.
“That fell in my lap in late July (2010),” through one of his professors.
“The good thing about the assistantship in engineering is you get paid. Not a lot, but at least something,” Clubine said.
He will complete his master’s degree sometime in the spring. Meanwhile, he has ramped up efforts to find a full-time position.
“I’m actively looking, trying to do a better job of networking. I’m getting to know more people in the (chemical-related) industry. The saying it’s not what you know, but who you know is pretty true.”
Clubine expects offers from petroleum companies situated on either the Gulf Coast or East or West coasts.
“I’m not particular about where a job is right now, I just want to find one,” he said. “I’ve never wanted to venture too far from family, but there aren’t a lot of entry levels jobs here or elsewhere in Kansas.”
He and his wife, the former Kari Gilmore, are both from Iola.
“We may have to bite the bullet and move, but eventually we hope to come back to Kansas, which probably would be to Kansas City or Wichita. That would be ideal.
“I let myself worry about getting a job and I think that’s good,” Clubine continued. “It motivates me to do better,” in his research and other master’s degree studies.
CLUBINE’S CURRENT research involves synthesizing a crystalline material that can be incorporated into a device to detect radiation in freight entering the United States, in shipments from Mexico and Canada as well as further abroad.
“Right now helium-3, which is very expensive because it’s a byproduct of nuclear fission, is used in the detection process,” he said. “It’s in glass tubes and detectors are bulky and immobile. What we’re working to develop would be much less expensive and in hand-held detectors.”
The key to the project’s success is development of a semi-conductor from synthesis of silicon, he said.
“You can’t use metals because they are conductors, or ceramics, because they’re insulators,” Clubine noted, which leaves silicone as the likely answer.
