The Pittsburgh Concrete Conundrum

This has been an exciting and crazy week! This week I took off Monday and Tuesday and was able to explore the Pittsburgh area with my boyfriend while he was in town. We went to "the Big Butler Fair", a large county fair and carnival where the band Lonestar and  country singer Casey James were playing. Even though it was incredibly hot it was a fun experience and a good concert. I also had the chance to explore the inner city, walk around in the downtown and strip district areas. It was a blast to be in the city and see how things differed from my home city of Philadelphia. My favorite part of Pittsburgh was defiantly the view from a top of Mount Washington. There is defiantly not a view like that back in Philadelphia. It was a great relaxing time but back at RJ Lee the work was piling up.
I got back to RJ Lee Group on Wednesday refreshed and ready to work. There were a ton of concrete samples that are in need of prep and need to be prepped fast. With several different projects going on there has defiantly not been a boring moment this week. Since there are a couple of different projects there has been a few different ways that the samples need to be prepped for different types of analysis. This week so far we have been preparing samples for the optical, air void, and SEM analysis. The samples we prep for these analyses are thin sections, lapped sections, and polished sections. The process starts by cutting the samples, whether they be drill cores or little chucks of concrete, they are all cut on a diamond saw to a specification set by the customer and the analyser. After the samples are cut they are lap and polished down to a certain size grit. If they are being made into a lap section the process is a simple as that. If they are being made into a polished section then they have to be taken through all the of the diamond grits too in order to insure a mirror like finish on the concrete. If the samples are being made into a thin section then they get glued onto a microscope slide, and get ground down till the sample is about 15-20 microns. This makes it so the sample can be seen through with a petrographic microscope.
There are some samples needed to be epoxied to preserve the salts and imperfections of the concrete. For these samples we are not allowed to prep them with water instead they must be prep with isopar (a refined type of kerosene) and oil based diamond paste. Other samples we have been prepping did not have such restrictions. It is important to pay attention to the instructions and make sure that everything is prepare up to the standards of RJ Lee. I always want to try my best and make sure I am working my hardest. I really work hard to the point where my supervisor tells me to take breaks. These moment make me laugh because I do forget to relax sometimes. I guess my mind in just still in school mode where I always have some sort of classwork, studying or working at one of my campus jobs. So I am just used to working as hard as I can as quickly as I can to get things done and get them done to the best of my abilities. I just hope that one day my hard work will pay off. 

Fourth of July

Well, it's the week of the fourth of July! To me this means that summer is about half way over, and my time with RJ Lee Group is going by way too fast. This week has been a lot of the same things that need to get done. The main project I have been working is with coal dust. This project consists of a some-what uninteresting procedure but is very important because of the consistency of the number of projects that come into the company, and the fact that this test help to save the lives of miners by making sure that the walls of the mines they are working in are coated with enough CaCO3 so that a small spark does not ignite the coal. There was apparently some sort of accident in a mine where this happened and mines must have this test done from scrapings taken from the mine walls. There are hundreds of samples that get processed each week and is one of those projects that just always needs to get done, even though it is not really anyone's favorite thing to do.
My favorite thing so far that I've learned or been able to experience at RJ Lee was the short amount of time I got to spend looking at asbestos fibers under a optical microscope. At Juniata, the optical mineralogy parts of my geology classes has been on of my favorite subjects to learn about. In these classes we learned to identify amphiboles which are also types of asbestos. So it was interesting for me to be able to identify these minerals in a different setting other then a test type of environment. Actually, most of the interesting things I have done at RJ Lee also incorporate using knowledge I have learned at Juniata. I guess it makes me feel good that I can actually use my college education in a none academic setting because there are those people that still tell you that you will never use any of the things you learn in college. I like proving them wrong. 
I know that there are many things that I still have left to learn, but this experience has definitely got me thinking about all my options for after graduation, besides grad school.     

Learning new things

This past week has been super hectic at work. We have many big projects that have been going on that have to get done right and quickly. This last week, I was focusing on helping with Non destructive testing on concrete. These tests included testing the concretes hardness and how well sound travels through the concrete if its struck, which help identify cracks in the concrete. This type of testing is something I haven't experienced in school yet. So, there has been a lot of things to learn. This type of work is something that I normally would think I could do with a geology major. In all reality though, concrete is just another type of rock. In fact one could identify it as an conglomerate or sometimes a breccia depending on the sizes of the aggregate in the concrete. I am learning a lot about the chemical and geological make up of the concrete. Its also fun for me to try to identify the aggregate. The aggregate usually is some form of quartz or feldspar, so a rock type whose majors components are quartz and feldspar.
Making thin sections is another be component of the concrete testing. I already have a good amount of experience making thin section from juniata; but, at RJ Lee making thin section is a lot easier due to a awesome machine that elminates a lot of steps I would normally have to do by hand. Which just saves time. At Juniata it would take me about 4-7 hours making one thin section but at RJ Lee you could make 4-8 thin sections in a day. The record being 13 thin sections in one day. The only thing that is sort of frusterating about making thin section at RJ Lee is the fact that you cannot use water with most concrete samples. One has to use isopar, which is a refined version of kerosine, and oil based diamond pastes. There are pros and cons to each method, but water is generally easier to work with and cheaper.
Overall this past week, though it has been hectic, it has been a great learning experience. Which is what this whole summer is about. I am definently learning that I'd rather be busy then have nothing really to do.

Learning so much

Hello!

It has been such a busy time for me but in a good way. Working for RJ Lee Group is amazing. There are so many different projects and so many things to learn that I just hope I can absorb as much as possible over the summer. Lately, we have been getting very caught up on all the different projects that have to be done on a regular basis. These projects deal with coal dust, the vermiculite, and other projects we have to get prepped for the SEM or TEM. What I am finding to be most interesting about this whole experience is that I am learning not only how to preform different laboratory task and different skills and techniques but also what I like and do not like doing. Before this experience I had no idea places like RJ Lee Group existed or that I could have the skills and background knowledge to work at them. Its so fun for me to be able to listen to people tell me about the different projects that are going on and then be able to tell them what I have learned at school on the subject. It is also interesting to learn a different way to complete tasks I have already learned how to complete at Juniata. What I am learning is that when we prep samples at Juniata it usually takes way longer or I was taught the hard way to do things and now there is one machine that eliminate steps from a procedure or there are ways to do things that involve less human error. It also fun for me to meet so many new people who are experts in their different fields. Overall, I am having so much fun and I really am liking my experience so far this summer.

~Monica

This Weekend

I am having so much fun here!

My living situation will be the topic of this post. I must say I have it good living with Justin and Holly. Holly is an amazing cook and over the weekend made a huge dinner for us and Justin's brother and his brother's girlfriend. Stuffed hot banana peppers with hot Italian sausage and spaghetti with a red pepper sauce. DELICIOUS! This wonderful dinner was made after a day at the Vandergrift's Art's Festival. It was a small festival put on by the town where local artists got a chance to show off and sell some of their work. There was good food, okay music, and many beautiful things to look at. I had a lot of fun. After the festival and dinner, fireworks and a intense game of cranium were in store for the night. It was a blast, I never thought this summer was going to be as fun as it is starting to become. My nervousness about the summer and especially my living environment have gone away.
Sunday, after going to church and dropping Holly off at her musical practice, Justin and I join Holly's parents for a amazing lunch/dinner. They made roast beef from a cow they owned, and made potateos, green beans, and salad from their own garden! Holly's dad was pick the stuff for the salad as we got there, I was amazed. It was so fresh that there was no way it couldn't be good. The rest of the day was relaxing watching TV and watching the storms! I've seen 3 rainbows already since I've been here, I'm taking that as good luck!
One of my favorite things to do here right now is watch the peacocks! The one neighbor here owns three peacocks and they mozy into the yard every night after dinner. I am fascinated by them since until now I have only seen peacocks in the zoos.

All and all I am having a great time!
~Monica

Eventful First Day

Good Evening!

This weekend I moved into to my summer place! I am staying with Justin and Holly Rieter in their house which is abut 30 minutes from my internship. Justin is an alumni of Juniata and I cannot thank him enough for welcoming me into their home fro the summer. Memorial day was so much fun meeting all of the different family members. It made me feel very welcome. Then today I started my internship at RJ Lee Group!! After filling out some paper work, I was thrown into working on one of the many projects I might be doing.  Today, I was working with vermiculite. Vermiculite is a natural mineral which expands when exposed to heat. It is used mainly in different types of insulation but also in fireproofing, in soils, and in brakes lining. We were heating the vermiculite to make it expand and test it for asbestos and to see how pure it was.  They day was going great until I fainted on the job due to dehydration and had to go to the hospital for fluids and blood work. Even though it was my first day everyone at work was super cool about it and I am fine. Cannot wait to return to work tomorrow!

~Monica

Getting ready...

Hello!

In the fall I interviewed for an internship with the RJ Lee Group. I found this internship through Juniata Career Service's Math and Science Career Day. After many month and a lot of follow up I was offered a position at RJ Lee to help working on a couple of different projects. My internship starts next Tuesday May 29th. I am super excited to being this summer but first I must move out to the greater Pittsburgh area. For the summer I am staying with Justin and Holly Reiter; Justin is an alumni of Juniata and has graciously offered me to stay with him and his wife this summer. I will start moving in with them this weekend. Currently, I am just trying to get everything in order before making the long drive out there.

~Monica