“A normal day for a Chem E involves a lot of working, from studying to writing lab reports and doing problem sets,” said Ali Ahmed ’08.

Ahmed said his hardest class is CHEME 432: Chemical Engineering Lab, taught by Alfred Center, chemical and biomolecular engineering. Lab reports that are rumored to tally in at 25 pages make the class challenging, according to Ahmed.

A typical day for Matt Spencer ’08 is also busy: “I’m either working or having fun in Olin Hall,” Spencer said.

Spencer mixes his work with a strong shot of play. According to Spencer, some engineers participate in case races, a spin on a drinking game. There are two teams, and each team purchases two, three or four cases of beer. Whichever team chugs all the beer first wins the race.

“Chem Es do well in case races,” Spencer said.

Spencer said that case races are popular among students who have a major in engineering versus a major in the liberal arts or social sciences because “engineers work a lot on teams, so we become friends outside of class.”

“DotWs” are another chemical engineering socializing event, Spencer said. They’re basically parties — which sometimes have themes — hosted by chemical engineers.

Drawing on his experience in chemical engineering and having fun, Spencer suggested this hangover cure: “Down some Gatorade, take a multivitamin and two to three ibuprofen right when you wake up, and then eat two to three hours later. You’ll be all set to do some work.”