One of the highlights of our Chemical Laboratory program is our technical project in the last semester. Once a week for a full day the students work on a chemistry project of their own design or that given by a local company/organization.
Some students enjoy the idea of working with a local industry while others enjoy taking on independent projects of interest. For example this past semester one student successfully made and isolated the components in the biodiesel derived from palm kernel oil. A follow-up project is to synthesize the biodiesel from algae! Any way you look at it this is a real opportunity for the student to develop confidence in their own chemistry abilities. There is also a presentation that all the graduates give when they are done.