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Caption: SWE - Proceedings of the First International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists
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Contribution of Dr, Desiree S. LeBeau Director of Research, Midwest Rubber Reclaiming Company East St. Louis, Illinois As a kid, I had always had an interest in science in general and I liked to make all kinds of experiments, and mostly read books on general science, geology, biology, natural history, etc, I also had a considerable amount of talent in music, piano and voice, but hesitated to take this route because it might lead to teaching which I disliked. On the other hand I could not see myself spending year in year out in any office doing the same thing. Therefore, after graduation from a secondary school in Europe, which would put me at about the level of two years of college here and which is a very necessary springboard in Europe, I decided to study Pharmacy because it would have taken only three additional years of study. However, my mistake I attended the lab course for chemists rather than for pharmacists. This course is much more extensive than the one usually taken by pharmacists. In due course, the subject matter of chemistry became more interesting and I switched to It completely, taking my Ph.D. in physical chemistry. Jobs were scarce at that time. I also had a degree for teaching science, chemistry and mathematics in junior colleges, which I did for one year. After this year I found a job in the rubber industry and have been in the rubber industry ever since. The satisfaction in my work comes mainly from being able to design new materials, improve processes, and above everything learn to understand the underlying principles for each phenomenon with which I am dealing. This of course is an age of progress in chemical synthesis and particularly in polymers; therefore, the work is exciting and satisfying. VI-38
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