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I have a character who's the son of a family that is making lots of money in the Alberta tar sands. The dad's a CEO of one of the oil companies, or something like that. I want the son to go to school in some field of engineering with the plan that he'll join the family company, so I'm thinking chemical engineering? But then I want the son to rebel, a bit. I want him to use the chemical engineering education not to totally defy the family (like, I don't want him to do science that proves that the tar sands are killing the world), but to show that he's got his own values and he's going to do what he thinks is right. So I'm thinking some form of alternative energy work.
Can anyone help me:
A) confirm that chemical engineering makes sense, for someone who's planning to work for a Canadian oil company, or, in the alternative, suggest a different field;
B) suggest a good area for his post-independence to work to take place. Like, how would one most effectively use a degree in chemical engineering to promote environmentally-friendly energy;
and, C) a bit more obscure, but - during his little coming-of-age crisis, my character spends a bit of time working as a labourer in a horse barn. Upon discovery, I'd like him to jokingly claim that he was doing some sort of research, like - "I was investigating the methane production capacity of horses. Everyone thinks cows and pigs for methane, but, you know - horses shit, too." Would that even make sense? Or is there something else that springs to mind that he could jokingly claim to have been doing?
Thanks for any help. A focus on A) and B) is fine, but any ideas for C) would be great, too!
Can anyone help me:
A) confirm that chemical engineering makes sense, for someone who's planning to work for a Canadian oil company, or, in the alternative, suggest a different field;
B) suggest a good area for his post-independence to work to take place. Like, how would one most effectively use a degree in chemical engineering to promote environmentally-friendly energy;
and, C) a bit more obscure, but - during his little coming-of-age crisis, my character spends a bit of time working as a labourer in a horse barn. Upon discovery, I'd like him to jokingly claim that he was doing some sort of research, like - "I was investigating the methane production capacity of horses. Everyone thinks cows and pigs for methane, but, you know - horses shit, too." Would that even make sense? Or is there something else that springs to mind that he could jokingly claim to have been doing?
Thanks for any help. A focus on A) and B) is fine, but any ideas for C) would be great, too!