Chemical engineer
Chemical engineers are concerned with the analysis, development, design,
operation, and optimization of physical, chemical, and biological processes
and the pertinent technical equipment ranging from tiny micro reactors
to huge chemical plants. Chemical engineers staff many technical
positions in the nuclear, mineral and metallurgical industries. Other
employers of chemical engineers include pulp and paper mills, and manufacturers
of chemicals, fertilizers, foods, pharmaceutical products, paints, adhesives,
and plastics. Some chemical engineering accomplishments include work
in the growing fields of biotechnology, biomedicine, industrial hygiene,
hazardous waste treatment and electronic materials processing.
Chemical engineers take part in a wide range of activities as a result
of the broad base of their training. He or she may take part in project
engineering. Chemical engineers also engage in research and development.
Development consists of the collection of engineering data needed to design
and construct better equipment or to modify an entire plant.
A background in chemical engineering offers a number of career options.
Some chemical engineering graduates go on to medical, law, or business
school. If they do, they usually use their chemical engineering knowledge
to specialize in a particular area. For example, a chemical engineer
with a law degree might focus on patent or environmental law. Some
chemical engineers become astronauts, computer system designers, or brewers
of specialty beers. Most chemical engineers, however, work in:
research, design, development, production, technical sales, or management.
There are many universities in the United States where you could receive
a formal education with a background in chemical engineering. They
include: Arizona State University, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon
University, Drexel University, The Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Princeton
University, Purdue University, Rutgers University, University of California
- Berkeley, University of Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, University
of Texas - Austin, Vanderbilt University, Villanova University, Yale University,
and Youngstown State University.
The average starting salary for a chemical engineer with a Bachelor’s
degree is $43,000. The average starting salary for a chemical engineer
with a master’s degree is $48,500. The average starting salary for
a chemical engineer with a doctorate degree is $60.900. There are
many job openings in the field of chemical engineering. There is
an opening for a project engineer at a chemical manufacturing company in
central Michigan. The salary is between $50,000 and $60,000 plus
a bonus. There is also an opening at refinery in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
The salary is between $75,000 and $85,000.
The basic topics in an undergraduate chemical engineering curriculum
include: mathematics (12.5% of the total curriculum), basic sciences
(12.5-25% of the total curriculum), engineering fundamentals (12.5% of
the total curriculum), and chemical engineering (25% of the total curriculum).
The subtopics in mathematics include: calculus, linear algebra, differential
equations, numerical methods, and probability and statistics. Basic
sciences include: calculus-based physics, basic and advanced chemistry,
and microbiology and biochemistry. Engineering fundamentals include:
applied mechanics, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, engineering
materials, computers in engineering, basic electrical engineering, and
engineering economy. Chemical engineering includes material and energy
balances, chemical engineering thermodynamics, chemical reaction engineering,
separation processes, process dynamics and control, and chemical engineering
design. Other parts of the chemical engineering curriculum include:
humanities and social sciences, technical writing and communications, and
ethics in engineering and science.
Chemical engineers face many of the same challenges that other professionals
face, and they meet these challenges by applying their technical knowledge,
communication and teamwork skills, the most up-to-date practices available,
and hard work. Benefits that they receive include financial reward, recognition
within industry and society, and the gratification that comes from working
with the processes of nature to meet the needs of society.
Today there are around 70,000 practicing chemical engineers in the
United States. During the entire history of the profession there have been
only about 135,000 American chemical engineers (including those alive today).
This means that more than a half of all the American chemical engineers
who have ever existed are contributing to society right now! Chemical engineering
is not a profession that has to dwell on the achievements of the past for
comfort because its greatest accomplishments are yet to come.
