Outline the role of a chemist?

Question

What are some roles of chemists in general industries?

Answer 1

Chemists do a variety of jobs for industry. Most use electronic instruments far more than the traditional test tubes and beakers.

They do analyses of materials. For the pharmaceutical industry, this may be to confirm the purity of the drug they are manufacturing. There may be residual materials from the beginning reagents used to make the drug, or the a different compound may have formed than the one needed. Both could be very bad if you were the patient taking the drug.

Of course some chemists (synthetic chemists) figured out the reactions needed to make that drug to begin with.

Even the coffee industry uses analytical chemists to establish the quality of coffee beans being sold (See link below for an interesting article)

For the steel industry, they can confirm the content of materials in the steel. The addition of trace amounts of carbon (C) or sulfur (S) can have dramatic effects on steel's hardness or strength. This is vitally important for construction and manufacturing.

Other chemists may be working with catalysts...those are materials and/or systems that improve the reactions needed to make materials. You may want to form gasoline from heavier hydrocarbons...or lighter hydrocarbons. It doesn't make much sense to use alot of energy to do this, since you want the gasoline for energy. So, catalysts can improve the production in such circumstances, reducing the cost, in dollars, time and energy.

These are just a few examples of chemists in industry.

Answer 2

I am a chemist in the metal finishing industry. I have a variety of roles because I work for a small company. I formulate products like cleaners, treatments, rust preventatives. I also try to fix problems with products, both in house and at the customer. Accelerated corrosion testing is another part of my work..

Answer 3

I'm a chemist, and I do industrial pharmaceutical manufacturing. That includes (but not limited to): preparation of buffers, analysis of chemical products, and purification techniques.