Help!!question about chemical engineering?

Question

i have asked a question about chemical engineering before, but i went and read more about it and read about the career options a chemical engineering graduate can have.I love chemistry and math and i can deal with physics, but from what i read on the job descriptions they all involve designing equipment, fixing equipment...etc I need to know, where's the chemistry in all this???

thanks for answering me, i really appreciate it. I've read about chemical engineers who work in the Pharmaceutical industry, what kind of work do they do exactly??

Answer 1

Hi. Chemical Engineering is a wonderful career, and if you're interested in chemistry and math, then you're thinking about the right area for you. Essentially everything you use, eat, travel with, etc., involves the use of chemicals. The chemical engineer understands the science of chemical reactions, and works to make something useful from that. So, for example, a major part of the computer industry is based on memory chips and logic chips. Makeing them is a high level chemical process (on an mico- or even nano-scale) involving chemical reactions, heat transfer (don't want things to fry), and mechanical processes to get the chemicals in the right place at the right time. Very sophisticated stuff. Areas where chemical engineers work include: combustion, energy utilization, alternate energy development (new fuels and ways to use them), agriculture (how to process agri-cheicals), pharmatcueticals (someone has to figure out how to make all that stuff! Paper production (big time), petrochemicals (the EXXONs and Shell Oil companies of the world are based on chemical engineering principles)... and on and on. I am a chemical engineering educator, and my students have gone on to really wonderful careers. You should contact a university in your area that has a chemical engineering department and start talking with the faculty there. Most of the larger state universities have chem e programs (particularly those that are called "land-grant", but that's another whole topic). U. Connecticut, U. Mass, Georgia Tech, U. Georgia, Kansas State and U. Kansas, U. Colorado and Colorado State, U. Montana, U. Washington, Washington State, U. Idaho, U. Utah, Utah State, dozens of universities in California (UCLA, Cal-Berkeley, Davis, etc.). MIT, Stanford, CalTech, Princeton, too! There is at least one chem e program in every state. The Bachelor's degree is the entry level for the field, but many students continue their education through the Masters level or PhD as well. Go for it!!

Answer 2

The chemistry comes into play by simply understanding the chemical process the equipment is designed for.

I interact with a Chemical Engineer often where I work. We have polymerization reactors that often need updating and fixing, but the majority of the engineer's job is to find ways to make these reactors more efficient.

He can do that by redesigning parts of the reactors or adjusting the standard operating proceedure in the use of this equipment to allow the chemical process to take place under optimal conditions, thereby reducing run time, eliminating waste and increasing productivity (hence profit margins). He cannot do this without understanding the chemical process itself.

Sometimes actual chemistry will come into play, but on a lesser stage. The engineer I work with will collaborate with the chemists up in the lab to get certain specs for the chemicals we have shipped in. By these spec numbers, the weights and formulas are sometimes slightly adjusted before the chemicals even go into the reactors. This is where the changes in the standard operating proceedures come in, often temporarily, though sometimes these changes are purely mechanical in nature and become permanant.

Answer 3

a chemical engineer is basically working in a chemical plant or selling about chemicals. it's nothing connection with these equipments which only involves in designer's job.