Chemical Engineering Degree Holders

[Taejin]

?!?!

Just wondering what kind of odd jobs those with chemical engineering degrees can get. I know chemical engineers are typically involved in process engineering, but I'd like to hear more specifics if possible from actual chemical engineers. I'm also curious about less obvious jobs that chemical engineers hold (for example, I've heard that chem e's can go work for the FDA).

What are the limitations in terms of career advancement if you compare a BS, MS and a PhD?

Thanks =)

 

[Tiamat]

They can go work for DOE, as well as pharmaceutical industry.

MS is more of the same but higher rate of pay.

ph.D opens up the door for national lab stuff like Brookhaven.


Lots of material science type work, polymers, semiconductor industry, etc.

You can think of chemical engineers as bridging the gap between electrical engineering type jobs and bioengineering type jobs. With as little as a couple extra classes, you are pretty much ready to work in any of those fields.

 

[Phokus]

professional glue sniffers.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: Phokus
professional glue sniffers.

That would be the chemists. Chemical engineers ensure that the glue container outputs the appropriate amount of vapor for the desired effect.

 

[dullard]

I truely think that Chemical Engineers are the jack-of-all-trades of engineers. Who else takes as much math, physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering courses as their background? Then add on whatever specialty courses you choose (civil engineering, material science, biology, etc). Thus, the job opportunities are quite endless. I know many of my fellow graduates went on to consulting work doing a wide variety of jobs.

I (PhD in ChemE) work at a small biotech firm designing medical devices. Soon, I'll be working at a university doing mathematical modeling and additional design of such devices. My GF (BS in ChemE and MBA) does equipment validation for a large pharmaceutical company.

A BS in ChemE will get you a good paying job. But, many of those jobs are stuck doing shift work. Be prepared for your first couple of years doing the awful shifts (and often switching from shift to shift, never getting a good night sleep). With a BS you might also be able to go into management and avoid that hassle. Those that I know with an MS are often heading into management. The pay is a bit better with an MS, but really it is the better work atmosphere that is the benefit of the MS. With a PhD, you can add on research capabilities. But you might be cutting yourself off from the abundant standard ChemE jobs - they'd be beneath you and wouldn't pay what you expect.

 

[magomago]

Interesting..ChemE does EE classes? At UCI ChemEs don't take a single class dealing with electricity at all. My friends who all got jobs months before they graduated with 3.6+ GPAs couldn't solve a basic circuit to save their lives. Of course almost all of them are working as process engineers...

Actually I take that back - they take electromagnetic physics with the rest of the engineers their first year. But they don't even learn about all that cool optical stuff. Of course the huge lack of electricity and mechanics (they have a "relativel simpler" version of fluid mechanics - statics and dynamics are not courses they cover) is made up by taking a year of OChem, and a year of PChem, and then spending a quarter just to learn to use Provision

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: magomago
Interesting..ChemE does EE classes? At UCI ChemEs don't take a single class dealing with electricity at all. My friends who all got jobs months before they graduated with 3.6+ GPAs couldn't solve a basic circuit to save their lives. Of course almost all of them are working as process engineers...

EE was required at my university for a ChemE degree, and many people took more of it as their technical electives. With a lot of ChemE being involved with thin films (often for electrical purposes) EE is the perfect match. In the summer before my senior year, I did a project making tiny pressure sensors via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and analyzing the results of circuits made of those sensors. My EE knowledge was quite helpful.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: magomago
Interesting..ChemE does EE classes? At UCI ChemEs don't take a single class dealing with electricity at all. My friends who all got jobs months before they graduated with 3.6+ GPAs couldn't solve a basic circuit to save their lives. Of course almost all of them are working as process engineers...

EE was required at my university for a ChemE degree, and many people took more of it as their technical electives. With a lot of ChemE being involved with thin films (often for electrical purposes) EE is the perfect match.

yup, many universities are starting to offer guidance towards taking Bio classes or electrical classes. I went towards the mathematics route, which ended up helping me a bit in grad. due to the more complex math involved. In electrical engineering and chemical engineering, the problems are solved in a similar fashion. You just have to think through the problem and understand the information given to you, and how to manipulate it. That knowledge can be gained in either curriculum and is applicable to both fields. A degree in one + 2 courses in the other will be almost as good as a degree in each.

My grad work involves field emission through carbon nanotubes. Growth of the CNTs is chemical engineering. Understanding how they work and analyzing the performance is electrical engineering. Most research now relies on this duel-engineering knowledge.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: magomago
Interesting..ChemE does EE classes? At UCI ChemEs don't take a single class dealing with electricity at all. My friends who all got jobs months before they graduated with 3.6+ GPAs couldn't solve a basic circuit to save their lives. Of course almost all of them are working as process engineers...

Actually I take that back - they take electromagnetic physics with the rest of the engineers their first year. But they don't even learn about all that cool optical stuff. Of course the huge lack of electricity and mechanics (they have a "relativel simpler" version of fluid mechanics - statics and dynamics are not courses they cover) is made up by taking a year of OChem, and a year of PChem, and then spending a quarter just to learn to use Provision

I don't know but in Berkeley all engineers take circuits classes. There was the class for EE majors and then the ones for non EEs. All engineers have to take the same physics classes. To me it's more that EECS people lose out on a lot of the things the rest of the engineers do. For example their knowledge of materials and general engineering concepts like stress and strain are virtually nonexistent. They've never seen a binary phase diagram and I bet they can barely remember the phase diagram of water from chemistry. It's not that they NEED it, but the fact that the devices they work with have alloyed contacts and what not should mean they need to have some knowledge. EEs also lose out on solid state physics and quantum mechanics. The only language they can speak is voltage and current. When you ask about conduction and more microscopic things they are completely confused. It's like they live in a total different world. I can talk fine with the CEs, MEs, IEs, ChemEs as an Materials Science major. Sure a lot of things we take in the end are different, but at least they all understand a stress strain plot... and we all understand circuits at a basic level... not just RLC crap but some CMOS stuff too.

Anyways I agree that ChemE is the jack of all trades of engineering. I wish I doubled in that. Learning more about fabrication techniques, CVD, MBE, etc would've been cool.

Also, chemical engineers don't go into pharmaceuticals as much do they? That's all where the molecular bio and chemists go. You're an engineer. The bioengineering people probably have more knowledge about drugs than the ChemEs do. You know what they say about BioEs too. They're aiming at the medical devices industry, and those who don't make it go to a pharmaceutical company and get paid 30k/year as an RA. The same applies for ChemEs. I would think they're doing engineering stuff not the stuff that's done by the people from the college of letters & science.

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: magomago
Interesting..ChemE does EE classes? At UCI ChemEs don't take a single class dealing with electricity at all. My friends who all got jobs months before they graduated with 3.6+ GPAs couldn't solve a basic circuit to save their lives. Of course almost all of them are working as process engineers...

EE was required at my university for a ChemE degree, and many people took more of it as their technical electives. With a lot of ChemE being involved with thin films (often for electrical purposes) EE is the perfect match.

yup, many universities are starting to offer guidance towards taking Bio classes or electrical classes. I went towards the mathematics route, which ended up helping me a bit in grad. due to the more complex math involved. In electrical engineering and chemical engineering, the problems are solved in a similar fashion. You just have to think through the problem and understand the information given to you, and how to manipulate it. That knowledge can be gained in either curriculum and is applicable to both fields. A degree in one + 2 courses in the other will be almost as good as a degree in each.

My grad work involves field emission through carbon nanotubes. Growth of the CNTs is chemical engineering. Understanding how they work and analyzing the performance is electrical engineering. Most research now relies on this duel-engineering knowledge.

Interesting on how difficult colleges set up the curriculum I didn't realize that many ChemEs elsewhere did get a comprehensive overview with EE in it. I figured most of them followed the bread and butter of whatever ABET stated. I had the view that for most of what chemEs learned -only ChemEs learned. So you couldn't grab another guy to do distillation columns or complex chemical kinetics. I had a similar view with EEs - but to a much more extreme degree since they really lack (unless they take some kind of concentration in in a few key areas...here they just need a QUARTER of Chemistry, and completely miss ANYTHING related to mechanics. Of course - even a Mechanical Engineer could not substitute a EE for quite a bit of stuff.

I agree on that - the the two curriculum are more conceptually similar than it would lead one to think...I was contently reminded of my chemical processes class when I took circuits and it made my life easier. And I found the device physics a LOT easier than the rest of my peers because I already spent a quarter studying mass transport (focus on diffusion)...it almost felt like cheating Not that it was easy anyways, but I quickly realize that my fluid was a sea of electrons and I had to get a few more equations to compensate for the electronics...but in the end its still good ol Fick's Law

Interesting Of course my views are coming from an undergraduate program...I would hope once they get into grad school one has to diversify. And I hope it doesn't seem like I'm trying to pass judgment on either degree - I'm actually not a Chemical Engineer or a Electrical...so this is all my perception

Hopefully when I go to grad school after working for a few years I'll get to mix some different fields as well

 

[imported_hscorpio]

At my work (aerospace industry) there are people nicknamed 'dirt devils' that I was told have chemistry or chemical engineering backgrounds. Their official title is contamination control. They are the ones who say how clean a lab room is among other things. I think they make pretty good money.

 

[ebaycj]

I hear "LSD Cook" pays well....

 

[needalife]

i need a cook..

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: magomago
I had the view that for most of what chemEs learned -only ChemEs learned. So you couldn't grab another guy to do distillation columns or complex chemical kinetics.

Not so much really.

If you consider a BS degree, you might be somewhat correct. Although, any chemist also does most of the chemical kinetics and about half of the thermodynamics in their chemistry classes.

However, if you consider a MS degree (or beyond), then you really aren't correct. A lot of what a BS ChemE takes is thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid flow. What does an MS MechE take? Thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid flow. Once you hit graduate school, these two fields are virtually identical in what core classes someone in each will likely have taken. Sure, there is an odd course here or there that won't duplicate, but most of them will.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: magomago
I had the view that for most of what chemEs learned -only ChemEs learned. So you couldn't grab another guy to do distillation columns or complex chemical kinetics.

Not so much really.

If you consider a BS degree, you might be somewhat correct. Although, any chemist also does most of the chemical kinetics and about half of the thermodynamics in their chemistry classes.

However, if you consider a MS degree (or beyond), then you really aren't correct. A lot of what a BS ChemE takes is thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid flow. What does an MS MechE take? Thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid flow. Once you hit graduate school, these two fields are virtually identical in what core classes someone in each will likely have taken. Sure, there is an odd course here or there that won't duplicate, but most of them will.

yup! The underlying fundamentals in thermo, kinetics, transport, physics, chemistry apply across the whole spectrum of engineering. A ph.D in physics with very little guidance could easily do engineering type work. Then again, my opinion is that physicists are the most intelligent of the bunch.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: dullard
I truely think that Chemical Engineers are the jack-of-all-trades of engineers. Who else takes as much math, physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering courses as their background? Then add on whatever specialty courses you choose (civil engineering, material science, biology, etc). Thus, the job opportunities are quite endless. I know many of my fellow graduates went on to consulting work doing a wide variety of jobs.

I (PhD in ChemE) work at a small biotech firm designing medical devices. Soon, I'll be working at a university doing mathematical modeling and additional design of such devices. My GF (BS in ChemE and MBA) does equipment validation for a large pharmaceutical company.

A BS in ChemE will get you a good paying job. But, many of those jobs are stuck doing shift work. Be prepared for your first couple of years doing the awful shifts (and often switching from shift to shift, never getting a good night sleep). With a BS you might also be able to go into management and avoid that hassle. Those that I know with an MS are often heading into management. The pay is a bit better with an MS, but really it is the better work atmosphere that is the benefit of the MS. With a PhD, you can add on research capabilities. But you might be cutting yourself off from the abundant standard ChemE jobs - they'd be beneath you and wouldn't pay what you expect.

materials engineers > all

can't go too far if your product or its container breaks down due to material failure

materials engineers are very multidisciplinary oriented by default since they study a variety of topics across nearly *all* classes of materials

<---- materials engineer

 

[RU482]

My wife has a ChE BS degree. She has worked as a process engineer in pharma industry, and is currently an Environmental Health and Safety Engineer in the avionics electronics industry

 

[Taejin]

This has turned out to be really informative and interesting. redly1, how does your wife apply what she knows as a chemical engineer to environmental health and safety? I'm curious because it doesn't seem to be the same off the bat.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: Taejin
This has turned out to be really informative and interesting. redly1, how does your wife apply what she knows as a chemical engineer to environmental health and safety? I'm curious because it doesn't seem to be the same off the bat.

EH&S is the foundation of ethical and safe engineering. It requires great knowledge and understanding of the interactions of various chemicals and materials. Additionally, you need to understand how to solve a problem when non-compatible things do mix and cause an accident. Appropriate action can mean the difference between catastrophe and a tiny boo-boo. It takes quite a bit experience to be able to wrap your head around all the different pathways that reactions (of any type) can take.

In some cases, even a small amount of the wrong substance can cause a very terrible explosion. One example that comes to mind is Piranha solution (H2SO4 + H2O2 @ 120°C) which is used to clean off the organics that contaminate silicon wafers. This stuff is extreme. Say you accidentally dropped or sprayed some acetone or isopropyl alcohol into the Piranha solution (acetone and isopronyl alcohol are commonly used to remove natural hand/finger oils from silicon wafers) you would be met with a violent explosion that could wipe out the entire hood and most likely leave the operator in critical condition or dead.

A normal engineer wouldn't think much of that as Piranha and acetone are common chemicals used to clean silicon wafers. This is where eh&s comes into play. They inspect and make sure that (for example) wet-bench hoods are setup properly such that the chemicals are separated and that minimal to no accidents will occur.