<p>So just wondering, how's Chemical Engineering. I'm thinking about it for myself...</p>
<p>I am a ChE at NU. I find the major particularly interesting and challenging. While the course work may be tough, I have had an internship (lowest I have been paid was 18.20 an hour) each summer (including the one between frosh and sophomore year), while most of my friends have had a hard time getting a job at home depot.</p>
<p>Overall, it’s a very personal decision. I am very happy with mine. Try it out, take one fairly general course to get an idea about it, then go from there. I knew a few people who did it because they looked at the money chart and said “Well my school doesn’t have Petroleum Engineering (the highest paid major) so I guess I’ll just do this.” NEVER do that, I implore you. </p>
<p>If chemistry is your thing, and you’re good at math. I think ChE wouldn’t be a bad place for you.</p>
<p>Ya, I love chemistry and math… thanks MAjman</p>
<p>What companies did you intern at?</p>
<p>The main reason I’m avoiding ChemE is because I’m feeling iffy about the workplace environment…plants always seem like they’re in the middle of nowhere. Surely ChemEs don’t just put up with the hours of commuting?</p>
<p>I’d like to throw in a question about ChE too. I’m absolutely love Chemistry and its easily my best subject in highschool, yet Maths I’m not so good at compared to Chemistry and I don’t really enjoy it as much. Would I be suitable for ChE?</p>
<p>ChemE is applications of math, chemistry, and physics. If you can’t stand one that doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t enjoy the subject. However, you will have to take a good number of courses involving these subjects. So, it’s a matter of what you can stomach and pass.</p>
<p>ChemE’s don’t all work in the middle of nowhere. We can found all over and in many positions/companies. I worked for 7 years in the SF Bay Area (S. San Fran and Palo Alto), not exactly rural.</p>
<p>I’m a Che too. Where did you work Japher? Even I haven’t been paid that much for coops/internships, lol. Maybe you were working with a bigger company in a higher cost of living area, for my sake I hope j/k.</p>
<p>I loved chemistry in high school but chemical engineering is very different from chemistry in a lot of ways, though we do take many chemistry courses.
Honestly, I don’t intend on being an engineer for long. The reason I chose CHE was because I enjoyed chemistry, but when I got to college I learned that CHEs are some of the most highly sought after and highly compensated engineering majors. We can branch out into the biomedical field, pulp and paper field, health care, food, oil, energy, etc. I’ve actually interned at a pulp and paper mill and a biomedical/pharmaceutical company. Even with this recession putting all industries on the chopping block, I’ve had current and recent engineering graduates tell me that chemical engineers are the least worried of engineers. </p>
<p>As far as what it is - like Japher said we combine chemistry, physics, and math. We learn about separation techniques (distillation, absorption, adsorption, membranes), thermodynamics, kinetics, and a multitude of other topics that separate us from other majors. We even take a couple electrical engineering courses (as electives).</p>
<p>uaprophet; I have worked for Genentech and J&J (ALZA). Most recently I took a job with a midsize pharmaceutical company and was laid off after 1.5 years with them. They are still have financial issues and it’s tough to see my colleagues and managers who remain try to tough it out. I am now a technical and design consultant for a very small company to the biofuels industry. It’s a nice change of pace from a manufacturing setting, and is especially nice since I am going to school at night full-time to get my MBA and will be done in December. After which, who knows?</p>
<p>The nice thing about the ChemE degree is the versatility of industries, though you can niche yourself really quickly and this will actually help with your pay rate. The problem with any engineering degree is that unless you work for a consultant company you are a liability and can be quickly not needed. However, the good thing about being an engineer is that someone always needs you. So, while there may not be job security per se there is a good amount of career security.</p>
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<p>My mom is a chemical engineer and she has worked with a consulting firm which has an office near where they live. The only thing though is that she does travel to various sites where they are working on a project quiet often. Otherwise no long commute for her.</p>