Chemical and Biological Engineering

I’m a senior thinking about going to a school with this major because the description says that it works with pharmaceuticals, tissue regeneration, and alternative energy. I’m interested in all of these and I feel like they are good fields for the future. However, it seems like it could be a broad, unspecific major that might not yield many job opportunities. Basically I just want to know if I major in this, what my chances are getting a good job. Also is the diverse course load easier or harder to handle. I like biology more than math but thats mostly because high school bio is way more interesting and hands on.

Depends on schools, these can be two different majors. In additional, there are often multiple focuses within each major that each student may pick from.

I think that some engineering schools will not allow some students to take chemE and BioE at the same time. E stands for engineering and two engineering programs are a no-no? And if you do take them, you will not be able to complete the programs in 4 years. Then again, check with the school about this as I am not a school/college administrator.

Contact the department at the school, or post to the board here of school that has the program you are considering. Find out the outcomes of grads of the program. Do most get a job, or move on to grad school? If most go directly into the workforce, find out what employers hire out of the program and what the jobs are.

Lafayette is an example school that had a similar program: Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. When we visited, one of the profs was doing research in biofuels, which makes sense as a cross-over between chemistry and biology. They seemed to have a solid foundation of companies that hired out of the program.

UIUC also has Chemical and Biomolecular eng.
Disagree with above that many schools offer dual major or dual degree in engineering. It is feasible to graduate within 4 years if you have AP credits. My D had considered dual major in ChemE and MSE which she can easily complete within 4 years or graduate with either one in 3-3.5 years.

The issue of dual degree or two majors or one major and one minor all have been discussed in here. And the consensus in here is that two majors or one major and one minor will not benefit to your career at all. Upon graduation, you only need one degree and one job. The employer or hiring manager will not look at your second degree at all. They only look at classes being taken, your credentials like research, co-op, GPA (the higher the better) etc. Therefore, why sweat for two majors or even one major and can not have any of those things. Better have one degree with great credentials and super duper amazing GPA.

People are thinking this I’m talking about a dual major, the major I’m talking about is at CU Boulder and is is called Chemical and Biological Engineering, its not a dual major. My chief concern is if it is just 2 majors watered down and mixed together or if it is actually just a very focused major for the jobs that I would like to do.

I know what you are talking about. There are not schools that offer a Chemical and biological engineering program as they are quite different. However, there are Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UIUC and dual program at UMich for instance. Each school may have different focuses in ChemE. In the school you mentioned, you are likely to pick a focus either closer to the Chemical side or biological side anyway.

Yes, this Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering is One Major not two. The biomolecular engineering is the sub-set for Chemical Engineering. So, we are talking about one major and not two.

The Chemical Engineering specialized curriculum provides two concentrations: Chemical Engineering and Biomolecular Engineering. Each concentration is based on a strong fundamental understanding of Chemical Engineering, however the Biomolecular concentration’s technical electives focus more on bio-applied processing and technology.

Areas of Concentration

•Chemical Engineering: The chemical engineering concentration is designed to prepare students for careers in the energy, chemical, food, energy, pharmaceutical, semiconductor processing, personal care, fiber and materials industries.

•Biomolecular Engineering: The Biomolecular Engineering concentration builds upon the traditional principles of chemical engineering, but specializes in biological and biotechnological systems in order to better prepare students who are interested in or seek employment in the food, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries.

However, I was talking about two majors in engineering, not one major. And some engineering schools (not all) will not permit to have two engineering degrees at all. For example, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering or Chemical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering or Aerospace Engineering and Civil Eng, etc. And if you insist in doing two majors at same time, you will go crazy to get high GPA and get the necessary credentials (co-op, research, internship, etc)

In the end, when you are looking for a job, the hiring manager will look at your GPA plus credentials and your competition GPA. If you have two degrees (two majors) and only get 3.1 or 3.2 GPA and no research, co-op because you don’t have time to do those things while your competitors have only one major with high GPA of 3.4 or 3.5 or 3.6 and stellar credentials (research, Co-Op, internship, etc). Who do you think will get the job ?

So, why do you need to sweat getting two majors and in the end you only have meager GPA for both and no time to do co-op, research, internship at all.

Your main question was about employment and it doesn’t seem to have been answered quite well.

Yes, there is good employment for chemical engineers, including on the biomedical side of it. One major fault in ChemE employment, however, is geographic concentration. Most ChemE work is geographically concentrated near large infrastructure, and biomedical work as well. You may have to move to Texas, Ohio, gas plants, etc., to have good work in the traditional chemical engineering sphere. Good jobs are available but I would not be honest if I didn’t say that the general decline of the manufacturing base of the US has hit chemical engineering as well.

A lot of the work that chemical engineers, among other people of any profession for that matter, are valued for is more incidental skills - physics, math, engineering in general, computation, and so on. You learn a lot of very valuable skills as a chemical engineer that have widespread applicability elsewhere and that are not easily obtained.

My overall recommendations: it’s a fine major, and you will be able to find employment if you do decently well. But be mindful of the economic conditions and be sure to direct your education accordingly. It’s not an easy economy out there.