<p>I'm going to be a second year chemical engineering student this fall at the university of michigan. I'm given a choice of which concentration I would like to pursue, and I was wondering what the most practical and employable one would be. These concentrations consist of 12-14 credits in another specialty. The ones that are offered are</p>
<p>Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Materials Science and Engineering
Life Sciences
Environmental Engineering</p>
<p>It is hard to really say. My experience with these electives are that they appear as "Minors" and it will still be your ChemE major that will get you hired.</p>
<p>I would start by getting out of chemical engineering ASAP and switch to ME or EE. There is very little a ChE can do that cannot be done by an ME. </p>
<p>What type of ChE do you want to do? When was the last time anyone built a major chemical plant/refinery of any magnitude? Most jobs are going offshore. In Canada, plants are being closed. You will have more choice with ME/EE.</p>
<p>toronto, just because you had a bad experience doesn't mean the field is worthless. The last 3 or 4 engineering threads I have read you are in there trashing the field. I hope these folks are smart enough to see through one persons disgruntled view. Just because it didn't work for you doesn't mean it won't for others.</p>
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What type of ChE do you want to do? When was the last time anyone built a major chemical plant/refinery of any magnitude? Most jobs are going offshore
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<p>I would like to see some evidence that chemical engineering jobs are going offshore. If any engineering jobs are going offshore, they are the ME and (especially) EE jobs.</p>
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You have a point. I wish you good luck in the field and a prosperous career. Hope you have alot of job offers to 'distill' when you graduate.
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<p>Chemical engineering grads' average offers rose 6.2 percent to $63,749....Civil engineering grads experienced a 4.8 percent rise to $49,427; 3.5 percent for electrical engineering majors at $56,512; and mechanical engineering grads saw the smallest increase of 3.4 percent, bringing their average offers up to $56,429.</p>
<p>In addition to tradition chemical engineering fields, nanotech, biotech, biomedical, materials, and the environmental fields are all industries that heavily recruit chemical engineers. Of course they recruit other engineering fields too, but I think chemical engineers definitely have the edge especially become of the demand/availability ratio.</p>
<p>True, no new production facilities are being produced because of cost, regulation and what not. However, old production facilities are constantly being upgraded. The job market for a chemical engineer is good from my point of view, this can be anecdotal. </p>
<p>As for the major itself, chemical engineering is not for everybody.</p>
<p>Do you have a specific field that you are interested in? I don't really think the job market will shift dramatically if you had one "speciality" versus the other.</p>