<p>I've heard this a few times, and it's somewhat worrisome. I have enjoyed high school and AP chemistry and will be taking organic chemistry next fall. I am currently an undeclared engineering freshman, but I'm pretty sure I'd like to do chemE.</p>
<p>Why do people say there's no chemistry in chemE?</p>
<p>You do learn chemistry. I have a friend who’s a ChemE major and he did general chemistry and right now he’s doing organic chemistry. So you definitely do it.</p>
<p>But chemical engineering is more about designing and manipulating chemical processes rather than chemistry.</p>
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<p>I think what they mean is that there isn’t as much chemistry in ChemE as people expect.</p>
<p>You shouldn’t be worry about it. There is plenty to learn and if you want to explore, then go to an university’ website and check out Chemical E curriculum. If that curriculum seems easy to you, then maybe you should consider just majoring in Chemistry instead?</p>
<p>wow taking organic chemistry as a freshman is impressive, good luck.</p>
<p>yg7s7: hehe, I’m actually taking it as a sophomore; I could have taken it as a freshman, but I wasn’t aware that I could until a month into the semester. (I’m a freshman right now.)</p>
<p>khoiey: oh, by no means does the chemE curriculum look easy! I was just hoping it contained more chemistry than I was led to believe it contained.</p>
<p>how much math is involved in chem E? I heard its very little compared to the other disciplines.</p>
<p>Im a ChemE, and I have to take up to Diff Eqs plus one technical math elective (Linear Algebra, complex variables, ect.) and as far as Chemistry I have 9 quarters of chem (general, organic, and physical)</p>
<p>Well from what I heard from other threads around this forum, it seems like the knowledge of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry have little to no importance for a chemical engineer’s career. Organic chemistry essentially works like a filter class. I think thermodynamics aspects you learn in chemistry is more important (namely physical chemistry).</p>
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<p>As someone with multiple types of engineering degrees: who ever told you that knows very little about chemical engineering.</p>
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<p>True, but it depends on your concentration / what you do after graduation. Someone that studies Catalysis will need much more chemistry than someone that that performs improvement or separations in a field with a well established process (e.g. oil and gas).</p>
<p>In college, most ChE students do get a good bit of chemistry, though. Typically two semesters of inorganic chemistry, two semesters of organic chemistry, two semesters of thermo, and one semester of quantum chemistry. Some programs also require additional courses (instrumental analysis and synth lab, for example). </p>
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<p>That may be a saying at your school for some reason. No one said that when I was in school. The ChE curriculum was only three classes short of the Chem curriculum (it was so easy to earn the double major as a ChE that the school had to explicitly forbid it). </p>
<p>After graduation, your use of chemistry will depend on your field (as I mentioned).</p>
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<p>At Exxon, sure. That’s because the chemical phenomenon of the oil refining process and basic chemical processes are well known. You just read it in a book. Even then, though, those classes will be useful in allowing you to understand what’s in the book. If you’re scaling up a laboratory process at a pharmaceutical company, on the other hand, those subjects will be extremely useful.</p>
<p>At an undergrad level, you learn a little bit about everything to cover the entire field. In practice, some chemical engineers use catalysis and reactor design, and some don’t. Some use fractional distillation columns, and some don’t. Some use mass transport, and some don’t. Be careful about drawing an incorrect conclusion about a field, school, industry, or…well… anything in life by listening to a small sample size.</p>
<p>One thing you should understand about chem Eng. It is not pretty. It’s probably not what your picturing in you head right now. </p>
<p>maybe your thinking you’ll be designing the next generation of batteries or coming up with a cure for somehting. This is chemistry not Chem. E. </p>
<p>the largest employers of Chem E’s are food/product manufactuing plants that stank…Or you can sell out and go to work for a fertilizer or petrol company which is glorious in a lucrative sense : ) </p>
<p>That being said, there are many opportunities for Chem E’s, and the picture I am presenting is misleading, but I’m offering the opposite perspective so you will have a more accurate image of Chem E. overall</p>
<p>Note: an eqv. name for a chem E. is actually a “process engineer”</p>
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<p>At Iowa State, it is. The primary field for Iowa and Iowa State ChE’s are the chemical manufacturing plants along Northern Border and TransCanadian Pipelines. Similarly, graduates from UT and Texas A&M work in chemical manufacturing along the Houston Ship Channel and gulf coast. But again, this is a case of trying to generalize a small sample size.</p>
<p>I’m considering double majoring in chemistry and chemE. (at my school (Rutgers), the curriculum doesn’t overlap to such a degree that it is forbidden.)</p>
<p>Yeah, I don’t really know what to make of engineering, very honestly. Everyone says different things and it seems like there is so much you can do that it just impossible to define even what a specific discipline actually does.</p>
<p>Just by coming on to CC and asking questions shows you’ll be happy with the choices you make in the future. It’s not imperative to understand everything, only to 1.work hard and 2.ask questions along the way</p>
<p>I want to reaffirm, my message before is misleading. Chem E’s do so many things glamorous and appealing…I just wanted to throw a reality check your way…like not everyone works on designing nascar’s and bmw m3’s, lol.</p>