I know the basic “make chemicals on a large scale” part, but what are you actually doing? Are you essentially doing chemistry equations all day? Or is it different than that? (Sorry if this question has been asked before, I’m new to this site)
Good question. Bookmarking to remind me to check out the answers you get.
Following. Have heard that ChemE’s do lots of math, but hoping some will comment.
My D is a chemical engineer and she is working on a biomass reactor.
For most “traditional” process engineering roles in chemical plants, you work on a production line to troubleshoot any problems on your line, upgrade valves, piping, or other instrumentation, update P&ID diagrams, install new equipment such as reactors or pumps, etc. In the words of a former professor, you’re a glorified plumber. However, you can also work in quality, safety & environmental, a good share of materials roles (petroleum, polymers, composites, etc), biotechnology/medical device companies, etc. There really isn’t one thing that chemical engineers do, since they can go into a very broad range of fields.
Without a PhD (I’m sure there are exceptions), you will not be designing a whole process. You certainly won’t be working with or developing chemical equations - I’d be shocked to see a large company that hires anyone other than a PhD chemist to design the chemical synthesis of a product. Of course, small companies can be drastically different. I work for a large company, and almost everyone who develops products or designs processes has a doctorate. The senior level quality engineers are split between MS and PhD.
Bookmarked. I am considering a major in chemical engineering and I would really like to hear more.
I graduated with a chemical engineering degree. I worked on the production line for 9 months as a production assistant before becoming a process control/automation engineer. My days to days basics are doing process improvements and having both chemical engineering background and process control/automation knowledge surely help me a long way on my job. Doing automation is not a typical chemical engineering career path from what I heard. However I can always go back to the traditional engineering career path.
Did anyone use math, biology. chemisty, or physics they learned in school on the Job? Some Engineers admit they never use calculus or the math they learned in school.
@SuperGeo5999 In my internship this summer (manufacturing) it’s been mostly statistics / data analysis. I can imagine stuff like R&D or design work being more mathy, though.