Chemistry vs. Chemical Engineering

[iridethewave]

<p>Hello all</p>

<p>I will be matriculating as a freshman at UF this fall. I have a deep interest in math and science and I believe I also have a talent for these subjects as evidenced by the regional awards I've won for them (Texas UIL and misc. competitions), of course, this is only a loose opinion. The idea of research excites me to a high degree. I absolutely love scientific problem solving. Being able to probe the intricate details of the nature of matter's varied interactions would be a dream career for me. Because of these aspirations I plan on majoring in Chemistry and pursuing doctoral studies immediately after my undergraduate years. I already have research groups lined up to join upon my entry into UF this fall and I hope to get an article published during my freshman year. However, I do have one stumbling block. My family usually questions the validity of my plans, and my father only trusts engineering as a valid college degree. Every other degree he considers "fluff". Would my interests be best served as a Chemical engineer? Would there be any way to have a career "investigating" the inherent nature of matter and energy as a chemical engineer, even in academia?</p>

[InPursuit]

<p>Engineering and science, although related look at problems very differently. Engineers are not studying the “inherent nature of matter and energy” unless it is directly related to some practical problem, and that would only be in academia, requiring a Ph.D. and if you enjoy chemistry and are willing to pursue it to the Ph.D. level this is irrelevant. In other words, you are much more likely to be ““investigating” the inherent nature of matter and energy” in chemistry and you would only get to do this as an engineer in select academic settings requiring a Ph.D. so why waste your time in a field you don’t enjoy as much?</p>

<p>As a ChemE major he would be taking numerous courses that probably don’t interest you at all such as Statics, Dyanamics, Thermo, etc… Chemical engineering jobs in industry at the BS level have nothing to do with your interests, unless you like designing processes to economically produce massive amounts of chemicals and the like…</p>

<p>Chemistry is certainly not a fluff degree. Has your dad even taken upper level chemistry classes?</p>

<p>You said “I absolutely love scientific problem solving. Being able to probe the intricate details of the nature of matter’s varied interactions would be a dream career for me. Because of these aspirations I plan on majoring in Chemistry and pursuing doctoral studies immediately after my undergraduate years. I already have research groups lined up to join upon my entry into UF this fall and I hope to get an article published during my freshman year.” </p>

<p>That sounds like you’re more fit for chemistry to me and you are already involved in research and planning on doctoral studies so ChemE would simply waste your time with classes that are completely irrelevant to your aspirations.</p>

<p>Of course, you should be open to all options when you enter college. Don’t lock yourself into any field just because of what you currently think. You’ll be exposed to lots of new career possibilities in college that you may decide you enjoy even more.</p>

<p>And if your dad forces you to do ChemE or Materials Engineering you can still get to where you want to go, but you will have to take some classes that will likely seem pointless to you.(see below)</p>

<p>

Scientists tend to explore the natural world and discover new knowledge about the universe and how it works. Engineers apply that knowledge to solve practical problems, often with an eye toward optimizing cost, efficiency, or some other parameters.</p>

<p>There is considerable overlap between science and engineering, so you will find scientists who design and construct equipment and engineers who make important scientific discoveries. Information theory was founded by Claude Shannon, a theoretical engineer. Peter Debye won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with a degree in electrical engineering and a doctorate in physics.

</p>

<p>The biggest difference is in your upper level undergraduate classes. Based on your descriptions chemistry is a better fit.</p>

<p>A professor at Cooper Union had the following to say to a similar question:

I am a chemistry professor at the Cooper Union in NYC,
and we offer degrees in chemical engineering and not chemistry.
Which one you choose (chemistry vs chem e) depends on
several factors. First, are you very strong in math? Chem eng.
requires more advanced training in mathematics than chemistry.
Second, are you more interested in the idea of making factories
work more efficiently, or in developing reactions or catalysts
in a laboratory? Are you more interested in designing things
(engineers do a lot of designing) or doing research (chemists
tend to do a lot of research).</p>

<p>Most of all you should decide what you’re most interested in
and study that. Try and talk to a chemical engineer and find
out what he/she does on a day-to-day basis. Do the same with
a chemist.</p>

<p>As far as “advantages/disadvantages” goes that depends entirely
on your point of view. Ask a chemist what the advantage is
of being achemical engineer and he’ll say “more money.” Ask
him what the disadvantage is and he’ll say “tedious and boring work;
no creative control.” The engineer would say that chemists have the
disadvantage of not being able to directly apply their knowldege to
real-world problems, but the advantage of being able to deeply study
something just because it’s interesting. - dr topper

</p>

<p>I hope that helps.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

[Japher]

<p>InPursuit gave a good summary. I would second that it doesn’t sound like ChemE would be a good fit, it’s more how to make stuff not really how the stuff is made. If that makes sense. However, I think you have other options besides chemistry and think material science and engineering might still be a good fit. People who pursue higher than a BS in ChemE eventually get to work on what the OP was suggesting.</p>