<p>I am currently a Chemical Engineering major. I am thinking about going into the pharmaceutical industry in order to develop and produce medicine. In order to build my knowledge up for this industry I was thinking on getting my specialization in biochemical. Maybe one day I will get a pHD and actually do research for new drugs perhaps. I am interested in genetic engineering, gene therapy and tissue engineering in case I change my mind about pharmaceuticals. </p>
<p>Is it worth it to get a specialization? I heard that it does not make me as versatile and limits my expertise to only one specific field. The thing is I need about 22 technical units to graduate (with classes usually ranging from 3-4). So I will roughly need about 5-6 technical units classes. For this specialization I will need 12 units (or 3 classes) of my technical electives to be geared towards biochemical. Is this worth it? Maybe I can take extra class on top of these </p>
<p>For this Biochemical specialization I need one set of classes with 2 other classes that has different options. </p>
<p>Which 2 classes (8 units together) seems the most ideal for my interest?</p>
<p>CBEMS 124
An introduction to transport phenomena in cellular and whole organ
systems. Application of transport theory including advection and diffusion to
the movement of molecules in biological systems, including the
cardiovascular system (heart and microcirculation), and the lung.
CBEMS 132
Recovery and purification of biologically produced proteins and chemicals. Basic principles and engineering design of various separation processes including
chromatography, electrophoresis, extraction, crystallization, and membrane
separation.
CBEMS199
For undergraduate Engineering majors in supervised but independent readings, research,
or design.
Bio 98
Biochemistry
Bio 99
Molecular Biology
Bio M128
Genetic Engineering</p>
<p>Problem is the 3 different biology classes have prerequisites that I have no taken (3 additional classes in order to take 98)</p>
<p>I got confused in what you were trying to say but I will try my best to answer your questions.</p>
<p>Yes, I would definitely try for a biochem specialization if you want to go into pharmaceuticals. A vanilla chemical engineering degree will not make you competitive for the job you want, especially with other colleges who have a biochemical track in chemical engineering. You mentioned that you need 5-6 more classes and to get a bio concentration its only requires 3. You would be left over with 2-3 more classes to take and you can show that you are diverse by taking tech classes unrelated to biochemical.</p>
<p>I would go with CBEMS 124 and 132. You dont need any more prerequisites to take these so you have more options with your other technical electives. The only reason you would take the other bio classes is if you want to go straight to grad school (Doing so will give you some fundementals as well as prepare you for the MCAT). I take it you want to work in the industry for a while and the bio classes will wont be as much help because you will be primarily used for the production of pharmaceuticals. CBEMS 132 will help you ALOT with this part. CBMES 199 looks great on your resume for grad school to show that you have done some research before.</p>
<p>So the bio classes aren’t as necessary? I want to go to grad school after college but I will have to see how the finances go for that. I might have to work for some years before going back. Even If I don’t go right away why won’t I need those classes? Will I learn the material in the job? </p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. It has helped a lot.</p>
<p>In the given time frame you will not need it. As a chemical engineer you are expected to have a broad knowledge of process technologies which is different from bio knowledge. The chances of your employer asking you to figure out what why this protein is very flammable is none. They usually have biochemists or organic chemists, people with masters and phd working on that issue. What you will be doing is figuring out why this organic substance isn’t flowing through this pipe smoothly or like why there are some organic impurity in a processing line, another example is figuring out why protein X isn’t separating from protein Y.</p>
<p>Basically what im trying to say is that the technology is already developed, you don’t need to figure out the formula to make the end product. It is your job to figure out how to maximize production, efficiently and troubleshoot any problems. And you will learn a lot on the job, for instance im working at a polymer plant. I have never taken a polymers class, but I’ve learned quite a lot such as how they take polyethylene and turn it to a strong fiber. I don’t know the exact specifics, but I know enough to do the job.</p>
<p>Key word is as necessary, I’m not quite exactly sure what they teach in grad school but I am confident they teach you what you need to know. I heard of people who have business/philosophy undergrad and go on to med school to become doctors. You will need some background knowledge probably up to biochem. This does not mean that you need to take a class in it, but rather you should know it. So a study guide should work but obviously taking the class would be better. Naturally if you are not going to grad school for your undergraduate major you might be missing out on some prereqs. </p>
<p>This is taken from the Cornell</p>
<p>Requirements for Biochemistry, Molecular & Cell Biology (I chopped out some other reqs. such as letter of recommendations etc…)
-GRE general test
-GRE subject test in either Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, Biology, or Chemistry is recommended, but not required</p>
<p>Chemistry and Chemical Biology
-GRE general test
-GRE subject test in chemistry</p>
<p>So as you can see, you don’t necessarily need to take the class, but you will be tested on that knowledge. But if you are really set on going for grad school in hopes of coming up with a new drug or something, biochemistry is your route and you should take classes in biochem.</p>
<p>So should I assume that if I want to do research in pharmaceuticals and drugs that a grad program in chemical engineering will teach me the things I need to know? What confuses me the most is that for Biomedical engineering, Biological engineering, chemical engineering, chemistry, biochemistry, etc it says such industries to go into with these are pharmaceuticals. Yet all these majors are not the same. So is pharmaceuticals so broad that many did individuals with different majors can do the same job? This is what worries me the most. Either way I should learn about biology one way or the other but I just have to figure out how and how much. I will probably take several biology courses once I have things figured out. </p>
<p>Thank you Moonboy for all the advice you have given so far.</p>