For budding young engineers who wish to do chemical engineering, the following are some of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

• History of Chemical Engineering

• What Chemical Engineers do?

• What are career opportunities?

History Of Chemical Engineering

Many age-old human activities such as brewing, soap making, and alchemy involved applications of chemical engineering; however, the systematic study of chemical engineering principles can be considered as a much more recent development. Modern chemical engineering came about at the same time as the Industrial Revolution that saw the rise of modern chemistry and industrial chemical processes after the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1887, George Davis from England gave and later published an important set of lectures on the operation of modern chemical plants of the day. He was later responsible for coining the term "chemical engineering". Following the developments in German universities, the first four year curriculum in chemical engineering was established at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Massachusetts) in 1888 and the first chemical engineering textbook was published in 1898.The combination of organic/physical chemistry and engineering  required to scientifically understand, design and operate industrial plants led to the identification of "unit operations" which are found to be in common in a large number of chemical processes. These include distillation, filtration, crystallization, and extraction. Thermodynamics and chemical kinetics later became incorporated in the field of chemical engineering, along with heat and mass transfer, fluid flow, and equipment design. In the 1950's, applied mathematics and computers became important tools for the analysis of chemical processes and phenomena. Since the 1970's, chemical engineering has become more interdisciplinary and encompasses areas such as biochemical and biomedical engineering, polymer engineering, environmental engineering, and interfacial engineering.  The availability of  faster computers have taken process control and simulation to another level of sophistication.  These days, chemical engineering ranges from optimizing traditional unit operations to "engineering" on the molecular level in areas as diverse as biosensors, chemical vapor deposition for computer chips, and liquid crystals. .

WHAT CHEMICAL ENGINEERS DO ?

Chemical engineers work in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, design and construction, pulp and paper, petrochemicals, food processing, specialty chemicals, microelectronics, electronic and advanced materials, polymers, business services, biotechnology, and environmental health and safety industries, among others. Within these industries, chemical engineers rely on their knowledge of mathematics and science—particularly chemistry— to overcome technical problems safely and economically. And, of course, they draw upon and apply their engineering knowledge to solve any technical challenges they encounter. Don't make the mistake of thinking that chemical engineers only “make things,” though. Their expertise is also applied in the areas of law, education, publishing, finance, and medicine, as well as in many other fields that require technical training. Specifically, chemical engineers improve food processing techniques, and methods of producing fertilizers, to increase the quantity and quality of available food. They also construct the synthetic fibers that make our clothes more comfortable and water resistant; they develop methods to mass-produce drugs, making them more affordable; and they create safer, more efficient methods of refining petroleum products, making energy and chemical sources more productive and cost effective. Chemical engineers also develop solutions to environmental problems, such as pollution control and remediation. Chemical engineers face many of the same challenges that other professionals face, and they meet these challenges by applying their technical knowledge, communication and teamwork skills; the most up-to-date practices available; and hard work. Benefits include financial reward, recognition within industry and society, and the gratification that comes from working with the processes of nature to meet the needs of society.

Career Opportunities

Chemical Engineers tend to work for large corporations with such job assignments as process engineering, design engineering, plant operation, research and development, sales and management. They work for smaller consulting firms, as well, particularly those addressing environmental problems. They are also employed by federal and state governments on environmental problems, defense, energy and health-related research projects. Other areas include food processing, pharmaceuticals, environmental process technology, coal preparation and mineral processing, explosives manufacturing, chemical process industries, steel and aluminum production. Specialty areas include energy, research and design, computer systems or software design, biomedical engineering and patent law.