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How to become a chemical engineer?

Updated on August 29, 2014

Requisite skills to become a chemical engineer

  • Excellent education background
  • Good mathematical acumen
  • Excellent technical expertise
  • Strong communication skills
  • Scientific aptitude

Who is a Chemical Engineer?

Chemical engineers make optimum use of math, physics and chemistry for solving practical problems. The main difference between chemical engineers and other types of engineers is that former make use of different knowledge and skills of chemistry along with other engineering disciplines.

What do Chemical Engineers do?

Are you in love with chemicals? Do you want to make your own contribution in preserving the Mother Nature by finding alternate sources of energy? If yes then chemical engineering is the area where you can unveil your potential and skills. Chemical engineering field excites those who love the idea of mixing different chemicals and solutions to come up with some unique formulas. However, people usually misconceive the work of a chemical engineer with that of a scientist but in reality, it is not the case. If we would say that chemical engineering is a part of almost every manufacturing stage then there would be no exaggeration. It means, chemical engineers are required not only in food processing and biotechnology sectors but they also receive overwhelming response from other industries also like environment, health, polymer, electronics, etc. If you want to make a promising career in any of these industry then chemical engineering is the right course for you.

Do you think chemical engineers can help in conserving nature?

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Scope of Chemical Engineering

This branch of engineering covers concepts varying from nanotechnology, biotechnology to minerals. Specialists are required to work for designing, implementation, maintenance of equipments, which play an essential part in manufacturing of chemical products. As the work involved is intricate and complex, therefore, industries only hire experts. Apart from playing a crucial role as researchers, these engineers are making their contribution in wastewater management and energy conservation processes. Chemical engineering is one such field that not only promises hefty salary packages but also plays a important role in conserving the world from global warming effects. I strongly believe that if chemical engineers find easy ways of producing solar & water energy to replace oil & fuel that we presently use for producing electricity, our Mother Nature would become happy and hale.

As per market research reports, around 40% of chemical engineering graduates prefer to work for large organizations, basically in below industries-

Chemical
Petrochemical
Paper and pulp
Pharmaceutical
Textile
Semiconductor
Electronics
Food
Manufacturing

What is the main difference between a scientist and chemical engineer?

There is no similarity between both of them. A scientist tries to find new information about the universe whereas engineers use that knowledge for solving real world problems.

Industries offering Chemical Engineering jobs

Chemical engineers are required almost in all industries but there is a great demand of such engineers in petrochemical industries, food processing and pharmaceuticals. Chemical engineers can easily find a job in other industries also where their contribution is inevitable. These include manufacturing, plastic & polymer, oil & natural, etc. There are abundant employment opportunities for chemical engineers in government sector also.The skills of these professionals are utilized in different fields and therefore, it would not be wrong to say that these engineers enjoy blooming career opportunities.


Companies offering Chemical Engineering jobs-

Reliance industries
ONGC
Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd
Bihar Drugs and Organic Chemical Ltd
Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd
Aditya Birla Chemicals
Larsen & Toubro
Orissa Drugs and Chemical Ltd
Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd

Prerequisites of a successful chemical engineer

  • Get yourself admitted to a college or institute that has an accredited chemical engineering course.
  • Join some liberal courses to get an idea of some of the important work of chemical engineers, like writing white paper, technical writing, etc.
  • Subscribe to some technical journals to stay updated on different applications of chemical engineering. Join some esteemed engineering groups in order to network in the industry.
  • Attending engineering course and seminar is a great way to get a knack of understanding of the sector. In this way, you can also stay current on prevailing trends.

Importance of a professional degree to become a Chemical Engineer

Chemical engineers apply theoretical knowledge of chemistry, math and physics in order to solve the real world problems. Most engineers work in private companies where they need to interact with fellow employees in order to develop products in a completely safe manner. As the work involved is quite intricate and complex, it becomes important to have basic understanding of the sector, which you can get through education only.

How to study Chemical Engineering?

As the chemical work is quite daunting and complex therefore, it is important to have good experience and professional degree. There are various colleges imparting chemical engineering in India & worldwide. Almost all colleges conduct entrance examination and to become eligible for these entrance exams, you should have completed your 10+2 examination with PCM (physics, chemistry and math).

It is imperative to get the complete information about the future prospects of the chemical engineering course. You even need to have information about those companies that are operating in this field along with cities that have maximum number of biotechnology and petroleum companies. Once you complete your research part, you can register yourself for course in reputable college.

Chemical Engineering colleges in India

Chemical engineers are experts in the field of complex experiments and reactions. There are various chemical engineering colleges in India and to get admission, it is important that a student should opt for science in plus two with physics, chemistry and math subjects. In current scenario, the scope of chemical engineering is vast and engineers of this field enjoy great demand in various industries, like oil, petroleum, gas, medicines, etc.

Top chemical engineering colleges in India are-

  • Indian Institute of Technology- In order to get admission in B.Tech in all seven branches of IIT, it is pertinent to clear the Joint Entrance Examination conducted by IIT. To seek admission in M.Tech, institute considers performance of a student in Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering.
  • Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences- Students are required to clear entrance examination, conducted by the institute. Post graduation admission based on online entrance test and interview.
  • Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology- The institute is offering engineering courses at under graduation, post graduation and research level.
  • Annamalai University- Admission based on results obtained in the entrance examination. Here research facilities are also available.

Learn Chemical Engineering online

In today’s technology driven era, it is possible to learn chemical engineering in a much efficient manner than few years ago. After the advent of internet, classroom has become boundary less and learning more fun. We have blogs, websites social media sites, like Facebook, Twitter, etc., where we can go to unveil some great aspects about this field of engineering. This is new and indeed an interesting way of learning, where education has crossed the boundaries of countries and we can easily communicate with the chemical engineer expert sitting in other continent!

There is no dearth of online engineering programs. An effective online education program can pave the way to a glorious career. An engineering field is quite challenging but it is highly prestigious and high paying. While an online course will lead you to a successful career, the course wants you to study plenty of course materials and papers.

Salary packages of Chemical Engineers

Chemical engineers get hefty salary packages. If you have good knowledge and professional degree then you will surely get a lucrative chemical engineering job. After gaining experience and knowledge, these professionals can move on to managerial levels also.

With the increasing growth, owing to the vast industrial expansion, chemical engineering is poised to be a fulfilling career choice. There is a great demand of chemcial engineers and it is an indication of the flourishing times ahead.

Importance of work experience

It is always advised to get some work experience either before you start studying chemical engineering or during your education also. By doing this, you'll get a better view of the sector and you will get a knack of understanding of all nitty-gritty things of the chemical engineering. It is not uncommon for student who leave a good impression during placement interviews to be offered a lucrative full-time employment opportunity upon completion of the course. Almost all leading colleges include a work placement as part of their chemical engineering course and those institutes that don't will assist students in finding a good position.

Engineering, an overview

Specialties of chemical engineering

After gaining education, many chemical engineers prefer to select a particular career path, formulate a viable area of expertise. Although, the education degree offers abundant opportunities, across diversified sectors, but some specific areas of specialty are detailed below-

  • Food engineering- As there is an increase in the world's population, researchers are searching for different ways of triggering the quality and life of different food products. It comes under the job profile of a food engineer to devise new strategies and plans for making crop disease-resistant.
  • Biotechnology engineering- This segment of engineering primarily focuses upon chemical processes which naturally take place in animals and plants. Many leading food companies are hiring chemical engineers for improving and augmenting the crop yields by discovering various safe pest control measures for farmers and sellers alike. Similarly, utility companies prefer to employ chemical engineers so that they can examine different ways of disposing waste effectively while ensuring that only clean drinking water is reaching to remote areas.
  • Petroleum and petrochemical engineering- As the petroleum is a limited natural resource, so chemical engineers try to explore some good ways of extracting oil and natural gas. Oil companies employ chemical engineers on their sites for improving their production yields. Moreover, it is the job of a chemical engineer to search some efficient ways of developing oil-based items.
  • Pharma sector- By closely working with medical researchers, chemical engineers design and operate different equipments that help in discovering various life-saving medicines.


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