Chemical Engineering: Career Opportunities and Job Prospects

[punjabi_monster]

hey,
im thinking of going into chemical engineering next year at university, and was wondering about the career opportunities available. Is it easy to get a job with a degree in this field? thanks

 

[Astronuc]

The answer regarding employment will depend upon where in the world you live and the branch of chemistry you pursue. Chemical engineers seem to be in demand in the pharmaceutical industry.

In the US, chemical engineers held about 33,000 jobs in 2002. Manufacturing industries employed 55 percent of all chemical engineers, primarily in the chemicals, electronics, petroleum refining, paper, and related industries. Most others worked for professional, scientific, or technical services firms that design chemical plants or perform research and development or other services, mainly for chemical companies.

Here is what the American Institue of Chemical Engineers mentions about chemical engineers - http://www.aiche.org/spins/careers/index.htm

The employment outlook in the US is found at -http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos029.htm

Besides the pharmaceutical industry, environmental remediation may be a growth area.

 

[tatiana]

I remeber reading somewhere the chemical engineers also work with gases and oil would that tie into the enviornmental groth area of chemical engineering?

Also, what kinds of jobs do CE's do inthe pharmacutical indistry beacuse if that was the case then wouldn't you just become a pharmacist?

 

[NanjoeBot]

I remeber reading somewhere the chemical engineers also work with gases and oil would that tie into the enviornmental groth area of chemical engineering?

Also, what kinds of jobs do CE's do inthe pharmacutical indistry beacuse if that was the case then wouldn't you just become a pharmacist?

In the pharmaceutical industry chemE's work on facility design, process design, "scale up" and mass production of a product. Those are the more traditional chemE jobs, but they also preform research to discover new drugs, improve existing drugs, and drug delivery methods.