CAREER PROSPECT

What are the job opportunities for Chemical Engineers?

As a Chemical Engineer, you make or improve products used in our daily lives.

Your Chemical Engineering major can also be useful in areas like law, education, publishing, finance and medicine

Representative Job Titles and Area of Specialization

  • Process Design Engineer

  • Environmental Engineer

  • Plant Process Engineer

  • Process Safety Engineer

  • Technical Sales Person

  • Environmental waste management

  • Chemical Plant Technical Director*

  • Petroleum Engineer

  • Project Engineer

  • Product Engineer

  • Process Safety Engineer

  • Operations/production

  • Material Engineer

  • Chemical Engineer

  • Technician

  • Regulatory Affairs Engineer

  • Professor/Teacher*

  • See Training section

Places of Employment

  • Manufacturing

  • Design and construction

  • Biotechnology firms

  • Petrochemicals

  • Environmental health and safety industries

  • Electronics

  • Advanced materials

  • Agricultural industry

  • Plastics industry

  • Pharmaceutical companies

  • Industrial supplies industry

  • Cosmetic companies

  • Universities and colleges

  • Local/state government

  • Research institutions

  • Food and beverage processing industries

Nature of the Work

Chemical Engineers find efficient, economical and effective ways of solving problems. As a Chemical Engineering major, you might be involved in improving food processing techniques, making synthetic fibres for clothes, developing methods to produce drugs or controlling environmental problems. Job descriptions of many of the job titles listed above may be found on www.aiche.org

Training

Many positions in Chemical Engineering may be obtained with a bachelor's degree, depending on the type of coursework you completed and experience you gained as an undergrad.

Some positions in research and management require a master's degree.

If you are considering a career in teaching and research at the university level, you will need a Ph.D.

Lifelong Learning