Inside Look - Chemical Engineering

          My journey to chemical engineering began in high school. I’ve always found math and science interesting and easy to learn. I specifically chose chemical engineering during my two internships in high school at a small industrial gas company that specialized in air separation.  During that time, I was able to work with engineers of varying disciplines – chemical, electrical, civil, and mechanical.  After working on projects with these engineers and learning about their specializations, I found at least one thing I did not like about each of the disciplines – except for chemical engineering – and thus my journey began.

            Chemical engineering has a lot to offer, as it’s one of the broadest disciplines of engineering in terms of applications.  They typically work to maintain, improve, or modify chemical processes in manufacturing plants, but this is just one of nearly infinite career paths available to those in the field.  Chemical engineers can be found as project managers, executives at major corporations, environmental specialists, lawyers, doctors, and in many other roles in the workforce.  Some of the industries most typical for chemical engineers include petrochemicals, food, pharmaceuticals, and consumer products. This is my favorite part about chemical engineering as a major – there is no limit to what you can do and achieve with this degree.   

     

Most of the courses you will take during your time at Purdue are heavy in math and science, often in industry you do not work to solve complex thermodynamics, mass transfer, or fluid mechanics problems.  This is not to say that knowing these principles won't be important, as they are certainly involved in many of the problems chemical engineers solve. However, the value I see in a chemical engineering degree isn’t really confined to aptitude in these areas.  The most valuable aspect offered by a chemical engineering degree is the problem-solving mentality you learn during your courses. 

            I personally plan to pursue a career in industry immediately following graduation in one of the more typical chemical engineering roles I briefly described earlier. I am not sure I’ll stay in roles similar to this as my career progresses. I’m excited to learn more and more as I progress through the workforce. I hope to advance through the ranks of industry utilizing both the technical as well as soft skills I will have learned by the time I graduate in May.  If one thing is for sure, it is that my Purdue Chemical Engineering degree will have prepared me well for success in my career, and that I am confident in my ability to do great things in the future.

Boiler Up!

-Mike Greene