6 Diverse Career Paths in Chemical Engineering

Now that you've earned your degree in chemical engineering, you may be wondering how to put that degree to good use. You have a wide range of options available to you. There are traditional career paths such as process development and research in the pharmaceutical, oil and gas, or specialty chemicals industry. There are also non-traditional paths for those who wish to combine their technical knowledge with entrepreneurship.

Whichever path you choose, you can earn nearly $100,000 per year. Employment growth over the next decade or so is projected at approximately 8%, a little better than average. However, the very fact that there are so many options available can be bewildering in itself. Take a deep breath and calm yourself as you consider the following options.

1. Engineer

Even if your concentration was in chemistry, the engineering skills and concepts that you learned to earn your degree are applicable to other areas. Perhaps you could oversee crane service Sioux Falls SD, which is crucial to many other industries, such as power generation.

2. Environmental Engineer

Human activities have caused significant harm to the environment. There is a need for people with a knowledge of chemical engineering to mitigate existing hazards and minimize future ones. You may be able to design a car engine that manages air and fuel more efficiently, reducing carbon emissions. As another example, you may be able to devise more effective methods of waste treatment and management.

3. Chemical Manufacturing Plant Operator

Your degree in chemical engineering may equip you to run a plant where the manufacture of chemical products takes place. Examples of products include pesticides, paints, and soaps. As a manufacturing plant operator, you are responsible for the safety of the plant, the efficiency of the process, and the quality of the finished product. You have to inspect and run tests on the equipment to make sure it is up to established standards. You also have to instruct the personnel how to use it safely and correctly.

Bear in mind that you may not qualify for a job as a chemical plant operator immediately out of school. You may have to work your way up by starting out as a manufacturing production technician, working directly with the machinery involved in the process.

4. Process Engineer

Maybe it is not the manufacturing itself that interests you. Maybe it is the process involved. To be profitable, a manufacturing outfit needs to make the process as efficient as possible by eliminating wastefulness. As a process engineer, you can analyze the existing processes and redesign them to be more efficient through integration of energy, material, information, equipment, and workers.

5. Biotechnologist

Biotechnologists apply their skills in multiple scientific disciplines to develop therapeutic products. As a biotechnologist, you apply your knowledge of chemical engineering combined with biological techniques and genetic principles to determine the effects of drugs on living cells of the human body. The goal is producing new vaccines and medications primarily. However, you may also be involved in the development of artificial organs for transplant into the human body to replace those that have failed.

6. Food Scientist

Many people take the food they eat for granted. However, it must meet rigorous standards set by the government and consumer groups to ensure its safety. Therefore, a food scientist is an extremely important position. In addition to ensuring that the food meets the established standards, you must also evaluate its texture, flavor, color, and nutritional value. This is becoming even more important as people demand healthier alternatives to certain foods than nevertheless look and taste the same.

While there are diverse career options within the field of chemical engineering, the skills you have learned apply to more fields than you may realize. With some outside-the-box thinking, you can combine your knowledge of chemistry with another interest that you are passionate about and take your career in a completely new and unexpected direction. Becoming a baker, for example, is as valid a career path for a chemical engineer as becoming a food scientist, putting the same skills to a slightly different use.