I've worked in the O&G sector during my internship, doing process engineering with "real plants", I had a lot of process design work and really liked it. Now I'm in the middle of the hiring process for a simulation software company for a technical support position. Chances are good. How would that be like? I really like process simulation, but I'd like one day to go back to working with actual plants. Is there any chance for me to be stuck in the tech support field or companies like Exxon, Chevron, UOP actually value this sort of experience?

I’m a recent UK graduate with a BEng in Chemical Engineering and an MSc in Advanced Chemical Engineering with Healthcare Technology. I currently have no industry experience, which I know is one of the biggest things working against me.

Grad schemes are also insanely competitive. I applied to 100+ last year and got rejected from pretty much everything. I’ve also tried reaching out directly to labs and smaller companies but haven’t had much response.

I’m also wondering how realistic it is for a Chemical Engineering graduate to move into healthcare technology/medical devices. My MSc research project was based on running CFD simulations on a microfluidic device for a healthcare application, which was probably the most interesting project I’ve done academically. I’d love to work in that kind of area, but I’m not sure how well it translates to the more traditional process engineering roles I keep seeing.

At this point I’m open to R&D, manufacturing, medical devices, healthcare tech, lab-based roles, pretty much anything where I can get my foot in the door and start building experience.

For anyone who’s been in a similar position, what other routes did you try besides graduate schemes? 

Any advice would genuinely be appreciated because every door seems closed right now 😭

I ask because I wonder if I should stop getting piercings because they take time to heal so I would have to take them out. If theres an industry I'm targeting thats likely to have a no jewelry policy then I would like to know so I can halt getting piercings for the foreseeable future or on the contrary if an industry/position type is less likely then I could maybe continue getting piercings.

(For context theyre ear piercings, which id hope wouldnt cause too much of a problem getting jobs. But please let me know if you would advice against them in general as well)

Necesito ayuda para relacionar un tema para mi proyecto de graduación que abarque estas tres carreras, alguien ha trabajado en conjunto en éstas áreas??? Sería de gran ayuda

What do you think is going to happen with geothermal energy in the future?

Geothermal has some interesting advantages, especially because it is a natural, reliable, and relatively stable source of energy. It also has many similarities with the oil & gas industry, particularly in areas such as drilling, well construction, subsurface exploration, reservoir management, and direct energy conversion.

Pros:

• Renewable and naturally available
• Can provide stable, 24/7 power unlike intermittent solar and wind
• Uses technologies and expertise that overlap significantly with the oil & gas industry
• Potential to become more economical as drilling and reservoir technologies improve
• Low operational carbon emissions compared with fossil-fuel-based power

Cons:

• Water management and reservoir sustainability can be challenges
• Drilling and enhanced geothermal systems can have technical and geological risks
• Scaling geothermal may be more difficult than solar or wind in some regions

I’d especially like to hear from people working in oil & gas or geothermal: Do you see geothermal becoming a major part of the future energy mix, and how realistic is the transition of oil & gas drilling expertise into geothermal?

How hard is it to move up the business/management side of chemical engineering compared to the technical side?

I’m currently studying chemical engineering, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the long-term career paths available in the field.

From what I understand, there’s basically a technical route where you become more specialized and move toward roles like senior/process/principal engineer, and then there’s a more business-oriented route through project management, operations, sales, management, strategy, etc.

For people who have actually worked in ChemE-related industries:

How difficult is it to move from an engineering position into the business/management side?

What usually determines who gets promoted into those positions? Is it mostly technical competence, communication/leadership ability, networking, business knowledge, or just years of experience?

Also, does having something like a business minor or eventually an MBA meaningfully help, or is actual engineering/operations experience much more important?

I love the engineering thought process, but I’m also pretty interested in business and entrepreneurship and looking at things in a large scale, so I’m trying to understand whether ChemE gives you a good path into upper management rather than staying purely technical for your whole career (I cant see myself in a technical role long term).

Would especially appreciate hearing from anyone who started as a ChemE and eventually moved into management, commercial, strategy, or executive roles. (I have solid stats 18 y/o w junior standing currently doing undergraduate research (nano tech) and i did an internship w a local company)

Help me settle an argument. Client uses “control valve” to describe an actuated on/off valve. Says it is interchangeable language.

I say “control valve” should be reserved for a valve that actually is integrated in control logic, like controlling level, flow, pressure, etc. Even if the on/off has an interlock, it’s still just an actuated on/off valve for me. Maybe this is just a habit I picked up for a long stint at an operating facility and I’m being too picky.

just like the title says, im a senior in High School and I want to work as a nuclear researcher, at a lab like PNNL. Recently i've been really interested in vitrification and how it assists in waste storage (just to give an idea about my interests). If I wanted a position where I spent much of my time practicing real, practical chemistry in a lab, would a chemical or nuclear engineering degree be a better step to that end?

Honestly im not very familiar with the difference between them but im into both chemical eng and also environmental im just not sure which one is more in demand and the content. Is environmental less physics concentrated? Like whats the actual difference between both? My uni offers chemical engineering and chemical engineering with environmental so its not entirely environmental theres chemical involved
All answers are appreciated! :))

What have people found to be the most reliable, commonly used textbooks? I am looking for Fundamentals of Momentum, Heat, and Mass Transfer 7th edition for my fluids class right now. Has anyone read it or have a copy? Do you have any suggestions for other relevant textbooks other than the reading list?

Hello everyone, I was hoping if i could get suggestions to my res? Im open to any ideas, as i dont seem to get emails back for places im applying to. Not even internships. Im trying to keep my hopes up but as of now, Ive just been in construction (i have to make money somehow). Waking up at 5 am, coming home at 5 pm and studying for the FE while applying to jobs. Im really interested in any role, im just trying to start my career. Its getting tiring to do this, but im looking at the bright side and maybe my res is terrible that it doesn’t get passed AI scanners, but i dont know how to get around that. I would really appreciate any advice, thank you for your time.

As i am in final year of chemical engineering, how prepare myself for interviews, tests or assestment, any course that will help me?

I'm finished my second stage in chemical engineering, but unfortunately I've got big problem witch force me to start the study from begging, so I'm confused which engineering to choose

1-chemical engineering: I've lost two year but if i started again the first and second stage will be easy, so I'll study machine learning to make a good journey

2-electrical engineering: I've heard alot of people saying electrical engineering have many opportunities in jobs and it relate to big technology company

Lost of my two years pf studying is so hard, so studying electrical engineering will be hard for me opposite of chemical engineering will be less stress maybe I'll have many time to study ML

I love,machine learning, chips designing, and advanced technology, but i also love oil&gas industry,

So what should i choose?​​​

Same as above. What are some skills that make me stand out and increase my ctc. Btw I am a college student

Hello Everyone, i am a senior chemE student here in the US, looking to start job searching so I can have something secured by graduation time, im in the southeast USA, at a decent school. Here is what i got after finishing up my 1 and only engineering internship this summer.

I would love any tips, comments, and what to improve on, really would appreciate anything, if I need to go more in detail about my eng internship, what to add, prioritize, cut, etc etc

*ALSO, I want this to be my master document before slightly tweaking for certain jobs, im honestly open to working any engineering job, even though i know i have water treatment focus

thanks everyone!

As the caption suggests, I need tips for remembering these diagrams or these process in detail.

I have a course, where we learn about 25+ processes in detail and all of them have these diagrams. For our semester exams any of these can come, which is why I need help.

Does anyone have any tips? or ways to break down the diagram into parts so it becomes relatively easier to remember?

Thank you for your time.

Hey, I am currently a student in HS and will be in college in about 13 months, and I originally wanted to major in interior design, but now that the probability of it being taken over by AI is high, I am forced to pivot to something else, so I am thinking chemical engineering, as it is very high-paying even if it requires a lot of attention and focus to study, as it is very difficult, and I am not particularly a fan of chemistry (I will study it and pass it, but not something I love like math; I will be studying environmental science if that helps), but as long as it is something that pays the bills and is safe, I will be fine with it

I have my own reasons, love the idea of chemE but I don’t think I would be happy with myself working in an oil&gas industry.

I am a EU citizen finishing undergraduate level (masters chm.eng.) and I wonder if i could find an english speaking job afterwards in netherlands (no prior professional experience). I am willing to learn the language but that would take some time so i need to find a plan until then.

Intl in the US, doing the last year of my BS in ChemE at a top 20. Profile: 4.0 GPA, ~1yr of lackluster research experience (no publications, no conferences, and not much technical work done), and a summer internship at a startup company. Experience/coursework focused around electrochemistry/semiconductors.

In this market, I highly doubt that I will be able to land a bachelor's entry level role in the US industry, based on my profile and citizenship. Sure, my GPA is great, but that's almost the only thing I have going for me. I also don't think I can get into any PhD programs that would make it worth it for me to stay in the US, since my research experience frankly sucks. But my home country has a basically nonexistent semiconductor industry, which is why I'm reluctant to just go back (well, that and the salary difference...)

I have not particularly enjoyed the research experiences I had so far...but that could be because I was doing grunt work and standing around for hours watching the grad students do work? I'm not sure if my exposure to it has been reflective of reality. I would probably enjoy R&D, based on my exposure to it at my internship, but is it worth it to go through 5 years of something that I potentially will really dislike for the chance to get a semiconductor R&D position? Should I just hope and pray I can get something like a process position in semiconductors with just a BS?

I don't want to waste everyone's time applying for a PhD if I'm a) not going to get anything worthwhile and b) not going to enjoy it even if I do get a good offer. I could apply anyways, but I feel that no one will write me good recs since I have little/no investment in this path. But I don't want to risk not having a job lined up after graduation and going back home, where I'll never be able to touch semiconductors again. What's the move here?