Chemical Engineering

The Chemical Engineering program provides students with a versatile engineering experience based on fundamental chemical and biochemical engineering concepts while strengthening knowledge in chemistry and mathematics. Students may elect to pursue the Chemical Process Engineering Option (CHE1) or the Biochemical Engineering Option (CHE2), with streams in Biochemical/Biomedical Engineering or Environmental Engineering.

Students will study advanced chemistry, physics, mathematics, thermodynamics, chemical equilibria, kinetics, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, process control and general engineering principals. In addition to the technical content of the program, students are introduced to business skills, engineering economics, communications, humanities and social sciences and will explore current issues such as the impact of technology on society. In fourth year students will work in groups on client-based industrial consulting projects or research projects supervised by academic staff or professional engineers.

Students can consider post graduate work after achieving a Chemical Engineering degree which could include a master's degree in chemical engineering, business, medicine or law.

What does a Chemical Engineer do?

Chemical engineering is a lot more then chemistry. Chemical engineers occupy the area between laboratory Chemistry and Mechanical or Process Engineering. Chemical Engineers are distinguished from physical scientists such as chemists by their training in the "engineering method": the use of heuristics to cause the best change in a poorly understood situation within the available resources.

Chemical Engineers apply scientific and engineering principles to improve existing processes or methods or to implement new ones for the economic production and distribution of useful and value-added materials through the physical, chemical or biochemical transformation of matter. Chemical Engineers design, analyze, optimize and control processing operations or guide others who perform these functions in industry, government, universities or private practice. Current and future activity areas include:

• Energy: conservation, renewable and non-renewable resources, fuel cells, hydrogen economy
• Materials: petrochemicals, biochemicals and foods, nanomaterials, consumer goods, pulp and paper, polymers, pharmaceuticals
• Environment: pollution prevention, pollution control, climate change mitigation, recycling, environmental safety and regulations

Chemical Engineers can tackle most any chemical problem including waste minimization, environmental remediation, clean-up of stack gases or purification of drinking water. Chemical Engineers;

• developed low cost processes for producing ammonia which makes it possible for both poor nations and the United States to manufacture important fertilizers;
• are instrumental in the production of pharmaceuticals and life-saving devices such as the artificial kidney and angioplasty catheters;
• are working on ways to recycle plastics, reduce pollution and develop new sources of environmentally clean energy;
• provide know-how for chemical processing of computer chips and integrated circuits in the electronics industry;
• developed processes and chemicals to make food products such as orange juice, chocolate, corn sweeteners or citric acid, cheaper, safer and with increased yields.

In addition, you may be surprised to learn that most materials encountered in daily life have been impacted by Chemical Engineering at some stage. Floppy disks, detergents, plastic sandwich bags, the soles of your sports shoes, compact discs, car bumpers and vehicle tires are just a few of the consumer products a chemical engineer has worked to develop.

What can I do with a degree in Chemical Engineering?

A degree in Chemical Engineering opens many doors for a diverse, challenging and rewarding career that can lead to positions in business, government or academia. The possibilities are practically endless.

Semiconductor production, microchips, metals, mineral processing, paper products, petroleum and petrochemicals, plastics, forest products, pharmaceuticals and foods are just some of the sectors in which chemical engineers work.

In today's world of growing shortages of non-renewable resources and a finite amount of renewable resources, chemical engineers are also in demand to fill positions focused on optimizing the recovery or utilization of matter and energy.

Most major chemical companies hire chemical engineers to fill their technical positions in environmental engineering. As a Chemical Engineer you might work on improving a wood pulping machine in the pulp and paper industry, planning a new line in a food processing plant or monitoring and optimizing fractional distillation in the petroleum industry. In addition to technical positions, chemical engineers often move into managerial functions within their companies.

Biochemical engineering is an expanding field where chemical engineers link chemical process knowledge to biotechnology areas. Chemical engineers are responsible for designing the industrial facilities that provide materials, petroleum products and plastics that make our lives easier and more productive. As a Biochemical Engineer you might develop an economical process to commercialize a newly developed pharmaceutical product by a genetically engineered microorganism, you may manage or design a wastewater treatment facility to meet environmental norms or you may remediate an already polluted area.

You can also use your Chemical Engineering degree as a jumping off point to further education. Some chemical engineering graduates go on to medical, law, business or graduate school and use their chemical engineering degree to specialize. For instance, a Chemical Engineering graduate may go to law school and utilize their undergraduate degree to focus on patent or environmental law.