Gauri Chhabra
Of the 17 global goals that will provide the blueprint for the world’s development over the next 15 years that were ratified by UN member states in New York in September this year, Sustainable Development has been the one that has been the most talked about.Post the UN Conference,Sustainable development has gathered world-wide appeal, from developed industrialized countries to the developing world. Development of innovative technologies to achieve sustainability is being addressed by many European countries, the USA and also China and India. The need of the hour is to have safe, compact, flexible, energy efficient, and environmentally benign chemical processes that are conducive to the rapid commercialization.
This has opened a new gamut of opportunities for Chemical Engineers- the most coveted field of Engineering. It seems to have pervaded all sectors fromturning raw materials into useful, everyday products including the clothes we wear, the food and drink we consume and the energy we use. Chemical engineers work out the processes to make all these products, while also helping to manage the world’s resources, protect the environment and ensure health and safety standards are met.
Today, other than chemicals, Chemical Engineering techniques are used for the production of usable, high quality products such as fibers, fabrics, paints, medical drugs, biomaterials, gasoline, lubricants etc used in various industries such as textile, food, plastics, automotive, aerospace, petroleum, oil and gas, biomedical, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, thereby increasing the scope of Chemical Engineering. Chemical engineers design, maintain and operate large scale machinery, industrial plants and chemical processes required for the production of various usable products.
Getting in
After XII
* Bachelor of Chemistry
* B.Tech
* B.E. Chemical Engineering
* M.Sc. Chemistry (Organic / Inorganic / Analytical / Biochemistry/etc)
* M.E Chemical Engineering
* M.Tech. Chemical Engineering
* Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.)
* Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)
* Doctor of Science (D.Sc.)
Institute Scape
* Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
* IIT – Delhi, Bombay, Kharagpur, Madras, Kanpur, Roorkee and Guwahati
* Mumbai University
* Delhi University
* Pune University
* Calcutta University
* BITS Pilani
Scope and Emerging career options
Opting to study chemical engineering can open up a broad spectrum of employment avenues in the energy, water, food and pharmaceutical sectors.Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) companies, which are contractors who complete projects from start to finish for their clients, routinely hire chemical engineers for design related jobs such as designing petrochemical, industrial plants, refineries etc using various software tools. Electronics companies also hire chemical engineers for jobs such as material development, production and process control equipment design. In case you are good at number crunching and analytics,you may also join banks or analytics companies and be involved in their financial modeling and quantitative research work.
Upstream Oil and Gas, Energy
For those of you who are under the impression that chemical engineers working in oil and gas work only in downstream operations, let me tell you there are options upstream as well. For those of you not in the industry, most integrated oil companies consist of an upstream organization and a downstream organization. The former focuses on exploration and production and the latter refines crude petroleum into usable products (gasoline, lubricants, etc.). Within upstream, processes and departments are often separated by subsurface work and surface facility work. Generally, most Chemical Engineers upstream are found on the facility side, managing projects related to tanks, pumps, pipelines and separators. Besides, there are options in sub stream as well.
As we attempt to tackle the current global energy challenges, oil and gas will continue to be a key factor in the equation. There are still plenty of opportunities for you to make an impact in the world of upstream oil and gas. The main recruiters areReliance Industries Ltd, Schlumberger, Shell, Cairn, and also Government sector players like BPCL, ONGC, IOCL, HPCL, GAIL.If you plan to go to abroad you will even get higher pays and there are many companies out there like Schlumberger, BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil etc.
Chemical Informatics-
Pharmaceuticals
Chemical informatics is the application of information technology to help chemists investigate new problems and organize, analyze and understand scientific data in the development of novel compounds, materials and processes. Chemical informatics is the application of information technology to chemistry. Major aspects of chemical informatics are information acquisition, information management, information use, chemical computation and biopharmaceutical computation.The Insilco techniques are used in pharmaceutical companies in the process of drug discovery. These methods can also be used in chemical and allied industries in various other forms. Cheminformatics can also be applied to data analysis for various industries like paper, pulp, dyes and other industries. The primary application of Cheminformatics is in the storage of information relating to compounds. Your chances for jobs in Pharmaceutical industry increase after a PG Diploma in Cheminformatics offered by the Institute for Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB) Bangalore, IITKozikode, Jamia Hamdard Deemed University, New Delhi. In USA and in UK several Universities have started M.Sc. (Cheminformatics) like Johns Hopkins University, University of Manchester, University of Sheffield and University of Indiana.
Genetic farming and
consumer goods
Chemical engineers who work in the food industry can work in agriculture or in manufacturing. Those working in agriculture may study the genetic modification of fruits and vegetables and attempt to increase yields and make them more desirable and thus more profitable. The career may also include researching methods of making agriculture more environment friendly, trying new methods of processing waste and conserving soil and water. Farmers of the future will not only raise livestock and agricultural crops, they will also grow plants than have been genetically engineered to grow therapeutic proteins, pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
All consumer products involve chemicals; consumer product development depends upon research to develop and improve a product – work that would fall to a chemical engineer. Such a career may involve improving such consumer goods as hygiene products, chemical cleaning products, and electronics. You might be absorbed in organizations like Asian paints, HUL, Procter & Gamble, ITC Ltd, Renault Nissan Technologies etc.
Bio technology
Chemical engineers working in biotechnology typically work in conjunction with researchers in molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, embryology, and cell biology. A career in biotechnology may overlap with work in health care, crop production, agriculture, and the environment. A researcher may use chemical engineering to advance procedures in genetic testing and gene therapy. Chemical engineers in medicine may also work on engineering organisms and microorganisms to be used in applications, such as degrading wastes and converting chemicals into more useful ones. The chief recruiters can be TATA chemicals, Galaxy Surfactants Ltd, Sumitomo Chemical Ltd etc.
Green Processes
The focus of all chemical engineers is to work sustainably. Corporations and consumers worldwide are increasingly embracing green technology and celebrating achievements in sustainable technology, water management and energy efficiency.
Every organization would have a role of Green process engineer who will develop environmentally benign chemical processes and products, select processes that minimize pollution, use less hazardous materials and develop alternative reactions. This will all need to be done while meeting emerging regulations and laws.
Higher Studies and Research
Chemical engineering students have a plethora of options for higher studies. They can do their MS, MBA, M.Tech or PhD from India and abroad. For MS and M.Tech degrees, you can do master’s in Chemical Engineering while specializing in any one of its sub disciplines such as catalysis and reaction engineering, polymers and complex fluids, molecular simulations, biochemical and bioprocess engineering etc. Many Chemical Engineering students also do their MS in allied fields such as environmental engineering, industrial engineering, engineering management, biotechnology etc. MBA is another alternative as you have strong quantitative and critical reasoning skills, thereby making you an asset to the banking, finance and management world. You can also work in hardcore science like ionic chemistry, nanotechnology, biotechnology etc. If you want to go in research you have to do MS/M.Tech and PhD. After your PhD either you can do research in a university or you can join R&D department of a company.
There were many more areas chemical engineers are leading the way for example; Energy Storage, Zero Water Strategies, Alternative Food Design, Disposal Textiles Design and the like. However, some aspects of chemical engineering will never change. We will always need waste engineers, drug developers and researchers!
So, if you are armed with a Chemical Engineering degree, all you need to do is make a choice between the roles that have been there for decades and the ones that are emerging…
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