What I Wish I Knew Before Studying Chemical Engineering

In this video I share the things I wish I knew before studying Chemical Engineering ;)

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[Bearpaw-le]

I usually don’t add comments but as a senior ChemE I feel like I should chime in. At first I had a lot of trepidation about pursuing chemical engineering because a lot of people do just think it’s just oil refineries and worrying about pipes and stuff. But the truth is it’s soooo much more versatile than that, and in my opinion it’s one of the best engineering fields to do especially if you have multiple interest. I lowkey could make a whole video on this too but I’ll just try to sum it up here rq
1) chemical engineers help build the fundamental building blocks of the society we live... literally everything. Think energy sources, consumer products from food to cosmetics to steel and concrete that are used in infrastructure to medicines and everything in between and EVEN THEN SOME. Seriously with ChemE you can segue into biomedical eng, materials science eng, environmental eng, etc...
2) The rigor of the courses makes you well equipped to handle situations that are even outside of your major. One thing I can say for sure is that ChemE teaches you how to learn, just because it pushes you so much. We not only have to learn basic engineering principles like physics, higher level math, thermo, fluids etc, but we need to apply them to chemical systems which is just a beast of its own. So even if you did decide that ChemE wasn’t for you, it wouldn’t be hard switching to another major and learning the content cause you’ve already been dragged through the trenches time and time again. If it’s any help I even know one ChemE who just wanted to diversify his skill set and completely shifted to electrical and computer engineering for his masters with little issue. I even know some people that just skipped out on STEM and easily picked up jobs at banks making hella money, just because their employers knew they could handle the work (of course they had taken some buisiness classes while in school, but they didn’t have to major in it)
3. It really is a great field once you discover your passion cause you literally have the capabilities manipulate the world around you. I like to think of it as chemEs being the closest to alchemy that you can get (besides straight chemistry) because you literally are taking raw materials found in nature and utilizing it to create something new, whether it’s a consumer product, energy, drugs, or whatever. I just think it’s really cool being able to manipulate the laws of nature to do your will basically (with constraints of course)
4. ChemEs make BANK. This is probably the reason a lot of people initially get interested in the field because on average we do make more than our other engineering counterparts. I honestly put this last because it really does depend on the situation, but on average I’ve definitely seen ChemE graduates get paid more than other engineers coming out with an undergrad (the highest I’ve heard straight out was around 120, 000 but that was an extreme case). So if you are in it for the money good choice, but also good luck staying motivated to do all the hard work.
So yea ChemEs pretty cool you just have to find your passion and keep it in mind as you go through your courses. Right now I’m currently getting set up to do research with cancer drug deliveries which is cool cause now we’re getting in the realm of bioengineering and theres a lot of cool stuff happening there. Bottom line do you research, find out what you like, and you’ll be straight.
Peace

[mattanb]

Chemical engineer here. Wish I knew that choosing a field to work in is much more important than choosing a major

[sprinkleoflulooma]

Amazing!! I am a chemical engineering just graduated, I decided to work in Aviation, I have my job offer already! I will be taking on material sciences and engineering for my Master study because I miss sciences and as you said chem Engineering isn't much about chemistry but design. I am also learning to code because I want it all🤟 Chemical Eng is a versatile degree, you can do anything with the skills you develop. Great video.

[rossstone]

Sounds like my dream job. Math and physics is something I enjoy, as well as chemistry AND I get to be somewhat antisocial?!? TAKE ME

[ImMamba]

I am a graduate chemical engineer and have been working straight out of university for 1 year. Found this video interesting as I had many similar views to you when choosing my course. At the moment I'm realising I don't enjoy what I currently do (process engineer oil& gas - office job designing the plant at FEED Stage).
But, the beauty of ChemE is that it doesn't matter. You can look for a wide range of other jobs which should be relatively easy to get given ChemE is such a respectable degree. I am considering bioengineering / batteries / biomedical. I just cannot get motivated by non renewables in this age.

[macchiato]

me, a second year barely getting into the engineering classes, watching this: 👁👄👁

[smarties]

i never understand why people say there's no chemistry in chemical engineering. I am currently in my third year right now and even though there's a lot of math physics and engineering but they all revolve around chemistry. Maybe people don't really know what chemistry is hahaha.

If you enjoyed basic chemistry and lab experiments in high school well then chemical engineering takes it to a deeper level and better understanding and that theres a lot that goes on in those experiments. you need to know that you just cant carry out reactions in a testube you can carry them out on a larger scale in chemical reactor vessels . you need to know the design of those vessels . the pressure and temperature of design, material balance, heat transfer, thermodynamics of the reactions, mass flow, fluid flow c'mon all that's chemistry and physics. the material of the vessel as well .

in short The beauty of chemical engineering is that you get to know the real stuff you get to know things passed the eye. I think the problem with why most people don't like it or complain is because they are still stuck in love with that basic chemistry they took in high school and never thought shit could get real in chemistry and its not just all about simple reactions and that there's a lot of math, physics and engineering involved .

So buckle up and keep on driving lads its the most beautiful course and c'mon why would anyone want to sit in a boring office haha lame come out and lets have fun ohhh and by the way they are a large variety of job offers for chemical engineering you just not looking in the right places.

[ohhimark]

I agree with most of the points except the one about the market, chem engineering is a really broad major that can get u to a lot of different things in life

[cyspec]

If you used Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes by Felder and Rousseau as one of your Text Books, Chapter One "What Chemical Engineers Sometimes Do for a Living" would have answered your questions regarding what ChemE do. I have been working as a Chemical Engineer for 32 years. I wouldn't change a thing about my career.

[baneoffsight]

Nice video! I am currently in the final design of my degree (producing sweet gas from sour gas) and sometimes I do question myself on why I chose this degree. But through this degree I have found passion especially in renewable energy and the environmental sector. Hopefully I can get into a graduate programme next year and start adulting

[biggllim_wtoinftyfracwbig]

regarding ''not having chemistry'' in the syllabus, I think it really depends on where you are studying, in my case, half my syllabus is termodynamics, 1/3 is about chemical industry related stuff and just the first 2 years are made to get a strong sense of maths, physics and more base stuff; so yeah, I am glad as I love termodynamics and chem, guess you should just look closely at your syllabus before starting and that'd be it c:

[zachydrogeo]

Environmental Engineer here. I feel like it’s a theme throughout engineering disciplines that people are attracted to it because they are into science, but don’t understand that an engineer is not a scientist.

A chemical engineer is not a chemist, you’re not gonna be wearing a white lab coat looking through microscopes. You’re gonna be in a plant surrounded by pipes. Just like how an Environmental engineer is not an environmental scientist. They are not going to be in nature, studying plants and animals. They’d be in a plant surrounded by pipes.

But instead of oil and gas it’s just poo.

[charissadegouveia]

I’m currently a third year chemical engineering student at Wits in South Africa. I don’t think you realise how tough it is unless you are in it. But always try stay positive and chemical engineering has many aspects to it. With an engineering degree you can honestly work anywhere. I know chemical engineers working at accounting firms with a chemical engineering degree because they like the way we think.

[hawtsauce]

I took chemical engineering because it didn't have as much chemistry

[alfinsaji]

A chemical engineering can work in petrochemical, offshore, research, plant or refineries, aviation officer responsible for fueling aircraft, management, gas based company and many. There are many options for chemical but we must be passionate about it

[imanizzam]

Im currently a third year student of chemical engineering course and I wish you all can pray the best of luck for me :, )

[Dogdrulezz]

I am a senior chemical engineering undergraduate. I can relate to most things in this video and in retrospect wish I would’ve known more about CHME before diving in. I have had manufacturing experience that exposed me to electrical engineering / programming work and am now pursuing a masters degree in computer science because I enjoyed it so much.

[theprocrastinationnation]

I am currently in college for chemical engineering! It’s great reading these so I can prep for my future too. Thanks for the video!

[pscih]

I'm a senior biochemistry and biotechnology student, currently doing undergraduate research for a University's Chemical Engineering department that involves coding. Don't be discouraged kids, a lot of these tools and majors are intermingled!

[nsmit]

I wish I knew that there are no entry-level chemical engineering jobs in my country and that most chemical engineering graduates are either jobless or doing work completely unrelated. I am an IT intern at a financial business