The chemical engineering profession

The chemical engineer deals with the transformation of raw materials into useful products that have an impact on virtually every facet of human life. Many of these products are commodities obtained from oil and natural gas, such as soaps, detergents, cosmetics, liquid and gaseous fuels, synthetic fibers and plastics. While the petrochemical industry will continue to provide employment for many scientists and engineers, the chemical engineer must be prepared to participate in the development of the newer and emerging technologies, such as those based on ceramics, biochemicals, and electronic materials. Also, the chemical engineer needs to be increasingly conversant with problems of energy conservation and environmental pollution.

There are plenty of places where you can get more information about the chemical engineering profession:

• AIChE—The American Institute of Chemical Engineering
• CACHE—A learning community for chemical engineering
• Employment outlook in chemical engineering
• ChemWeb —a "worldwide club for the chemical community"
• The Chemical Engineering Virtual Library
• ChE Directory—chemical engineering faculty
• ChemIndustry.com—the "worldwide search engine of the chemical industry"