Chemical Engineer

You design processes that transform raw materials into useful products — fuels, pharmaceuticals, plastics, food additives — at industrial scale. You work with reactors, distillation columns, and processes that involve temperatures, pressures, and chemicals that would kill you if safety systems failed. The scale is massive, the chemistry is complex, and the consequences of getting it wrong make the evening news.

Learn the skills

Courses and certifications to get you job-ready

What you'll actually do

• 01Design and optimize chemical processes that convert raw materials into products at scales measured in tons per hour
• 02Perform process simulations and mass/energy balances that must account for every molecule and every BTU
• 03Troubleshoot production issues where a 1-degree temperature change can turn product into waste
• 04Conduct safety analyses for processes involving flammable, toxic, or reactive chemicals — because OSHA and physics both care
• 05Scale lab results to production scale, which never works as smoothly as the textbook promised
• 06Write operating procedures for plant operators who run your process 24/7 and need instructions that leave nothing to interpretation