Chemical engineers have an impact on almost every aspect of our lives. From the synthetic fibres of our clothes to life-saving drugs, petroleum products to clean energy, they have a finger in every pie. Chemical engineering involves the design, construction, installation and operation of plant and machinery required for producing chemicals, and the development and operation of processes used to produce various chemicals.

Work

Chemical engineers combine the principles of chemistry and engineering during the production or use of chemicals. Chemical Engineers design, supervise, install and handle the operation of equipment and plants. The work could be related to chemical quality control, environmental protection and biochemical engineering.

Chemical engineers take up economic and technical feasibility studies in areas related to chemical, petroleum, pulp and paper, food or other processing industries. They also conduct research on development or improvement of chemical engineering processes, reactions and new materials, and evaluate chemical process and equipment. They are in charge of seeing that production specifications are maintained and that operating procedures, control strategies to ensure adherence to quality of raw materials, products and waste products and emissions are met.

Specialisation in certain areas of operation is common. For example, some chemical engineers specialise in pollution control or polymerisation. These days, the use of computers in all fields of research and production means that you also would need to be familiar with computer application in analysis and other work.

Chemical engineers can look forward to many career options due to the various applications of their subject in industry. A few of those options are:

a. Dyes and Dyestuff.
b. Fertilisers
c. Food Preservation
d. Industrial Chemicals
e. Lubricants
f.  Paint
g. Petrochemical
h. Petroleum and refining
i.  Pharma
j.  Synthetic Fibres
k. Textiles
l.  Plastics
m.Explosives

Defence establishments, nuclear power plants, and private consultancy work are some other career options available to them. Chemical engineers also work in a variety of manufacturing industries other than chemical manufacturing such as electronics, photographic equipment, and pulp and paper mills.

Money

Starting salary will be between Rs.5,000 to Rs.12,000 per month depending on the company. There is good scope of moving into top management of a company within 3-5 years.

Attributes

The qualities you require in order to be successful in this career include the ability to organise work, perform under pressure and get on well with people. The work calls for a great deal of ease working with tools, drawing sketches of complex things and operations, and conceptualising forms and structures. A high degree of practicality, skill, accuracy, understanding power, and perseverance are also useful qualities as is the knack for numbers.

Job opportunities

Chemical engineers can find employment opportunities in the following areas:

* Government Sector, including the railways, municipal corporations, telecommunications departments, etc
* Public Sector organisations
* Private companies
* As commissioned officers in the defence services
* Research organisations and laboratories
* As technical experts on engineering projects in banks and financial corporations
* An engineer can set up his/her own small unit/company or consultancy.

Entry

In order to qualify as a chemical engineer one needs to have a BE or ME degree in chemical engineering.

Eligibility

The basic eligibility criteria for a BE/BTech is 10+2 or equivalent examination, with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

Selection to degree level courses in engineering on the basis of merit/marks secured in the final exams of 10+2 (with science subjects) or through entrance exams. Courses at the degree and postgraduate levels are offered by engineering colleges and Institutes of Technology (IITs), and, diploma courses are offered at polytechnics.

The course content at the degree level includes the study of polymer-technology, processing, synthesis and testing while at the postgraduate level, the course covers fabrication technology, computer aided plant design, design developments, and polymerisation engineering.

BE/BTech courses are of four years' duration while the diploma courses are of 2-3 years' duration.

Educational Institutions

Here are a few institutes offering courses in Chemical Engineering:

Indian Institute of Technology (New Delhi, Mumbai, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, and Chennai)

Regional Engineering Colleges (Warangal, Andhra Pradesh; Silchar, Assam; Jamshedpur, Bihar; Surat, Gujarat; Kurkshetra, Haryana; Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir; Surathkal, Karnataka; Calicut, Kerala ; Visvesvaraya REC, Nagpur, Maharashtra ; Rourkela, Orissa; Jaipur, Rajasthan; Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu; Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh; Durgapur, West Bengal; Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh ; Jalandhar, Punjab)

Birla Institute of Technology (BITS) - (Pilani and Ranchi)

Delhi College of Engineering, New Delhi

University of Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttar Pradesh.

Jadavpur University, Kolkata