Last night I (29F) enrolled in my fall classes, and it finally hit me that I’m getting close to starting the courses that are actually specific to chemical engineering. I only have three general education classes left before I can really dive into the engineering curriculum.
College has been a completely different world for me. I didn’t grow up in a family where college degrees or career planning were really part of the conversation. I also grew up in foster care, so I never had many people to ask for advice or look to for guidance when it came to education or choosing a career.
I’m excited, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous. As I get closer to taking chemistry, biology, calculus, and eventually the engineering courses, I’m aware that I could overlook something important or get discouraged simply because I don’t know what I don’t know.
If anyone has advice for someone in my position, I’d really appreciate it! Whether it’s study habits, mistakes to avoid, internships, networking, or just navigating an engineering program, would love to hear your thoughts . And if there are any chemical engineers, engineering students, or even professors here who wouldn’t mind answering the occasional question or letting me bounce ideas off them, I’d be appreciative of that as well.
Thank you in advance! Excited but I know the road is a little less intimidating when someone who’s been there is willing to share what they’ve learned.

i want to work in the beauty industry and plan to major in chemical engineering in college

i was wondering if this is a conventional path and how easy is it to get jobs in this sector?

I've been having a tough time at my job off and on for the past few years, and I think it's high time for a change. I've been working in a lab as a coatings research engineer since graduating college 10 years ago. My team is small, so my job duties are varied, spanning chemical research, technical customer service, manufacturing support, and product stewardship related dealing with SDS and label creation for international shipments.

I feel very stuck, and I don't know what to do. I am not actually all that drawn to the chemistry side of my job, though I do enjoy working with my hands in the lab. I have no real manufacturing experience aside from watching the operators mix our coatings and I've written a batch sheet or 2 as well as give advice when batches look off.

Am I correct in assuming that I would need to start in an entry level role in any kind of Chemical/Process engineering position? I have a high attention to detail, so I feel like I could possibly be good at Quality Engineering, but I have limited exposure to it.

Electrical machines - I understand the concept of temperature rise in windings, but I’m unsure about the temperature rise in a generator’s cooling system. There are two key temperatures involved: the cooling fluid’s inlet and outlet temperatures. The difference between them is the temperature rise of the coolant.

My understanding is that if this temperature difference is large, it means the cooling effect is higher, and if the temperature difference is small, the cooling is less effective.

The specification states that a minimum temperature rise of 10K is required for the cooling fluid, but the vendor's datasheet shows a coolant temperature rise of 15K. Based on this, the 15K provided by the vendor should be better than the 10K specified, Is my understanding correct?

Additionally, I’ve noticed some motor specifications that limit the cooling water outlet temperature to a value like 37°C, and also restrict the coolant temperature rise to a certain level, like 7K.

Why do the specs limit the cooling water outlet temperature, and why do they restrict the temperature rise to specific values like 7K?

I graduated in 2025 in Chemical eng(3.8gpa) with minor in com sci and I was lucky enough to get a job right out of college. I joined Pepsi as a campus hire and worked as a warehouse supervisor. It's been over a year now.

I realized in my junior/senior year that I don't have the passion for it. I didn't know what I was aiming for when I first started ChemE unlike my colleagues; handful of my colleages went to pharma like Merck and Eli Lily as my school's ChemE program is pharma focused.

Doesn't mean I wasn't searching for jobs. I went to school career fairs and job conventions across the country and that's how I got the full time job at pepsi.

I learned so many things ranging from dealing with grumpy union workers my parents' age, being in charge of inventory(inbounds+ cycle counts + doing monthly closes), and actual front-line work.

If I keep doing this, I guess they will put me as a warehouse manager at a smaller location and I can move up in that path, but it's becoming more and more clear that this is not what I want to continue doing.

My early career(internship also) has been heavily involved in operations which i think is something a lot of ChemE grads get into, but now I'm starting to realize that it might not be for me and I'm kind of lost in what to look for now.

At the job, I enjoyed working on inventory/ SAP side of things and actually making impact at my site. I made useful tools using SAP and BOBJ and it was fulfilling to see our inventory accuracy and miss-picks improve.

What kind of Chemical engineering jobs( or any jobs really lol) can I shoot for with the experiences and skills that I have? Should I just thug it out to learn more about the industry or look to transfer or find a new job outside the compnay?

I feel that I am not browsing my opportunites to the best of my ability, but also I'm not sure where to look. Please guide me with your experiences and wisdom.

Hi everyone,
I’m a second year chemical engineering student and I’d like to know what certifications and technical skills are most worth learning.
Which certifications (Lean Six Sigma, FE/EIT, CAPM, HACCP, etc.), software (Aspen, HYSYS, MATLAB, Python, Power BI, Excel, etc.), or other skills have been the most useful in your career or for getting internships/jobs?
If you could start over as a student, what would you prioritize?
Thanks!

I have been looking at the job market for a while now, and I’ve been shocked by just how few decent, technical engineering jobs I’ve come across. I wanted to check in here to see where the fun jobs are, and what industries they’re concentrated in.

For some background, I’ve worked in both oil and gas and chemicals, and both industries feel like they’re on the decline. Basically everyone and every company I know in those spaces is facing massive cost cuts, downsizing, and layoffs.

I was looking at software engineering for a bit, since it was booming for the longest time…but now they’re facing massive cost cuts and layoffs due to AI.

This leaves me wondering where all the jobs are! From my searches, I’ve basically found 4 areas that seem to have job openings: nuclear, weapons systems, data center engineers, or spacecraft engineers at SpaceX/Amazon. Most of these make me nervous: data centers will explode if the AI bubble bursts, nuclear is very niche, I’ve heard terrible things about the work culture at SpaceX/Amazon, and I don’t really want to devote my life to engineering missiles and death machines.

Ten years ago, I saw far more postings across a much broader array of industries, but these days this is basically all I see. I do see the occasional job in pharmaceuticals or chemicals, but it is usually a mindless position that is focused purely on hazards evaluations or something. Those jobs are important….but I also know from experience that I’d be bored out of my mind. I rarely see any postings that actually want in-depth technical knowledge.

I recently received a job offer but as the title suggests im worried im ruining my career. Unfortunately i dont have another offer, but if I take this offer im not sure where it’ll lead me. I was in a PhD program for chemical engineering but i mastered out because of the awful culture of my lab. I’ve been searching since January for process engineer roles since I did experimental catalysis, but unfortunately haven’t landed anything. I applied for a materials and catalyst testing technologist (aka lab tech) position at ExxonMobil, and recently received an offer. They offered me 94k plus full benefits (7% match and pension etc). That sounds great but to be honest I’m worried I won’t be able to transfer internally to a process engineer role and my engineering career will be stuck. I don’t have any other offers.

Should I take it or keep looking? Am I cooked?

A side note is that I’m also nervous to go there because I hate roaches and all the apartments I’ve checked have reports of them which is why I am having second thoughts.

Hello everyone، im working on a design project about a section in the Refinery, the FCC unit, the unit has many equipment within it, im having a hard time acquiring Guidelines to sizing some of the equipment as they there little about then online or in my course materials, can anyone help me with sources or guides that give a step by step design procedure for some of equipment like : compressors, Waste Heat Boiler, air blower, slurry pump, condenser, fired heater, riser, Cyclones, fractionator, CO Boiler, surge drum, slurry Settler

I’m a chemical engineering student graduating in Summer 2027 (one semester late after failing two classes freshman year but my GPA is > 3 now). I only have one more summer left to get an internship, and I’m starting to panic because I’ve never had one.

This summer I started undergraduate research, and I’ll be continuing it through the fall. I also started working at Dollar Tree in June.

My question is: Does keeping my Dollar Tree job actually help me become a stronger candidate for engineering internships, or should I quit and focus on classes, research, and internship applications?

I honestly don’t want to keep the retail job unless it’s actually beneficial for my engineering career. Will employers care that I worked retail, or is my research experience much more important?

I am based in Munich Germany and i got accepted in the Technische-Universität-München (TUM) which is a prestigious University, Now i have the choice either i am going to study chemical engineering or electrical engeneering, here in Germany Electrical engeneering is more needed, but How is it around the world? and how is the job after finisching the masters degree? can anyone share there experience in either of the degrees job or study whise, i just cant decide because i find both intresting.

Does anybody here have experience with the software DWSIM? And how does it compare to the extremely expensive professional softwares such as HSYS and PROII?

Or are you using another open source process simulation software?

I have a three stage compressor in a single casing (image 1). If I break it down, the flow should be like image 2. Every process lines have Pressure and Temperature transmitters, and enough information to get the Flow for every lines.

2nd suction pressure should be the same with the pressure from the Side-In line. While the 3rd suction pressure should be the same with the pressure from the Side-Out line.

But, I don't have enough information to determine the temperature of the 1st Discharge. If I have this data, I can calculate all the enthalpy to calculate the efficiency and the power.

Does anyone have tips on how to approach it?

[India -> US/EU] Process Engineer (4 YOE, M.Tech) looking for practical ways to earn side income in USD. What niche services actually sell? Hourly rate of 30$. Aspen Hysys/HTRI/P&ID/PFD/API 521.

Hi I'm a freshly graduated bachelor chemistry student, I'm asking around about the difference and career option between pure chemistry and sustainable chemistry

Thanks for the hospitality

Hey everyone! I recently got my bachelor’s degree in Chemical Technology and Engineering in Ukraine. For the past 1.5 years I’ve been working in the R&D department of a company focused on water treatment (reverse osmosis, membrane technologies, antiscalants, ROSA, Wave and analytics). Before that, I also worked in a pharma company’s Quality Control department.

I’m planning to relocate to Europe (possibly this summer). Would love to hear some thoughts:

• How in-demand are chemical engineers in the EU in general, and is water treatment / pharma QC experience specifically valued? • Is a bachelor’s degree enough, or should I consider a master’s abroad? • Which countries seem most promising for this profile? • Is it worth learning the local language, or is English enough in this field? • Where’s the best place to actually search for jobs — LinkedIn, specific job boards, agencies, or something else?

Would really appreciate any advice or experiences, especially from those who’ve been through something similar.

I'm a Chemical Engineering graduate from India. I got placed through campus recruitment, but the company assigned me to a Production role instead of the Process role that was initially promised.

I've recently started working, but my long-term goal is to move into Process Engineering or Process Design (EPC companies, consulting, process optimization, etc.).

For those who have made this transition:

How did you switch from production to process/design?

Which technical skills should I focus on?

Is learning Aspen HYSYS, Aspen Plus, P&IDs, HAZOP, and DCS enough, or should I learn something else?

Which types of companies should I target after gaining some experience?

Does production experience help when applying for process/design roles, or should I try to switch as early as possible?

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has successfully made this transition, especially in India.

Thanks in advance!

Not able to find one, but is there a chem e car subreddit where I can ask questions?

I'll ask here in case anyone is able to help.

I'm a first-year university student, and our university is starting a Chem-E-Car team from scratch. I somehow ended up being selected as the Manufacturing Team Lead, so I'll be responsible for designing and building the chassis.

Does anyone familiar with chem e car have any advice on where to start, common mistakes to avoid, or resources that would be useful?

Thank you!

is it possible to get a bachelors degree in heriot-watt, then go to america for masters and find a job? And is the salary good straight after graduating?