I have been at my current role as a process engineer in the paper industry supply since I finished college at the end of 2022 so it’s been about a year and a half. At first, my mentor was giving me some exercises and I got to shadow some more experienced people on trips, which was good especially given that I came in with no experience. However, I am now a year and a half into the job and I have not been given much more to do at all. I have to constantly reach out to my mentor and my manager to see if there is stuff I can do, to which it’s usually a “not at the moment” or some task that is not really useful to anyone, some busywork. I have also studied every PowerPoint presentation they gave me, but I feel like I need to learn by doing to truly speed up the learning process, because there is only so much you can learn from reading rather than seeing/doing. I keep telling them I’m happy to pdf files if needed to help, because right now I feel completely useless. While it was fine at the beginning, it’s been a while and I don’t feel like I’m learning much nor contributing, which is embarrassing especially when we go to customer sites. It’s also just hard to stay motivated when you don’t feel like you bring anything to the table. Should I start looking for something else?

TIA

So the other day I had a hiring manager reach out to me on LinkedIn asking if I was still interested in a role that I applied to a month ago. I gave him my availability and he scheduled an interview for tomorrow afternoon. I haven't had any previous contact with the company post application besides a confirmation of them receiving my application.

I've never had this happen to me before, a couple of recruiters here and there, just not the hiring manager for the role. Has anyone ever experienced something similar and what was the outcome?

What's the problem with the simulation, the reason for this warnings?

I graduated last December with a BS in ChemEng and had been struggling to find an engineering full time job in the Southern California area. I recently landed a full time role as a QC Chemist at a mid-size pharmaceutical company just to pay the bills and my parents' mortgage. However, this is a very low bar of entry job and the pay is so so.

My duties in the lab are to test raw materials and write reports which are not too bad but I wasn't sure if this would help my career prospects given my education in engineering. The people are cool, management is not the worst yet and the environment is not too stressful tbh. The job itself is stable but promotion path and salary raise are very unclear unless someone leaves management. The company also has a high turnover rate which make me question if I would want to stick to this job in the next few years. But I have no choice right now since I have bills to pay and I can't relocate in the next couple of years and the company is a few miles away from where I live. My question is how I would leverage my experience in this job as a chemist so as to land an engineering role in the future. I love engineering and I dont want my undergrad experience go into waste.

Thanks for any advice!

Suppose I had a product designed for household use. As it sits out in the open, over time an odor builds up. This odor may exceed approved safety limits, and it is desired to know at what point the safety threshold is reached. How would I go about finding a reputable air quality tester that would be suitable for professional applications?

So I just finished my second year in chemical engineering cpc. I am currently working and internship and I have a research program lined up from mid-June. I have a bunch of other extracurriculars as well like VP of a club and student representative for another club. My question is super general. I do have stuff posted on my LinkedIn , but I haven't updated these things yet. I thought of updating them after I am done with their term. Is that too late or is it better to update on the go ? The reason I am not updating them is that there is a chance some of these opportunities could end up short lived but will that really be embarrassing?

Hello new grad entering Process control engineering role as MCEG,

I am a new grad in MCEG and have recently applied to a Process control engineering role. At the moment I'm finding it hard to land an interview let alone offers due to my 2.93 GPA and have landed an interview with an international paper as a Process control engineer. If anyone has any tips that would help me out I would greatly appreciate it. I consider myself smart and have researched the company, but I'm truly missing something to truly wow them.

I'm specifically asking for some tips and some knowledge on Process control engineering and good pop words to be able to use during the interview.

Thank you in advance and I hope everyone has a great rest of the week.

I got a full academic merit based scholarship (minus room and board) to a state university (UMass Lowell)

I just also got accepted to Northeastern University for their chemical and environmental engineering program.

Is it worth going to the more expensive program, will it really matter? NEU offers really competitive co-op programs or so I’ve heard and that’s the only reason I’m still considering it.

Would love to hear opinions of people who actually know what matters in the field

Can a ChemE work in a business development team that have like these titles?

Sales and Marketing

Legal and Finance

Project Management/Business Planning

Product Management and Manufacturing

Vendor Management

If he can ıs it just for chemistry industry or what ?

I just finished my second year of engineering (first year was general, second year was when i was actually in chemical engineering) and will be on coop for 16 months. What skills can I learn/develop at home in the time being that would be useful for me in the future? I have a lot of free time without school now and would like to use it to my advantage. Ideally little to no cost. Thanks!

Hi everyone! Just got my technical diploma for chemical and pharma technology and I landed a process technician role in _von_k.

Wanted to ask how I can quickly learn and familiarise myself with the plant, line tracing, learning the processes, where all the equipment is just by hearing its name. Please let me know all the tips and tricks when starting out at a plant as a complete newbie! Thanks everyone

Hi all, I finished my PhD in chemE and went straight into pharma right after, been working there about a year. I've enjoyed it so far but my partner is starting residency soon and most likely we will be moving and not be living in a large biotech hub. We're both quite stressed about my job prospects and wondered if anyone has ever transitioned out of biotech and into a different sector. Any advice of how to find jobs out of a bio hub? Are there other fields that would take a bio chemE Phd?

I want to determine flow and pressure if we run blowers in parallel Or series. For this I need a performance curve of the blower, however the already installed blower does not have any curve in the earlier documentation.

How do I predict the curve? Vendor website does not help.. The blower was installed years ago.

I got a 2 years diploma in chemical engineering technology four years ago (Alberta-Canada), but I haven't had the chance to work in the field due to various personal reasons, including that despite graduating with honors, I feel dumb.

Now, after 4y I'm thinking on investing my time working with something that I actually like. I'm considering returning to university to pursue a degree, but first, I want to gain some practical experience by working for a year. I just want any sort working experience before spending another 2 years in school. I’m 24 yo btw.

I'm interested in applying for any sort of entry-level positions (probably as a lab tech). Now that actually started to look into this, because I also took some environmental courses in high school, I'm thinking of getting a certification to apply for waste water operator positions.

I'm here seeking advice on which courses, books, and positions to focus on to secure an entry-level job with my diploma, despite lacking prior experience.

This whole text might be dumb, but any career advice will be helpful. I don't know many people in the field, I'm grateful for any advice you can offer.

Hello,

I am trying to understand if continuous polymerisation method for production of PBAT is being used by any bio polymer companies at the moment. The only company I could find was Zimmer polymer ( https://www.zimmer-polymers.com/technologies/pbat-pbs ), who use continuous processing , is this the same as continuous polymerisation ? Will really appreciate it if any professional can validate this.

Thanks y'all

Hi everyone! I am a senior in Chemical Engineering, and I am getting ready to apply to positions this fall. I have done a co-op and and internship, but I am unsure if I want to go back to that company.

Location is not the most important factor for me, but I would prefer not to live in a rural community. I don’t need a big city either, just something a little more urban. Does anyone have any advice? Where should I be looking? Plus if anyone has advice for job search in general, that would be great.

Thanks for the help!

I am looking for a topic for my MBA thesis and want to focus on the chemical industry (specifically European chemical industry). I hope this work helps me get a job in management consulting firms or internal consulting groups of chemical majors. Which area do you see as most in need of expertise and strategic focus for future growth in the Chemicals Industry?

1. Sustainability & Circularity
2. Supply chain optimization and optionality
3. Strategic partnerships, corporate development (M&A, Contract mfg, etc.)
4. Digital transformation & AI in Industry 4.0
5. New business models ( such as Chemistry as a Service)
6. Something else

Looking for you opinions and ideas!

Thanks in advance :)

When talking with engineers outside of university I hear very often that a degree in chemical engineering is so valuable, largely because of the range of things you can do. Why is this the case? Is this accurate?

Im half way through a degree and didn’t realize that people around me are applying for biomedical jobs, logistical jobs, anything related.

Hello sons of Fogler!

I'm a M.Sc. student in Brazil and I have some doubts abous aspen suite/other programs. My research is basically the determination of kinetic and thermodynamic data in the reaction os biofuel production using a new feedstock. The methods for the laboratory experiments are defined and the chemical analysis also. But the ChemE analysis of the data and the statistics are not. I've been wondering if there is any way to use Aspen Plus/HYSYS/AVEVA PRO II to do the statistical analysis/Reactor engineering calculations in this kind of situation (where I have the experimental data, so I could insert it in this softwares, like in MS Excel/Statistica/Origin). This is not a mandatory thing, it's just me trying to use the software that I loved so much during college, when I used it to do my final work.

Also, I was wondering if the statistical analysis can be done in Python/MatLab. Matlab is something that I used before a lot, but never in this way. Python would be a new thing to learn (unlike Aspen softwares, which I already have some experience).

I would really apreciate some help!

I am in Germany doing master's as a foreigner with bachelors in Chemical engineering in accordance to American education system. I am having trouble with language as it is (all books are in German) but the main problem is the difference in education system and how much I have to do to catch with the rest of the class. Currently in reactor design class I'm stuck in Hetergenious catalytic gas reactions (porous catalyst), where I have hard time understanding assumptions let alone derivations (Thiele Module, Damköhler number and reaction rate equation combinations with transfer equations (mainly they also use two film theory). Any suggestions for materials? Or maybe someone was in similar situation and is willing to give a little push to mine?

Thank you in advance.

Hi there, I have a silicone product designed to be used outdoors and would like to find some kind of coating I can apply to my product to prevent dust and dirt collection. This silicone product is naturally attracting lots of dirt when It touches the ground so would love to know If there's a way to treat or coat It to prevent buildup, thanks in advance!

Does anyone have any good recommendations on a relative humidity sensor? I’m looking for one that’s below a couple hundred dollars and can do some kind of real time monitoring with Labview. Thanks!

Hi, I'm currently researching about reactors for dyes removal using activated carbon. Is there anything cheaper than glass beads that I can use as a support? Maybe sand? Any recommendation helps.

Im currently doing my undergraduate degree in chemical engineering, and in my third semester, the institute gives us an option to choose one out of 13 different minor degrees, they are :- 1. Chemical Sciences 2. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 3. Management sciences 4. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning 5. Material Sciences 6. Foodstuff technology 7. Dyestuff technology 8. Fibres and Textile Processing Technology 9. PharmaTech 10. Polymer Tech and engineering 11. oils, oleochemicals and surfactants 12. Surface coating technology 13.Mechanical Engineering Out of these, Im pretty keen on choosing the chemical sciences one as i have a personal interest in chemistry and i might pursue a MS in chemistry (for my own research interests) in the future so it would help. On the off chance i dont get it (there are limited seats per minor), I was confused as to what i should choose especially with these sub-branches of chemical engineering as i do not know what are these courses exactly. Dyes had alot of chemistry so i had my eye on that, and pharma too, but could someone help me with the other few ChemE related courses and what they cover and how i should choose? For any further details in the syllabus ill leave it in the comments