Class Notes: Are Chemical Engineering Students Prepared?

It’s been a few years since I sat in a classroom preparing for my future. I remember being overwhelmed and insecure -- the way most, if not all, college students feel. Certainly, college can’t teach kids everything they will need to excel in their chosen professions. Only time and experience can do that.

Indeed, “Most graduates leave their universities with a thorough backgrounding in the fundamental principles of chemical engineering — but without much, if any, idea of how chemical plants actually operate,” according to Chemical Processing’s Editor Mark Rosenzweig in his column “Young Engineers Need Our Help.”

Rosenzweig's solution is a “boot camp” approach.

“I can see real value in a group of operating companies getting together to help their new hires learn about the equipment and systems they’ll encounter. Educate them about the different types of pumps and their appropriate applications — likewise for valves, heat exchangers and other process equipment. Provide an orientation to utility systems such as steam and cooling water.”

I spoke with James Crews, a sophomore chemical engineering student at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), and queried him on his curriculum and his feel for the future. He’s a dual major -- his second area of interest is music.

“I like to pitch it as they're both creative applications of fundamental theory,” says Crews. “You take chemistry and you apply it in the real world to solve problems and you've got chemical engineering. With music theory, you apply that and you have music composition.”

While Crews may not know it yet, he is starting to see the point Rosenzweig is making. He was telling me about a Chemical Engineering Seminar class he is taking. It’s once a week and there is no homework -- it’s just different guest speakers from various companies.

“Representatives come into class and talk about what they specifically do and what the job openings that they have would entail,” says Crews. “A lot of them have told us things like taking thermodynamics is important but you're not going to use it that much in the industry.” He notes that his professor cringes a little each time.

In terms of how his family and friends react to his chosen field of study, “A lot of people ask me, ‘Oh, so you're going into oil and gas then?’ Like that's the only career that you can have out of chem E.”

But what attracted Crews to the field was the ability to make a positive impact. His dream job would be in clean energy and he hopes to land an internship this summer at a company that is working on long-term energy storage.

As for truly preparing for a career, “Capturing knowledge that seasoned staff take for granted and transferring it effectively to new hires and inexperienced personnel remain urgent and ongoing challenges for the chemical industry,” according to Seán Ottewell, Chemical Processing’s Editor at Large. His article, “Knowledge Transfer: Plants Seek The Right Recipe For Seasoning,” notes that advances in technology and training are simplifying the tasks and boosting success at several companies.

According to Crews, the curriculum at CMU focuses pretty heavily on optimization, controls and operations. “I think it’s pretty reflective of how we’ll be working after graduation.”

Time and experience will flesh it out with the help of mentors, I’m sure. I will continue to keep tabs on Crews throughout his studies, internships and future jobs to see if he agrees with what our editors have pointed out in the pages of Chemical Processing.

And if you know a chemical engineering student who’d like to share their experiences, tell them to email me at [email protected].

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