Is chemical engineering a career for me?
I love problem solving, and as an individual being challenged is simply a great thing in my mind. If I ever run into issues, I will try and reach out to both my individual mind and my peers in order to be able to further advance with a concept. As a high school student, I loved my chemistry class (Basically all my science classes though) and I had always been interested in science even as a child. I detailed in another question that I lost a significant amount of weight, and I hope to one day apply what I have learned to change the food industry as we know it. There are so many recipes for foods that can be done alternatively that net the same exact result as very unhealthy junky food, yet at the moment due to me not knowing specific food interactions I cannot optimize certain substitutes when it comes to food. In America, the new generation is becoming increasingly obese, and I can understand why. A change in our food is necessary, and I want to bring about these changes, can chemical engineering guide me to be able to do this?
#chemical-engineering #engineering #business #chemistry #weight-loss #rightjob #right-career
3 answers
Srujana’s Answer
Hi Antonio,
Chemical engineering could be a career for you, but if you know exactly what kind of job you want to do you might be better off researching university that offer specific degrees in food science/food chemistry. The advantage of joining a specific food science program is that 1) they'll be able to help you land internships with food/beverage companies while you're working on your degree and 2) you'll also learn about other parts of the food manufacturing/distribution process which will make you a more valuable asset to your employer in the future. I would advise searching online for degree plans for food science and chemical engineering programs and seeing which classes you're more interested in.
Katie’s Answer
According to the Institute of Food Technologists, food science is the study of the physical, biological, and chemical makeup of food; and the concepts underlying food processing. Source-- http://www.ift.org/knowledge-center/learn-about-food-science.aspx
Ken’s Answer
Congratulations on being interested in becoming a chemical engineer. It takes a special person to enter this field and meet the demands which this career area presents. The first step is to get to know yourself to see if you share the personality traits which make chemical engineers successful. The next step is doing networking to meet and talk to and possibly shadow chemical engineers to see if this is something that you really want to do, as a career area could look much different on the inside than it looks from the outside.
Ken recommends the following next steps: