What is Chemical Engineering?

A chemical engineer applies knowledge to improve industrial processes and products. A chemist works with test tubes, small beakers, or scanning electron microscopes. In contrast, a chemical engineer is involved with large-scale processes and makes products at the rate of tons per day: from gasoline to nylon, paper to penicillin, peanut butter to silicon wafers, and catalytic crackers to beer.

As a chemical engineer, you combine chemistry and applied mathematics with engineering know-how in jobs that range from product development, process design and manufacturing to quality control, pollution reduction, marketing, and technical sales. Each step of the way, you use your skills as a chemist, a mathematician, and an engineer.

Clarkson Chemical Engineering graduates are highly sought in industry, government and academic institutions. Their quality is reflected by high starting salaries, which last year averaged about $50,000. They work in sectors that include: production of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastics and other synthetics; petroleum refining; engineering design and construction; equipment manufacture; nuclear energy; pollution control; energy onservation; bio-engineering and microelectronics.

Many chemical engineering graduates move on to advanced degree study, medical or dental school, or law school.

U.S. News & World Report ranks Clarkson in its 2006 Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs at schools whose highest degree is a Ph.D. The placement rate for our chemical engineers is one of the nation's highest. Our graduates are sought both for their strong technical skills and their versatility. A Clarkson engineering education builds your abilities in teamwork, management, communication and creative problem solving. Our graduates are accepted in the best advanced degree programs in the country, including our own. Among them: Cal Tech, MIT, Princeton, Georgia Tech, and University of Rochester Medical School.

The Chemical Engineering Student Handbook contains important information about the responsiblities, resources, and opportunities that chemical engineering students at Clarkson have. Download a copy of the handbook (.pdf 193KB).