Because many industries are based on chemical and physical transformation of matter, the chemical engineer is in great demand. He or she may work in a variety of fields and professions:
- in the manufacture of inorganic products such as acids, alkalis, ammonia, fertilizers, paint pigments, ceramics, semiconductors and other electronic materials;
- in the manufacture of organic products such as polymer fibers, films, coatings, textiles, cellulose, paper, dyes, explosives, rubber, rocket propellants, solvents, plastics, agricultural chemicals, pharmaceuticals, coal-based fuels and petrochemicals;
- in the manufacture of materials such as graphite, calcium carbide, abrasives, or those in wet and dry batteries, fuel cells and more complex materials systems;
- in the electroplating, metallurgical and materials processing industries;
- in the fermentation industry for the production of antibiotics, feed supplements and other biochemical products;
- in the field of biotechnology, where applications range from utilization of the activities of microorganisms and cultured cells, to enzyme engineering, to the manufacture of foods, and in the biomedical field to the design of prosthetic devices and artificial human organs.
Chemical engineers are also particularly well suited for dealing with problems associated with the disposal of industrial wastes and other forms of pollution, as well as with environmental protection. And of course chemical engineering underlies most of the energy field, including the efficient production and utilization of coal, petroleum, natural gas, tar sand, oil shale, geothermal deposits, and nuclear energy.
