Undergraduate Catalog, 1998-2000. Its field of practice covers the development, design, and control of processes and products that involve molecular change and the operation of such processes. Since many of the products that sustain and improve life are produced by carefully designed and controlled molecular changes, the chemical engineer serves in a wide variety of industries. These industries range from chemical and energy companies to producers of all types of consumer and specialty products, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and polymers. In recent years, the scope of chemical engineering has been further broadened as discoveries in molecular biology, specialized polymers, and solid-state devices are adapted to commercial use.
Careers are available in industry, government, consulting, and education.
Areas of professional work include research and development, operations, technical service, plant design, market analysis and development, process control, and pollution abatement. The objective of the chemical engineering degree program is to prepare students for leadership positions in chemically related careers after they earn either the bachelor's degree or an advanced degree. This preparation requires that students develop the basis for a lifetime of continued learning and self-improvement and form a deep appreciation of the relationships among basic knowledge, technological advance, and human need. Enrollment in major sequence courses is restricted to students who have received credit for all of the basic sequence courses and have been admitted to the major sequence by the College of Engineering Admissions Committee. Enrollment in other required courses is not restricted by completion of the basic sequence.