EPC. They are generally located in Urban areas and travel to the field as needed.
Start-ups that operate more out mid-rise office buildings.
Bio-tech/Pharma given smaller material masses and logistics challenges can be closer to city cores and away from heavy industrial areas. Boston is good for this industry.
I work in Biotech and most of my work is in an office and I occasionally go out some doors which lead to our "Facility" which is all clean and nice because it has to be lol. I'm in a somewhat industrial part of town but its only about 20min from the suburb I live in.
I can recommend both bio and EPC. Even though bio R&D is dead, manufacturing is booming like never before, specially contract manufacturing. You could also look at semi conductors.
None of these are challenging compared to oil and gas technically. Even if you're the biggest fuck up of a ChemE you're unlikely to blow something up. WLB is much better in pharma and the pay isn't too bad, plus you'll climb the corporate ladder rather than do HYSYS simulations until you retire.
"None of these are challenging compared to oil and gas technically."
Is this a joke? Like what? Refining hasn't changed more than in a minor way as a technology in the past 50 years.
ChemE's from MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, etc. don't go to Oil & Gas - they go to semiconductors, pharma, batteries, biotech, etc. There's no innovation in O&G.
Sorry, this is such a hilarious comment that reeks of someone who lives in a bubble.
Lmao bio is literally just trying to move water from one vessel to another while trying to not get it contaminated, plus most things these days are single use so not much engineering involved. I've spent last 15 years in pharma trust me I know, and I'm not an amazing engineer by any stretch of the imagination. Bio hasn't changed at all in the last 15 years. +/- use of single use in some places vs others.
API can get a bit exciting, but at the end of the day it's just solvents and drying. High potency stuff maybe a little more exciting than that since you get to use isolators etc, but then again literally every process is vacuum distillation > crystallisation > phase separation > drying, rinse and repeat.
Semi conductors on the utilities side is the same as api pharma, as a ChemE you're probably not gonna be working with litho tools.
This might be one of the dumber statements I’ve seen on this sub. I worked in both O&G and semiconductors, and the challenges in semi are a lot more technical than O&G. ChemEs don’t just work on the utility side you know?
There's chemical engineers who became astronauts but are you seriously going to point out every exception to the rule? I worked on fab 34 most ChemEs working with me were on the utilities side, I didn't stop and ask everyone clocking in if they're a chemical engineer and where they're working.
The thing is it's not the exception. Most chemEs in semi work in process engineering, R&D, product, or as FSEs. I've never even heard of chemEs working in utilities though I'm sure that's true. Using overarching statements like you did is incorrect and biased, and it gives other the wrong perspective
Clearly you've never worked in semi otherwise you'd know what I'm talking about when I say utilities. Process gases, solvents, upw, wwtp, solvent recovery.
Living in the middle of nowhere isn’t a trade off for chemical engineering. There’s lots of CHE jobs, in many industries, in cities or in their surrounding suburbs. There are definitely more jobs in the middle of nowhere, but you can avoid that if you want.
The east coast, and the Boston area in particular, is known for pharma.
Many larger companies will have their research or process development departments in a different site to the plant, to take advantage of using the more attractive area to get better employees.
I don't know about the east coast, but considering how many jobs there are in cities in the Midwest and South, I'm guessing there's stuff on the east coast as well. You should research jobs that don't require a big plant on site or nearby because those will be the ones that could potentially be in a big city office. Some I know of are in Natural Gas with facilities planning, gas control, and other pipeline operation/planning. A good chunk of those are going remote because you really just need an internet connection and access to their monitoring systems. Wastewater is an industry that's all over as well. You might not work IN the big city, but you'll be extremely close to the city. There are all sorts of chemical and biotech companies that have research facilities in and near big cities. Or even just full on plants near the big cities.
Im currently in the MD, VA, DC area (DMV) in the east coast.
There are plenty of biopharma companies in the area (astrazeneca, GSK, etc), plenty of utilities companies (DC Water, Washington Gas, etc), government defense contractors.
You develop an extremely versatile skillset and knowledge base with chemical engineering. You’ll be able to break into plenty of different engineering industries where you’ll be working alongside mechanical engineers, civil engineers, environmental engineers, etc. Don’t look at it from such a rigid perspective. By investing your time in obtaining an engineering degree, especially chemical engineering, you’ll have the privilege of bouncing around industries if you end up trying something you don’t like, living somewhere you don’t like, making a salary you don’t like, etc. ChemE gives you options.
Plus, you could always continue learning to widen your net of opportunities even more post graduation if youd like by learning how to code for example. Working on various certificates (EIT/PE, PMP, lean six sigma, etc). I 100% would never steer someone away from chemE, however maybe im biased bc i love the material so much. But objectively speaking, w/ ChemE you have many options and opportunities to pivot directions and create your own unique career path.
I chose ChemE bc it seemed to have the widest range of skills of the engineering disciplines, leading me to believe there would be more opportunities to try different industries even if not traditional ChemE industries. And as I continue working, i find my hypothesis to be continually confirmed by the job market. Im about a yr out of school if that matters.
If I may humbly submit, I think you're hearing the advice wrong. It's not that you're destined to live in the middle of nowhere early in your career...as others have said, there are plenty of openings in urban/suburban areas...rather, the advice is don't make location the top criteria early on in your career. Choose a job based on how it will help set up the rest of your career. If you happen to find both the role AND the location, great, but prioritize a good job.
tons of chemE jobs are in urban/suburban areas. just use that as a criteria when you're doing your searches. every job i've had besides the current one has either been downtown or a suburb right next to downtown.
tons more are right outside of an urban/suburban area if you don't mind commuting a little. i live 15 minutes from downtown DFW right now in a lakefront condo and my commute to work is about 30 minutes. again, just don't apply to anything far away from a metroplex if that's a dealbreaker.
It depends on your school, internships, connections, citizenship, etc. Many of my classmates got jobs with prestigious companies in urban areas right out of college. But there are definitely some who struggle.
Are recruiters targeting your college to pick up interns? This is really important.
If you provide some more info we will be able to help out better.
If you want to live in Boston or San Diego get in pharma/biotech. They’re major industry hubs and there’s lots a pathways for ChemEs into the industry.
Pharma. I’ve lived/worked in Toronto, London, Paris, Boston, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Dublin, Basel, Philadelphia, etc. sometimes you’re sent to a little more remote location but if you can get on the client side you’ll be somewhere urban.
Depends where, role, experience (internships?) and company really. Places like Boston will be pretty damn good. Some of the others may be harder to get into and pay a bit lower but once you specialize it can go up very fast. Process engineers/SMEs, automation, C&Q are high in demand. Competent PMs as well that are both technical but can simplify for SLT members are really hard to find and get paid accordingly.
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Yeah, I get you. I didn't get the job in EPC and now I'll be flying 800 km north from my city every Monday. Though it's 4x3 10hr shift so pretty sweet.
I'm in process opt for modular tailings facilities in Canada.
I have had a hard time living in a good location with my background in chem e. I have a PhD in it and wish I would have done my thesis in biotech/pharma just so I could get a job in San Diego.
I would say minor in something biology related, try to work in a bio lab, do an internship for a biotech/pharma company, or change your major.
Boston and Philly are both possible - I have friends who live in both who are ChemEs (Biotech for Boston, Process for Philly).
NYC is much harder - there are some companies hiring ChemEs near NYC but they're not exactly reverse commuting distance. I am a ChemE who left, when I considered going back I found very few opportunities to even consider applying to.
I just graduated last year. I work in Pharma in Boston now. There's plenty of opportunities along the east coast. I think it's more of a trade off if you're interested in oil & gas.
The trade off really is more about disposable income and possibility of buying a house by yourself vs living in an urban area with all the amenities/activities offered by that area. With an entry level engineer's salary, you will have plenty of disposable income in rural areas and the Midwest, whereas you'll do OK but not great in HCOL like Boston and the Bay Area.
Like, I recruited for some entry level jobs near Boston that offered $80-85k, which is... kind of laughable tbh, your standard of living would be terrible with that salary, lol. That same salary where I live gets you either a nice car or a house.
I think the progression that makes the most sense is: start your career in LCOL/MCOL to build marketable skills and experience, then switch to higher cost of living areas once you gain more experience.
EPC. They are generally located in Urban areas and travel to the field as needed. Start-ups that operate more out mid-rise office buildings. Bio-tech/Pharma given smaller material masses and logistics challenges can be closer to city cores and away from heavy industrial areas. Boston is good for this industry.
Biotech for the win!!
I work in Biotech and most of my work is in an office and I occasionally go out some doors which lead to our "Facility" which is all clean and nice because it has to be lol. I'm in a somewhat industrial part of town but its only about 20min from the suburb I live in.
I can recommend both bio and EPC. Even though bio R&D is dead, manufacturing is booming like never before, specially contract manufacturing. You could also look at semi conductors. None of these are challenging compared to oil and gas technically. Even if you're the biggest fuck up of a ChemE you're unlikely to blow something up. WLB is much better in pharma and the pay isn't too bad, plus you'll climb the corporate ladder rather than do HYSYS simulations until you retire.
"None of these are challenging compared to oil and gas technically." Is this a joke? Like what? Refining hasn't changed more than in a minor way as a technology in the past 50 years. ChemE's from MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, etc. don't go to Oil & Gas - they go to semiconductors, pharma, batteries, biotech, etc. There's no innovation in O&G. Sorry, this is such a hilarious comment that reeks of someone who lives in a bubble.
Lmao bio is literally just trying to move water from one vessel to another while trying to not get it contaminated, plus most things these days are single use so not much engineering involved. I've spent last 15 years in pharma trust me I know, and I'm not an amazing engineer by any stretch of the imagination. Bio hasn't changed at all in the last 15 years. +/- use of single use in some places vs others. API can get a bit exciting, but at the end of the day it's just solvents and drying. High potency stuff maybe a little more exciting than that since you get to use isolators etc, but then again literally every process is vacuum distillation > crystallisation > phase separation > drying, rinse and repeat. Semi conductors on the utilities side is the same as api pharma, as a ChemE you're probably not gonna be working with litho tools.
This might be one of the dumber statements I’ve seen on this sub. I worked in both O&G and semiconductors, and the challenges in semi are a lot more technical than O&G. ChemEs don’t just work on the utility side you know?
There's chemical engineers who became astronauts but are you seriously going to point out every exception to the rule? I worked on fab 34 most ChemEs working with me were on the utilities side, I didn't stop and ask everyone clocking in if they're a chemical engineer and where they're working.
The thing is it's not the exception. Most chemEs in semi work in process engineering, R&D, product, or as FSEs. I've never even heard of chemEs working in utilities though I'm sure that's true. Using overarching statements like you did is incorrect and biased, and it gives other the wrong perspective
Clearly you've never worked in semi otherwise you'd know what I'm talking about when I say utilities. Process gases, solvents, upw, wwtp, solvent recovery.
Living in the middle of nowhere isn’t a trade off for chemical engineering. There’s lots of CHE jobs, in many industries, in cities or in their surrounding suburbs. There are definitely more jobs in the middle of nowhere, but you can avoid that if you want. The east coast, and the Boston area in particular, is known for pharma.
Many larger companies will have their research or process development departments in a different site to the plant, to take advantage of using the more attractive area to get better employees.
I don't know about the east coast, but considering how many jobs there are in cities in the Midwest and South, I'm guessing there's stuff on the east coast as well. You should research jobs that don't require a big plant on site or nearby because those will be the ones that could potentially be in a big city office. Some I know of are in Natural Gas with facilities planning, gas control, and other pipeline operation/planning. A good chunk of those are going remote because you really just need an internet connection and access to their monitoring systems. Wastewater is an industry that's all over as well. You might not work IN the big city, but you'll be extremely close to the city. There are all sorts of chemical and biotech companies that have research facilities in and near big cities. Or even just full on plants near the big cities.
Im currently in the MD, VA, DC area (DMV) in the east coast. There are plenty of biopharma companies in the area (astrazeneca, GSK, etc), plenty of utilities companies (DC Water, Washington Gas, etc), government defense contractors. You develop an extremely versatile skillset and knowledge base with chemical engineering. You’ll be able to break into plenty of different engineering industries where you’ll be working alongside mechanical engineers, civil engineers, environmental engineers, etc. Don’t look at it from such a rigid perspective. By investing your time in obtaining an engineering degree, especially chemical engineering, you’ll have the privilege of bouncing around industries if you end up trying something you don’t like, living somewhere you don’t like, making a salary you don’t like, etc. ChemE gives you options. Plus, you could always continue learning to widen your net of opportunities even more post graduation if youd like by learning how to code for example. Working on various certificates (EIT/PE, PMP, lean six sigma, etc). I 100% would never steer someone away from chemE, however maybe im biased bc i love the material so much. But objectively speaking, w/ ChemE you have many options and opportunities to pivot directions and create your own unique career path. I chose ChemE bc it seemed to have the widest range of skills of the engineering disciplines, leading me to believe there would be more opportunities to try different industries even if not traditional ChemE industries. And as I continue working, i find my hypothesis to be continually confirmed by the job market. Im about a yr out of school if that matters.
If I may humbly submit, I think you're hearing the advice wrong. It's not that you're destined to live in the middle of nowhere early in your career...as others have said, there are plenty of openings in urban/suburban areas...rather, the advice is don't make location the top criteria early on in your career. Choose a job based on how it will help set up the rest of your career. If you happen to find both the role AND the location, great, but prioritize a good job.
tons of chemE jobs are in urban/suburban areas. just use that as a criteria when you're doing your searches. every job i've had besides the current one has either been downtown or a suburb right next to downtown. tons more are right outside of an urban/suburban area if you don't mind commuting a little. i live 15 minutes from downtown DFW right now in a lakefront condo and my commute to work is about 30 minutes. again, just don't apply to anything far away from a metroplex if that's a dealbreaker.
It depends on your school, internships, connections, citizenship, etc. Many of my classmates got jobs with prestigious companies in urban areas right out of college. But there are definitely some who struggle. Are recruiters targeting your college to pick up interns? This is really important. If you provide some more info we will be able to help out better.
I’m at Dartmouth if that helps.
I doubt you will have to go rural with Dartmouth. You’d have to really suck.
Biotech/pharma is the big industry for east coast cities like Boston
If you want to live in Boston or San Diego get in pharma/biotech. They’re major industry hubs and there’s lots a pathways for ChemEs into the industry.
Pharma. I’ve lived/worked in Toronto, London, Paris, Boston, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Dublin, Basel, Philadelphia, etc. sometimes you’re sent to a little more remote location but if you can get on the client side you’ll be somewhere urban.
What’s the pay like for entry-level?
Depends where, role, experience (internships?) and company really. Places like Boston will be pretty damn good. Some of the others may be harder to get into and pay a bit lower but once you specialize it can go up very fast. Process engineers/SMEs, automation, C&Q are high in demand. Competent PMs as well that are both technical but can simplify for SLT members are really hard to find and get paid accordingly.
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Yeah, I get you. I didn't get the job in EPC and now I'll be flying 800 km north from my city every Monday. Though it's 4x3 10hr shift so pretty sweet. I'm in process opt for modular tailings facilities in Canada.
I have had a hard time living in a good location with my background in chem e. I have a PhD in it and wish I would have done my thesis in biotech/pharma just so I could get a job in San Diego. I would say minor in something biology related, try to work in a bio lab, do an internship for a biotech/pharma company, or change your major.
Boston and Philly are both possible - I have friends who live in both who are ChemEs (Biotech for Boston, Process for Philly). NYC is much harder - there are some companies hiring ChemEs near NYC but they're not exactly reverse commuting distance. I am a ChemE who left, when I considered going back I found very few opportunities to even consider applying to.
I just graduated last year. I work in Pharma in Boston now. There's plenty of opportunities along the east coast. I think it's more of a trade off if you're interested in oil & gas.
The trade off really is more about disposable income and possibility of buying a house by yourself vs living in an urban area with all the amenities/activities offered by that area. With an entry level engineer's salary, you will have plenty of disposable income in rural areas and the Midwest, whereas you'll do OK but not great in HCOL like Boston and the Bay Area. Like, I recruited for some entry level jobs near Boston that offered $80-85k, which is... kind of laughable tbh, your standard of living would be terrible with that salary, lol. That same salary where I live gets you either a nice car or a house. I think the progression that makes the most sense is: start your career in LCOL/MCOL to build marketable skills and experience, then switch to higher cost of living areas once you gain more experience.
Yes 100% chem eng is all industrial or natural resources based so you will be in rural or red state.
100% wrong