00:00:00 Well, in college I didn't really have a real strong notion of what chemical engineers do.

00:00:26 I didn't know what to expect when I was in school.

00:00:28 Well, basically I thought a chemical engineer was some nerd and three floors underground on a computer all day, right?

00:00:37 And I'm glad to find out it's not that.

00:00:39 But what I'm actually doing is different than I thought I was going to be doing.

00:00:43 I've done, you know, environmental work. I've done mechanical engineering work.

00:00:47 I think that there's a lot of opportunity in engineering for different types of careers that I didn't see when I was in college.

00:00:55 At times it can be a thankless job. At times it's a incredibly challenging job.

00:00:59 Chemical engineering is just so diversified that I never really expected how many areas in the world and in industries across the world need chemical engineers.

00:01:10 And if you like a certain aspect of science or business or technology, you could fit chemical engineering in there somehow.

00:01:22 I see chemical engineers as kind of the bridge between basic science and a manufacturing process.

00:01:28 We kind of take an idea and make it a reality and make it profitable for the company.

00:01:33 There is the technical side of it, and there's a whole world of other skills that are combined when you actually get into a job.

00:01:40 And each job is different. You find that the jobs are much broader than what you think of as a typical engineering job.

00:01:46 I may work on a project in forest products or in energy services or petroleum and chemicals or power.

00:01:54 Any product that you pick up, probably a chemical engineer worked on, from a toothbrush to the chair you're sitting on.

00:02:00 So it's incredible what chemical engineers are used for nowadays.

00:02:04 Typically I'm responsible for managing our area equipment integrity team.

00:02:10 I keep a plan on track with our predictive and preventative maintenance on all of our major equipment pieces.

00:02:17 Right now I'm working in product development area of Dr. Gamble, which is basically the research and development group.

00:02:27 Specifically, I'm working on hair care technology development, and my current project is to develop a new shampoo formulation.

00:02:38 Right now we're in construction. We have a $1.3 million project where we're upgrading our bulk facility on site.

00:02:44 And my job right now, or my project, is to make sure that that's managed correctly.

00:02:49 So if I'm not in a meeting, I'm downstairs with the construction workers or with our construction manager

00:02:54 and making sure that everything is put in the right place or it's up to the standards that we hold.

00:03:00 I'm in an R&D program. It's a job where you're actually developing a process or a product.

00:03:06 I'm an area consultant. Right now we have one of the largest industrial waste treatment plants in the United States

00:03:12 and we have a certain amount of investment on the ground.

00:03:15 So we're looking at how can we maximize the use of that investment.

00:03:19 I work in a central engineering organization and I really play the role of a technical consultant

00:03:27 to all the different areas that make liquids, that have liquids-related problems.

00:03:32 The job I do is more of a general engineering.

00:03:35 The units that I'm working with are cartridge-actuated devices.

00:03:39 They are units that are used in the air-to-air escape systems in aircraft.

00:03:44 They propel the sequence, like if it starts at one of the pilot pushes a button,

00:03:49 it goes through a certain sequence until he actually gets out of the plane.

00:03:52 I work in the manufacturing engineering group on inkjet printheads.

00:03:57 I help, along with analytical chemists, organic chemists, and pilot plant personnel,

00:04:03 deliver bulk drug pharmaceutical to clinical trials for safety and testing.

00:04:08 My department is the technical support group for the manufacturing facility.

00:04:13 I do process development on cell culture processes that we use to make pharmaceuticals.

00:04:20 Jif peanut butter, for example, how do you pump it and how do you mix it

00:04:25 and cool it as you're manufacturing it in the plant?

00:04:28 Is it smooth and is it creamy?

00:04:31 Does it have those kinds of attributes that the consumer will like to buy?

00:04:35 So we also measure those kinds of properties so that we can help people

00:04:39 who are formulating the products to really formulate them better.

00:04:42 I work on environmental health and safety assessments and audits,

00:04:47 where we go out and we speak to general managers and line managers

00:04:52 at each of our manufacturing sites and assess the maturity

00:04:57 of their environmental health and safety programs.

00:05:00 When a chemical comes into commerce in the United States,

00:05:02 whenever it's going to be manufactured, processed, or used in any quantity,

00:05:06 or in certain quantities, it has to go through a review process,

00:05:09 and the engineers in my branch review that chemical for any potential exposure

00:05:15 to the workers or people who may be using that chemical during its lifetime.

00:05:20 I've worked on production support and improvement,

00:05:24 basically solve any kind of bottlenecks that they came across within production,

00:05:28 and also to improve the production.

00:05:31 For cell culture fermentation, the process deals with making up the nutrients

00:05:37 to support the cell growth, growing the cells in large tanks that we call fermenters.

00:05:43 And then my job extends to the initial stages of the recovery,

00:05:47 the purification and the harvesting.

00:05:50 A very large part of the responsibilities of any university professor

00:05:54 is conducting research.

00:05:57 But particularly professors in the physical sciences,

00:06:01 like a chemical engineering professor,

00:06:03 they're required to have supportive research,

00:06:06 submit proposals to acquire their support,

00:06:10 and direct the research of graduate students.

00:06:13 We're involved with the equipment that produces all the drugs.

00:06:17 We're the scientists who create the process,

00:06:20 and they say, we need to do this, that, and the other thing

00:06:23 in order to produce this drug.

00:06:25 And then they come to engineering, and they let engineering know

00:06:28 that we need the equipment to make this, that, and the other thing.

00:06:33 And so that's where we step in, and we design a facility

00:06:37 that will have all the utilities that they need.

00:06:39 As a process engineer in this type of a role,

00:06:42 one of the main responsibilities of your job

00:06:45 is to provide daily support to your unit.

00:06:49 And what that would mean is troubleshooting problems that go wrong in the plant,

00:06:53 or trying to find ways to run your plant better.

00:06:57 Research and development is a place where you're faced with a problem,

00:07:01 and you have to find a way to answer that problem.

00:07:03 So you're constantly looking for answers and ways to apply those answers.

00:07:08 We're always searching out and developing new technologies, superior products,

00:07:13 but we're also doing it in a way that we're going to develop that product for a profit.

00:07:17 We're going to sell that product.

00:07:19 So it's a real-world application of the engineering field.

00:07:28 There is no such thing as a typical day.

00:07:30 Each day, who knows what's going to happen.

00:07:32 Sometimes I'm testing, sometimes I'm writing reports, analyzing data.

00:07:37 When you're in litigation, all that typical stuff goes out the window.

00:07:41 There's no such thing as typical.

00:07:43 One day you could be sitting at your office having a good time, relaxing.

00:07:47 The next day it could be total chaos.

00:07:49 In the engineering construction field,

00:07:51 our projects tend to range anywhere from between a couple months to a couple years.

00:07:57 So a typical day really isn't a typical day.

00:08:00 Get here about 8 o'clock, hopefully, and start formulating inks.

00:08:05 I will check the process every day,

00:08:09 making sure that all our temperatures, pressures, levels are up to snuff,

00:08:15 they're where they need to be.

00:08:17 It seems like when you come in at 7 o'clock in the morning,

00:08:19 you could find the plants running really well,

00:08:22 and you have an opportunity to work on something that's not a crisis.

00:08:27 But most mornings there's some problem going on that we try to address.

00:08:32 If you're developing inks, you're in the lab working with technicians, running tests.

00:08:38 Because I'm in process development,

00:08:40 most of my work is involved with small-scale experiments,

00:08:43 looking at various process conditions to try and optimize both the product yield

00:08:49 as well as any product quality issues that we might be concerned with at times.

00:08:53 What I'm doing now is more of like product coordination

00:08:57 for release of new products, dealing with marketing, getting requirements,

00:09:02 putting together product objectives and functional specifications.

00:09:06 It more runs in cycles.

00:09:08 If you come with me one week, you might think it's pretty boring,

00:09:11 but over an entire life of a project, you get to do a lot of different things.

00:09:16 We actually assemble the plant or reconfigure the plant and start it up,

00:09:21 and then we run a campaign and accumulate data

00:09:24 and figure out what actually do we change, what do we improve on.

00:09:28 I've been responsible for estimating on certain projects,

00:09:32 estimating cost of either equipment or total jobs,

00:09:34 helping out with marketing, presentations.

00:09:37 Right now I'm doing a startup of a clinical manufacturing plant.

00:09:42 So my typical day involves coordination with other groups

00:09:45 to see what equipment they're going to be using,

00:09:48 coordination with the automation group to find out what they can support us on,

00:09:53 and coordination with the manufacturing area

00:09:56 to make sure that we have the utilities that we're going to require.

00:10:00 There'll be some weeks that I'll find that most of my days are spent in meetings,

00:10:05 and then there'll be other times where I find that I'm just doing a lot of testing

00:10:09 of products that we're developing.

00:10:11 I do a variety of different things, from product formulation to technical testing

00:10:17 to designing and executing consumer tests.

00:10:21 First, check on the manufacturing line.

00:10:23 If we have downtime, we're losing revenue, and that is just not acceptable.

00:10:27 That line has to be running nonstop, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,

00:10:31 so that we continuously get our product out there,

00:10:35 a good quality product, and continue to receive that revenue.

00:10:38 I do a lot of writing.

00:10:39 Like this past week, I've been doing writing specifications.

00:10:42 You write a lot of reports, you do a lot of summaries,

00:10:46 and so you naturally have to not only understand the material that you're reviewing,

00:10:50 but you have to be able to maybe write that in a form

00:10:53 that someone who's maybe non-technical can read.

00:10:55 I spend most of my time documenting requirements.

00:10:59 You have to put in words how a certain system works.

00:11:02 You have to write down, it should do this at this time,

00:11:05 it should open this valve at this time.

00:11:07 When the temperature hits this point, it should open this valve and begin to cool down.

00:11:11 You need to transfer the product to this vessel.

00:11:13 I probably spend about 30% to 40% of my time in the lab.

00:11:18 The majority of my time is spent in front of a computer

00:11:21 or at meetings or seminars, collaborating with other people.

00:11:26 You'll spend some time in a typical day in meetings.

00:11:29 They may either be face-to-face meetings,

00:11:31 or we're doing a lot more video conferencing now.

00:11:34 Meetings are usually necessary to drive consensus on a project.

00:11:37 I also have to attend a lot of meetings,

00:11:40 keep in touch with what the other groups are doing in my area,

00:11:43 because we all have to interact and make sure we're all on the same wavelength

00:11:47 as far as developing new products.

00:11:54 I work mostly with chemical engineers.

00:11:57 I work with the design center.

00:11:59 I work with operators who actually run the units and keep them running 24 hours a day.

00:12:03 I work with other engineers.

00:12:05 Mechanical engineers, piping engineers, civil structural.

00:12:09 In the very beginning of a project, it's mostly process engineers that drive the work.

00:12:14 We're kind of the instigators, so to say.

00:12:16 In my case, the process engineer works with the process science people,

00:12:21 the researchers who design the process, and the manufacturing people.

00:12:28 We work with lawyers, biologists, statisticians, toxicologists, biologists.

00:12:34 All these people kind of bring their own expertise together.

00:12:38 I work with Ph.D. chemists and engineers that work at our research center,

00:12:44 and chemists, and I work with lab techs, and I work with managers,

00:12:48 and really a huge variety of technical people.

00:12:51 Also, we deal with the customer sometimes, so we have a client interaction.

00:12:56 We also work with our business side.

00:12:59 But once the ball gets rolling, you have many disciplines that join,

00:13:02 and that's when the process engineer's work really becomes exciting

00:13:07 because you have all these different disciplines.

00:13:09 You've got mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, process controls people.

00:13:13 You have piping designers.

00:13:15 You have piping layout people, and they all have to come to you for information, basically,

00:13:20 because you started it all.

00:13:22 And a project, you could have 20, 25 people on an average project,

00:13:26 anywhere up to over 100 on a large project.

00:13:28 Dealing with the contractors and dealing with other people on site

00:13:31 or either outside of the company really helps to broaden your view of what an engineer can do.

00:13:39 All the equipment in a refinery is all reactors, distillation columns, heat exchangers.

00:13:45 All the equipment that chemical engineers are specifically trained how to evaluate,

00:13:50 design, and use in their chemical engineering classes.

00:13:54 I guess some of the courses that I found very helpful were unit operations.

00:13:59 That probably was my favorite course, the fluid mechanics and heat transfer and mass transfer.

00:14:07 And actually, a lot of the modeling and things that we do for the occupational exposure

00:14:11 does use a lot of these mass transfer principles in it.

00:14:18 Most of the skills that I'm using now are the process skills that you use

00:14:22 and that you learn in chemical engineering.

00:14:24 Not so much from a chemical process standpoint, but the process way of thinking,

00:14:29 the engineering method of how you develop programs,

00:14:33 how you think logically through what needs to be accomplished

00:14:37 and what are the steps that it'll take to get to that point.

00:14:40 The engineering that I've gotten from my education is more towards the writing abilities,

00:14:45 the problem solving.

00:14:47 It gives me a better viewpoint on what I'm doing.

00:14:50 Like if I'm doing some testing and I see some of the results show this,

00:14:55 I can say, well, that's because of the chemicals that are in this.

00:14:58 Engineers by nature are problem solvers.

00:15:01 School, I think, really developed the systematic approach to solving problems.

00:15:06 I think it's very important to focus on their writing skills

00:15:09 and take as many writing courses as they can.

00:15:12 You definitely need to know how to use a computer.

00:15:14 You need to have basic computing skills.

00:15:16 You need to be able to use some type of word processing program.

00:15:20 Definitely Excel.

00:15:22 Become a wizard at Excel.

00:15:24 And if you're in any type of corporate environment,

00:15:26 become a wizard at PowerPoint because you'll be doing lots of presentations.

00:15:29 I do a lot of number crunching on the computer.

00:15:32 My job consists mainly of data analysis and design of experiments.

00:15:36 When I build experimental designs in the laboratory,

00:15:41 a lot of these software packages crunch out the numbers

00:15:44 and give you a sense of where the data is falling.

00:15:47 I use my computer every day.

00:15:50 Whether it's as simple as reading email or all your memos,

00:15:54 you write your own memos.

00:15:56 Secretaries don't do this.

00:15:58 You write your own memos or writing your trip reports,

00:16:01 plant trial results, all these things are on the computer.

00:16:11 I've always been a very curious and creative person.

00:16:14 Even when I was a child, I always enjoyed math and science.

00:16:18 And so when high school came around, I really enjoyed chemistry.

00:16:21 And I think you hear this from a majority of chemical engineers.

00:16:24 We like chemistry, we like math, we like science.

00:16:27 Most patent attorneys will say that they never planned to become a patent attorney.

00:16:32 It was happenstance.

00:16:35 People don't think when they're in high school they're going to become a patent attorney

00:16:38 because people don't know about it.

00:16:40 This is always where I wanted to be.

00:16:41 I kind of took an indirect path to get there.

00:16:43 I started out as a biology and biochemistry major

00:16:46 and then decided that I wanted to change my major to chemical engineering.

00:16:49 So I went to graduate school and got a master's in chemical engineering

00:16:52 to complement the biology and biochemistry degrees

00:16:54 because I really wanted to be in the biotech industry.

00:16:57 After I finished my Ph.D., I went to work for industry.

00:17:01 Four years after working in industry, I applied for academic jobs

00:17:05 because I decided that only in academia would I have the freedom

00:17:10 to do what sort of research that I was interested in

00:17:13 and to teach the kind of courses that I wanted to teach.

00:17:16 I actually myself was a physics major before I transferred into chemical engineering

00:17:21 in my year, so I got somewhat of a late start.

00:17:24 And so that's just kind of me saying I guess that however you start out,

00:17:30 just make sure that you end up in a place that's where you want to be

00:17:34 and that's a major that you feel comfortable with.

00:17:40 The best place I got a feel for what a process engineer does each and every day

00:17:45 was during a summer internship.

00:17:47 In a classroom setting, you can see diagrams and balances and things like that,

00:17:53 but until you really get into a plant, you don't see realistically

00:17:56 that everything doesn't look exactly like a schematic diagram, you know,

00:18:00 but you get to understand the ins and outs and day-to-day workings of a chemical plant.

00:18:04 What really helped me was I co-opped.

00:18:06 It was a very good experience, and I found when I did graduate

00:18:10 that it was a very marketable piece to my resume

00:18:13 that the companies were very interested.

00:18:15 Oh, so you have this experience.

00:18:17 You can't get into a co-op program or there isn't one at your school.

00:18:21 Find summer jobs that are in industry or find out if there's summer intern programs

00:18:25 you can get involved in because not only does it give you a flavor for industry

00:18:29 and how it works, but it also helps let you know whether you want to stay in that field

00:18:34 or get additional schooling in a different field.

00:18:36 When I applied for my internship, I looked at the yellow pages.

00:18:39 I called every engineering company, and when I got to F,

00:18:43 Fleur Daniel actually offered me an interview over the phone.

00:18:49 Through our career placement office, which most campuses have,

00:18:52 they bring a lot of the industry, they bring them to you,

00:18:56 and with a well-respected discipline like chemical engineering,

00:18:59 I think a lot of the students are really sought out.

00:19:02 I was interviewed here, and everything that they asked me was about my work experience,

00:19:07 so I was real fortunate to have a lot to talk about.

00:19:11 I had a great experience co-opping,

00:19:14 and also I was involved with other activities other than engineering,

00:19:19 and maybe they saw that as the characteristics of a well-rounded person.

00:19:25 I think you need to understand what your goals are and share that with them,

00:19:29 because they're interviewing you, but you're also interviewing them.

00:19:32 I would send out resume and cover letters, and I would contact companies myself,

00:19:38 but at the same time, I had the career office working for me as well.

00:19:41 I think students who only look at the campus recruiting or even on-site recruiting

00:19:47 as the only way to apply for a job are selling themselves short.

00:19:51 I think there are ways to look for leads.

00:19:55 The newspaper is one way.

00:19:58 You can kind of get an idea of what companies are hiring,

00:20:01 what the industry, what the market's like.

00:20:03 You can contact professional societies.

00:20:05 I have contacts throughout the world in all areas of engineering in all industries.

00:20:12 I originally decided to go to graduate school because I was interested in going into academia.

00:20:17 However, while I was in graduate school, my desires changed

00:20:21 and became more interested in actually working in industry

00:20:26 and enjoyed the transition from graduate school to business.

00:20:30 What I'm doing with the chemical engineering degree,

00:20:32 I'm going to get my MBA degree at University of Kentucky here.

00:20:37 The company will pay reimbursement for the classes,

00:20:40 and I go in the evenings, two classes a semester,

00:20:44 and with the MBA degree, I think I can go on up into management.

00:20:48 I felt that I needed to have a further degree to be able to advance myself,

00:20:54 and I'm glad I did.

00:20:55 It was the best decision I made.

00:20:57 Going back and getting the advanced degree has more than paid off for itself,

00:21:01 both from a financial standpoint as well as a financial standpoint.

00:21:06 Going back to my sophomore year, I would definitely pay more attention in class.

00:21:10 As far as a degree in chemical engineering, you can accomplish it by yourself,

00:21:13 but it's also, I think it's very helpful to have a group of people that you can associate with,

00:21:17 and maybe if you have problems, they may be able to explain it to you

00:21:20 in a way that maybe a professor can't.

00:21:24 Communication is very, very important.

00:21:26 Your success is very, very important.

00:21:28 You have to be able to communicate.

00:21:31 Communication is very, very important.

00:21:33 Your success is dependent on how well you can communicate with others, your ideas.

00:21:38 So it's very important to take as many communication classes as possible

00:21:42 and to get up in front of people and speak to get used to that atmosphere

00:21:46 because that's very important if you want to be successful in the workplace.

00:21:50 The most important thing to do is to keep abreast of issues

00:21:54 because technology is changing very, very rapidly.

00:21:58 You have to know what's important.

00:22:00 Do you want a lot of personal time?

00:22:02 Do you want to work in the field?

00:22:05 Do you want to work with a lot of people,

00:22:07 or would you rather be in a research lab kind of by yourself?

00:22:11 And you have to know enough about the company to determine where you'll fit in.

00:22:18 I think that there is probably a place for everybody,

00:22:22 depending upon what you want to do.

00:22:24 One thing about chemical engineering is it's a very diverse field,

00:22:28 and if you change your mind and decide that you don't like what you're doing,

00:22:33 you can move into anything.

00:22:35 Chemical engineers are very well prepared to do most jobs in the chemical sciences.

00:22:42 So that means that you're a pretty marketable commodity.

00:22:46 Having a product that goes to the marketplace

00:22:49 and actually has never been out in the marketplace before,

00:22:52 and it's just really exciting to have that happen.

00:22:55 You know, when you're at school, you never have any big accomplishments like that,

00:22:59 so it is something that's very exciting to someone who's doing it.

00:23:02 I think it's very important to have that kind of experience.

00:23:05 And, you know, when you're at school, you never have any big accomplishments like that,

00:23:08 so it is something that's very exciting to someone who's just out of school.

00:23:12 I really enjoy interacting with the client,

00:23:15 and I really like interacting with them in different disciplines within my group.

00:23:19 Here I get to see a range of different processes, which is very important,

00:23:22 and I really don't feel like I get into a rut here.

00:23:25 I always know the next product's around the bend.

00:23:27 I go to a store, and I know I got involved in making that particular product

00:23:31 or helping to make that particular product.

00:23:34 I know a lot of chemical engineers who've gone into the business side,

00:23:37 who've gone to computer area, or even gone to biotech.

00:23:41 So it's a really good foundation. You're not limited.

00:23:45 You can pick and choose, really, what area you want to go into.

00:23:48 There's manufacturing. There are all different kind of manufacturers that use chemical engineers.

00:23:52 There are environmental firms. There are consulting firms that use chemical engineers.

00:23:56 So it's really exciting. You don't have to be limited to one single area.

00:24:01 I think that down the road, there are an infinite number of possibilities,

00:24:05 and that's because I don't think I'm limited to just doing chemical engineering.

00:24:10 I think it's a good springboard to going off into other careers.

00:24:14 There are always people out there looking for engineers,

00:24:17 and I think with an engineering degree, it shows you are a versatile person,

00:24:21 that you probably are able to handle any kind of challenge that a company is going to offer you.

00:24:26 It's very competitive out there, but it's very challenging, and it's very rewarding, too.

00:24:31 The most satisfying part of my job is knowing that on a daily basis,

00:24:36 regardless of how mundane the task might be,

00:24:39 is that ultimately we are working for something that I view as good and beneficial,

00:24:43 that will have an impact on people's lives in a positive, if not life-saving way.

00:24:49 It's a fun, exciting field. It challenges you in your problem solving.

00:24:53 It allows you to be creative and come up with creative solutions,

00:24:56 and you get to have a real impact.

00:24:58 Definitely, the destination is worth it,

00:25:01 because you get fulfillment out of the job that you do, and you know it was worth it.

00:25:06 All the long nights that you stayed up, all the weekends you had to give up because you had projects to do,

00:25:11 it just really pays off.

00:25:13 Don't give up.

00:25:15 There are so many times I wanted to give up, because it does get difficult,

00:25:19 but if you stick with it, it will pay off in the end. It really will.

00:25:23 It opens a lot of doors of opportunity, just having that engineering bachelor's degree.

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