CareerCorner
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Career Paths for Chemical Engineers
T he mess on my desk is all because of chemical engineers;
or, more specifically, the varied career paths chemical
engineers have taken. From my teacup and takeout container,
to the jumble of sticky notes and files, to my laptop, printer,
and phone, chemical engineers have influenced every item.
Engineering career consultant and president of Quan-
tum Success Solutions (Tucson, AZ) Alaina G. Levine says
this is because “Chemical engineers’ skill sets are widely
applicable, which makes ChEs incredibly valuable across
industries.” Levine notes that chemical engineers approach
problems in a unique way: “They are trained to see pain
points. They have the ability to figure out what the barriers
are and create innovations to overcome them.”
Chemical engineers on a traditional career path may
work in the oil and gas, basic or specialty chemicals, or
pharmaceutical industries. They may start as research,
process development, or production engineers, and have
job responsibilities that might include scaling up processes,
designing processes and equipment, planning and testing
production methods and byproduct treatment, or directing
facility operations.
Anthony Actis, an environmental engineer with CDM
Smith (Denver, CO), points out: “There is demand for chem-
ical engineers who can excel in critical problem-solving and
can work in multidisciplinary teams. There will always be
demand for consultants, facility and process engineers, and
the myriad of other specialties that ChEs can get into.” For
example, chemical engineers are playing a growing role in
environmental sustainability, where they develop cleaner
ways to produce and use energy, plastics, paint, food prod-
ucts, and more.
Many chemical engineers, whether by choice or circum-
stance, do not stay in one job for their entire career. Many
move into project management, where they are responsible
for overseeing engineering project schedules and budgets.
Others move into technical sales engineering where they
have a hands-on role helping customers solve problems. Still
others transition to leadership roles, where they manage peo-
ple and budgets at a more strategic level. (Read the Career
Corner articles “Transitioning to a Career in Sales Engineer-
ing,” p. 22, Apr. 2016, and “Transitioning to Management,”
p. 68, June 2013, for more information).
Currently a consultant based in Voorhees, NJ, Henry
Waldron started his career as an environmental engineer at a
Fortune 500 company and progressed to divisional respon-
sibilities for environmental, health, and safety compliance.
When Waldron was an undergraduate, a veteran engineer
counseled him to prepare for five or six different careers.
“Chemical engineers are expected to be flexible enough to
16  www.aiche.org/cep  February 2018  CEP
Loraine Kasprzak
apply their skills across many different job descriptions. Over
my professional career, I’ve experienced major career shifts.
My engineering training combined with my thirst for knowl-
edge allowed me to be successful at each,” says Waldron. He
recommends pursuing an advanced degree or becoming a
licensed professional engineer (P.E.) as other ways to prepare
for a varied career path.
Somnath Basu, vice president of global engineering for
Headworks International (Houston, TX), is another chemical
engineer who has put his skills to work across various indus-
tries. “I had no difficulty moving from a processing engi-
neering role in the petrochemical industry to environmental
engineering. The core chemical engineering courses — sepa-
rations, thermodynamics, reaction engineering, and transport
phenomena — empower chemical engineers to move into
careers in process software, biotech, and bio­medical, among
other fields.”
While Waldron’s and Basu’s experiences have been in
industries that traditionally provide careers for chemical
engineers, some engineers do stray into completely different
fields. Levine worked with a chemical engineer who loved
to bake and turned baking chemical engineering-themed
cupcakes and pastries into a successful career. While it may
not seem that baking draws on chemical engineering skills,
it does, in fact, use knowledge of chemistry, and requires
problem-solving and creativity. “This engineer combined her
skill set with her passion for baking and developed a unique
and profitable enterprise. The idea is that you can use chemi-
cal engineering as a launch pad for whatever you want to
do,” says Levine.
Entrepreneurship offers another nontraditional path for
chemical engineers, who can either start their own compa-
nies or join a startup. “Chemical engineers are trained to
draw on resources from a variety of fields. They are adapt-
able and creative and can thrive in a fast-paced startup envi-
ronment,” adds Levine. For example, one engineer obtained
his master’s degree in chemical engineering and went to
work for a supply chain management company, where he
performed data analysis and coding. Because of his experi-
ence, he was recruited to work for a startup to design specific
algorithms and later became head of the company. “This
sounds like a typical career path — except that this company
became a major online dating service,” notes Levine.
While it is good news that ChE skills are broadly
applicable and valuable, it can be daunting for individual
engineers to envision their next career step. “The key is
to pinpoint problems that get you excited and that you are
passionate about solving. Then, find a job that lets you solve
those problems,” says Levine. CEP
Copyright © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)