Chemical engineers are the universal engineers. They can work in any field, from energy to biotechnology, because they have the ability to understand and apply complex scientific principles.
Felder, R. M., Rousseau, R. W. (2005). Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes.
Chemical engineering is integral to so many industries that chemical engineers are naturally still in demand. There are also plenty of opportunities for chemical engineers in 2025 and the future.
Since Chemical Engineering is such a challenging subject, any aspiring chemical engineer will want to ensure that there are career opportunities once they're qualified.
Let's look at the prospects for chemical engineers, what chemical engineering is, and how you can get into it.
The Role Chemical Engineering Will Play in the Future
To understand how demand for chemical engineers will evolve over time, you need to understand what chemical engineering is.
Chemical engineering involves water, food, travel, clothing, and construction industries. Many other industries also rely on chemical engineering, and it will only continue to play a bigger part in our lives.
So, how do you become a chemical engineer?
Becoming a Chemical Engineer
As the name suggests, chemical engineers specialize in chemistry. However, they also have excellent knowledge of engineering, mathematics, and economics.
Chemical engineering is not the easiest major at college, though. Its multidisciplinary approaches require students to have comprehensive knowledge across a range of subjects and disciplines.
It's so much more than chemistry, math, and engineering. Chemical engineers often need to understand thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, transport phenomena, optimization, and many subjects that you'd think have nothing to do with chemical engineering!
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Areas Where Chemical Engineering Is in Demand
Chemical engineers are in demand, but what does this really mean?
This includes all the solutions and understanding provided by chemical engineering and the industries that rely on them. This could be health and safety, food manufacturing, data science, biotechnology, molecular simulation, and many other fields.
Thanks to their extensive knowledge of many fundamental areas of various industries and fields, chemical engineers have many career opportunities.
Here are some areas and industries where chemical engineers are in demand.
Transportation and Infrastructure
The transport industry heavily relies on chemical engineers, particularly in air travel and public transportation, where electrical systems play a vital role.
Automotive manufacturers are particularly interested in the future of electric mobility, which relies on chemical engineering technologies.
Beyond electric mobility, there's also the future of biofuels, which rely heavily on chemical engineering to discover innovative ways to utilize certain materials and chemicals.
Biofuels, which are derived from renewable biological resources, are seen as a promising alternative to traditional fossil fuels. Chemical engineers play a crucial role in this industry, from developing efficient methods for converting biomass into fuel to optimizing the production process to minimize environmental impact.
Robotics
The field of robotics can also use chemical engineers, especially when it comes to finding people with a good knowledge of math, chemistry, physics, kinetics, thermodynamics, and raw materials.
Chemical engineering can be involved in robotics, from manufacturing systems to nano- and molecular-scale devices and large-scale manufacturing.
A chemical engineer's knowledge of the materials and chemicals used in robotics is particularly useful in memory and chip manufacturing and may also be used in quantum computation and communication in the future.
Sustainable Energy and Environmental Science
This industry focuses mainly on designing and building technologies for sustainable power. This involves generating renewable energy and integrating them into the existing power infrastructures.
These industries are paying particular attention to developing new, creative, and efficient ways to generate and deliver energy, which is where chemical engineers come in.
Chemical engineers are becoming essential for improving and optimizing many of the processes involved in sustainable energy and environmental science. This includes transforming, transferring, and delivering useable and sustainable energy.
All of this is part of the overarching goal of creating innovative energy-generating technologies, lowering fossil fuel use and emissions, and limiting the harm caused to the environment.
Petroleum and the Oil Industry
The oil industry is big money, which may be why chemical engineers earn so well.
Oil firms look for drilling locations, drill there, and manage site production facilities. Typically, contractors do much of this, but chemical engineers are involved in large parts of the process.
A chemical engineer may help create mechanisms to facilitate well flow, vacuum filtration systems for dynamic flow, or chemistry issues relating to oil production.
Product Development
So many products in the world require the expertise of a chemical engineer. Products like paint, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and many others require the work of many different scientists and engineers.
Most products require far more research than you might think, and chemical engineers are often responsible for many specialty and everyday products.
Nuclear Power Plants
Nuclear power is an integral part of the global energy system, and chemical engineering plays an important role.
Typically, chemical engineers in nuclear power plants work with various disciplines to design and implement multiple technical solutions for generating electricity through nuclear power.
Here's a summary of some of the potential roles for chemical engineers.
| Industry/Field | Job Opportunities |
|---|---|
| Transportation and Infrastructure | Electric mobility development; Biofuels production and optimization; Public transportation system design; Automotive and battery manufacturing |
| Robotics | Development of manufacturing systems; Nano- and molecular-scale device production; Materials and chemicals for memory and chip manufacture; Quantum computation and communication technology |
| Sustainable Energy & Environmental Science | Renewable energy generation and integration; Process optimization for energy transfer and transformation; Development of sustainable energy technologies; Environmental impact reduction initiatives |
| Petroleum and Oil Industry | Drilling operation support; Well flow facilitation mechanisms; Production chemistry optimization; Vacuum filtration systems |
| Product Development | Development of consumer goods (e.g., cosmetics, paint, pharmaceuticals); Process and product innovation; Quality control and production process optimization |
| Nuclear Power Plants | Design and implementation of technical solutions for nuclear energy; Multidisciplinary team collaboration; Nuclear process optimization and safety improvements |
| Data Science | Computing and Digital Technology Development and utilization of data science approaches; Chip and memory processing for computers; Quantum computation research; Scientific data presentation and system optimization |
| Biotechnology | Molecular simulation and modeling; Research and development of biotechnological products; Integration of chemical engineering with biological processes |
| Quality Assurance Management | Ensuring product quality in various industries; Compliance with industry standards; Process improvement initiatives |
| Sales and Marketing | Technical sales of chemical products and technologies; Marketing of chemical engineering solutions; Customer relationship management |
| Scientific Writing/Journalism | Writing and communication of scientific discoveries; Technical documentation for chemical processes and products; Public communication of complex chemical engineering topics |
| Consulting | Offering expert advice in chemical engineering processes; Process optimization for various industries; Regulatory compliance consulting |
Chemical Engineering Career Opportunities
Chemical engineering is a challenging major and one that many students will struggle with, but if you want the career opportunities that come with the subject, majoring in it is the best place to start.
After that, plenty of career opportunities are linked to how far you take your education. With such a high demand for chemical engineering, there are many opportunities available simply by having an undergraduate degree.
Opportunities for advancement are typically related to the size of the organization you work for, your field of expertise, your educational background, and your skill set. Suppose you find yourself needing more opportunities for advancement. In that case, options are always elsewhere in larger or different companies.
In some organizations, even simply changing departments may offer more opportunities for advancement. Chemical engineers are needed in data technology and information, production, business development, and various other departments.
There are also plenty of roles that chemical engineers can do without necessarily being directly related to chemical engineering. After all, since chemical engineers need to master many disciplines, they are suitable for roles in many of these disciplines, too.
Chemical engineers develop transferrable skills during their education and careers that make them suitable for quality assurance management, sales, marketing, scientific writing, or even journalism.
The Best Places to Be a Chemical Engineer
It should be clear that many industries and companies need chemical engineers, but which parts of the US could chemical engineers call home?
There are plenty of tech firms, data science firms, biotechnology companies, and even startups in and around Seattle.
There are also many career opportunities for chemical engineers across the state of Washington, in areas like food, chemical refinement, oil extraction, aerospace, and advanced tech.
The job site Zippia lists the following cities as the best for chemical engineering, which interestingly omits Washington and the Kennwick-Richland metropolitan area:
- Garland, TX.
- Tulsa, OK.
- New Orleans, LA.
- Plano, TX.
- Durham, NC.
- Austin, TX.
- Saint Paul, MN.
- Kansas City, MO.
Consider the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, which shows the best states for chemical engineers.
| State | Employment | Hourly mean wage | Annual mean wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 3,280 | $ 76.44 | $ 158,980 |
| California | 1,550 | $ 57.80 | $ 120,230 |
| Ohio | 1,220 | $ 55.05 | $ 114,510 |
| Massachusetts | 1,200 | $ 56.69 | $ 117,910 |
| Pennsylvania | 1,100 | $ 55.72 | $ 115,900 |
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also lists metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and good wages.
In terms of wages, the top-paying metropolitan areas are as follows:
| Metropolitan area | Hourly mean wage | Annual mean wage |
|---|---|---|
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | $ 80.48 | $ 167,400 |
| Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX | $ 74.84 | $ 155,660 |
| Corpus Christi, TX | $ 70.95 | $ 147,580 |
| Baton Rouge, LA | $ 67.24 | $ 139,850 |
| Tulsa, OK | $ 67.12 | $ 139,600 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $ 66.30 | $ 137,900 |
| Kennewick-Richland, WA | $ 64.82 | $ 134,830 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $ 64.02 | $ 133,160 |
| Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | $ 63.50 | $ 132,080 |
The Skills Needed to Become a Chemical Engineer
We've already mentioned how chemical engineering is a complex area to major in. A chemical engineering major isn't enough, though. After graduating, you need to either move into research, further study, or chemical engineering careers, which are even more difficult.
Chemical engineering isn't for everyone, but specific skills are recommended if you think it might be for you.
In addition to all the disciplines mastered by chemical engineers, it also pays to have these soft skills.
Luckily, even if you need more in some of these areas when you choose to major in chemical engineering, your schedule will likely be filled with many classes and electives to help you develop these skills.
Here's an excellent video explaining chemical engineering.
Learn More About Chemical Engineering with Superprof
It's normal for aspiring chemical engineers to struggle with their classes, workloads, or the skills they need to develop to become successful chemical engineers.
Luckily for you, there are plenty of private tutors on the Superprof website who can help you. In addition to tutors specializing in chemical engineering, you can also find tutors for specific disciplines like chemistry, engineering, and math.
Some tutors can help you with study skills, research skills, giving presentations, and any other areas that could lead you to becoming a better chemical engineer.
To find the right tutor, search for the subject or skill you'd like to learn more about. From there, you can browse hundreds of tutors' profiles. Each profile details what the tutor offers, how much they charge per hour, and what their students think of them.
We recommend shortlisting a few potential tutors before you start contacting potential candidates. Luckily, many of the tutors on the Superprof website offer their first session for free, allowing you to try a few options before choosing which one is right for you and what you need to learn.
Discover amazing chemistry lessons on Superprof today!
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