Chemical Engineering?

The guys I know who did it are on high salaries.

Good in what way? What is your own criteria for what you consider good?
Paying salary? Stable employment?...volatility in the industry? Exposure to carcinogenic materials? Room for advancement? Travel opportunities ...worldwide employment? Rewarding work?

Here's a link that might help you out:

http://chemistry.about.com/od/educationemployment/a/chemical-engineer-salary.htm

"Chemical Engineer Salary Survey Based on Experience"

"Chemical engineers can earn good salaries straight out of school, but years of experience or higher education can double the salary rate.

Chemical Engineer < 1 Year Experience: $51,710 - $66,286

Chemical Engineer with 1-4 Years Experience: $56,206 - $70,414

Chemical Engineer with 5-9 Years Experience: $64,618 - $84,199

Chemical Engineer with 10-19 Years Experience: $74,546 - $101,299 "

How about the rest of the things that you name?

"Stable employment?...volatility in the industry? Exposure to carcinogenic materials? Room for advancement? Travel opportunities ...worldwide employment? Rewarding work?"

Of the big four engineering fields (chemical, mechanical, electrical, civil), chemical engineers are the "jacks of all trades" and are often employed as "process engineers" who generally keep everything running and make the process better over time. We generally hire three chemical engineers for one mechanical and one electrical. We hire chemical engineers with decent GPA's from decent colleges for $60K/yr out of college.

Chemical engineering is also a decent pre-med and pre-law curriculum. Many grad schools look favorably on engineering degrees in general. The guy who graduated first in my class is a hot shot lawyer now.

On the "why not" scale, it's a hard degree. If you don't have a natural affinity for math and science it's not for you. Expect five semesters of calculus, five semesters of advanced chemistry and very little room for mind broadening non-engineering courses.

Don't sign up for chemical engineering because of the salary. If you don't enjoy math, science and problem solving it is not for you. If you do, the financial and professional rewards are pretty good.

- Generally engineering is very stable, but layoffs can happen in any industry.
- As the engineer, you control the chemicals and part of your job is to protect others from exposure to chemicals by designing good processes.
- Most manufacturing companies look to engineers for their management positions. I know many engineers who have transferred into varied roles throughout the company.
- If you want to travel, just about any multinational will be happy to accommodate you. I've cashed plenty of frequent flyer miles thanks to work.
- Whether a profession is rewarding depends on your mindset and the job you are doing. Engineering yields very tangible results. The process or equipment you help to create runs for decades contributing to the success of the company and the employees for years. You can look at it, lay your hands on it, give lectures about it and improve it. On the other hand, most people just glaze over if I try to explain how cool my job is.

My parents met in college both studying chemical engineering and went on to get their degrees in petroleum engineering.

When I was a kid they both worked for an oil company in CA called Aminoil then Aminoil was bought out by Shell. You can make very good money, I know my father alone made over 80 grand and that was back in the 80’s .

I'm actually in my third year of undergrad in chemical engineering at the moment at McGill University in Quebec, Canada. At the moment, along with undergrad studies, i'm also doing research with one of my professors working on the transport, retention and stability of engineered nanoparticles in artificial and natural groundwater matrices through sand and soil.

I'll be graduating in December 2012, if nothing goes substantially wrong.

Just thought i'd ask what the others opinion in this field is.

There's lots of opportunities in available to Chem. Engineering grads in the chemical, petroleum, mining and environmental industries throughout North America. I'm sure you are aware of the enormous energy development going on in Alberta - there are many opportunities there.

Yes boss, i'm quite well aware of that

I'm doing a minor in Biomedical Engineering, so we'll see whether i am more inclined towards the medical aspect of chemical engineering or more towards petroleum industry. Or maybe something else, there's alot of opportunities. We'll see

any other opinions?

Hello,
I think chemical engineering is good field to study but you if you put money and effort when learning them you should get big opportunity from government jobs...