Editing Chemical engineer

{{Short description|Professional in the field of chemical engineering}}
[[Image:Colonne distillazione.jpg|thumb|right|388x388px|Chemical engineers design, construct and operate plants.]]
{{chemical engineering}}
A '''chemical engineer''' is a professional equipped with the knowledge of [[chemistry]] and  other basic sciences who works principally in the [[chemical industry]] to convert basic [[raw material]]s into a variety of  [[Product (chemistry)|products]] and deals with the design and operation of [[Chemical plant|plants]] and equipment.<ref>MobyDick ''Dictionary of Engineering", McGraw-Hill, 2nd Ed.</ref> This person applies the principles of [[chemical engineering]] in any of its various practical applications, such as

# Design, manufacture, and operation of plants and machinery in industrial chemical and related processes ("chemical process engineers");
# Development of new or adapted substances for products ranging from foods and beverages to cosmetics to cleaners to pharmaceutical ingredients, among many other products ("chemical product engineers");
# Development of new technologies such as [[fuel cells]], [[hydrogen power]] and [[nanotechnology]], as well as working in fields wholly or partially derived from chemical engineering such as [[materials science]], [[polymer engineering]], and [[biomedical engineering]]. This can include working of geophysical projects such as rivers, stones, and signs.

==History==

[[File:Glauber.png|thumb|200px|left|Portrait of [[Johann Rudolf Glauber]]]]

The president of the [[Institution of Chemical Engineers]] said in his presidential address "I believe most of us would be willing to regard [[Edward Charles Howard]] (1774–1816) as the first chemical engineer of any eminence".<ref>''Transactions of the IChemE'' (1951) Volume 29 page 163</ref>  Others have suggested [[Johann Rudolf Glauber]] (1604–1670) for his development of processes for the manufacture of the major industrial acids.<ref>Herman Skolnik ''in'' W. F. Furter (ed) (1982) ''A Century of Chemical Engineering'' {{ISBN|0-306-40895-3}} page 230</ref>

The term appeared in print in 1839, though from the context it suggests a person with [[mechanical engineering]] knowledge working in the [[chemical industry]].<ref>[[Andrew Ure|Ure, Andrew]] (1839) ''A Dictionary of Arts Manufactures and Mines'', London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman, page 1220</ref> 
In 1880, [[George E. Davis]] wrote in a letter to ''Chemical News'' "A Chemical Engineer is a person who possesses chemical and mechanical knowledge, and who applies that knowledge to the utilisation, on a manufacturing scale, of chemical action."  He proposed the name Society of Chemical Engineers, for what was in fact constituted as the [[Society of Chemical Industry]]. At the first General Meeting of the Society in 1882, some 15 of the 300 members described themselves as chemical engineers, but the Society's formation of a Chemical Engineering Group in 1918 attracted about 400 members.<ref>Colin Duvall and Sean F, Johnston (2000) ''Scaling Up: The Institution of Chemical Engineers and the Rise of a New Profession'' Kluwer Academic Publishers</ref>

In 1905 a publication called ''The Chemical Engineer'' was founded in the US,<ref name=Sun>[http://cdsun.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/cornell?a=d&d=CDS19041026.2.25 The Cornell daily Sun] Volume XXV, Number 25, 26 October 1904</ref> and in 1908 the [[American Institute of Chemical Engineers]] was established.<ref name=AIChEEarly>[http://www.aiche.org/uploadedFiles/About/Centennial/CE_Profession-A.pdf John C. Olsen (December 1932), ''Chemical Engineering As A Profession: Origin and Early Growth of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813180349/http://www.aiche.org/uploadedFiles/About/Centennial/CE_Profession-A.pdf |date=2012-08-13 }}</ref>

In 1924 the [[Institution of Chemical Engineers]] adopted the following definition: "A chemical engineer is a professional man experienced in the design, construction and operation of plant and works in which matter undergoes a change of state and composition."<ref>''Transactions of the Institution of Chemical Engineers'' volume 2 page 23 (1924)</ref>

As can be seen from the later definition, the occupation is not limited to the [[chemical industry]], but more generally the process industries, or other situations in which complex physical and/or chemical processes are to be managed.

The UK journal ''[[The Chemical Engineer]]'' (began 1956) has a series of biographies available online entitled “Chemical Engineers who Changed the World”,<ref name=CECW>[http://www.thechemicalengineer.com/chemical-engineers-who-changed-the-world.aspx  www.thechemicalengineer.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211080528/http://www.thechemicalengineer.com/chemical-engineers-who-changed-the-world.aspx# |date=2017-02-11 }} Chemical engineers who changed the world</ref>

== Overview ==
[[File:Chemengg.jpg|thumb|left|Chemical engineers use computers to manage automated systems in production plants.]]
Historically, the chemical engineer has been primarily concerned with [[process engineering]], which can generally be divided into two complementary areas: [[chemical reaction engineering]] and [[separation process]]es. The modern discipline of chemical engineering, however, encompasses much more than just process engineering.  Chemical engineers are now engaged in the development and production of a diverse range of products, as well as in commodity and specialty [[chemical]]s. These products include high-performance materials needed for [[aerospace]], [[automotive engineering|automotive]], [[biomedical engineering|biomedical]], [[electronics|electronic]], [[environmental engineering|environmental]] and [[military]] applications. Examples include ultra-strong fibers, [[Cloth|fabrics]], [[adhesives]] and composites for vehicles, [[Biocompatibility|bio-compatible materials]] for implants and prosthetics, [[gel]]s for medical applications, [[pharmaceuticals]], and films with special dielectric, optical or [[spectroscopy|spectroscopic]] properties for opto-electronic devices. Additionally, chemical engineering is often intertwined with [[biology]] and [[biomedical engineering]].  Many chemical engineers work on biological projects such as understanding biopolymers ([[proteins]]) and [[human genome project|mapping the human genome]].

== Employments and salaries==
According to a 2015 salary survey by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the median annual salary for a chemical engineer was approximately $127,000.<ref name=AIChEsalary>Chemical Engineering Progress June 2015</ref> The survey was repeated in 2017 and the median annual salary dropped slightly to $124,000. The decrease in median salary was unexpected. A factor contributing to the decline may be that 2017's survey was conducted by a different research and analysis firm. Median salaries ranged from $70,450 for chemical engineers with fewer than three years of experience to $156,000 for those with more than 40 years in the workforce.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aiche.org/chenected/2017/06/announcing-2017-aiche-chemical-engineering-salary-survey|title=Announcing the 2017 AIChE Chemical Engineering Salary Survey|date=2017-06-14|website=www.aiche.org|language=en|access-date=2019-11-02}}</ref>

In the [[UK]], the IChemE 2016 Salary Survey reported a median salary of approximately £57,000, with a starting salary for a graduate averaging £28,350.<ref>Institution of Chemical Engineers Annual Review 2016</ref>  Chemical engineering in the USA is one of the engineering disciplines with the highest participation of women, with 35% of students compared with 20% in engineering.<ref name="Brawner">Brawner, C. E., Lord, S. M., Layton, R. A., Ohland, M. W., & Long, R. A., (2015) ''International Journal of Engineering Education'' Vol. 31, No. 6(A), 1431, "Factors Affecting Women’s Persistence in Chemical Engineering"</ref>   In the UK in 2014, students starting degrees were 25% female, compared with 15% in engineering.<ref name="TCE2014">''The Chemical Engineer'', March 2015 p 20</ref> US graduates who responded to a 2015 salary survey were 18.8% female.<ref name="AIChEsalary" />

According to the latest 2023 figures, Bayes Business School graduates get an average of £51,921 within 5 years of graduation, which is the most among UK universities. This was followed by the University of Oxford at £49,086 and the University of Warwick at £47,446.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bryan |date=2023-11-30 |title=Average Graduate Salaries Among The Top Universities In The UK |url=https://britannia-study.co.uk/universities/graduate-salary-uk/ |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=Britannia UK |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Chemistry|Engineering}}
*[[American Institute of Chemical Engineers]]
*[[Distillation]]
*[[Fluid dynamics]]
*[[Heat transfer]]
*[[History of chemical engineering]]
*[[Institution of Chemical Engineers]] (IChemE)
*[[List of chemical engineering societies]]
*[[List of chemical engineers]]
*[[Mass transfer]]
*[[Process control]]
*[[Process design (chemical engineering)]]
*[[Process engineering]]
*[[Process miniaturization]]
*[[Unit operations]]
*[[Chemfluence]]

== References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.aiche.org/ American Institute of Chemical Engineers (USA)]
*[http://www.icheme.org Institution of Chemical Engineers (UK)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061008130341/http://www.cheminst.ca/csche_home__e.htm Canadian Society for Chemical Engineers]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060821035906/http://www.ieaust.org/ Engineers Australia (AUS)]

{{Chemical engg}}
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[[Category:Chemical engineers|*]]
[[Category:Engineering occupations]]