Chemical Engineer
We are surrounded by chemicals all around. The medicines we use, the vehicles we drive, clothes we all wear, and in many aspects of our everyday life, chemicals influence and contribute to the betterment of our lives. The growth of the chemical industry is important for the economic growth of a country. The chemical industry in India is expected to grow at a rate of 15 percent by the year 2017. A lot of research is being done in the chemical engineering field in India and other countries.
Chemical engineering is a specialized branch of engineering which is associated with the designing, supervising, constructing, installing, and operating of equipment and plants for the manufacture of chemical products and the introduction of new methods in production. Chemical engineering also studies new techniques related to other engineering fields like fuel cells, biomedical engineering, and nanotechnology.
Recent innovations in chemical engineering have developed alternatives to natural products and materials.
There are several courses in chemical engineering like Diploma in Chemical Engineering, Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical engineering, Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering, Master of Engineering in Chemical Engineering, Master of Technology in Chemical Engineering, and Integrated five year M.Tech program in Chemical Engineering.
For seeking admission into undergraduate courses, the candidate must have completed a 10+2 stream from a recognized university or board. They should have studied maths, chemistry, and physics as their main subjects. Students should appear for an entrance exam like AIEEE or any state-level entrance exam.
The most reputed institutions for engineering in India are the Indian Institute of Technology which are located in different cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kharagpur, Kanpur, Hyderabad, and Guwahati. Admission is through the entrance examination IIT JEE which is held all over India. A decent score in the exam only guarantees a seat in these prestigious institutions.
For post-graduate courses, the candidate must have completed a bachelor's degree in Chemical engineering.
For diploma courses, the student must have completed standard 10 or 10+2 from a recognized board or university.
Graduates who have completed Chemical Engineering have ample opportunities in the service and manufacturing fields like specialty chemicals, food, materials, power production, plastics, tire manufacturing, biotechnology, nanotechnology, mineral-based industries, petrochemical plants, nuclear energy, materials science, and many other related industries.
For central government jobs in India, the candidate has to appear for the All India Engineering service examination which is conducted every year by the Union Public Service Commission.
Students who are interested to pursue research can enroll for Ph.D in Chemical Engineering and later become lecturers and professors in the related area.
There are several governments and private research laboratories which encourage research and development. These are the best avenues for research scholars.
To start off, for freshers the pay package will be around Rs.15,000 per month. Senior-level engineers can earn almost Rs50,000 to Rs60,000 per month. Graduates who completed their degree from IITs have good opportunities to work with major MNCs in India and abroad. The pay package for such candidates is relatively high in comparison to others.
