How is the Chemical Engineering branch?

What are its positive and negative sides?

Chemical engineering is all about changing raw materials into useful products you use every day in a safe and cost-effective way. For example, petrol, plastics and synthetic fibers such as polyester and nylon, all come from oil. Chemical engineers understand how to alter the chemical, biochemical or physical state of a substance, to create everything from face creams to fuels.

It can be said as a universal engineering because starting from plastics, synthetic fibers, wonder drugs, food to petrochemicals, wonder materials, superconductors, semiconductors has involved chemical engineers in its development. If you are really interested in chemical engineering then you will never regret taking it.

But if you take it out of some compulsion then you might end up feeling that you could have taken some other branch or maybe some MSc. But this is not always the case. Once you start studying the subjects you will find them interesting and indulging. In addition to this, chemical engineering either has various sub-branches like biochemical, petroleum refining, material science, process engineering, equipment designing, polymer technology, paper and pulp technology, environmental engineering, renewable and green energy etc., or has applications in different fields of engineering. So, overall this a very good branch with greater scope and application.

Coming to the placements, the placements of chemical engineering in all the colleges in India is not that great because it is being misunderstood as petroleum refining engineering in India.

This branch has amazing scope outside India and if you go for higher study or internships in foreign universities, you’ll have a very good experience which will be boost your CV. There are excellent pay and benefits and intellectually stimulating work in the companies. But depending on your job, sometimes there are potentially hazardous working conditions but not to worry as the safety measures in all the plants are considered very seriously in these types of jobs.