Engineering Explained (Sort Of)
Disclaimer: This is not meant to disrespect in any way the liberal arts people out there. I don't really understand your world and I'm guessing you don't really get mine, either. Maybe this will clear up some of the confusion.
This blog was inspired by a random conversation with a couple of my coworkers about a week ago.
Let me tell you about chemical engineering.
Chemical engineering is a large field that is hard to define in broad terms. If there is a material being developed or processed, there is a chemical engineer involved. If there is a process that involves a chemical (even if it's just water with dissolved air) being transported with a possible manipulation -- heating, cooling, pressure change, phase change (for instance, liquid to gas), separation of a mixture of chemicals -- there is a chemical engineer involved. We do a lot of plumbing -- flow through pipes and all that -- but we get to deal with chemical reactions and odd fluid behavior. Generally speaking, that fluid part is important; we do a lot more with liquids and vapors than with solids.
Maybe you understand why, when people ask what chemical engineers do, we often answer with something to the tune of "Drugs and bombs." Sure, it sounds cooler, but it also sums things up pretty easily. We make ... anything. Everything. Plastic, pharmaceuticals, sugar substitutes, preservatives, fabrics, cleaners, fuels, food, explosives, potable water. There’s chemical engineering in the middle of it all.
Now, let me tell you about chemical engineers.
First, to understand any particular branch of engineering, you have to understand that engineers are a different breed as a whole. Yes, we're nerdy. We're often asocial, to some degree. We tend to be the awkward kids that were teased in middle school and high school for their glasses, braces, and/or acne. We are the chess club of society.
But by the time we hit the point of actually being engineers ... we're at peace with our identities. Often, you can tell what an engineer will be like simply by their chosen field. Civil engineers generally like to get dirty and drink a lot of beer. Mechanical engineers tinker, often with big machines that would scare a normal person. (Usually they’re the ones wearing baseball caps on career day.) Electrical engineers theorize about life and are sometimes found with strange burns (depending on their skills with a soldering gun). Industrial engineers are the "people people" and fairly confident and upbeat. (They have to be, given that other engineers question the validity of IEs as actual engineers). Mining engineers are the manly men (and they have one of the lowest percentages of women). Geological engineers are outdoorsy and slightly more normal than regular geologists. Computer engineers are more "indoorsy" and secluded. Environmental engineers are often former hippies who are trying something new. Metallurgical engineers are ... different. They tend to frighten me, but that won't help you. (Mets are something of mechanical/chemical hybrids, focusing on uses of solid materials.) Chemical engineers? Chem-es have egos.
See, it's not easy to become an engineer. While I know this applies to almost any professional field (there are always exceptions), most of us would argue that it's particularly tough to survive an engineering education. I might agree with this one, if only because I barely made it and I'm a terminal overachiever.
The catch with chemical engineers is that we hit our crappy year before other majors, so we see ourselves working harder early on. Suddenly, the ego appears (along with the alcoholism). While I like to think I've resisted that for the most part (I'm a chem-e because that's what makes sense to me -- for instance, I just don't understand the physics behind civil, mechanical, or electrical engineering, or anything about computer engineering), I have to admit that I've chosen a pretty cool career. My education will let me work in any country, in one of a thousand different specializations. There’s also a feeling of invincibility once that degree is in your hand … I think that has something to do with surviving organic chemistry and thermodynamics. Egads.
The fact that we make more than other engineers doesn't help the ego thing, either.
I’ve questioned my chosen field more than once. In the back of my head, there was the reminder that I wanted to be an English teacher for years upon years before I got hooked on biology and chemistry. College had its ups and downs ... After my junior year, I was more than ready to give it up. I was even in a lab group that planned to mass defect as the conclusion of a presentation for one of my process labs. ("In conclusion, we’re becoming industrial engineers.") But like the addict that I am, I came back to it each and every time. I’d get frustrated with a class or a professor or a homework assignment and hit the brink then get sucked in again as another class interested me all over again.
My addiction only gets worse. I read about biochemistry for fun; I think of things in terms of their levels of optimization; I look at an object and wonder about its chemical properties; I dream in molecular structures. I am where I’m supposed to be.
There’s a tremendous amount of relief in that realization.
After years of questioning whether that coin landed right, I find myself in an area that I enjoy. (Note to self: next time, don’t flip a coin. A lot of undue stress results. Just make a decision.)
Even better, a job that fits pretty well found me. I get to travel, appease my inner environmentalist, and have hazardous materials training. (Yeah, that’s right. The clean suit and everything, just like in the movies. Yay.) And although I’m logging a lot of cubicle time, I can eventually see what’s on my computer take shape and actually exist. In Ashleyland, that's a pretty big deal.
My "Please, please comment!" question for this post is ... what did you want to be when you grew up?
This blog was inspired by a random conversation with a couple of my coworkers about a week ago.
Let me tell you about chemical engineering.
Chemical engineering is a large field that is hard to define in broad terms. If there is a material being developed or processed, there is a chemical engineer involved. If there is a process that involves a chemical (even if it's just water with dissolved air) being transported with a possible manipulation -- heating, cooling, pressure change, phase change (for instance, liquid to gas), separation of a mixture of chemicals -- there is a chemical engineer involved. We do a lot of plumbing -- flow through pipes and all that -- but we get to deal with chemical reactions and odd fluid behavior. Generally speaking, that fluid part is important; we do a lot more with liquids and vapors than with solids.
Maybe you understand why, when people ask what chemical engineers do, we often answer with something to the tune of "Drugs and bombs." Sure, it sounds cooler, but it also sums things up pretty easily. We make ... anything. Everything. Plastic, pharmaceuticals, sugar substitutes, preservatives, fabrics, cleaners, fuels, food, explosives, potable water. There’s chemical engineering in the middle of it all.
Now, let me tell you about chemical engineers.
First, to understand any particular branch of engineering, you have to understand that engineers are a different breed as a whole. Yes, we're nerdy. We're often asocial, to some degree. We tend to be the awkward kids that were teased in middle school and high school for their glasses, braces, and/or acne. We are the chess club of society.
But by the time we hit the point of actually being engineers ... we're at peace with our identities. Often, you can tell what an engineer will be like simply by their chosen field. Civil engineers generally like to get dirty and drink a lot of beer. Mechanical engineers tinker, often with big machines that would scare a normal person. (Usually they’re the ones wearing baseball caps on career day.) Electrical engineers theorize about life and are sometimes found with strange burns (depending on their skills with a soldering gun). Industrial engineers are the "people people" and fairly confident and upbeat. (They have to be, given that other engineers question the validity of IEs as actual engineers). Mining engineers are the manly men (and they have one of the lowest percentages of women). Geological engineers are outdoorsy and slightly more normal than regular geologists. Computer engineers are more "indoorsy" and secluded. Environmental engineers are often former hippies who are trying something new. Metallurgical engineers are ... different. They tend to frighten me, but that won't help you. (Mets are something of mechanical/chemical hybrids, focusing on uses of solid materials.) Chemical engineers? Chem-es have egos.
See, it's not easy to become an engineer. While I know this applies to almost any professional field (there are always exceptions), most of us would argue that it's particularly tough to survive an engineering education. I might agree with this one, if only because I barely made it and I'm a terminal overachiever.
The catch with chemical engineers is that we hit our crappy year before other majors, so we see ourselves working harder early on. Suddenly, the ego appears (along with the alcoholism). While I like to think I've resisted that for the most part (I'm a chem-e because that's what makes sense to me -- for instance, I just don't understand the physics behind civil, mechanical, or electrical engineering, or anything about computer engineering), I have to admit that I've chosen a pretty cool career. My education will let me work in any country, in one of a thousand different specializations. There’s also a feeling of invincibility once that degree is in your hand … I think that has something to do with surviving organic chemistry and thermodynamics. Egads.
The fact that we make more than other engineers doesn't help the ego thing, either.
I’ve questioned my chosen field more than once. In the back of my head, there was the reminder that I wanted to be an English teacher for years upon years before I got hooked on biology and chemistry. College had its ups and downs ... After my junior year, I was more than ready to give it up. I was even in a lab group that planned to mass defect as the conclusion of a presentation for one of my process labs. ("In conclusion, we’re becoming industrial engineers.") But like the addict that I am, I came back to it each and every time. I’d get frustrated with a class or a professor or a homework assignment and hit the brink then get sucked in again as another class interested me all over again.
My addiction only gets worse. I read about biochemistry for fun; I think of things in terms of their levels of optimization; I look at an object and wonder about its chemical properties; I dream in molecular structures. I am where I’m supposed to be.
There’s a tremendous amount of relief in that realization.
After years of questioning whether that coin landed right, I find myself in an area that I enjoy. (Note to self: next time, don’t flip a coin. A lot of undue stress results. Just make a decision.)
Even better, a job that fits pretty well found me. I get to travel, appease my inner environmentalist, and have hazardous materials training. (Yeah, that’s right. The clean suit and everything, just like in the movies. Yay.) And although I’m logging a lot of cubicle time, I can eventually see what’s on my computer take shape and actually exist. In Ashleyland, that's a pretty big deal.
My "Please, please comment!" question for this post is ... what did you want to be when you grew up?
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