Chemical engineer
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[[Image:Colonne distillazione.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Chemical engineers design, construct and operate plants]]
In the field of [[engineering]], a '''chemical engineer''' is the profession in which one works principally in the [[chemical industry]] to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products, and deals with the design and operation of plants and equipment to perform such work.<ref>Licker, Mark, D. (2003). ''Dictionary of Engineering", McGraw-Hill, 2nd Ed.</ref> In general, a chemical engineer is one who applies and uses principles of [[chemical engineering]] in any of various practical applications; primarily with respect to the study of the design, manufacture, and operation of plant and machinery in industrial chemical and related processes. A number of famous or historical chemical engineers can be found in the [[list of chemical engineers]].
==History==
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>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 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 [[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> (The first female member joined in 1942.)<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>
As can be seen from the latter 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.
In 1951 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 current definition of [[Chemical Engineering]] is "the profession in which knowledge of [[mathematics]], [[physics]], [[chemistry]] and [[biology]], gained by study, experience, and practice, is applied with judgment to develop economic and safe ways of using materials to benefit mankind." <ref> American Institute of Chemical Engineers [[AIChE]]</ref>
== Overview ==
[[Image:Nrc-bri-bioprocess-lr.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Chemical Engineers work in "Real Deal" Biotechnology Research Institutes]]
Historically, the chemical engineer has been primarily concerned with [[process engineering]]. 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]].
== Employment and Salaries==
In the United States of America, the [[Department of Labor]] estimated in [[2006]] the number of chemical engineers to be 30,000. The average hourly wage for a chemical engineer was $39.23 per hour, but ranged from $24.07 to $57.05 per hour. The median annual salary for a chemical engineer was $78,860, with the middle 80 percent of chemical engineers making between $50,060 and $118,670 annually.<ref>[http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes172041.htm U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics: Chemical Engineers]</ref> Chemical engineering has been cited as the highest-paying degree for first employment of college graduates.<ref>[http://chemical.princeton.edu/news/news_info.shtml?id=57 Chemical Engineering Ranked Highest Paying Degree], Department of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, February 15, 2006</ref> Subsequently, a high-end salary grade is common to this profession in the USA.
In the [[UK]], the [[Institution of Chemical Engineers]] [[2006]] Salary Survey reported an average over £53,000, with a starting salary for a graduate averaging £24,000<ref>Institution of Chemical Engineers Annual Review 2006</ref>.
==See also==
{{Portal|Engineering}}
*[[American Institute of Chemical Engineers]] (AIChE)
*[[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]]
*[[Unit operations]]
*[[Wikipedia:WikiProject Chemical and Bio Engineering|WikiProject: Chemical and Bio Engineering]]
== References==
<references/>
==External links==
*[http://www.chemengg.com/ Chemical Engineering Information Exchange]
*[http://www.aiche.org/ American Institute of Chemical Engineers (USA)]
*[http://www.icheme.org Institution of Chemical Engineers (UK)]
*[http://www.cheminst.ca/csche_home__e.htm Canadian Society for Chemical Engineers]
*[http://www.ieaust.org/ Engineers Australia (AUS)]
*[http://dmoz.org/Business/Chemicals/Engineering/ Chemical Engineering sites (Open Directory Project)]
*[http://dmoz.org/Science/Technology/Chemical_Engineering/Software/ Chemical Engineering software (Open Directory Project)]
[[Category:Chemical engineering]]
[[Category:Unit operations]]