My Major

In this post I give a brief description of what an engineering student would study in college and what kind of jobs an engineer might find and for which companies. I also describe why I chose to major in engineering and where journals relevant to Chemical Engineering can be found. 

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What do Engineering Students Study?

Everything. At times the course load I’m going to be taking seems a little intimidating and incredibly overwhelming, but seeing how industry ready the curriculum makes us, I kind of understand why.  

I am currently enrolled as a No Major Selected Engineer in the College of Engineering. Because I have yet to identify what particular type of engineering degree I will focus on my number one at the moment: Chemical Engineering.  

During school all engineers focus on building a strong foundation of math and science, by taking classes like Physics, Chemistry, and Calculus based math classes. In addition to these groundwork type classes, Chemical engineering would have me take more chemistry classes, including CHEE Heat Transfer and Flow.

Show me the money, and where to get a job.

I have heard from a Chemical Engineering professor before that Chemical Engineers are in high demand based on the high versatility they have in a job market. The oil industry is one company in particular that I have heard is looking for Chemical Engineers. Especially big companies like Exxon and Arco.

Other industries where I think Chemical Engineers would be prevalent would be in pharmacy, manufacturing, and working with specialty chemicals.

Engineering is in my blood.

I come from a family of engineers starting with my father. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Also, both of my older brothers are engineers; one is a Chemical Engineer and the other is an Optical Engineer. Fun fact: both are graduates from the University of Arizona.

My mom thinks my dad brainwashed my brother and I to major in engineering, and hey she might be right. But in all honesty, I would love to work in sustainability. Renewable energy and fuel to be specific. I would love to one day own a Tesla, because I think it’s a beautiful car and it’s electric, which is right up my alley.

While suitability is a large field, I believe that this degree will give me the most flexibility in terms of jobs, and I also like working in a hands-on manner.

Heroes, but not quite like Superman.

Engineering heroes exists, but because engineers often work in teams emerging companies are easier to find than specific names of people. My interest in sustainability has me believing that companies working in renewable energy are heroes based on the focus of their work.

Some of the emerging renewable energy companies include AltaRock Energy, whose goal is to tap into geothermal activity to create renewable energy and BrightSource Energy whose work involves transforming the sun’s heat and turning it into electricity.

Scholarly Journals

According to Microsofts Academic Search  the Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology is one of the top ranked Chemical Engineering journals and can be found on the website for the Wiley Online Library. Another highly ranked journal from the Microsoft Academic Search is the International Journal of Mass Spectrometry and Ion Processes, which can be found online on the website for Science Direct. 

Finally, SClmago Journal & CountryRank lists the Progress in Energy and Combustion Science as a useful journal, and this journal can also be found on the Science Direct site.

Reflection
Because I am an undecided engineering major, I feel like there is a lot of pressure for me to pick a major soon and stick with it. I have three or so forerunners that I'm considering but I'm not sure which will let me enjoy working in the field that I want to end up in--sustainability.

Reading Mehruba's post and learning that a biochemist was sent to the International Space Station gave me confidence in knowing that particular jobs, like being an astronaut, are not limited to a single degree.

Similarly, after reading Trey's post about aerospace engineering helped me to see that even specific majors can still be incredibly diverse. From him talking about the different parts of aerospace, the aeronautical and astronautical sides, I learned that there is so much more to the types of engineering than I thought. Therefore, I have a lot to learn before I make my decision. However, I feel that I have more options that I imagined.