Chemical engineering is involved with the chemical exchanges that occur between substances in order for raw materials to be turned into products.
Chemical engineering technicians and technologists focus on the chemical processes used in industry. They are therefore employed across a wide range of manufacturing environments such as pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, iron and steel, food and beverages, and water and wastewater.
In these industries, they investigate the nature of chemical reactions, and are involved in process and equipment optimisation commissioning and design, troubleshooting and problem-solving. Typical job functions involve analysing raw materials and final products, quality assurance, research and development, technical sales and service, and production or process control.
Chemical engineering graduates can also focus their work on environmental management, as many of the processes that prevent releases into – and remove pollutants from – the environment are chemical processes.