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OCR for page 113
ADAPTABILITY IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
J. S. Watson
Oak Ridge National I=boratory
The adaptability issue for chemical engineering (the ability of chemical engineers to
be retrained to work in other fields and for those from other fields to be retrained for work
in chemical engineering) will be discussed and illustrated in terms of (~) the
interdisciplinary origin of chemical engineering; (2) similarities of chemical engineering
curricula with those of other professions; (3) the expected future directions of chemical
engineering that are likely to include greater involvement of interdisciplinary skills and,
perhaps, greater adaptability; and (4) a few actions that could enhance adaptability. Few
quantitative facts are presented in this paper, but a brief section suggests ways to quickly
gain limited quantitative information on adaptability.
~ considering interdisciplinary programs, it is worthwhile to consider first what a
single engineering discipline is. There are different ways to approach and answer this
question, but the criterion used in this discussion is the proliferation of undergraduate (and
in some cases graduate) departments in the discipline at leading universities. Emphasis is
placed upon the undergraduate programs, where the bulb of the classroom training usually
occurs. The existence of undergraduate programs constitutes a recognition that a unique
combination of courses makes up an important discipline. For a program to remain a
separate department, its graduates must be well accepted by industries, goverrunent, and
graduate schools. This becomes a validation of the discipline. Fields with only graduate
programs can qualify as separate disciplines, but their cases may be weakened if the
principal body of knowledge studied by the students occurs in the undergraduate program.
Selection of this criteria implies that there is no unique, and perhaps no optimal,
way to divide engineering and science into separate fields. The divisions that we have, and
that we will have in the future, result from historical developments. As the existing fields
expand and more new disciplines are developed from current specialty subfields and
interdisciplinary areas, the boundaries of the "disciplines" will appear to be even more
arbitrary. Present chemical eng~neenng Gaining constitutes a useful collection of
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knowledge that serves important needs In our society, but this is not a unique collection of
knowledge that could only be packaged this way. In the future Here wiD be new needs,
and new information and concepts will have to be covered in Be training of chemical
engineers. Some matenals will be covered in less derail or even eliminated. Subf~elds or
interdisciplinary programs within chemical engineering may eventually become recognized
as separate disciplines.
The Interdisciplinary Origin of Chemical Engineering
Chemical eng~neenng can be viewed as either the youngest of the major traditional
eng~neenng disciplines or as the oldest of the major new disciplines. It ong~nated as
interdisciplinary programs between chemistry and die extant engineering disciplines.
Although chemical engineering activities certainly extend weD back into We past, Hey were
usually considered interdisciplinary programs unu1 the early part of this century.
Consideration of chemical eng~neenng as a separate discipline was demonstrated by the
foundation of He first academic program caned "chemical eng~neenng" at MU in 1888 and
He foundation of a separate professional society, the American Institute of Chemical
Engineers (ATChE), in 1908 (Reynolds, 1983~.
Recognition and acceptance of chemical engineering as a separate discipline
Increased in the following years and has become almost universal in He United States,
although Here was in lame opposition in to formation of a separate discipline (even though
the acceptance occurred more quickly in the United States than in some other countnes,
some major U.S. universities with strong eng~neenng programs have no chemical
engineering program). The establishment of a new discipline is almost certain to raise
questions and challenges to existing departments and professional societies (disciplines).
In most cases, cherubical eng~neenng programs grew out of the chemistry and mechanical
engineering deparunents, but, in at least one case, it was once included in the electncal
engineering department. The formation of a new discipline is likely to result when the
needs of the new discipline are not met by tile existing department and society. Formation
Of a new department (discipline) can be delayed or prevented by opposition from a strong
department head from one of the original departments, but it could also be delayed by such
exceptional (perhaps excessive) cooperation from the onginal departments blat there would
be little apparent need to create a new deparunent.
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The curriculum for training chemical engineers and the relationship of chemical
engineering to chemistry and the other engineering professions developed slowly but has
become relatively uniform, especially at the undergraduate level, due in part to accreditation
activities of the ATChE and continuous interactions between chemical engineering
departments. The historic evolution of chemical engineering as an interdisciplinary activity
has resulted in the location of several important chemical engineering departments in liberal
arts colleges, thus associated with chemistry departments, not with the engineering college
(the more common location). Graduates from departments affiliated with liberal arts
colleges appear to be treated by employers essentially the same as those from departments
affiliated with engineering colleges. However, location of the chemical engineering
department in the liberal arts college often places it in closer association with the chemistry
department and may result in a greater number of required chemistry hours in the
curriculum.
The traditional interdisciplinary nature of chemical engineering is also illustrated by
its frequent association with other engineering fields in joint departments. (This, of course,
also reflects the relatively small size of many chemical engineering departments.) Several
chemical engineering departments are, or have been, combined with material science
(metallurgical engineering), nuclear engineering, petroleum engineering, or other small
programs. As several of these programs became established as separate engineering
departments, other newer programs have become associated with chemical engineering
departments and are sometimes included in dhe department tides-for example, chemical
and bioprocessing engineering and chemical and polymer engineering. To some extent this
reflects only the use of the chemical engineering department to foster new departments that
may eventually become separated into new and separate departments. The changing
combination of names also reflects the evolution of emphasis in chemical engineering
education and practice. The strong emphasis on petroleum and petrochemical processing in
chemical engineering may fade somewhat during the coming decades as new areas of
Processing become increasingly important.
The interdisciplinary nature of chemical engineering is also illustrated in its graduate
programs. Many chemical engineering departments now include important faculty
members who were educated in other disciplines as well as in chemical engineering. There
are even notable examples of faculty trained solely in related fields rather than directly in
chemical engineering. There have been significant transfers to the profession from related
fields such as chemistry. Transfers enter graduate studies in chemical engineering after
obtaining B.S. or higher degrees In a related field. The motivations for such transfers
~5
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include discovery of an interest in chemical engineering (lack of public understanding of
what chemical engineers do and study has always been a problem), better employment
prospects, or higher salaries. The number of transfers has raised some concern for erosion
of quality in "traditional" chemical engineering training, but the transfers also indicate the
profession's commitment to interdisciplinary work and the relation of chemical engineering
to other fields. The interdisciplinary aspects may even be more historical or "traditional" to
chemical engineering than any particular courses that have become known as "traditional
chemical engineering" during the last four or five decades. The relatively small number of
chemical engineers makes it necessary for them to interact more with other engineering
disciplines than for engineers from the more populated disciplines. The relation of
chemical engineering to chemistry remains important and usually results in interactions in
joint programs, perhaps more in industrial situations than in the university departments.
Curriculum for Chemical Engineering
Undergraduate chemical engineering students obviously study far more chemistry
than any of the other major engineering disciplines, but the amount varies from school to
school. More than five semesters of chemistry are required by essentially all schools; song
require considerably more. The curricula require additional technical electives, which can
include additional chemistry courses. Chemical engineering students do not take as much
chemistry as chemistry majors, but the difference need not be great if the student chooses a
school with a high chemistry curriculum and takes chemistry for some of the technical
electives.
Since engineering students take most courses in Heir undergraduate major only
during their junior and senior years, there is much similarity between curricula for all fields
of engineering. Furthermore, many chemical engineering courses are similar to related
courses in mechanical and civil engineering: the undergraduate curriculum usually includes
one semester of thermodynamics and at least one semester of fluid mechanics and heat
transfer. Graduate students may take courses in such topics from other departments, and
some graduate courses in these topics may be offered for joint (either department) credit.
Courses In the chemical engineering department are more likely to have a chemical
engineering emphasis and highlight "process" applications, but much of the material may
be similar to that taught to mechanical and civil engineering students. Chemical engineers
and other engineering graduates probably can be highly adaptable for work in those topics
~6
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covered by both departments. With normal in-house training, combustion,
hydrodynamics, and heat transfer phenomena probably could be handled by either chemical
or mechanical eng~neenng graduates. However, chemical eng~neenng graduates would
require extensive retraining to handle problems in mechanical eng~neenng topics such as
engine design and structural analysis. Similarly, while chemical engineers could quickly be
trained to work on many topics in environmental eng~neenng, extensive retraining would
be required for structural and construction positions In civil eng~neenng.
Graduate education tends to become more highly specialized, and adaptability may
be less evident since graduates may not be just chemical engineers, chemists, or other types
of engineers, but true specialists in narrow subfields. The differences between graduate
programs in chemistry, chemical engineering, and other engineering departments may in
some cases become even less clear. Several special areas for chemical eng~neenng
research and graduate study-such as specific problems in chemical and physical design of
equipment or even integrated processing facilitiew are usually considered unique to
chemical engineering. Other research areas strongly overlap traditional chemistry studies,
especially areas of physical chemistry, or other engineering disciplines: therrnodynaniics
and phase equilibria studies are active in both chemistry and chemical engineering
programs; surface and interracial studies may be found in chemical engineering, chemistry,
physics, and even other engineering departments. Several areas of materials production
and materials properties are actively studied In chem~smy and material science as well as
chemical engineering. The recent increase in studies related to pollution control and waste
management have resulted in similar or related studies in environmental (sometimes civil)
· ~
engineering.
The recent growth of interdisciplinary university "centers," sponsored by the
National Science Foundation (NSI;) or over organizations, increases Me likelihood of
graduate students from different departments working together on different aspects of a
problem. It is likely that the graduate students from these programs will be selected by
future employers first for their special knowledges; the name of the department granting
their degree may be a secondary consideration. There are examples (but no known
statistics) of major professors who hold degrees in over fields but teach and supervise
research within chemical engineering departments. There are probably similar examples of
professors with chemical engineering degrees working in other departments. The mixing
of such degrees is likely to be even more extensive in industry, which is concerned with the
particular deparunent from which Be degree was obtained.
~ ~ ,
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The importance of industrial in-house training and experience on adaptability of
engineers and other professionals should be noted. Many engineers work in activities that
call for technical understanding but do not necessarily require extensive, specific initial
knowledge of Me industry: intensive specialized knowledge may be required but so
specialized that finals prefer to use their own in-house training to supplement the more
general training from the universities. In such industries so much specific in-house training
could lead to considerable interchangeability of new graduates. One indication of the use of
people Dam other disciplines in chemical engineering is the number of members of the
ATChE who hold degrees in other fields (AIChE, 1987~: in 1986, these represented 7.6
percent of the members with B.S. degrees and 16.9 percent of the members with M.S.,
and Ph.D., degrees. Membership in the AIChE is one indication that a person feels that
he/she is are engaged in chemical engineering activities. Engineers working in a particular
industry for many years acquire on-thejob knowledge that eventually can become more
important than Weir Anal training. Adaptability usually declines wad time or age if the
engineer becomes more specialized, but die importance of the initial education also becomes
less important than the knowledge acquired after fonnal schooling.
Expected Trends in Chemical Engineering
A recent study by the National Research Council (1988) has attempted to predict
future trends in chemical engineering and identify areas where new growth is most likely to
occur. The study, which followed a similar study of chemistry and occurred during die
period of unusually high unemployment and concern among chemical engineers, can be
viewed as an assessment of opportunities for chemical engineers as weD as a prediction of
new growth areas namely, biotechnology and biomedicine; electronic, photonic, and
recording materials and devices; and m~cros~uc~ materials. An interesting aspect of
these areas is that they all involve interdisciplinary activities. Biotechnology clearly
involves biologists (perhaps several types) and biochemists. Chemical engineers are
expected to play major roles in bringing the fruits of biotechnology to process scale
facilities, but the roles of other disciplines are not likely to be diminished by parucipanon of
chemical engineers. If chemical engineering participation means that more products of
biotechnology reach the marketplace earlier and at lower paces, die roles of all participants
in biotechnology will be enhanced
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Mere is some study of biomedical engineering (sometimes under different names)
in older traditional engineering disciplines. In fact, journals and conferences organized by
several engineering societies show signs of competition as each society stakes out its role in
a "hot" field, but the competition is more apparent than real. Each traditional engineering
discipline has a different view and interest in the field; so the overlap of interests is limited.
Electrical engineers may think of biomedical engineering in terms of instrumentation and
sensors for monitoring medical phenomena and detecting and evaluating diseases.
Mechanical engineers and material scientists may think of biomedical engineering in terms
of artificial hearts, artificial limbs, and other devices that would correct medical problems.
Others may think principally of new "engineered" drugs, biochemical sensors, analyses of
body fluids, and chemical treatments-areas where chemical engineering is more likely to
play major roles in biomedicine. Thus the different interests of various engineering
disciplines are more important than the overlap.
Electronic, photonic, and recording materials currently are enjoying rapid growth
that is expected to continue into the foreseeable future. Expected new developments Will
permit greater use of newer optical materials (systems) for information storage and faster
electronic materials to replace the traditional silicon-based materials and accelerate the
growth in the use of these materials. The combination of knowledge in chemistry and
processing technologies included in the training of chemical engineers is important in this
field and will become more important as the demand increases for higher purity materials
and higher productivity processes. However, the role of electrical engineering, materials
science, chemistry, and so forth will remain very important and will not decline.
Participation by chemical engineers should enhance the productivity and quality of these
products, increase the importance of the material, and thus enhance the participation of all
disciplines involved.
Microstructured materials molecular and physical structures that are designed and
constructed for specific high performance-include structured polymers with selected
molecular weight ranges and molecular orientation to maximize or optimize one or more
desired properties such as strength or toughness. The high expected growth rate in
microstructured materials results partially from the growing demand for new materials in
new high technology products and partially from a growing awareness that demand for
high quality products (even traditional products) is more likely to show higher growth than
for lower quality products.
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Adaptability in Periods of Economic Stress
Adaptability of different engineering disciplines becomes most impmant in periods
when there are surpluses or shortages In a particular discipline. One way to assess the
adaptability of chemical engineers and the potential for graduates mom other fields ~ enter
chemical engineering would be to compare the effects of economic problems (high
unemployment and even layoffs) on chemical engineers and over graduates. If the
graduates are easily exchangeable, unemployment in one field should affect all
interchangeable graduates. If there is no interchangeability, high unemployment should
affect the disciplines differendy. There are, however, drawbacks that limit the information
Mat can be gained via this approach.
The high demand (relative to supply) for chemical engineers for several decades
prior to the early 1980s allowed little change In the employment rates; the percent of
chemical eng~neenng graduates not receiving job offers was too low for effective analysis.
The unemployment rate In 1980 was 0.4 percent (Amencan Institute of Chemical
Engineers, 1987~. This situation changed as enrollments increased sharply during the late
1970s and the demand dropped during We early 1980s (Table I). This one major
perturbation in unemployment of chemical engineers was disturbing to the profession, but
it provides only limited information on how employment problems In chemical engineering
and other fields are coda. The major perturbation occurred when a number of factors
affecter! other professions as well as chemical engineering, and changes In Weir
employment picture do not necessarily indicate that chemical engineers were taking
positions in other fields.
The one correlation that probably does have important meaning lies in the relations
between employment in chemical and petroleum engineering, especially closely related
fields In which interchangeability is very high. The major decline in employment of
chemical engineers in the early 1980s resulted principally from a sharp decline In the energy
~ndustnes. The two notable areas were the private petroleum industry and the partially
federally sponsored (but largely pnvately operated) synfue} programs. The petroleum
industry has long been a major employer for chemical engineering graduates, and Me
synfue! program created a major perturbation in Me demand for chemical engineers. The
profession is small enough that a single major new demand such as this can have important
effects upon supplies. To meet this demand, as shown in Table 2, chemical engineering
departments significantly increased enrollments and graduates from them (RawIs, 19891.
In spite of efforts to maintain quality questions remain as to whether university departments
120
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Table I. Unemployment Rate Among Chemists and Chemical Engineers (in percent)
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
Engineema 0.4 o.5 0.9 4.3 3.2 2.8 3.2
Chenustsb 0.9 I.1 1.5 2.2 1.7 1.4 1.7
aData Tom American Insatiate of Chemical Engineers, l9X7. Economic Survey Report. New York: AIChE.
bData from Rawls, Rebecca L. 1989. Facts & figures for chemical R&D.Chemical and Engineering News,
67~34~:56.
that expanded their enrollment did so without loss in quality. This expansion in
undergraduate enrollment was not reflected strongly in the graduate programs, probably
because high demand and salaries attracted B.S. graduates into industry and reclucec! the
final fraction continuing their studies in graduate schools.
The subsequent employment decline in the petroleum industry extended quickly into
He related petrochemical industry. Many of the largest petrochemical facilities are owned
by petroleum companies, and financial needs alone were sufficient to couple the two
industries. Not only were new graduates not receiving sufficient offers for employment,
but experienced chemical engineers were being terminated or forced (often enticed) into
early regiment. Compansons between Be unemployment rates for chemical and
petroleum engineers during this penod are similar. The unemployment rate for chemists
also peaked in 1983, but the peak was not as great (Table I). Other engineering disciplines
associates! more closely with defense or cons~uci~on prog~asns have experienced more
periods of serious declines, but the chemical engineering community viewed this penod
very senously both because of the number of people involved and because of the fear that it
could signal a major change in the chemical engineering market pattern. The perturbations
in other major engineering disciplines during this period were not as serious, at least
relative to previous periods, and apparently caused less trauma.
One long-term effect of this perturbation In employment prospects for chemical
engineers has been a significant decline In undergraduate enrollment in chemical
engineering (as well as petroleum and chemistry) programs (RawIs, 19891. To a limited
degree this has probably been beneficial since the enrollment may have grown too rapidly
during the previous years. Recent enrollment figures indicate that the situation has
stabilized, with total enrollment at levels similar to those of a decade ago. There is now
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reason to be concerned that enrollments may be inadequate for growing needs In new and
important areas of technology where chemical engineers are expected to be needed.
The most serious effects of the employment perturbation were on He individuals
directly involved, experienced engineers who were laid off or red early and new
graduates who did not find jobs immediately after graduation. There is lithe information on
the overall effects of this period and the subsequent fate of the individuals. Personal
contacts reveal retired individuals who have started small consulting businesses (some were
successful and some were probably not successful), who found jobs with other companies,
who remained retired, and who went into other businesses. Even without statistics on the
fate of these engineers, it is probably fair to say that this reservoir of engineering talent and
experience is not utilized as completely after the early retirements as before.
The fate of young new graduates is equally difficult to assess. In some cases,
failure to find suitable employment sent the better students to graduate schools. Enrollment
in graduate programs in chemical engineering had declined during the period of high
demand for B.S. graduates, but rebounded after the demand declined (Table 21. That
could be a good result; but some of the best graduates of that period may have been
discouraged from entering graduate schools because immediate job offers were
understandably more enticing than the risk of not finding a job after graduate school. For
over less fortunate students, there were neither jobs in chemical eng~neenng nor suitable
positions in graduate school. Many, perhaps even most, of those students may be lost to
the profession: some went to graduate school in fields where the job market was perceived
to be more favorable; others simply accepted positions in other fields that probably did not
meet their career goals. Being older than new graduates with no more experience and a
record of underemployment or even unemployment, these individuals are not likely to be
looked upon with favor by employers.
The situation of He more specialized petroleum engineers probably has been
similar. Since the petroleum industry was one epicenter of He downturn, unemployment
among of] companies alone was particularly serious and enrollment in petroleum
engineering plunged even more drastically than in chemical eng~neenng and compensated
somewhat for the reduced demand. The long-term outlook for the petroleum and
petrochemical industries in this country may be constrained by our limited supply of crude
oil. A shift of secondary processing facilities toward the oil-producing counmes has
started, and it is unclear how many of these act ties can be ma~ntuned in the United
States. Petroleum engineering is an interesting example of engineering specialization that
has flourished but faces problems because of its relatively narrow focus.
122
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Table 2. Degrees Awarded in Chemical Engineenng and Chemistry, 1968-1987
Year Chemistry Cal Engineering
B.S. M.S. Ph.D. B.S. M.S. Ph.D
1968 10,847 2014 1757 3211 1156 367
1969 11,807 2070 1941 3557 1136 409
1970 11,617 2146 2208 3720 1045 438
1971 11,183 2284 2160 3615 1100 406
1972 10,721 2259 1971 3663 1154 394
1973 10,226 2230 1882 3636 1051 397
1974 10,525 2138 1828 3454 1045 400
1975 10,649 2006 1824 3142 990 346
1976 11,107 1796 1623 3203 1031 308
1977 11,322 1775 1571 3581 1086 291
1978 11,474 1892 L525 4615 1237 259
1979 11,643 1765 1518 5655 1149 304
1980 11,446 1733 1551 6383 1271 284
1981 11,347 1654 1622 6527 1267 300
1982 11,062 1751 1722 6740 1285 311
1983 10,746 1604 1746 7145 1304 319
1984 10,704 1667 1744 7475 1514 330
1985 10,482 1719 1789 7146 1544 418
1986 10,116 1754 1908 5877 1361 446
1987 9,661 1738 1976 4983 1184 497
. .
SOURCE: Anonymous. 1986. Unemployment slightly higher. for chemists in the past year. Chemical and
Engineering News, 64~26~:23-27.
Increasing the Adaptability of Chemical and other Engineers
The key to increasing tile adaptability of chemical engineers for work in over fields
is to include broader and additional training in the chemical engineering curriculum. The
knowledge taught in the colleges and universities should be as general as is practical, with
specific knowledge for particular companies or even some small industries given to the
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engineers "on He job." However, the expanding technical knowledge appears to have
trended toward specialization, not generalization.
Specialization of both scientists and engineers has resulted from simple recognition
that so much specialized knowledge is required for professional practice blat a general
training curriculum In science or engineering would be impractical. Continuing growth in
human knowledge is likely to increase the need for specialization. Training for research in
He sciences has become sufficiently specialized that deparunent names alone do not cover
or indicate the numerous special subtends: for instance, a chemist may be considered an
analytical chemist, an instrumental analysis chemist or a spectroscopist.
The engineering professions have resisted this degree of specialization, perhaps
because more professional engineering practices involve activities other man research and
use B.S., and M.S., as well as Ph.D. degrees. Nonetheless, the pressure has been high
for "fig" more knowledge into the eng~neenng curriculum. The chemical
engineering curriculum includes heavy loads of classwork and laboratones, and the need
for aching more material becomes evident almost every year. In biology or matenals
sciences, there appears to be little room for additional material needed for projected new
grown areas. There have been cans for a S-year curriculum or adoption of the M.S. or a
higher degree as the lowest professional degree In chemical (or other areas of ~ engineering
to allow more information in the curriculum, but those calls have been resisted.
As long as increases In the curriculum are resisted, it is not likely that significant
quantities of new core material can be awed to meet the projected needs of the profession
and increase the adaptability of chemical engineers. The uldmate way to include additional
inflammation into a curriculum is to develop better ways to systemize the information. This
requires better insight and understanding that identify similarities and allow several
phenomena to be studied together. Systemization can involve development of thrones and
models that allow complex behavior of systems to be described in new and more concise
forms. Such advances must always be sought' but they require ingenuity. The rate of
such advancements cannot be predicted
Recent developments in computer and information technologies suggest new ways
that more infonnation can be taught In a given period of time. The full potential of rapidly
improving computer capabilities is not known, but obviously could impact the teaching of
chemical (and other areas of) engineenng: numencal solutions and other descriptions of
chemical engineering phenomena may replace verbal, tirne-consuniing laboratory
demonstrations. Me results of student access to large data bases or artificial intelligence
systems is more difficult to assess. Our ability to incorporate these new computer and
124
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infold non technologies into the training process has lagged developments in the
hardware. Developing effective software for improving and streamlining scientific and
mchn~ca] education is especially difficult in fields, like chemical engineering, where the
number of potential students is not large enough to justify large efforts in software
development.
Another obvious case of a non-optimal factor in a chemical engineering curriculum
is uncontrolled duplication. Some duplication is necessary to stress selected subjects, but
duplication should occur only for specific and intended reasons. Generally, duplication In
course material taught by individual deparunents has been eliminated. Exchange of
~nformaaon between chemical engineering departments throughout the counay allows
departments at each university to see how other universities are handing these problems
and to assess the value of different approaches to Weir particular department with its unique
resources (staff and facilities), goals, and philosophy.
Perhaps the major source of uncontrolled} duplication of instructional material in the
chemical engineering curriculum occurs because of incomplete cooperation between
different departments within the universities, an important consideration for any new
engineering discipline Hat maintains significant portions of its classwork in over
departments. Chem~smy can be taught to chemical engineers either as part of the regular
offering of the chemistry departments or in special classes for chemical engineers (taught
either by facula Tom the chemistry department or by chemical engineering faculty). By
having Me chemical eng~neenng students participate In chern~smy classes within the
chemistry deparunent's standard curriculum for chemistry majors, the instruction is more
likely to be carried out by those best informed in the subject and the competition with
chemistry majors helps ensure that high standards are maintained.
However, the packaging and organization of cheesy cannot be optimized for
presentation to both chemise and chemical eng~neenng majors. This leads to dup~icanon
when students study similar material both in the chemical eng~neenng them~odynam~cs
course and in physical chemistry. Both the lesser number of chemical engineering students
and the appropriate primary focus of He cheesy curriculum upon the needs of chemistry
majors means that the chemical engineering cumculum must be arranged around the
chemistry curriculum rather than optimized for chemical engineers: the content of chemistry
courses cannot be limited only to the subjects of most importance to chemical engineers.
When chemical engineering students take one fewer semester of a sequence (such as
organic chemistry) than chemistry majors, they must take the material as it is packaged by
He chernis~y department.
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The obvious solution to the problem is to maximize cooperation between
departments, but this does not mean that the chemistry departments will organize their
programs to best suit the needs of chemical engineering students. Their responsibility
remains first with their own, more numerous, chemistry majors; cooperation only means
Hat they consider the needs of the chemical engineers and work to find suitable
compromises. If a department becomes involved In cooperation with several other
departments, the needs of several programs may become compromises.
Suggestions for Improving Data on Adaptability
There are few ways to assess how chemical engineers and other disciplines are
interchanged in industry or government. That would require precise definitions of what is,
and is not, chemical engineering and leave areas of uncertainties and disagreement.
Furthermore, it would be necessary to have ~nfom~at~on from industry that is unavailable
and would be difficult to obtain. Instead to improve our understanding of He current
exchangeability, a more modest approach is recommended. Though less direct and less
complete, it has the potential for providing partial answers quickly and with modest effort.
Questionnaires can be sent to the major chemical engineering departments asking for tile
following ~nf~nat~on:
1 . How many faculty members do you have, and how many hold one or more degrees
in a field over than chemical eng~neenng? What degrees and in what other fields?
2. How many faculty members in your department hold no degree in cherubical
engineering (or hold their highest degree in another fields?
How many graduate students do you have? How many are working on research
under an advisor or co-adv~sor from another department? How many of your
faculty are advising students from other deparonents?
4. How many of your graduate students hold undergraduate degrees in fields other
Dan chemical engineering?
How many of your seniors during the last (few) years entered graduate schools in
fields other than chemical engineenng?
A simple survey such as this will not answer the larger questions concerning adaptability of
chemical engineers, but it can assess how chemical engineers are exchanged with other
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disciplines at the universities. This represents a modest effort that would provide a basis
for estimating how much campus interaction is laying a basis for later interchange of
chemical engineers. There should be some similant~es in the exchange of engineers In
industry.
A limited insight Into the use of nonchemical engineers can be obtained by
assuming that those working as chemical engineers are likely to become associated with the
AIChE and asking that society how many members/associate members have degrees in
other fields or no degree in chemical engineering. It would be more difficult to estimate
how many chemical engineers are working in other fields, but similar checks could be
mace of memberships In other societies.
References
American Institute of Chemical Engineers. 1987. Economic Survey Report. New York:
AIChE.
Anonymous. 1986. Unemployment slightly higher for chemists in the past year.
Chemicala~Engineering News 64~26~:23-27.
National Research Council, Committee on Chemical Eng~neenng Frontiers. 1988.
Frontiers in Chemical Engineering: Research Needs and Opportunities.
Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
RawIs, Rebecca L. 1989. Facts & figures for chemical R&D. Chemical and Engineering
News 67~341:56.
Reynolds, T. S. 1983. 75 Years of Progress ~ History of the American Institute of
Chemical Engineers, ·908-1983. New York: American Institute of Chemical
Engineers.
127
;
OCR for page 128
Representative terms from entire chapter:
engineering departments
