October 29, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR SHEILA ENGLAND IN PA
From my son-in-law Robert T. Pogue, PhD (chemist)
Not to sound like a sales brochure, but chemistry is a wide-open field that
can lead to any number of different careers. I have worked in polymer
research for just over 11 years and have worked in developing chemical
instrumentation, pharmaceuticals, rapid prototyping, materials engineering,
electro-optics and paint/coatings. Other people that I went to school with
are developing new catalysts and new drugs, doing radiocarbon dating for
archeologists or working on improving measurement techniques. One even
spends many afternoons fishing so that his students can evaluate heavy
metals in freshwater fish. My previous research advisor now works for the
justice department in anti-terrorism and anti-counterfeiting technologies.
You may also consider teaching and turning new students on to Chemistry.
As with any career choice, chemistry can be what you make of it.

Traditionally pure chemists tended to stay more towards the synthetic end of
chemistry whereas chemical engineers were involved more with thermodynamics
and processes. This is
reflected in the difference in classes that most chemists take versus
chemical engineers. Recent tendencies though are leaning more towards
multi-disciplinary teams and people who can work well in all situations, so
you may find both doing the same types of jobs. A strong background in
math and calculus is absolutely necessary for chemical engineers. Chemists
also need those skills just not to as large a degree.
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October 23, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR DEBORAH GRUBBE IN DE
A chemist is a scientist that discovers new compounds, new chemistries, and
new methods to make certain chemicals. A chemical engineer takes the
chemists discoveries and applies those discoveries to make the world a
better place. For example, a chemist invented the Kevlar(R) molecule, and
was able to make it in the laboratory. It was the chemical engineer that
took that discovery and created a full size manufacturing facility to
manufacture Kevlar(R) fiber in enough quantities to make lots of bullet
proof helmets and vests. These vests protect every soldier in Iraq, as
well as many policemen in the United States from gunshot wounds. The
chemist and the chemical engineer, working together, have saved the lives
of over 2000 policemen and policewomen in the USA. By the way, the
chemist was a woman named Stephanie Kwolek. Stephanie discovered Kevlar(R)
in the 1960's. I was one of the chemical engineers that worked on the
design of the Kevlar(R) plant that is located in Londonderry, Northern
Ireland. I worked on that plant in the 1980's. [Kevlar(R) is a trademark
of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Inc.]
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A: FROM MENTOR ANHLAN NGUYEN IN TX
Chemists normally do research in chemistry related areas. Some Chemists
work in the laboratory to do research, some chemists teach chemistry and do
research at universities. Their work usually related to theory than
practical application of chemistry in the industries. A Chemical Engineer,
on the other hand, deals with the practical application of Chemistry in the
real world. The Chemical Engineers work out in the field, they can work for
oil and gas companies or pharmaceutical companies or any industries that
utilize chemistry.

Hope this helps.
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A: FROM MENTOR JACQUELYN JURGA IN MA
I am a mechanical engineer, but work for a chemical company. I only know
the difference between a chemist and a chemical engineer as it pertains to
this company. They are quite different. I hope this helps you. The
chemical engineers are people who develop and are responsible for the
process in which the chemical products are produced. The chemists are
people more involved in laboratory chemical analysis and development.
Good luck with your studies.

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A: FROM MENTOR JOAN LUSK IN RI
There are lots of different kinds of chemists. Some make things -
new drugs, new materials for electronics, for fabrics, plastics and
other polymers, for paint, for just about everything you see around
you that isn't a natural product direct from the plant or animal.
And even those natural products probably needed to be purified to be
of use - think of sugar from cane or beets - and chemists devise
purification methods. Other chemists specialize in analyzing
materials - what are they made of, how much of each component is
there, how pure are they? [Did you know that the Ivory soap slogan
"99.44% pure" originated because the sum of the analytical chemist's
analysis added up to that figure - either because 0.56% remained
unidentified, or more likely because the data were not precise enough
to say that 99.44 is really any different from 100.00.] In the
environment, analytical chemists measure parts per billion or lower
levels of some toxic elements and compounds.

Pure chemists devise new synthetic or analytical methods and usually
work with small amounts of material. Chemical engineers figure out
how to scale up those methods, to deal with massive amounts - to
refine millions of barrels of petroleum, to make millions of tons of
plastics, to make millions of doses of a drug that a pure chemist
first made in milligram amounts. Scaling up a process involves
changing it - looking for ways that are safe on a large scale, that
can control mixing and temperature on a large scale. "Applied
chemists" fall somewhere in between "pure" chemists and engineers.
They study chemistry of processes and materials that they hope will
be commercially important, and are more likely than pure chemists to
be thinking about how to scale up. There are also "theoretical
chemists" who concern themselves more with mathematical models and
understanding the behavior of atoms molecules in great detail.

There are good careers in chemistry for people who love math and
don't love math; who are naturally inclined to be precise and who are
more rough-and-ready; who are more visually imaginative or inclined
to mathematic analysis, who want to be involved in a commerical
enterprise or in the ivory tower of academe.