Asking Questions and Developing a Basic Knowledge

This week’s blog asked us to think about some questions to get a better understanding of our field of choice. I was able to come up with ten questions that have been on my mind since I chose my field of chemical engineering. To answer my questions I needed to find a textbook. It may seem simple enough to just pick up a book on chemical engineering, but in reality I had a much harder time then I thought I would. The reason was at a university many of the textbooks on chemical engineering are very technically based or are very detailed concepts of what chemical engineering is. It can be tough to find a textbook that is more general that just gives a glimpse into the life of a chemical engineer, but through my research I was able to find one that answered some of my question.

The ten questions are listed below. Some of the questions were answered from the textbook I found. For example “What does a chemical engineer do as an occupation?” Well chemical engineers work on production of chemical products and other products that require the use of chemical processing. They produce on a much larger scale than chemist do. Another question that was answered “Why do chemical engineers work on projects at a larger scale?” The reason is chemist work on research at a smaller scale while chemical engineers use the research done by them to produce their findings at a much bigger scale. The last question I was able to find an answer for was “What types of fields can chemical engineers go into?” The field of choice I would like to go into is the environmental side of chemical engineering. That would just be one of the many fields I found. Some specializations that chemical engineers can go into are pollution control, oxidation, or the production of plastics.

Through this textbook I was able to get a better understanding of what my field is so far, but as I divulge deeper into chemical engineering there will be much more. I have only broken the surface so far and I cannot wait to explore much more of it!

Questions:

1. How do chemical engineers affect the world?

2. What types of fields can chemical engineers go into?

3. What are the different types of renewable energy that chemical engineers look at?

4. How can chemical engineers use renewable energy?

5. What are some effective ways chemical engineers use their research to build a better planet?

6. What does a chemical engineer do as an occupation?

7. What type of technology are chemical engineers using to help aid their research?

8. Why do chemical engineers work on projects at a larger scale than a smaller scale?

9. Why are chemical engineers important to the world?

10. What are some famous contributions that chemical engineers have been able contribute?

Citations:

"Chemical Engineer." Career Information Center. Ed. Mary Bonk. 9th ed. Vol. 6: Engineering, Science, Technology, and Social Science. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 107-109. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 31 Jan. 2013.

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http://go.galegroup.com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX2586800442&v=2.1&u=msu_main&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w

Chemical Engineering for Masters Students. N.d. Online UniversityWeb. 31 Jan 2013. <http://www.onlineuniversity.net/chemistry/chemical-engineering-resources/>.