Chemical-materials engineering degrees

This trend is evident even when one defines chemistry as broadly as possible, including degrees conferred in biochemistry and chemical-materials engineering. See Appendix A.3. 

In 1972, 1413 degrees were conferred in biochemistry, probably the largest of all excluded fields. For chemistry and chemical-materials engineering the total was just under 22000 (lA, NCES, 1975a, Table 5, 12-16). For the specialties included in these fields, see Table 3.9, notes a and b. 

Includes degrees in the various specialties of chemistry per se and in chemical-materials engineering, as defined above in note a. Chemistry per se includes the following specialties general chemistry (U.S. Office of Education specialty code 1905) inorganic chemistry (1906) ... 

Source IB, Adkins, 1975. Totals for chemical-materials engineering are from Table A-5.10, 290-293. Totals for bachelors degrees in chemistry-related fields are a combination of column 1 of this Table and column 4 of our Table 3.1. Totals for all degrees in chemistry-related fields are a combination of column 3 of this Table, column 4 of our Table 3.1, column 4 of our Table 3.2, and column 4 of our Table 3.3. Typographical errors discovered in the source tables are corrected silently. 

Second-level degrees conferred in chemical-materials engineering, 1890-1971... 

Reliable chemical measurements in future will depend on more RMs with direct links to the SI as well as on RMs of greater diversity than are available now. Chemical science will be assisted by clear consensus definitions of traceability, certification, and validation, as well as by a widely accepted system for describing RMs by material composition, degree of traceability, uncertainty, quality, and purpose. Ultimately, chemists, physicists, and engineers benefit from adherence to the well-grounded and well-established discipline of metrology under a coherent system of units. 

Such structure-function relationships form the paradigm of modern materials science, and in the 80s and 90s many academic materials/chemical/polymer engineering departments were rebuilding to include a greater emphasis on soft-matter and electronic properties. They recmited young faculty members with degrees in chemistry or physics, with the result that the boundaries between these various departments has become blurred. 

For an advanced career, any master of engineering degree is a suitable preparation. A doctorate in chemistry or chemical or mechanical engineering is needed if the student wants a top research position, either with a corporation or at a research lacility. Postdoctoral work in materials science (engaged in activities such as searching for new catalysts) is also advantageous. 

Cleopatra VASILIU-OPREA held the post of Professor of Monomer and Polymer Technology and Polymer Mechanochemistry at the Gh. Asachi Technical University, Iasi, Romania. She received a chemical engineer degree at the Polytechnical Institute of Iasi, Romania, and PhD degree from the Techniche Hochschule fur Chemie, Merseburg, Germany. Prof. Vasiliu-Oprea is PhD supervisor in the fields of Polymer Chemistry and Technology and Material Science. 

Phase behavior involving solid-liquid equilibrium is the basis for crystallization in chemical and materials engineering. Binary mixture systems can have up to three degrees of freedom according to the Gibbs phase rule. 

Batch reactors are widely used in the chemical industry for producing materials that are needed in limited quantity, particularly in those cases where the processing cost represents only a small fraction of the total value of the product. Since modern industry stresses the use of continuous processes because they lend themselves most readily to mass production, chemical engineers may, in some instances, tend to overlook the economic superiority of batch operations. One should not become so fascinated with the continuous process, or the more complex and interesting design analysis associated therewith, as to lose sight of the economic penalty exacted by this degree of technical sophistication. 

For nonisothermal reactors the key questions that the reactor designer must answer are (1) How can one relate the temperature of the reacting system to the degree of conversion that has been accomplished and (2) How does this temperature influence the subsequent performance of the system In responding to these questions the chemical engineer must use two basic tools—the material balance and the energy balance. The bulk of this chapter deals with these topics. Some stability and selectivity considerations are also treated. 

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