Chemical professional

Around the world chemical professionals continually commercialize new products and processes. Much of this activity results in batch processing. Fine and custom chemicals can involve as many as ten to twenty batch reactions in series, sometimes with multi-step parallel paths, with various separation technologies between reaction steps. This paper is an attempt to reflect the experience of many individuals as seen through the author s eyes over almost four decades, with several very typical situations. 

The remainder of this paper will address the broader preparation of the environmental professional which fits needs derived from the several environmental legislative mandates, and which by its nature is particularly well suited to the specific needs of TSCA and the environmental chemical professional. The basis for discussion is a graduate level program in the application of environmental science developed over more than a decade at UCLA. Our experience suggests that if TSCA-like concerns are to continue and to be met, educational approaches such as this one will likely assume a growing importance. 

A basic knowledge of accounting and financial statements is necessary for a chemical professional to be able to analyze a firm s operation and to communicate with accountants, financial personnel, and managers. Financial reports of a company are important sources of information used by management, owners, creditors, investment bankers, and financial analysts. All publicly held companies are required to submit annual reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission. As with any field a certain basic nomenclature is used to be able to understand the financial operation of a company. It should be emphasized that companies may also have their own internal nomenclature, but some terms are universally accepted. In this section, the common terminology is used. 

Valuable assistance in finding information can be obtained by consulting information intermediaries with subject expertise who can identify and access information resources unknown or unavailable locally. These individuals may be in local information centers or may be brokers who specialize in individual information services or creation of compilations of data for a fee. An example of this type of service is the Comprehensive Health and Environmental Monographs (CHEMS) division of Health and Environment International. This service creates detailed reports on the health and environmental effects of a chemical. Professional organizations, database producers, and government agencies can also be sources of experts as well as providers of direct information. An example of the former type of service is UNEP-Infoterra, an international referral and research organization of the... 

The usefulness of this text will be greatly enhanced if you supplement it with information from current periodicals, basic references, statistical collections, abstracting services, indexes, and electronic data obtained from the World-Wide Web. This will allow you to update the data given in the text and—even more important—provide practice in finding the information chemical professionals need in day-to-day analysis and problem solving. The most important sources in this section are labeled with two asterisks and the next most important with one asterisk. If you are using the book for self-directed study, you should subscribe or have access to the doubled-asterisked periodicals and read the single-asterisked periodicals, become acquainted with the contents of the references with asterisks, locate a library with national and international references, and obtain a copy of the Statistical Abstract of the United States (Sections 0.1.1 and 0.1.2). 

The chemical professionals, chemical engineers, and chemists, devote most of their fomial educational efforts to the study of technology and science. From courses in chemistry, physics, thermodynamics, kinetics, transport phenomena, unit operations, and design, the engineer or chemist learns about the laws of nature and how to describe physical phenomena in useful ways. To function in a tmly useful manner, however, today s chemical professional must understand much more than science and technology. The dynamic professional must understand the complex economic and sociopolitical factors which affect the application of technical and scientific expertise. 

We can also use the decisive factors diagram (Figure 1.3) to illustrate the structure of most educational programs and see how well prepared the chemical professional is to solve the questions posed in the preceding paragraph. Figure... 

As a student, the future chemical professional takes courses in basic economics and social science as well as perhaps business courses that develop skills and give insight into economic and sociopolitical factors. To be used effectively, this nontechnical knowledge should be related to the technical and scientific knowledge while the student is in school. 

All chemical professionals should know how these decisive factors affect the ventures in which they are involved. Recently graduated chemical professionals may initially receive assignments that are mostly technical however, they will quickly be introduced to problems in which economics play decisive roles. Within the first 5-10 years, the chemical professional will move into positions wherein economic factors play a dominant role. 

After, say, 10-20 years, some professionals will move to upper-level managerial positions in which the main requirements will necessitate the handling of both economic and sociopolitical issues. A typical career can be sketched on the decisive factors triangle as shown in Figure 1.4. A chemical professional must be prepared to make the necessary transition in roles. 

To help chemical professionals understand how their work relates to the goals of their company and of society. 

To develop in the chemical professional an appreciation for the potential impact of new developments in technology, marketing, finance, politics, or international affairs as threats and opportunities. 

To teach the chemical professional how to influence an organization to move in new directions by making fact-filled, comprehensive, and convincing economic studies. 

The effective chemical professional needs to master certain skills ... 

If you are studying this book without being enrolled in a course, you must follow the current literature outlined in Section 0.1 and do many of the problems designed to help develop the skills listed above. The chemical professional also should develop certain habits to keep in touch with important issues, events, and ideas being developed in the profession, the nation, and the world. The list that follows is illustrative. 

The chemical process industries represent one of the most technically complex sectors of our society. To fulfill the purposes outlined in Section 1.2, both chemical engineers and chemists at all degree levels are needed. These chemical professionals work in both fundamental and applied research in process and product development, in process design and engineering, in manufacturing, in sales and in administration, frequently at the highest level. A distribution of chemical professionals according to job function is presented in Table 1.3. 

There were approximately 260,000 chemical professionals in the United... 

Not all the 250,000 chemical professionals are employed in the CPI. A high percentage of chemists and chemical engineers are employed outside the... 

Table 1.4 Distribution of Chemical Professionals (%) by Academic Degree in Selected Years, 1975-1998...

Not all chemical professionals working in industry are employed by large companies. A recent member survey by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) indicated that 64% worked for companies employing fewer than 5000 people (see Table 1.5). 

A chemical professional who wishes to succeed as a technical manager needs to have not only technical skills but also administrative, conceptual, and... 

Table 1.6 lists some chemical professionals who have achieved top-level executive positions in North American corporations. About half have their basic education in chemistry or chemical engineering. 

Table 1.6 Chemical Professionals as Top Executives in North American Corporations, 1998 ...

Whether they are in the plant, laboratory, engineering department, or executive suite, chemical professionals in the CPI play an important role. Some of what they have accomplished and the challenges they must face in the future are described in this book. 

A supply curve for a particular product can be developed if the engineering and technical information is available for each firm s operation. This information can often be generated and a supply curve estimated for CPI products by a chemical professional. 

Some basic knowledge of accounting is necessary before a chemical professional can develop and obtain the data needed to analyze a firm s operations, discover whether the firm is making a profit, and predict whether a company will continue to make a profit. It is also essential to know how a firm s operations are reported to determine its role in a particular industry or in the national economy. Financial reports of the individual firm are one of the most important sources of data for the national accounting summaries presented in Chapter 2 and for the in-put-output tables in Chapter 4. 

The 85 X 85 matrix in Table 4.4a contains a wealth of information useful to the chemical professional. Tables 4.6-4.8, which illustrate several important aspects of the sales patterns found in the United States, are typical examples. There is a wide variation among industries in the proportion of total output going to final demand. Some industries (e.g., construction [11 and 12], food and kindred products [14], apparel [18], furniture and fixtures [22 and 23]) sell most of their products directly to final demand. Other industries (e.g., nonmetallic minerals [9 and 10], lumber and wood products [20 and 21], metallic ores mining [5] metal containers [39]) sell practically all their output to intermediate consumers. The CPI and related industries fit mostly in the latter category (Table 4.6). 

The chemical professional needs to know which products and intennediates are of particular importance to the CPI, including the interrelationships between raw materials, intermediates, and products going to final demand. Further, the chemical professional needs to know which companies play important roles in the CPI. 

Most chemical professionals are employed in the chemical and petroleum industries, especially in SIC 281, 286, and 29, but other industries in the CPI also employ chemists and chemical engineers and are important customers of the chemical and petroleum industries. Chemical professionals should familiarize themselves with the importance, size, and function of the other CPI sectors, becoming informed about their prosperity and changing needs. The Facts and Figures issues of Chemical and Engineering News list other CPI sectors, as well as the products and companies involved in these sectors. Occasionally, Chemical Week publishes feature articles on these sectors. 

Large chemical companies recruit chemical professionals by interviewing at universities. If you were looking for your first job or a different job from one you now have, how would you develop a list of small companies offering promising opportunities Develop a list of at least three with the statistics you feel are important. 

During any particular assignment, chemical professionals in industry usually deal with a limited number of products. It is necessary for them to become expert about those products. To study any product in depth they must answer the types of question posed in Section 0.2.2. This chapter serves two purposes it illustrates a detailed analysis of one chemical and presents some basic facts for several important organic and inorganic chemicals, plastics, and fibers. 

Since unique technologies are incorporated in the manufacture of specialty chemicals, chemical professionals who are innovative and creative in research and development are needed to search for new compounds, new synthesis methods, and new ways to attract customers. Today in some companies, the marketing people are located in close proximity to the research and development groups, forming part of a team to solve customer s requests. The total operation is more chemical professional intensive and less raw material intensive. Specialty chemicals have a wide profit margin, rewarding those companies for being different and first in the field. 

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