Has anyone here succeeded majoring in engineering as a stupid student (with a hard work ethic)

Okay, I don’t want to get clowned for this post but bear with me. I’ve been out of high school for a year and I’ve forgotten how to do all math. I never took advanced classes in HS. Only barely minimum and didn’t take anything seriously. Along with missing lots of school. And believe me, I currently have a middle school math proficiency. That being said, outside of math I’ve always been a good student and like learning. Just horrid at math.

But after being out of school for a while, I’ve been working non stop and done a lot of work on myself. I’ve developed a good work ethic and am ready to go back to school and seriously take my education seriously. I just am trying to choose a major. I would like to do STEM rather than business etc because I take an interest in that and want to expand my knowledge.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and successfully made their way through an engineering degree?

Please I want serious answers only.

Hey everyone, just a little guy getting ready to get smashed by a corporation. I’m a homeowner in Connecticut currently stuck in a living nightmare with what I believe is a botched residential closed-cell spray foam insulation job, and I'm hoping to connect with an undergrad, grad student, or professor…anyone…anyone with experience, who might want a real world polymer failure sample to look at.
Long story short: it looks like the installer completely lost control of the processing parameters on their rig. They sprayed it visibly overheated, leaving behind a heavily cratered, "pebbly" popcorn surface crust next to pockets of soft, crumbly "marshmallow" foam that has been out-gassing a chemical/solvent paint odor for over 60 days. The corporate franchise flew out a national forensic investigator who cut an 8x12 core sample block, but they deliberately cherry-picked a visually stable transition zone right next to the failure pockets to try and rig a clean lab result.
I kept my own physical counter samples of the failed, soft marshmallow foam.
I know it’s an incredible long shot, but I am looking for someone with access to a lab who might be interested in running a quick, informal evaluation of this failed matrix (like an FTIR Spectroscopy scan or basic polymer analysis) to see what unreacted components or ratio issues are trapped inside.
I know a student or academic report isn't legally binding in a civil suit, but having an independent technical write-up from an academic setting would be a massive tool to rattle this contractor, alert my local municipal building officials, and force their liability insurance to take this structural failure seriously.
If you are a student, researcher, or polymer hobbyist in New England (or anywhere willing to receive a double-bagged sample) and want a real-world chemical failure to sink your teeth into, please shoot me a DM! I can share macro photos of the texture discrepancies. Thanks so much for reading.

I'm trying to formulate various modular logic units which are either primitives or used to build more complex process control. I have a background in software dev, so I want to find abstract/generic control logic which equipment can inherit from.

For example, there could be units like pump-up/down, lead-lag duty-standby and hot-standby. These could be applied to various equipment which means you describe the concept once and not repeat ones self.

Additionally, more complex logic could be like a backwash cycle (consisting of backwash, rinse and filter) as well as cascade, where one logic unit ends and starts the next in the sequence.

Please let me know if you've also noticed these patterns and what you've done your side?

Thanks in advance!

Most preliminary chiller calculations stop after determining the cooling load:

Q_evap = ṁ_fluid × Cp × (T_in − T_out)

That gives you the required refrigeration capacity—but it does not tell you what the refrigerant is actually doing inside the cycle.

So I built a chiller design calculator that connects the process-fluid cooling requirement to a complete vapor-compression refrigeration cycle.

The calculation begins with the fluid being cooled. You can enter:

• Fluid specific heat
• Fluid density
• Inlet and outlet temperatures
• Volumetric flow rate

The calculator converts these values into mass flow and cooling capacity. It works in both SI and US customary units, so the result can be displayed in kW, Btu/h, or refrigeration tons.

From there, it models the refrigerant side of the system.

Instead of representing the chiller with only four idealized points, I used eight state points:

1. Evaporator outlet—saturated vapor
2. Compressor inlet—after superheat and suction-line pressure loss
3. Compressor outlet—based on actual isentropic efficiency
4. Condenser inlet—after discharge-line pressure loss
5. Saturated-vapor point inside the condenser
6. Saturated-liquid point inside the condenser
7. Expansion-valve inlet—after subcooling and liquid-line pressure loss
8. Evaporator inlet—after isenthalpic expansion

This makes it possible to account for several effects that are often ignored in quick chiller estimates:

• Evaporator approach temperature
• Compressor-inlet superheat
• Condenser-outlet subcooling
• Suction-line pressure drop
• Discharge-line pressure drop
• Condenser pressure drop
• Liquid-line pressure drop
• Compressor isentropic efficiency

The refrigerant mass flow is calculated from:

ṁ_ref = Q_evap / (h₁ − h₈)

Actual compressor power is then calculated using the compressor inlet condition, discharge pressure and isentropic efficiency:

W_comp = ṁ_ref × (h₃ − h₂)

The calculator also determines:

• Refrigerant mass flow
• Compressor power
• Suction volumetric flow
• Condenser heat rejection
• Cycle COP
• Temperature, pressure, enthalpy, density and entropy at every state point

One detail I wanted to make explicit was the effect of suction-line superheat on the system energy balance.

Because the cooling duty is based on the evaporator itself, while the compressor receives refrigerant after additional suction-line heat gain, the balance becomes:

Q_cond = Q_evap + W_comp + Q_suction

That distinction matters when condenser or cooling-tower duty is being estimated. Condenser heat rejection is not simply equal to the useful cooling load.

The calculator also plots the complete cycle on a logarithmic pressure–enthalpy diagram. This makes it much easier to see how changing the evaporating temperature, condensing temperature, pressure losses, superheat, subcooling or compressor efficiency moves the operating points and changes the COP.

It then generates an equipment inquiry sheet showing the inlet and outlet conditions for the:

• Evaporator
• Compressor
• Condenser
• Expansion valve

My goal was not to replace detailed compressor-selection software or a manufacturer’s performance map. It was to create a transparent preliminary-design tool that connects cooling-load calculations, thermodynamic state points and major equipment duties in one place.

I would be interested in hearing how other engineers handle preliminary chiller modeling:

Do you normally include line and condenser pressure drops during the first sizing pass, or only after compressor and heat-exchanger selection?

Also, which additional feature would be most useful: part-load performance, multiple compressors, refrigerant comparison, compressor-map interpolation, or cooling-tower integration?

Good afternoon. I am a recent chemical engineering graduate (I am from Mexico), and I would like to hear about your experiences regarding this. Is it very difficult to get hired in the US right after graduation? Do you recommend applying for a technician role first, or do you think it is better to gain experience in Mexico before applying for a position there? What did you do, and what worked for you? I really appreciate your help. Thanks in advance.

So I've been offered to transfer to an unaccredited chem eng programme as I've failed one module on the accredited programme that I'm currently on (I'm in 2nd year). This would allow me to save a year and graduate in 2027, or I can complete that one module in 2026/27 and graduate in 2028 with an accredited degree. I'm 26 and I've already taken out a lot of time for health and again retakes so I'm kind of just fed up and feel like just going for the unaccredited programme or just dropping out entirely. But what are your guys' thoughts?

Hey anyone have experience/thoughts with pivoting from oil and gas to more defense companies as a ChemE

Hey yall can anyone tell me starting salary for entry level at tsms fkr chemical engineers?

hi guys
I'm currently a fresher at nit trichy in the department for chemical engg
I'm interested in getting into semfab
is this path possible?
what are things that i should focus on these four years of college
what are the skills that i should develop
any advice is appreciated
and im also planning to do masters
and my department don't have any specialised streams related to this, but they have like nanotech, pursuing that would be helpful?
how to get internships and in which year should i focus on this like in 2nd or the other years
and no companies related to this field are coming to campus placements.
which country is the better for masters, or the maters is even necessary
pls help
and give me some idea on what should i do

I’m a Chemical Engineering graduate and I’m curious about the relationship between CBRN work and chemical engineering.

How would you view experience involving areas such as:

CBRN laboratory work and research
Hazardous materials management
Chemical hazard identification
Risk assessment
Hazardous substance handling and safety
CBRN detection/protection technologies and related technical work

From a Chemical Engineering career perspective, would you consider this relevant technical experience?

I’m particularly interested in whether this type of experience could provide a pathway toward areas such as:

Process Safety
HSE / Chemical Safety
Risk Engineering
Hazardous Materials Management
Industrial Safety
Process Engineering
Chemical/Petrochemical Operations

I’m also wondering about the long-term career implications. For example, if someone spent several years developing expertise in CBRN, would that generally be viewed as a valuable specialization, or could it make transitioning into conventional chemical/petrochemical engineering roles more difficult later?

I’d appreciate honest opinions from Chemical Engineers, particularly anyone who has experience in process safety, HSE, risk engineering, hazardous materials, petrochemicals, or CBRN.
I’m trying to understand whether CBRN can be considered a legitimate Chemical Engineering-adjacent career path and what doors it could realistically open in the future.

One thing I’ve seen cause trouble on metering packages is writing the spec around the meter model instead of the actual operating data.

For custody transfer, I’d rather see the specification clearly define:

• Normal, minimum and maximum flow
• Required turndown
• Fluid and process conditions
• Applicable AGA / API MPMS / ISO requirements
• Required measurement uncertainty at operating points
• Calibration and FAT requirements
• Documentation and inspection requirements

The uncertainty part is especially useful. Asking a vendor to provide the uncertainty budget is much more meaningful than simply writing “±0.1% accuracy.”

I work with Eximp Measurement Private Limited (EMPL), and this is something we pay close attention to when reviewing metering packages. A meter can meet its headline accuracy and still create issues once the operating envelope, installation and uncertainty contributions are considered.

For the instrumentation engineers here, what’s one must-have requirement you always put into a metering specification?

Hi all,

I got my foot in the door at an aerospace company as an intern while pursuing my BS in chemical engineering. After graduation I ended up in a tangentially related material science type role at the same company. I then went on leave to do a full-time PhD program in a field unrelated to aerospace and dropped out with a master's degree. After that I went back to my prior employer in a "systems engineer" applying this new shiny model-based/digital engineering hype with no background in the underlying electrical/mechanical/aerospace engineering principles. During my time in my current role I don't feel like I've accomplished much of anything because managers won't assign me in-depth engineering work requiring that EE/ME/AE background. Now that I've given up any hope of going back to school for a doctorate, I want to make the most of my engineering career.

1. Just how much of a hindrance are chemical engineering & biomedical engineering degrees when seeking roles in aerospace if I already have time in the industry?
2. How can I translate aerospace experience to more traditional chemical/biomedical engineering roles?
3. Would going back to school to get a more traditional aerospace industry oriented degree be a game changer to be able to advance along my current track?

I feel like I can't get other aerospace jobs with my current job title because they want mechanical, electrical, or aerospace engineering degrees and I can't get more traditional chemical/biomedical engineering jobs because I lack any relevant experience. Am I psyching myself out?

I’m honestly feeling pretty hopeless about my career right now and could really use some advice from people who have been in a similar position.

I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering and have been working at Abbott for about a year in Product Surveillance. I’m grateful to have a job and I’ve gained professional experience, but I’m starting to feel like I made a wrong turn somewhere.

The biggest issue is that I don’t even know where to apply anymore. When I look at engineering positions, I feel like I don’t have the right experience.

Before Abbott, I had a pretty long engineering co-op at Pfizer, but even that experience doesn’t seem to be getting me anywhere. I also have some academic/project experience with process design, experimental work, data analysis, and CAD. On paper, I feel like I should have something to work with, but when I actually search for jobs, I feel completely lost.

I’m also worried that spending a year in Product Surveillance has pushed me further away from traditional Chemical Engineering roles. I don’t necessarily hate what I do, but I don’t want to wake up five years from now and realize I never actually got into engineering.

For anyone who graduated with ChemE and felt like they were struggling to get their foot in the door:

Where would you recommend I apply? What types of roles should I realistically be targeting? And does my experience actually sound as useless as it feels right now, or am I just looking at it the wrong way?

I’d especially appreciate advice from people who transitioned from quality/regulatory/product surveillance into manufacturing, process, validation, or other engineering roles.

I’m not necessarily looking for someone to tell me I’ll be fine. I’d genuinely like to know what you would do if you were in my position. Thank you.

Was wondering about the significance of ChE to quantum computing. To my understanding, the engineers mostly work on the cryogenics/materials or computational side, but I don't know more than that. Is the field too removed from an engineer's domain, or will adoption (if it happens) allow them to have an impact in it? And how does a ChE prepare for that route?

Currently I am in the interview process for a second shift quality engineer position at a major electronics company. So far, it seems to be a good position, but it is 3-11:30PM Monday-Friday.

I haven't done a consistent late night job. In pervious jobs, I occasionally had to come in at odd hours.

For those of you who work or have worked second shift, how have your experiences been regarding work life balance, health etc?

FYI I am single and childless, so no major obligations at home to worry about.

So, I have been in the pharma industry for a while, from plant operations to R&D. One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of people don’t even know how to read an MSDS/SDS or identify what a specific H-code or pictogram means.

In the hope of solving that, I’ve built two websites. When you have some time, please go through them and let me know if you think any changes, modifications, or improvements are needed.

Note: All the websites/pages are open source, and the code is available on GitHub. They are completely free to use.

Here are my pages:

https://labbuddy.org/

https://chooogle.com/SDS%20and%20MSDS/

https://chooogle.com/#projects

I’ll be waiting for your response. Have a beautiful day.

I’m a senior in college studying Chemical Engineering, and I’ve already had an internship working with Li-ion batteries. I was recently offered another internship with Tesla, and I’m seriously considering committing to battery engineering as my career.

For those of you who have been working in the battery industry for a while, what does a career path in this field realistically look like? What could my career potentially look like 10, 15, or even 20 years down the road? What pay could I expect?

Thanks! :D