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Chemical engineers have the responsibility to discover and implement
new products and processes that are useful and economical.
The chemical engineering profession has evolved in concert with
the technological landmarks of the last century: from petroleum refining at the
beginning of the last century to the biotechnology and biomedical developments, innovations in digital communications and microelectronics, to nanotechnology.
These changes have driven chemical engineering from macroscopic
to microscopic to nano-scale and eventually towards molecular dimensions.
Although chemical engineers remain actively engaged in the synthesis
of known knowledge into large scale processes – traditionally referred to as “scale-up” – the new revolutions in processing and products are
involving them in the creation of new technologies at increasingly shrinking
dimensions – “scaling down.”
The need for exploitation of new energy and raw materials sources and
and the increased emphasis on the life sciences, offers new
opportunities for chemical engineers in diverse industries such as biological,
medical, and pharmaceutical firms, and presents new challenges.
Lafayette chemical engineers are well suited to take on these challenges. |