Philosophy

Chemical engineering is a field which involves the amalgamation of chemistry and physics with life sciences such as biology and biochemistry, in the context of mathematics. The knowledge gained from such an intricate combination is essentially applied upon processes involving the conversion of raw materials and chemicals into more useful forms of energy in the most efficient way possible. It also involves conducting research for the purpose of discovering new methods and techniques in large scale manufacturing enabling producers to design, improve and monitormaintain processes which involve chemical reactions as well as biological ones. The following report will attempt to provide a brief description of the field of chemical engineering and its practical applications.
Fundamentally, it is the duty of a chemical engineer to ensure that processes are run at the peak of operational efficiency thereby ensuring environmental and health sustainability, safety as well as economic viability. Chemical engineers basically have to plan every step in the production process chain because they have to ensure that costs are being controlled, the most efficient chemical and biological reaction are being employed and that the safety of the workers, individuals in the vicinity of the plant and the environment are being sustained and not damaged.
Chemical engineering is essentially the platform for the production of various products such as ceramics, fuels, industrial chemicals, plastics, explosives, pharmaceuticals etc. Consequently, Chemical engineering is vital in the sense that it is involved in almost every aspect of the manufacturing industry. One can also extend the mandate of chemical engineering to disciplines like food processing, technological enhancement of the environment etc. Therefore, the process of discovering solution to various important global issues will essentially involve the use of chemical engineering because of its inherent link with almost every aspect of life.
The four most dominant issues that the entire global community has to come to terms with are the problems of supply of food, energy, clean water and health care. It is already an established fact that advancements in the field of chemical engineering can basically solve a lot of these problems. It is clearly evident that all of these issues are inherently linked with each other. However, in order to provide clarification, lets just take the example of the supply of food which is dwindling all over the world. Nations like Africa are suffering the most because theyre going through continuous periods of starvation and lack of financial and economic resources hampers their ability to import food. This is an area in which chemical engineering can play a vital role by developing fertilizers and pesticides which can increase the amount of food produced through agricultural processes. The development of preservatives can also enhance food production in the sense that food can be stored for a longer time. In this regard, chemical engineers primarily conduct research into areas for developing production and processes for enhancing the storage, distribution and consumption of food products.
Consequently, a chemical engineer can essentially use the knowledge that he has gained to help solve the problem of food shortages common throughout the globe. Primary food products can be produced through agricultural processes therefore the main aim of a chemical engineer working in this particular field would be to develop fertilizers which would help increase the production of food from a particular fertile land used for agricultural cultivation. The area of cultivable agricultural land is decreasing all over the world and therefore advanced fertilizers need to be developed which can basically convert previously uncultivable land into a fertile zone. The development of safe preservatives for the purpose of increasing the storage time of food and eatables would also help reduce the problem of food shortages because of lack of food storage is one of the fundamental reasons of scarcity in the supply of food.
Principally, the issue of the provision of adequate food and clean water are the most prevailing of all the global issues because they in turn affect the healthcare situation of the entire world. Hence, it is clearly evident that in the department of enhancing food production as well as providing clean water to the entire world, chemical engineers can inherently play an extremely broad and important role thereby resulting in far reaching impacts which will benefit each and every society in the world.