r/ChemicalEngineering • u/bloomed_carrot • 2d ago

Career Advice Process Engineering

I am currently doing Master’s in ChemE. I previously worked as an undergrad research assistant for gas hydrate research which landed me my first job in the oil and gas industry. But, I would like to work as a process engineer in the future. What kind of research experience might help me get an internship or a job in process engineering?

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u/Cyrlllc 2d ago

Getting familiar with simulation is probably your go-to skill then.

Im not in o&g but off the top of my head I think any research involving property regression is valuable. For example, regreasing experimental vapor-liquid data in a process simulator to simulate an actual process. 

Having a strong grasp on chemical thermo Is a very solid skill for any role in process design. 

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u/bloomed_carrot 2d ago

I am taking advanced Thermo this semester. thank you so much for the advice

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u/Cyrlllc 1d ago

No problem, you'll probably cover some of the stuff in thermo like equation of state and minimizing Gibbs energy and stuff.

If you find time to sit down with aspen plus or some other program, try to sit down and teach yourself, there are many books on AP to guide you. 

You can check if anyone at your department is doing research on modeling processes and ask if you can help out.

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u/bloomed_carrot 1d ago

would u say being proficient with AutoCad or SolidWorks is important? I keep hearing conflicting opinions on it.

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u/Cyrlllc 1d ago

Not important. It really depends on where you are but its usually not a part of the core skillset for a process engineer.

Plant and equipment modeling is usually handled by mechanical engineers. You might use some cad to draw up process diagrams so i guess it doesnt hurt to know a little bit.

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u/bloomed_carrot 4h ago

Gotcha. Thank you once again for your input!