Re: Undergrad chemistry college choice

From: Gregory L. Hansen (glhansen_at_steel.ucs.indiana.edu)
Date: 01/15/05 

Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 01:38:22 +0000 (UTC)

In article <nlmgu0du4tp43ot38tjp6b48shobp8qsgf@4ax.com>,
William Penrose <wpenrose@customsensorsolutions.com> wrote:
>On 14 Jan 2005 08:37:47 -0800, "alphageek@milmac.com"
><ovum_nospam@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>I want to study chemistry at a good college or university. I live in
>>the US, but I will consider schools abroad. What are some of the top
>>institutions to consider for an undergrad chemistry major?
>
>If one of my kids, or grandkids now, said that they planned to study
>chemistry, I'd kick their butts until they came to their senses. A
>degree in chemistry is about as useful these days as a degree in
>English literature or ancient languages, perhaps less so. I was
>fortunate to come up through chemistry during its golden age, but that
>is over now.

So it's chemistry, too? I've spent the last year learning about the
employability of physicists. And I still read articles that say we must
reverse the declining enrollment in physics classes, but never critically
examining whether that does the students any good. A large physics
department is simply assumed to be an intrinsic good. I see articles
saying we need to attract more students into physics so that applications
of (e.g.) nanotechnology can be developed faster, seeming to assume that
the development is scientist-limited and not funding-limited.

Is the job outlook the same in chemical engineering? A decade or two back
there seemed to be no end to jobs in chemical engineering. Engineering in
general is what I see coming through the job sites. They want people that
can take a product from concept to production, people to design and build
assembly lines, to manage plants, HVAC engineering. There seems to be
less demand for engineering of a product than for production facilities,
based on my limited and unscientific view. 

-- 
"Things should be made as simple as possible -- but no simpler."
  -- Albert Einstein