dude9521

For a while I wanted to be a Chemical Engineer. Recently, I realized that ChemE is more process design than it is actually laboratory work. I would be interested in actually working with chemicals to design different drugs/fuels and things like that. Is this encompassed in ChemE? I see that some schools have a Molecular Engineering department, but most don't. What would I major in to become a "Molecular" Engineer? Would I be a Chem major or a ChemE major? What schools have the best undergraduate programs for Molecular Engineering?

Gettalife

Not sure if this answers your questions. If you are interested in doing lab work to design drugs/fuels etc (vs large scale chemical production) you might be more aligned to a chemistry, biochemistry or biology major rather than a chemical engineering major. Another related field is materials science. Computational modeling of materials is an interesting area which has applications in fuels, pharmaceuticals and materials.

http://science.energy.gov/~/media/be...s/cmsc_rpt.pdf

ele902

I'm going to assume molecular engineering is very close to biochemical engineering since I've had a professor who was a considered a co-pioneer in this field. I would consider it a real field, as there several scientists I've met who held those title. However, it's a relatively new and it feels nothing more than a step up from biochemistry. You have more math, but I rarely seen anyone used it or much literatures behind it. It is also a very specialized area within bioengineering. If you are determined to go to graduate school, I would suggest chemistry. Chemical engineering provides basic background in chemistry, but the major is gear toward scaling and mass production. U.C. San Diego has probably the best program in this field (it's label bioengineering)