I’m very stuck between choosing chemical engineering and industrial engineering. I’m a first-year Chem E student with a minor in sustainable business practices (the only business minor that fit my schedule).
After doing pretty poorly in Gen Chem, I’ve been thinking about switching to industrial engineering. I’m extremely business inclined, and my passion lies in taking business classes in management, consulting, etc., with the aim of maybe becoming a project manager in the future. I’m also interested in the possibility of being involved in the formulation of products during my first years of technical experience.
I’m leaning towards the food/beverage industry in manufacturing and/or cosmetics, which I know Chem E is great for, but I’m not sure if industrial engineering might be more up my alley. I’ve heard that industrial engineering is more about improving processes, while chemical engineering focuses more on making the product. I’m feeling pretty lost about which path to pursue now. I could definitely see myself getting into scheduling, logistics, and improving economics processes in IE, but I’m not really drawn to the mechanical side of engineering. Pay and job stability is also definitely an important factor for me.
Yes, that is largely the distinction between those engineering roles for the types of products you refer to. Based on your interests and career goals, it does look like industrial engineering is a better fit for your interests. Take a look at the upper level courses in each major to see which seems more interesting to you.
Note that industrial engineering can be heavy with statistics and mathematics of optimization, so be prepared for that.
Take a look at the four year plan of study for the two majors and see which would interest you more. You have a lot more chemistry ahead of you if you stay with chem E (o chem, p chem, separations, reactions, etc…)
From what you are describing it sounds like you would be more suited for IE. And IEs work across all industries.
My son is an Industrial Engineer that graduated in 2021 with minors in sustainability and entrepreneurship. That last one was through the Ross Business school and you can look up the classes for that at Michigan.https://ent-minor.umich.edu/
He works internationally and the company actually has heavy use for his minors so it is a great fit.
Every IE job will be different but your description is accurate. Very math focused during school. I call it business engineering. Improving and saving money is key. He has morning busujess meetings and works on several projects. Some very small for safety improvement and some very large for plant manufacturering improvements across the regions working with other plants etc.
As you might be finding out now. Working in team’s and other’s well is key. In the real world this is what happens. Also having a good sense of communication skills both orally and written. He has given major presentations and has to present many things written. All those classes in college come to life.
So just talked to my son. He echoed what was said but also suggested being able to analyze data, evaluate it if the processes will work then knowing how to put that into cost saving actions. Needing to proof the data. Then being able to talk about that in meetings and being able to write that up in the proper method in general. You get this in college but he said it’s all perfect world scenarios, not matter how they try to make it “real” world. In the real world it’s not so cut and dry. Issues arise and you also have to know how to deal with that. It’s not a perfect world and not everything you do will work as intended. He also does lots of Audits for various thing’s. Wears many different hats but that makes it more interesting also. Hope I explained this correctly.
Yes, right now I think that is my main internal issue, figuring out if I want to improve or formulate a product. For a long time, I have been very interested in formulation but I’m not entirely sure right now what I would perfer.