NOC 21320 — Chemical engineers

TEER 1 · Professional (university degree) · Eligible for Express Entry (CEC and FSWP)

Chemical engineers research, design, and develop chemical processes and equipment, oversee the operation and maintenance of industrial chemical, plastics, pharmaceutical, resource, pulp and paper, and food processing plants and perform duties related to chemical quality control, environmental protection and biochemical or biotechnical engineering. They are employed in a wide range of manufacturing and processing industries, consulting firms, government, research and educational institutions.

Main duties

Conduct economic and technical feasibility studies in areas related to chemical, petroleum, pulp and paper, food or other processing industries
Conduct research into the development or improvement of chemical engineering processes, reactions and materials
Evaluate chemical process technology and equipment and determine production specifications
Design and test chemical processing and associated plants and equipment
Oversee the construction, modification, operation and maintenance of pilot plants, processing units or processing plants
Establish and conduct quality control programs, operating procedures and control strategies to ensure consistency and adherence to standards for raw materials, products and waste products or emissions
Prepare contract documents and evaluate tenders for the process aspects of industrial construction
Supervise technicians, technologists and other engineers
May work in an administrative capacity, for example, in the development of guidelines and specifications for the handling of dangerous chemicals, environmental protection, or standards for foods, materials and consumer goods. Chemical engineers may specialize in the products and processes of a particular industry such as pulp and paper manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining, energy processing, plastics, metal extraction and refining, or adhesives and coatings production. They may also specialize in functional areas of various industries such as process control, pollution control or fermentation processes.

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