Find Out What Prominent Chemical Engineers Have To Say About Graduate School

Robert S. Langer
Professor of Chemical Engineering, MIT 
Graduate school is, without question, a defining life experience. It alters your perspective about what you can accomplish in life and it provides critical lessons on how to do it.
 
As a graduate student, I learned about areas, such bioengineering, that shaped what I would do for the rest of my life. The courses I took and the thesis I wrote taught me about science and engineering and how to do research.
 
As a professor, I believe graduate study goes even farther. Students enter graduate school hopefully with the ability to give good answers to questions others (such as professors) ask of them. But my goal as a professor is to teach students how to ask truly important questions - questions that will hopefully change the world. By understanding science and engineering better and by learning how to dream realistically, students can cross the bridge from knowing how to find good answers to learning how to ask good questions. And the quality of those questions will ultimately define what you accomplish and your impact on the world.
 
 
Stan Morris
Corporate Vice-President, Air Products 
Why, after four grueling years earning my BSChE and with the good fortune to find myself in the midst of a strong job market, did I choose graduate school? Once in grad school, why did I stay on to earn a PhD? Thirty-three years later, was it a smart decision? The answers are: because I felt I needed more preparation, because I was having a really great time, and an unqualified yes!
 
I spent much of my Junior and Senior years working in computer software development for a large local employer. I loved the work. Through my coursework, I also was developing a strong interest in advanced process control. I wanted to begin my career, but being taken seriously without more formal training in applied math and computer science was a concern. I wanted to hit the ground running, pulling my weight on day one. A Master’s program in Chemical Engineering seemed very attractive.
 
I thrived in Graduate School. The course work was intense and I built my skills. I enjoyed the intimate contact with the faculty. My research was cutting edge and very satisfying. I formed strong friendships with other grad students. I was having too much fun to leave upon completing my Masters program, so I remained.
 
After graduation, I went to work for a large oil company. My field of research got me the job. Over the next few decades, I worked in research and manufacturing, changed employers, worked in engineering, business development, acquisitions, and in mid-career, dedicated myself to research management.
 

Michael P. Ramage
Executive Vice President of ExxonMobil Research and Engineering 
For me, I think there are two questions - - one is, "Why did I go to graduate school?" And the second is, "Would I do it again?"
 
To answer the first question, I enjoyed chemical engineering and wanted to extend my knowledge. I also thought I might like research. What I discovered was that my chemical engineering foundation was strengthened and that I loved research.
 
My major professor, Roger Eckert, was great and he really let me grow. My mind became more inquisitive, and I learned how to take managed risk. Also, I presented several papers while still in graduate school and this increased my communications ability and confidence. And, most importantly, those years were among the best of my life.
 
When I went to work, this knowledge foundation continued to let me grow and I became intrigued by catalysis and reaction engineering. Also, what I learned about managing risk, communications, and questioning, allowed my career to go beyond research and engineering.
 
Now, would I do it again? The answer is definitely YES, and I might even make the decision sooner. This is because chemical engineering is much broader today than it was 30 years ago. It's now expanding into areas like electronics, biotechnology, and so forth. Exciting.
 
The bottom line -- this was a valuable experience for me and I still have the love of technology, and recognize the value it can bring to industry and to society.
 

David Rea
Global Vice President, Nylon Technology, Dupont
My graduate education.......completed before today's students were even born. Can that experience really be relevant? Was it a valued experience and did that value persist to the present? Would I do it again? Well, it's a resounding YES to all these questions. And there was a bonus......but I get ahead of my story.
 
When I was looking for a graduate school to attend, I wanted to find a school that provided a complement to my MidWest undergraduate education. So I chose a more theory-intensive school, a smaller school, one on the East Coast, and I was accepted. I immediately encountered a very diverse mix of both faculty and students from all over the globe. And they were smart! So the studying was much more intensive.....but it also was different. In my undergraduate days, just the information needed was given for each problem. In graduate school, I often got more information than needed to solve a problem and sometimes important information was missing. What kind of an education was this!? Well, it was a dose of reality, typical of what I would encounter many times later in my career. I was beginning to learn how to think.....a stated purpose of graduate education.
 
The course work was intended to prepare you for the graduate exams, about a year and one-half into my stay. The exams were intended to INTEGRATE your learning and I believe the pace of learning during preparation for these exams was faster than almost any other experience I have had. We had to be able to move from fluid mechnics to reaction engineering to themodynamics and back to fluid mechanics. It was a challenge. Again we were continuing to learn how to think. But many survived and moved on to our next learning experience, the independent research project.
 
First, you had to pick a topic, one that you would most likely stay with for the next 4-5 years until the PHD was in hand. That was a new experience itself. Then each of us began to dig in to our research subject, working with our professor, but doing a lot of the work on your own. It truly was independent study. If you did not have discipline and wanted to chase several topics, your 4-5 years could easily turn in to more. But if you had curiosity and discipline, you could really focus and in the end , advance the technology. It was in the ancient days of using punched cards for computer programs so nearly everyone had the experience of dropping and scattering your box of cards and having to re-start some of the work. Another learning experience, I suppose. But the research project was the final and most challenging learning-to-think experience I had. And it proved to be very satisfying.
 
Now I'm looking back on nearly 35 years of industrial experience and the common thread throughout that experience, no matter what the specific assignment, was the need to think creatively. Opportunities come disguised as problems and I have encountered many disguises over the years, but always there was a value for thinking creatively. It's a debt I owe to my graduate education, still relevant today, still valued today.
 
And the bonus........well I met my wife, got married and we had our first son all while I was attending graduate school. And many of my graduate school colleagues became life-long friends. My graduate years....a great experience that I would highly recommend.
 

Lanny Robbins
Research Fellow, Dow Chemical Company
Why get a PhD in Chemical Engineering? I think part of the answer depends on personal motivation. Some people just want to get by while others strive for excellence.
 
When I was studying to become a Chemical Engineer I continually set personal goals to develop skills to the best of my ability and prepare myself with the best set of tools available. This perspective has served me well for these last 34 years and I would recommend it to others. Getting a PhD set the stage for a dedicated approach to research and problem solving and a high comfort level with a lifetime of learning. These attributes are more important than developing a specialty. I worked one summer intern job in Chemical Engineering after my junior year and then again after my senior year and a third summer job after getting an MS. These experiences helped to develop an understanding and a passion for the areas of Chemical Engineering that I enjoy.
 
The advanced course work and research work with a mentor in the PhD program established a dedication and commitment to understanding the current state-of-the-art in a field of technology followed by the excitement of advancing the state-of-the-art by discovering and contributing new technology. This has provided an ability to create value to whatever organization that I worked for. The rewards have been well worth the effort. The starting salary for a PhD Chemical Engineer is higher than for a BS and the trajectory can be continued by increasing the value contribution to the organization that you work for. Of course I think Chemical Engineering provides a broad base to build on and allows a person to move into many different directions that are enjoyable and rewarding because of positive contributions to society and to our standard of living.
 
Getting a PhD in Chemical Engineering was a wise investment of time and creative energy that has been providing a rewarding career and many fulfilling experiences.

Ronald E. Rosensweig
Exxon Research & Engineering Company
When I think of the almost accidental manner in which I chose the path to graduate school, and the enormous benefits I gained from the experience, it highlights for me the importance of making guidance available for others under similar circumstances.
 
A part of me yearned for a deeper understanding of the principles underlying my profession. With the unexpected help of the department head I applied for an NSF fellowship and was admitted to the institution of my choice. It was a thrilling experience to interact with noted professors, founders of the profession, and become acquainted with peers from diverse countries. I learned to formulate problems and solutions at a fundamental level, and my confidence expanded as did my world-view. Especially beneficial was the thesis experience, a chance to pit myself against nature and find new knowledge. And I learned better how to learn.
 
When I first began employment, I couldn’t believe that someone would pay me for doing something I enjoyed so much. Subsequently, over a career that has ranged so far from university teaching, to industrial and academic research, to entrepreneurial enterprise, and consulting, I have drawn on the methodology and experiences gained during my graduate school years. Many doors were opened, and the rewards of being able to contribute at a higher level have been truly enriching. As a plus I developed with colleagues a new branch of science concerning magnetic liquids and achieved a measure of international recognition.
 
If you are motivated by higher learning, and willing to put in the effort, the investment you make in yourself will likely be the best you will ever make.

Arnold F. Stancell
Georgia Institute of Technology
I did not intend to go to graduate school right after obtaining my bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, and in fact, took a job with a prestigious research and engineering division of a large company. I worked in process design engineering and enjoyed it but my interest was really sparked by process research where people with doctorate degrees were having a lot of fun in coming up with new process ideas. So, after one year, I left my job and enrolled in graduate school.
 
All I can say is wow! With the graduate courses in chemical engineering and my math minor, I connected together my chemical engineering education and developed a structure in my mind of that knowledge that I have drawn upon in lifelong learning. My research project for my doctor’s degree built confidence in thinking in uncharted waters and brought excitement in creatively finding a way to solve real problems.
 
My career moved through a number of facets from research and engineering to senior executive business positions, Vice-President, responsible for billions of dollars in annual revenue and thousands of people, all with the same large company. Through it all, the confidence and thinking ability honed in graduate school was invaluable to me in synthesizing information and data to make the tough decisions and to see with vision.
 
And now, because of graduate school I have one of the very best jobs. After completing my industrial career, I am a Professor of chemical engineering, with the opportunity to enliven the students learning with relevant business and technical experiences.
 

Hendrick C. Van Ness
Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy
My career in chemical engineering began with an accelerated three-year, war-time program leading in 1944 to the B.S. I continued at the same university until 1947, spending a year as a Teaching Assistant and two years as an Instructor. The war-induced shortage provided me at age 21 an entry into the academic world, and I served as teacher first of students in a Navy officers-training program and then of veterans returning from World War II. The M.S. degree was granted along the way. Although in the classroom there was never any question of who was the teacher and who was the taught, I nevertheless realized that teaching is the ultimate learning experience.
 
I spent the next two years employed by a major engineering company. This job presented little challenge, and it convinced me that teaching was my calling. So in the Fall of 1949 I enrolled as a doctoral student at one of the world's great universities. My teaching experience provided superb preparation upon which to build, and I was motivated by the course work to transcribe my class notes into detailed expositions of the subject matter. This activity provided an outlet for my attachment to the English language, and laid the foundation for later contributions to the literature of chemical engineering.
 
In those days doctoral research and its thesis served to demonstrate an ability to carry a significant project to a successful conclusion. This counted for more than the research itself, with no expectation that the topic of research would be a lifelong concentration. Thus it was that thermodynamics played no part in my doctoral research. That interest grew out of teaching assignments.
 
Graduate school was the foundation upon which I built my ultimate career. Although I had earlier taught successfully, the doctorate had by then become essential to an academic appointment. Now in active retirement, I look back with satisfaction upon a career that drew its strength from graduate-school activities, both in the exposition of subject matter and in the performance of research.
 

Warren Haug
Former VP for Worlwide R&D, Procter & Gamble
My primary reason for going on to get a PhD in Chemical Engineering was to prepare myself for doing basic research. I had decided that’s what I wanted to do in the early years of my career, and the PhD would give me the skills necessary for doing independent basic research. These skills included the very important one of being able to analyze problems correctly, which is important to doing good work in just about any area, not just basic research.
 
A secondary reason for going on was that the extra skills would broaden the scope of career options open to me, from teaching to industrial research and management to consulting. As it turned out, I’ve done all of them during my career. Nobody can say for sure during their college years what they want to do for the rest of their professional lives, and having a broad skill base gives them the flexibility to move in different directions.
 
One simple test of whether getting the PhD was the right decision for me is to ask if I would do it again if I was starting all over. The answer is an unequivocal yes.