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Chemical engineer vs electrical engineer

The differences between chemical engineers and electrical engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a chemical engineer has an average salary of $89,449, which is higher than the $81,026 average annual salary of an electrical engineer.

The top three skills for a chemical engineer include chemistry, technical support and co-op. The most important skills for an electrical engineer are autocad, electrical systems, and UL.

Chemical engineer vs electrical engineer overview

Chemical EngineerElectrical Engineer
Yearly salary$89,449$81,026
Hourly rate$43.00$38.95
Growth rate14%3%
Number of jobs42,17668,536
Job satisfaction-4
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 78%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age4145
Years of experience-2

What does a chemical engineer do?

A chemical engineer provides support for chemical operations and testing new processes. The processes they successfully come up with are used to make different products from gas, oil, food, and drink. It is their job to assist in designing new chemical processes and make improvements. They implement fresh ideas to improve standard quality and efficiency. They must be good planners and schedulers of project activities to help chemical technicians to achieve their project objectives and provide technical support to maintain safe, stable, and reliable operations.

What does an electrical engineer do?

Electrical engineers are responsible for designing and developing new electrical systems, solving issues, and testing equipment. They work on various technologies, including telecommunication systems, satellite communications, and electrical power stations. Electrical engineers study and apply the mathematics and physics of electromagnetism, electronics, and electricity to small and large-scale electrical systems to transmit energy and process information. They often work with all types of electronic devices, such as supercomputers and power transmission. They also work in the emerging field of microelectronics.

Chemical engineer vs electrical engineer salary

Chemical engineers and electrical engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Chemical EngineerElectrical Engineer
Average salary$89,449$81,026
Salary rangeBetween $67,000 And $119,000Between $59,000 And $109,000
Highest paying CitySugar Land, TXRedmond, WA
Highest paying stateTexasWashington
Best paying companyBP America IncApple
Best paying industryEnergyTechnology

Differences between chemical engineer and electrical engineer education

There are a few differences between a chemical engineer and an electrical engineer in terms of educational background:

Chemical EngineerElectrical Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 78%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common majorChemical EngineeringElectrical Engineering
Most common collegeGeorgia Institute of TechnologyMichigan Technological University

Chemical engineer vs electrical engineer demographics

Here are the differences between chemical engineers' and electrical engineers' demographics:

Chemical EngineerElectrical Engineer
Average age4145
Gender ratioMale, 74.1% Female, 25.9%Male, 90.0% Female, 10.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.6% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 21.3% White, 60.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 16.2% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage9%6%

Differences between chemical engineer and electrical engineer duties and responsibilities

Chemical engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage and supervise projects on the production floor and QC department.
  • Lead small project teams of co-op students and interface effectively with plant operators.
  • Manage various cross functional teams to do the IQ, OQ, & PQ validation.
  • Accomplish extraction of heat and material balance data from HYSYS simulation and generating the relevant process flow diagram.
  • Work on windows server 2012 and SQL server 2008.
  • Modify FTIR optics for study of combusting flame.
  • Show more

Electrical engineer example responsibilities.

  • Achieve rugged secure extension of HMI modules with USB host and device auto switching capability.
  • Achieve low cost solution for professional tier radio with rug full color display and USB accessory interface.
  • Accomplish intelligent remote terminal unit (RTU) automatic control with graphical liquid crystal display (LCD).
  • Develop LabVIEW code to automate test procedures and to communicate with units for verification of functionality and accuracy.
  • Coordinate with senior electrical engineers and achieve hands-on experience on coal fire plant power generation and power transformers, circuit breakers.
  • Provide engineering design CADD and REVIT support for the Ellerbe Becket electrical department.
  • Show more

Chemical engineer vs electrical engineer skills

Common chemical engineer skills
  • Chemistry, 10%
  • Technical Support, 5%
  • Co-Op, 4%
  • Chemical Process, 4%
  • Troubleshoot, 3%
  • Project Management, 3%
Common electrical engineer skills
  • Autocad, 6%
  • Electrical Systems, 6%
  • UL, 4%
  • Electrical Design, 4%
  • CAD, 4%
  • C++, 4%

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