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Process development engineer vs chemical engineer

The differences between process development engineers and chemical engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a process development engineer has an average salary of $89,754, which is higher than the $89,449 average annual salary of a chemical engineer.

The top three skills for a process development engineer include data analysis, DOE and R. The most important skills for a chemical engineer are chemistry, technical support, and co-op.

Process development engineer vs chemical engineer overview

Process Development EngineerChemical Engineer
Yearly salary$89,754$89,449
Hourly rate$43.15$43.00
Growth rate10%14%
Number of jobs118,61642,176
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Average age4241
Years of experience4-

What does a process development engineer do?

A Process Development Engineer creates and implements process technology for product manufacturing to optimize workflow, improve operating capabilities, and help ensure workers' safety. They help enhance the speed and quality of processing from a variety of industries, such as mining or manufacturing.

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.

Process development engineer vs chemical engineer salary

Process development engineers and chemical engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Process Development EngineerChemical Engineer
Average salary$89,754$89,449
Salary rangeBetween $70,000 And $114,000Between $67,000 And $119,000
Highest paying CitySanta Rosa, CASugar Land, TX
Highest paying stateWashingtonTexas
Best paying companyAppleBP America Inc
Best paying industryManufacturingEnergy

Differences between process development engineer and chemical engineer education

There are a few differences between a process development engineer and a chemical engineer in terms of educational background:

Process Development EngineerChemical Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Most common majorChemical EngineeringChemical Engineering
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityGeorgia Institute of Technology

Process development engineer vs chemical engineer demographics

Here are the differences between process development engineers' and chemical engineers' demographics:

Process Development EngineerChemical Engineer
Average age4241
Gender ratioMale, 81.2% Female, 18.8%Male, 74.1% Female, 25.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 15.3% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black 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%
LGBT Percentage4%9%

Differences between process development engineer and chemical engineer duties and responsibilities

Process development engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage implementation of improve paste compounding (including extrusion) process.
  • Perform process validation and product qualification per FDA standards for medical device submissions.
  • Perform IQ, OQ and PQ on the fixtures and equipment used.
  • Own and maintain product BOM, and operator instruction through prototype and pilot runs.
  • Draft and design layouts of materials and products using SOLIDWORKS 3D and AUTOCAD to company standards.
  • Participate in design reviews, product and process FMEA's and relate drug development management processes.
  • Show more

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

Process development engineer vs chemical engineer skills

Common process development engineer skills
  • Data Analysis, 6%
  • DOE, 5%
  • R, 4%
  • Process Engineering, 4%
  • Statistical Analysis, 4%
  • FDA, 4%
Common chemical engineer skills
  • Chemistry, 10%
  • Technical Support, 5%
  • Co-Op, 4%
  • Chemical Process, 4%
  • Troubleshoot, 3%
  • Project Management, 3%

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