119f Chemical Engineering - the Liberal Arts Degree for the Next Century

Kirk H. Schulz, Bagley College of Engineering, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762

The chemical engineering profession has gone through a series of critical changes over the last 50 years. Despite significant shifts in focus over 5 decades, a chemical engineering undergraduate degree has successfully provided the training needed for a variety of different career paths. Indeed, the flexibility of the degree and the applicability of the fundamentals of chemical engineering to many complex problems are the major reasons for the usefulness of the B.S. ChE degree. I believe that the flexibility of chemical engineering is its greatest strength, and is one of the reasons why a B.S. in chemical engineering will continue to be a highly sought after degree in the business world.