119c Looking out a Few Years

Jeffrey J. Siirola, Eastman Chemical Company, PO Box 1972, 200 South Wilcox Drive, Kingsport, TN 37662-5150

There have been many new exciting opportunities for chemical engineers in the recent past as an increasing number of our graduates have gone into "nontraditional" areas. Environmental, electronic and other structured materials, consulting, and food, pharmaceutical, and life-science-based industries are now employing almost half of all graduates. This presentation will look at these recent employment trends as well as trends in both the US and global economies to project an industrial view of chemical engineering opportunities over the next period of time and especially the potentially disruptive impact of the global need for economically and environmentally sustainable energy systems.