Naomi Jones
Country: UK
International Baccalaureate: Chemistry, physics, maths, English (Higher Level), economics, German (Standard Level)
University: University of Cambridge, UK
I’m from New Zealand so my education path was slightly different to most other people you can read about here. In New Zealand, I studied towards the International Baccalaureate Diploma which is roughly the equivalent of A-levels. I studied physics, chemistry, maths and English literature as my “Higher Level” subjects.
I went to an international school so it wasn’t unusual for students to leave New Zealand to go to an overseas university. I only started to think about chemical engineering closely when completing my university application.
I knew that I wanted to do something science-based without doing an actual degree in one of the sciences. With that in mind, engineering – and chemical engineering in particular – seemed a good choice.
Studying at Cambridge
I studied at the
University of Cambridge
, UK. As a student at Cambridge, I didn’t go straight into chemical engineering. Instead, all students study either a general engineering or general science course for the first year. I always knew that chemical engineering was my preferred choice but the general engineering first year is ideal for someone that wants to keep their options open.
I found it useful too because it gave me an insight into the other engineering disciplines and now, I have a solid understanding of how other engineers work. It also reinforced my belief that chemical engineers are the glue that brings all of the engineering disciplines together in this industry.
Travelling to the US
The second year of my studies was spent in the US at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where I focused on chemical engineering.
It was interesting to learn that many of the top chemical engineering students at MIT tend to go on to work in the pharmaceuticals sector, whereas at
Cambridge
the focus is more on working in oil and gas.
Prior to my year at MIT, I had been keen on the oil and gas route but the year in the US did make me consider the pharma route.
Life after university
As my studies progressed back in the UK, I started to think more carefully about my career options. At the end of year 3, I had a summer internship at
BP
. It went really well and I was offered a permanent post upon graduation.
Working at
BP
appealed to me because the company has a really impressive training scheme. I believe that training and professional development programmes are very important to young chemical engineers and it’s important to think about this when applying for jobs.
I am a process engineer and the
BP
graduate scheme lasts for 4 years. I get to spend two years working on operations and then two years working on projects and design. I am currently working on the operations side of things where I split my time between the office and the onshore gas terminal. In the longer term, I’d like to work for
BP
as a process engineer in Australia.
If you’re looking for a challenging environment and to be able to practically apply your knowledge, chemical engineering is a good degree choice. It has lots of opportunities for travel, makes all sorts of career paths more accessible and offers lots of variety.
Take the time now to find out as much as you can about career paths, where you can study the subject and work hard to find work experience placements wherever possible. Even if chemical engineering placements aren’t available, other engineering placements will help you at least better understand the wider engineering environment.