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emyt
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what's the difference? it looks like a chemical engineer and material scientist does the same thing
cmos said:Chemical engineering is more about running large-scale chemical reactions while materials science is about studying specific properties of materials. A chemical engineer may be tasked with designing a reactor that runs continuously to produce some polymer while a materials scientist would be tasked with figuring out why the polymer, in its final form, acts the way it does.
In modern curricula, it seems to me that chemical engineers are essentially applied organic chemists while materials scientists are essentially applied condensed matter physicists.
Of course there are always exceptions and overlaps. Hope this helped.
Material science is a field that focuses on the study and manipulation of materials, their properties, and how they can be used in various applications. Chemical engineering, on the other hand, is a branch of engineering that applies chemical principles to design and operate processes that convert raw materials into useful products.
The main areas of study in material science include materials characterization, materials processing, and materials design. In chemical engineering, the main areas of study include thermodynamics, transport phenomena, and reaction engineering.
Material scientists tend to focus on the properties and behavior of materials at the atomic and molecular level, while chemical engineers use their knowledge of chemistry and engineering principles to design and optimize processes for large-scale production.
Material scientists often work in research and development, product design, and quality control in industries such as aerospace, healthcare, and electronics. Chemical engineers, on the other hand, may work in industries such as pharmaceuticals, energy production, and environmental engineering.
Material science and chemical engineering overlap in the study of materials and their properties. Chemical engineers may also use their knowledge of material science to select and design materials for specific applications in their processes. Additionally, both fields often collaborate in research and development projects to create new materials and processes.