Chemistry? Why do I have to take Chemistry?

Chemistry is a very broad field, and there are many things that you can do with it!

Smart People can get paid the Big Bucks to do Awesome Things, and Chemistry is a

way to get there!

What does Chemistry have to do with My World?

Look around you!

Check out what you are wearing! Much of your clothes are made, or colored by chemistry!

The medicines that have kept you alive are made by chemistry!

The desk you are sitting in was made or modified by chemistry!

Our high technology is made real by chemistry!

 Chemistry-related Careers

"What can you do with a degree in chemistry?"

Adapted from Drake University

There are literally hundreds of very interesting and very important chemistry-related fields. For example, chemists get jobs in:

Forensics Oceanography Biotechnology

Food SciencePharmaceutical Science

Chemical Industry

Environmental Science

Medicine Genetics

Chemistry Software Design

Patent Law Teaching

Space Exploration

Environmental Policy and Decision Making

Materials Chemistry

 

"What do chemists do andwhere do they work?"

 

With a degree in chemistry you can work in chemical companies like Dow, Pioneer Hybrid, IBM, Kodak, 3M, and Proctor and Gamble

making new commercial products like adhesives for tape, coatings for computer hard drives, cleansers, and medical products.

   

                                           

                                   

Specific Manufacturing Careers

• Agricultural (fertilizers and pesticides)

• Components for electronic devices (computer chips, resistors, capacitors, transistors, etc.)

• Textiles (manufacturing raw fabric as well as dyeing process)

• Metals/alloys (basic smelting to production of high-tech composites)

• Paper production • Petroleum processing • Pharmaceutical (drug development, manufacturing, quality

control, testing)

• Plastics (design of new plastics or new methods for making existing ones)

Oil companies

like Shell, BP-Amoco, and Exxon hire chemists to make new petroleum-based products and the ensure the quality of their gasolines and motor oils.

                                     

Pharmaceutical companies

like Bayer and Upjohn hire chemists to design, make, test, and characterize, and purify new drugs.

Every new medication or health care item advertised on TV was made and analyzed by chemists.

                                           

                        

                          

                          

                  

In these laboratories, which are often associated with hospitals, clinical chemists, chemical technologists and technicians carry out analyses of body tissues and fluids to provide medical doctors with useful diagnostic information.

Clinical chemists may also develop new analytical methods and conduct fundamental research on the complex and fascinating chemistry of life.

CLINICAL LABORATORIES

Biotechnology companies

are discovering new treatments for illnesses and designing other new applications of enzymes, DNA, and other biochemicals to do many new things that were impossible ten years ago.

                       

 

                   

                                        

              

Some Biotechnology Examples done by

Small Research Companies! Instruments and Sensors are designed

capable of detecting:

• Cancer cell protein fragments in blood that allow for early detection of Cancer.

• Biological Weapons in Blood or Saliva at the early stages.

• Pollutants in water with simple hand held sensors.

• Natural Gas in Chemical Compounds in Deep Ocean Environments

Materials chemists

make new and useful products like the heat panels on the space shuttles and new materials for low temperature insulation.

                  

 

                        

                 

 

                         

     

But isn’t chemistry at fault for destroying the environment?

No!

Chemists and chemistry are at fault for finding what is polluted and by how much.

Chemists make the instruments and produce the results that have forced politicians to enforce regulations that they might have otherwise ignored!

Government-sponsored science agencies like NASA and the EPA hire chemists to set up and perform experiments focused on learning more about space and the environment.                                                                                                                  

 

                  

     

 

                 

                       

 

                       

Other government agencies like the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) hire chemists to learn more about the human body in order to cure diseases and to ensure the safety of our food and medications.

Other Chemistry Testing and/or analysis applications:

•Archaeology (carbon dating, preservation of artifacts, reassembly, etc.) •Art preservation (museums have chemists dedicated to preserving or restoring priceless paintings) •Medical testing (for doctor’s offices or hospitals) •Environmental testing •Environmental restoration after contamination is discovered •Forensics (FBI, state police agencies, Secret Service, etc) •Waste treatment (water purification and monitoring, incineration of garbage and other wastes)

Forensic Science at UCO

UCO has a master’s program in Forensic Science where you can learn to work directly in Crime Labs!

Chemistry gets you there!

EDUCATION: Schools of all levels hire people with degrees in chemistry to teach classes and work with students on research projects.

                 

                             

                 

                             

                 

                             

                 

                             

With an undergraduate degree in chemistry you can continue your education and get a Master's or Ph.D. degree in chemistry, biochemistry, medicinal chemistry, materials chemistry, or pharmaceutical science, or go on to medical school or dental school.

                

                

                         

Data from Annual Report, 1996, American Chemical Society Committee on Professional Training

Where do Chemistry Graduates Go after the BS Degree?

                                                                                                                                                                     

The data are taken from the American Chemical Society, 1998 Comprehensive Salary and Employment Status Survey.

                                                                                                                                                                     

The data are taken from the American Chemical Society, 1998 Comprehensive Salary and Employment Status Survey.

                                                                                                                                                                     

The data are taken from the American Chemical Society, 1998 Comprehensive Salary and Employment Status Survey.

                                                                                                                                                                     

The data are taken from the American Chemical Society, 1998 Comprehensive Salary and Employment Status Survey.

The data are taken from the American Chemical Society, 1998 Comprehensive Salary and Employment Status Survey.

HOW MUCH DO THEY MAKE?

Navy – Autonomous Underwater Sensing of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

OBJECTIVE: This effort will develop an underwater surveillance system to monitor the water column, the air near the water’s surface, and shallow bottom sediments for evidence of the presence of weapons of mass destruction....

What is there to do in Chemistry that will make a difference?

Chemistry Challenges Right Now:

The US Government will pay $70,000 for Chemists to do Research on These Topics!

DOE Trace Gas Measurements Aboard Aircraft

- Grant applications are sought to develop instruments to measure concentrations of ammonia (NH3) and nitric acid vapor (HNO3) in the lower few kilometers of the atmosphere.

The instruments must be sufficiently small, lightweight, and low in power consumption for use aboard medium or small aircraft (e.g. CONVAIR, Gulf Stream 1, Twin Otter, Dash 7, and smaller) that are flown at these altitudes over urban and regional distances (i.e., several hundred miles).

DOE: Rapid Molecular Analysis of Microorganisms –

research to investigate the use of naturally occurring communities (multiple species) of microorganisms for the in situ bioremediation of contaminants (particularly metals and radionuclides) in the subsurface..

Possible technologies for assessing microbial community structure include: (1) DNA microarrays and DNA "chip" technologies for rapid detection of genes associated with key microbial species in natural microbial communities

So Chemistry is Important!

• Chemistry by itself is a career with many choices.

• Most every industry hires chemists.

• Smart People can find Exciting things to do in Chemistry

• The Pay isn’t bad either!

You can still go into other sciences with a chemistry background

• Many other Science Fields require some knowledge in Chemistry

• If you have a background in Chemistry, you are generally better prepared than the average student in that field!– Example: Soil and Environmental Science,

Cell Biology and Genetics all use chemical methods, where a background in chemistry provides a big advantage!

How to Start a Career in Chemistry?

• Get an ACS Certified Degree in Chemistry• Do some research as an undergraduate• Don’t Quit because you think it is hard…keep

going and you will get there!• It takes Hard Work, some Math, some English

and Writing Skills

We would like to see you here to start your career!