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News Release from: IChemE (Institution of Chemical Engineers)
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 01 December 2004
The future's bright, its in chemical
engineering
The intake to chemical engineering first degree courses in the UK has risen for the third year running, good news for the profession, and reflecting the successful efforts of the whynotchemeng project
The intake to chemical engineering first degree courses in the UK has risen for the third year running Provisional figures released by UCAS last week show a 10.3% increase for 2004
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 2 Nov 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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It's good news for the future of the profession as nearly 1100 students get their studies underway.
Hot on the heels of a 5% increase in 2003 the rising trend suggests that the IChemE 'whynotchemeng' student recruitment project is hitting the mark.
The campaign is making a difference by reaching out to students who had not previously considered a career in chemical engineering.
"Since 2001 we have seen an overall increase of nearly 17% in the number of students studying chemical engineering at undergraduate level," says IChemE Careers Advice Executive, Lucy Taylor.
"This year's double digit increase is the best for five years and it provides clear evidence that the whynotchemeng campaign is having a real impact".
The increasing popularity for chemical engineering courses compares favourably with current trends in comparable science and engineering subjects.
The provisional UCAS figures show that chemistry has only seen a 1.5 % increase this year.
Meanwhile, physics is suffering from falling student numbers with intake decreasing by more than 8% in 2004.
Elsewhere, intake to electrical engineering courses has fallen by almost 9%.
"whynotchemeng projects chemical engineering as an exciting, challenging and potentially lucrative career.
Successful students go on to secure positions in a diverse range of industrial sectors assuming substantial responsibility at an early stage in their careers," says Taylor.
"The average salary for a 30-year-old chemical engineer in 2004 was GBP36,500.
IChemE uses targeted resources and relationship building to help raise the profile of the subject among teaching staff, not just for this year, but also for years to come.
IChemE has been investing in this campaign for a number of years.
Now it is seeing the rewards, as the number of students choosing chemical engineering undergraduate courses continues to increase year on year," concluded Taylor.
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