Chemical, Biochemical and Materials Engineering - Chemistry

Overview

Upon graduating from the Chemical, Biochemical and Materials Engineering - Chemistry programme from Aalto University, graduates will have:

• Knowledge of organic and inorganic materials and chemical reaction mechanisms to synthesise these materials. Graduates have a broad expertise in materials and material synthesis processes. 
• Knowledge of chemical equilibria and kinetics in various chemical reactions. Graduates also possess knowledge of quantum mechanics related to the chemical bond and spectroscopy.
• Both broad knowledge of different areas of chemistry and in-depth skills in a specialisation area of their choice. Graduates have the benefits of both breadth of knowledge and specialisation. Possible specialisation areas include organic chemistry, inorganic and analytical chemistry as well as physical chemistry. 
• An inquiring mind to explore new frontiers in research. Graduates have the curiosity to explore and discover new grounds in research as well as courage to defend their findings.
• Ability to act as chemistry experts in a vast range of industries.Graduates are prepared for a successful career in the industry, capable of working in multidisciplinary groups of experts and solving chemistry-related problems, such as planning reaction procedures and analysing materials in detail.
• User-centric, societal, and environmental perspective to chemical and related fields. Graduates have the knowledge and skills to understand the challenges of the field from the point of view of users and technical and social systems, as well as from that of the environment. 

Career opportunities

There are so many areas indispensable for well-being – developing medicines, cutting air pollution, mitigating plastic problems – in which chemistry plays a vital role, prolonging and improving life. Experts and scientists with extensive chemical knowledge are urgently needed in various branches of chemical and related industries. Possible career options may include: 

• designing organic synthesis for future technological solutions and analysing the synthesis products in industries such as pharmaceutical (e.g. Orion, Fermion), organic materials, (e.g. UPM, Stora Enso) and polymer industry (e.g. Neste, Borealis).
• designing materials synthesis procedures (especially ALD companies, Picosun and BENEQ) and analysing synthesis products 
• Electrochemical applications, batteries (BASF), electroplating (Norilsk Nickel). Finland is building a supply chain from raw materials to battery chemical and batteries. Many steps here require good knowledge of electrochemistry.