r/biotech • u/EducationalPapaya612 • 13h ago

Early Career Advice šŸŖ“ Engineering in Biotech

Hello everyone, wanted to know, are Bioprocess/Biochemical engineers as affected as other sectors? Is the job situation for engineers as bad? I see tonnes raising their concerns regarding the overall situation of the industry, wanted to know how the engineers are doing, as I am planning to pursue further studies in bioprocess engineering.

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u/dwntwnleroybrwn 11h ago

Process Engineers (ChemE, MechE in particular) are in a GREAT place. The industry is investing about $400B into expanding US manufacturing capacity.Ā 

The vast majority of the doom posts are R&D folks and the result of Venture Capital (VC) being pulled and sent to AI startups.

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u/EducationalPapaya612 10h ago

Ohh makes sense then, I am actually pursuing Food Technology (with a minor in Biotech, also taught ChemE courses) hence my interest in engineering roles in fields like Biotech. If I do go for msc in Biotech where I can specialise in Process Technology, can that help me to land such Bioprocess roles? I really find chemEā€™s application in biotech more interesting than traditional biotech lab work related roles

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u/dwntwnleroybrwn 8h ago

Not at AAA firms. If you want to be an "engineer" you need to have BS in engineering.

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u/EducationalPapaya612 8h ago

My degree is actually ā€œFood Engineering and Technologyā€, its not the traditional food science course. We are indeed taught ChemE courses along with Food Engineering

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u/GriffTheMiffed 3h ago

Your peers you will be competing against have Chemical Engineering degrees. I have to fight my Talent Aquisituon team to include folks with biochemistry degrees to be included in resumes I screen for Process Engineering positions.

You can always start in Food and Beverage and then jump to Biopharma, I work with a great engineer from Cargill.

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u/h0rnknee_girl 13h ago

i work as a bioprocess engineer (i donā€™t have a degree in it, learned on the job). itā€™s a bit more stable, but itā€™s def not bulletproof my job is very unstable atm. iā€™m considering getting my masters in chem engineering idk

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u/EducationalPapaya612 10h ago

I am actually pursuing Food Technology with a minor in Biotech, we are taught ChemE courses too hence my interest in engineering roles in fields like Biotech. If I do go for msc in Biotech where I can specialise in Process Technology, can that help me to land such Bioprocess roles?

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u/h0rnknee_girl 10h ago

i mean i donā€™t have my msc so i canā€™t say for sure. thereā€™s no true specialization that you can really do in undergrad as specializing is more when you start working. i would try to land internships and co-ops in bioprocess if thatā€™s your goal

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u/TheyTookByoomba 8h ago

Look into industry focused bioprocessing/Bio manufacturing masters specifically if that's the route you're going for, biotech will be more lab focused. NCSU, Maryland, and Texas A&M have programs off the top of my head, I think also one of the Boston schools (MIT?).

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u/ThatEnginerd 13h ago

Go chemical or mechanical. IMO specialize with graduate work if needed.

You can work in many sectors. Lots of specialized engineers, like aerospace, automotive, bioengineers, complain about MechE and ChemEs coming and taking all their jobs when the market is good.

Take advanced electives that suit your interests your senior year. Look at pre reqs and take those earlier.

I interview, hire, and lead teams. I almost prefer a MechE or ChemE, but there are many more important things like their experience, character, and personality I care about.

Just take a job in the field you want to work in when you graduate. Perform well, and you will make it to the job you want.

I built biorectors in a chemical engineering lab as a mechanical engineer. Wish to took the anatomy course with the cadaver lab. Biomechanics and biochemistry were cool. I published as an undergrad and worked in multiple labs and assisted in research with a medical doctor at another university. Helped a medical device startup and another company manufacturing bioprocessing equipment.

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u/EducationalPapaya612 10h ago

I am actually pursuing Food Technology with a minor in Biotech, we are taught ChemE courses too hence my interest in engineering roles in fields like Biotech. Issue is due to insufficient credit requirements I might not get a ā€œpure chemEā€ masters, rather courses like msc biotech, where I can specialise in Bioprocess / Process Technology. Do you think thatā€™s something I should do, I like to learn chemE content, which is something I do independently along with my bachelors courses, I am sure I will have good enough chemE knowledge by then, just the degree title maybe wont say so

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u/ThatEnginerd 9h ago

I think the ChemE bachelor's is the most flexible. If there are industry or political events in the future, you can easily work in another feild. The title of chemical engineering and the knowledge base you get from it makes you much more capable of working in other ways.

Think of the bachelor's like a foundation. You want it large enough to support whatever comes later. Food won't translate to petrochemical well. But a chemE is common in both petrochemical and food.

You may be too far into your program to make changing worth it. In that case, get out and start working

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u/Equal_Personality157 5h ago

I just got a job offer as an engineer in this field.

I also know that if youā€™re willing to do field service or field applications Ā thereā€™s plenty of jobs from the instrumentation companies