Five reasons to study chemical engineering at Surrey

1. Industry-standard facilities

Surrey’s Department of Chemical and Process Engineering is one of the only departments in the UK to enable students to experience the entire chemical engineering process. Our new £1.7m Fluor chemical engineering facility includes a fully operational process plant which replicates the equipment you’ll eventually use in industry.

During your third year, you’ll be part of a team of students taking responsibility for every aspect of the plant – from production, quality control and safety to management and environmental impact.

Watch a tour of our Fluor pilot plant.

2. Focus on green energy

On our degree courses there’s a strong focus on the advanced technologies and processes which are helping to solve global issues related to climate change. You will learn about the latest techniques for energy efficiency and storage, treating emissions, wastewater processing, and renewable energy sources such as biomass, wind and solar – as well as traditional chemical engineering topics.

3. Teaching inspired by research

You’ll learn about cutting edge topics in chemical and process engineering – such as thermodynamics, energy and industrial systems, and corporate sustainability – from academics who are at the forefront of global research in these fields. You’ll work alongside one of these academics during your Design project in Year 3 and – if  you’re studying on the MEng course – you’ll get the chance to explore a research topic that fascinates you during both your Research Project and your Multi-Disciplinary Design Project (MDDP) in your final year.

4. Fantastic work placement opportunities

Surrey won the award for 'Best University Placement Service' (over 750 placements) for the third year running in 2021. Our renowned Professional Training placement programme enables you to gain a year’s valuable work experience with a company like:

• Pfizer
• Air Products
• BAE Systems
• EDF Energy
• Magma Global
• GE
• SciTech
• Crondall Energy Consultants.

Read about student Imogen Slinn’s placement experience at EDF Energy.

5. Great employment prospects

Surrey has been named 'University of the Year for Graduate Employment'  in the Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022. Our chemical and process engineering degrees open up a huge range of career opportunities - not only in the oil and chemical sectors but also in renewable energies, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, cosmetics, land remediation, and water and waste management. Recent graduates have gone on to companies such as:

• Proctor & Gamble
• Air Products
• Jacobs Douwe Egberts
• AVEVA
• Accenture
• Barclays.

Discover our courses in chemical and process engineering.