Introduction & Overview!

Welcome to our History of Chemical Engineering & Chemical Technology.

Our goal is to bring you a history of chemical engineering that encompasses its conceptual origins in Great Britain, subsequent struggle for survival in the United States, and concludes with a cornucopia of contributions made in this Century.

Along the way, many tables and figures help illustrate the growth and change in the chemical industry, the chemical engineering profession, and its educational infrastructure.

Some questions we hope to examine include:

What is chemical engineering?

How, and why, did chemical engineering develop?

What obstacles did the profession face and overcome?

What contributions have chemical engineers made?

How has the profession grown and changed over the last Century?

While the following documents cover a fair amount of ground, it is important to keep in mind that this is only a brief tour of this topic which leaves many important events untouched. If you find our short history interesting and informative we hope you will continue to explore the subject, as there are many excellent sources available. In any case, we hope to hear your reactions, comments, and suggestions.

-Wayne Pafko

Table of Contents

What is Chemical Engineering?

"The end already...go back to the top."

We always welcome COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS, OR REACTIONS.


PLEASE NOTE: This site is a mirror. It was last updated in 1998 and will no longer be modified. For more recent content please go to the permanent History of Chemical Engineering web site.