Career as Biochemical Engineer

A recent offshoot chemical engineering, this lucrative field called biochemical engineering has captured the interest of a number of prospective engineers. This lucrative engineering field is a perfect concoction of traditional engineering and biological sciences. By applying and integrating the modern technology into biological processes, materials, and systems, a biochemical engineer produces a wide range of end products like packaged food, medicines, car products, home appliances, etc. He is mainly concerned with designing and constructing processing units that involve biological organisms or molecules. To be a successful and competent biochemical engineer, one requires professional education with creative, inquisitive, analytical, and detail-oriented skills. Besides, possessing excellent good communication is always an added advantage as a biochemical engineer will have to interact and deal with experts coming from varied fields, outside engineering as well.

Course Details
Biochemical engineering programs are offered at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Those who are interested in further higher studies can opt for doctoral level programs. Candidates, desiring to pursue BE/B.Tech in biochemical engineering, should have passed higher secondary examination, or its equivalent, as 10+2 with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics as main subjects. Graduates in related fields of engineering or postgraduates in related science subjects are eligible for the M.Tech courses in biochemical engineering. Postgraduate students can further take up doctoral programs to obtain a PhD degree in biochemical engineering.

Career Prospects
After successful completion of the course, biochemical engineers mostly work in biological laboratories of both government and corporate levels. They usually work with a group of biologists or chemists. Biotechnology firms, food and beverage companies, agriculture and chemical industries, waste management firms, petroleum oil and gas fields, biomedical firms, engineering design companies, pharmaceutical companies, construction companies, and ecological and environmental agencies offer good prospects for biochemical engineers. Except laboratories, biochemical engineers can evolve with the overall supervision of a plant, apart from providing technical and management services. Updating one's skills and knowledge in order to cope with the technological advancements in this quickly changing field can prove to be highly advantageous and fruitful.

Top Colleges Offering UG/PG/Other Courses
The steady popularity of biochemical engineering has led to its addition on the list of options offered to students by a number of leading engineering institutions in India. Some of them include: Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) at Kanpur, Kharagpur, Delhi, Mumbai, Guwahati; Banaras Hindu University, Institute of Technology, Varanasi; The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Faculty of Technology & Engineering, Vadodara; Zakir Hussain College of Engineering & Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh; Andhra University College of Engineering, Visakhapatnam; Anna University, Chennai; Birla Institute of Technology (BIT) Jaipur, Rajasthan; and Regional Engineering College, Durgapur.

Remuneration
As a fresher, a biochemical engineer can easily earn a handsome monthly salary ranging between Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 30,000. Graduates from reputed engineering institutions benefit from receiving lucrative employment opportunities in MNCs and large corporate firms, depending upon the skills and abilities.