Master of Engineering (Chemical)

The Master of Engineering (Chemical) at Adelaide University is a two-year postgraduate degree for people who want to work as chemical engineers, or who already hold an engineering degree and want to deepen their technical skills. Chemical engineering is about turning raw materials into useful products, fuels, medicines, food, water, plastics, minerals. You'll study process design, thermodynamics, fluid and heat transfer, reaction engineering, process control, and safety. The degree also covers the economics and environmental side of plant design, because chemical engineers are usually the ones deciding whether a process is worth building and whether it can meet environmental rules.

How the degree is structured

Australian master's degrees are built from units of study, each worth a set number of credit points. A two-year master's typically totals 96 credit points, taken over four semesters or trimesters. You'll usually complete core chemical engineering units first, then choose electives, and finish with a capstone project or a research thesis. The capstone is where you take a real design problem, a plant, a process, a product, and work it through from concept to a set of drawings and calculations. Some students take a research pathway instead and write a thesis, which is the usual route if you're thinking about a PhD later.

Work-integrated learning is part of many Australian engineering master's degrees. It can take the form of an industry placement, a project with a company, or a design subject run with practising engineers. Adelaide has a long history in chemical and process engineering, with links to the mining, energy, food and wine, and water industries in South Australia. If you're an international student, you can work up to 48 hours per fortnight while your course is in session. After you finish, the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream lets you stay and work in Australia for a period set by the Department of Home Affairs.

What you'll actually learn

By the end you should be able to size and specify process equipment, model how a process behaves, read and produce piping and instrumentation diagrams, run a hazard study, and estimate capital and operating costs. You'll also get practice writing technical reports and presenting to a team, because that's most of what a working engineer does. Group design projects are common, and they're meant to mirror how engineering firms organise work.

Who it suits

This degree suits two groups. The first is engineering graduates, chemical, mechanical, environmental, or similar, who want to specialise or move into process engineering. The second is graduates from a science background, such as chemistry or materials, who need a formal engineering qualification to work as an engineer. It's also a route for people already in industry who want to move into design or management. English requirements for international applicants are set by the university: IELTS Academic 6.0–6.5 overall is the common coursework-postgraduate standard, with TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic, Cambridge C1 Advanced and the university's own English programmes accepted as equivalents. The Department of Home Affairs sets a separate English threshold for the Student visa itself. Tuition is published on the CRICOS register under course code 118397E. Check the official course page for the current unit list, entry requirements and intake dates.

• Process engineer, designing, troubleshooting and improving production processes in chemical plants, refineries, water treatment works and food manufacturing.
• Production or plant engineer, running day-to-day operations, managing safety, quality and output on an industrial site.
• Design engineer, working for engineering consultancies that design plants and process systems for clients in mining, energy, oil and gas.
• Project engineer, managing the engineering side of capital projects, from feasibility through commissioning.
• Environmental or water engineer, treating wastewater, managing emissions, and helping operations meet environmental regulations.
• Minerals and metallurgical processing engineer, working in Australia's mining sector on ore processing and recovery.
• Pharmaceutical or bioprocess engineer, scaling up production of medicines and biochemicals.
• Energy and fuels engineer, working on conventional and renewable fuel production, including hydrogen and biofuels.
• Research or development engineer, testing new processes and materials in industry labs or at a university.

Australian employers in these fields include mining companies, energy utilities, water authorities, food and beverage manufacturers, engineering consultancies, and government agencies. Chemical engineering graduates are also hired by firms in the oil and gas sector, both in Australia and overseas.