How important is chemistry in engineering?

Question: How important is chemistry in engineering?
- Keywords:
  chemistry
Asked by Nicki D'Angelo to Alejandra, Ana, Daniel, Sophie, Todd, Zach on 7 Mar 2017.
- Sophie Cox answered on 7 Mar 2017:
  
  Hi Nicki D’Angelo,
  
  Thanks for your question.
  
  In my field of biomedical engineering we use quite a bit of chemistry, in combination with physics, biology, and also maths. Our research group tries to design new implants to repair or regenerate the human body. To ensure that these implants don’t harm anyone we need to understand the chemistry of the materials they are made from. It is also important for us to know that the materials won’t change over time when they are implanted into someone’s body.
  
  I hope that answers your question?
  
  Let me know if you have anymore 🙂
- Daniel Morse answered on 7 Mar 2017:
  
  Hi Nicki,
  
  Chemistry is pretty important in tissue engineering (biomedical engineering), but there is a wealth of knowledge and expertise around all over the place – in journal publications, forums, your own university and companies. so you certainly don’t need to be an expert in chemistry, or anything else for that matter, to succeed in engineering.
  
  In my field, understanding chemistry is relatively important, because the conditions used to grow and mature the tissues rely quite heavily on them being perfect with all the supplements we have to add in to the food source.
  
  Having a good understanding and willingness to learn are just as valuable!
- Ana Gallego answered on 8 Mar 2017:
  
  For me is actually very important.
  I am lucky that part of my background, in my first degree, I learnt a lot of chemistry so it really helps.
  I work with a lot of different polymers (thermoplastics, rubbers, adhesives, solvents) so by understanding the molecules behind each material or substance, I can predict or design accordingly. It helps you choose the best material, especially when working with soft materials like silicones or polyurethanes, which is the main ones that I work with.
  
  It is also useful for things such as Health and Safety. It is important to be able to read the ‘ingredients’ of the substance you are working with, so you can work safely.
- Alejandra Aranceta answered on 8 Mar 2017:
  
  Hi Nicki D’Angelo,
  
  It really depends on the type of engineering. I did study chemistry during my undergraduate, but I have never used it! And this is only because I did not specialize in something along those lines, but if you were to study chemical engineering, I think the answer to your question is YES! or Biomedical Engineering in the area of tissue engineering (or alike). So it will depend on the role that chemistry would play on the degree.
- Todd Burton answered on 9 Mar 2017:
  
  Great questions, i suppose it depends on what your current project is and whether there is anyone to help you. Chemistry is very important in materials science and tissue engineering for making new polymers that can help cells to grow.
  
  I currently have a project looking at photo-curable emulsions which will make porous scaffolds for cells to grow on. This requires a fairly good grasp of chemistry to understand how the reaction happens.

Question: How important is chemistry in engineering?

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