Daily Times

Sir: Chemical engineering is one of the latest engineering technologies that have been taught in Pakistan since the 1990s. Chemical engineering can be subdivided into nuclear, industrial, environmental, oil and gas and safety engineering. Chemical engineers are trained as project managers and have to understand all the aspects of a project or industry. That is why for many big Industrial/Oil and Gas/Environmental projects, it is the chemical engineer that leads the project. Unfortunately in Pakistan, there is not much knowledge about chemical engineering. People in Pakistan consider chemical engineers as equivalent to chemists. Even in government jobs, chemical engineers are not considered for roles that are suitable for them, for example in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the government has created an oil and gas company, but is hiring only mechanical and electrical engineers while rejecting chemical engineers’ applications. The main cause of all this confusion is the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) that is not playing its due role in promoting chemical engineering. I would therefore like to request the PEC to please promote chemical engineering in Pakistan and request the government to hire chemical engineers on the roles suitable for them. I would also like to request the PEC to create a post for chemical engineers in their organization.

ENGR SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER

Peshawar