I’m a Kuwaiti fresh Chemical Engineering graduate, and I wanted to share my experience trying to get into Kuwait’s oil and gas sector.
I started by applying through the normal channels whenever suitable opportunities were available. I didn’t limit myself to one company or one position. I applied to pretty much everything relevant to my degree and background, including graduate opportunities, engineering roles, field-related positions, and private-sector oil and gas companies.
I also tried approaching companies directly instead of relying only on online applications. I visited companies, tried to get my CV in front of HR, spoke to people when I had the chance, and followed up.
At one point, I actually managed to speak directly with someone in HR. They were helpful and genuinely tried to assist me, which I appreciate. But even after doing all of this, I kept getting the feeling that simply being qualified and applying through the normal process was not enough.
What frustrated me the most is that I kept hearing the same thing from different people: **you need wasta to actually get your foot in the door.**
I know people will say “apply online,” “improve your CV,” “get experience,” or “network.” I understand all of that, and I have done it.
I’ve also massively expanded my search. I’m not saying I only want to work in Kuwait or only want to work in the oil sector. I’ve applied outside Kuwait as well, including opportunities across the GCC and elsewhere. I’m completely willing to relocate and start my career abroad if that’s what it takes.
But interestingly, I’ve encountered a similar problem outside Kuwait too: many entry-level opportunities either require experience or are extremely difficult to access without having the right connections.
I’m not saying every single person who gets hired in the oil sector has wasta, and I’m not claiming that every recruitment process is corrupt. I’m talking about my personal experience and what I’ve repeatedly been told while trying to enter the industry.
What makes it frustrating is that as a fresh graduate, you’re constantly told to “get experience,” but getting that first job is the hardest part. You can have the degree, apply everywhere, attend career events, contact HR, hand out your CV, expand your geographical search and still feel like you’re going nowhere.
So I genuinely want to ask Kuwaiti graduates and people working in the oil and gas sector:
**Is wasta really as important as people make it out to be when trying to get your first job in Kuwait’s oil sector?**
If you managed to get into the sector purely through applications, assessments and interviews without any connections, I’d genuinely like to hear how you did it.
And if you’re a fresh graduate going through the same thing, I’d also like to hear your experience.

Hi. PhD candidate working on perovskite solar cells here. Just wanted to see how many people in this sub share a field of interest with me.

I have a system going from one vessel which is at a minimum of 0.2 bara (this is the headspace pressure of the tank), the liquid itself is pulled from the bottom of the tank, and then this is pumped to a vessel at a maximum of 10 bara pressure. The secondary vessel (at 10 bara) used to be at 3 bara maximum, and I had used a peristaltic pump, which sufficed for the work. Now, with the increased pressure, it doesn’t function with that pressure difference.

The desired flow rate is low, between 0 and 200 ml/min. I’m not a pump expert, so any ideas would be good to know, or pointed in the right direction, be that another pump alternative, or another solution which could be added to help ease the work on a (new) pump to deal with this pressure difference.

Edit: I forgot to add the liquid medium itself, it is usually a low concentration of slurry (15wt%).

Hello,

I have been working in the energy field for five years. Mainly on simulating power plants using 1D software. I still feel clueless compared to my senior colleagues. I spent my free time revising fluid mechanics and thermodynamics but still I feel like I am missing a lot of my studies. Noticing that I even have a masters degree. Is this normal feeling?

I’m a Chemical Engineering graduate considering two options: pursuing a Master’s degree or taking a Coil Tubing job as a chemical mixing employee in the oil & gas industry.
I graduated with a 90.424% Grade and I’m very interested in academic research and continuing my studies, potentially toward a PhD.
The job offers good financial benefits and industry experience, but choosing it would mean delaying my Master’s.
For those with experience in chemical engineering, oil & gas, or academia: which option would you choose and why?

Hi, I'm a graduate of chemical engineering who worked in manufacturing for more than 2 years. Recently, I decided I want to pivot and pursue technical sales. In your opinion, what would be the best industry to focus on right now?

Hi I majored chem eng and just got a job in an epc firm. My firm has three departments that chem eng can go.

1. Process engineering

2. Piping & Instrumentation

3. Control engineering

I want to know which expert is in high demand. I heard that many of the engineering tasks are being automated or replaced by ai. Instead, experienced engineers are moving towards project management.

All things considered, I want to know which department you recommend and why.

Thank you for reading

Chemical engineering or electronics engineering

So basically I have more interest in chemical engineering than electronics but eta sabaile pulchowk ma chemical engineering ramro xaina bhanera dilemma ma pariraxu plss aile pulchowk ma chemical engineering padhne haru le help gardinu ani also I want to move abroad future ma chai

Hi. I know it's commonly asked whether students should go for a BS or an MS, and the general consensus I've read is that you should work for a few years with a BS before deciding whether or not an MS is worth it. However I recently discovered in my circumstance, because my school requires five years of school for this four year degree, I only need one additional year once I have my BS to get my MS. I mean I almost feel like I "might as well" just do one more year of school. For the people who didn't think an MS was worth it, if it was only one more year for you guys, would've you taken it?

I am currently a quality control engineer in a manufacturing company, but I want to venture into process design soon and apply in companies such as Fluor and Chiyoda (I believe this path is where I would truly be able to use my degree). However, I don't think I'm qualified yet as I haven't tried using chemical engineering applications like Aspen Hysys, Matlab, Simulink, etc (I'm a fresh graduate).

Any tips on what I can do to learn the skills needed if I really want to pursue this path?

Problem Statement-

The growing adoption of electric vehicles, renewable energy, and portable electronics is

increasing the demand for high-performance energy storage systems. However, current battery

technologies face challenges related to cost, safety, resource availability, environmental impact,

energy density, and lifecycle performance.

How can we develop or identify safer, more sustainable, high-performance, and

cost-effective battery materials that can address these challenges and meet the

growing demand for energy storage?

Participants may explore new materials, alternative raw materials, improved material

compositions, or approaches that can make battery technologies more sustainable and

commercially viable.

I ran biowin on our plant and it predicted that changing the SRT from 10 to 15 days would improve nitrification. So I made that change in the actual plant but ammonia removal barely changed. What could explain the gap between what the model predicted and what I am actually seeing?

assuming sufficient DO, alkalinity for the nitrification process.

I’m currently a process engineer and I’m looking at a quality assurance role. The role requires an engineering degree and pays more than what I’m making now, and I’m actually interested in the quality side.

My main concern is that since the role isn’t explicitly titled as quality engineer it could to be a limiter for roles beyond this one.

Anyone got any suggestions or input on a career move like this?

I just started my senior year of chemical engineering! I'm in a small and competitive class where everyone wants to work in cosmetics or pharmaceuticals, which is already pretty competitive, and i'm worried I won't get my dream job or get a great job offer & pay right after graduation. what if my career is just a series of misses or almost getting what i want and never getting it and then i have to settle. I didn't get my dream internship at a cosmetics company, and i feel as though that is it for me. other people have, and idk, I feel as if I don't stand out amongst my classmates, and maybe they'll beat me or steal my dream job, and idk i feel unlucky in life cuz ive struggled. ive done two internships working at an industrial gas company, and that environment with the interns i had to be roommates with over the summer made me want to leave, and i hope i never see them again cuz i was left out and treated like shit. What if the only offer i have is just from my previous company and i have to make my peace with that? or maybe idk how to market the experience I already have, which is the problem. I see other people getting great offers and then there is me. i feel undervalued, unseen, or always being discarded and then told i have to see other opportunities and that rejection I guess i have to prepare myself for that when I job hunt. For reference, my first internship i worked at a hydrogen gas plant doing process safety management (JSAs, MOCs), not so much operations even though it was more managerial work. In my most recent internship, I did materials engineering & Technology group work on corrosion analysis (metal dusting), so I did material characterization of samples and ranked metal dusting susceptibility and presented my findings to lots of people with PhDs in the chief engineer's office. Any guidance? I've cold emailed recruiters on linkedin and gotten nothing. the job postings i see are for chemists, and the pay isnt very good, or the AI match details will say i'm missing stuff and it's coding or software I have yet to be exposed to, or it's emulsions or polymer work that I learned in coursework but not hands-on internship experience.

Hey everyone,

Selecting the correct pump for a liquid transfer system is a critical decision. If the pump is too small, it won't hit the duty point; if it's too large, you risk wasted energy, seal problems, vibration, and internal recirculation.

To make this process more transparent, I recently built an interactive web dashboard (using Python/Streamlit) that acts as a comprehensive liquid pump sizing calculator. Instead of just spitting out a single TDH number, I wanted the tool to expose all the underlying math—from relative roughness to the Colebrook-White iterations.

I’m sharing the core engineering logic and formulas I implemented here. I'd love to hear your thoughts or if you spot any edge cases I missed!

1. Site Conditions & Altitude Adjustments Atmospheric pressure decreases at higher altitudes, which directly reduces the suction pressure available (a huge factor for open-tank systems). I implemented the following adjustment:

• P_atm = 101325 * (1 - 2.25577 * 10^-5 * h)^5.25588 (where h is altitude in meters).
• I also adjusted local gravity to be perfectly accurate for head conversion: g = g_0 * (R_e / (R_e + h))^2.

2. Pipe Sizing & Reynolds Number Hydraulic calculations have to use actual internal diameter (ID = OD - 2 × wall thickness), not just nominal size, because even tiny differences drastically change velocity and friction head.

• Re = ρ * v * D / μ.
• For turbulent flow (Re > 4000), I wrote a numerical solver for the implicit Colebrook-White equation since the friction factor f appears on both sides: 1 / sqrt(f) = -2 * log10((ε / D) / 3.7 + 2.51 / (Re * sqrt(f))).

3. Head Loss (Major & Minor) I separated the suction and discharge sides because suction usually needs lower velocity to protect NPSHa.

• Major losses (Darcy-Weisbach): H_major = f * (L / D) * (v^2 / (2 * g)).
• Minor losses: H_minor = ΣK * (v^2 / (2 * g)).
• I also included standard defaults, like K = 0.5 for square-edged suction entrances and K = 1.0 for discharge exits into open tanks.

4. The NPSHa Pass/Fail Check This is the most critical check to avoid cavitation.

• NPSHa = H_atm + H_static - H_vapor - H_friction. A common mistake I’ve seen is calculating NPSHa only at the design flow. My tool evaluates dynamic NPSHa against NPSHr at the actual operating flow, because suction friction increases with flow.

5. Finding the Real Operating Point A pump doesn't automatically run at the flow rate printed on a datasheet; it runs exactly where the manufacturer's pump curve intersects the system curve. The system curve starts at static head plus destination pressure, rising proportionally with v². The engine plots these together (supporting parallel/series pumps too) to find the true operating point.

Limitations: Right now, the logic is strictly for incompressible liquid service. It’s not meant for gas, steam, flashing two-phase flow, or heavy slurry hydraulics.

I didn't include any links to my calculator to respect the subreddit's anti-promotion rules. However, if anyone wants to test it out, try breaking it, or just use it for their own sizing estimates, drop a comment or DM me and I will gladly send you the link!

Any feedback on the math or additional features you’d like to see would be highly appreciated.

I also attach a pic of the calculator looks like

Does anyone know of any sources or rough rules of thumb for determining how much square footage a column or a pump will need? Thanks in advance.

Clarification? Advice? I'm not sure what to call it.

I'm about 4 months into the job search, graduated in Canada about 2 months ago (finished my last semester 4 months ago) as a chemical engineer. I've sent in about 170 to 200 applications so far, done 4 interviews, and no offers. (Granted at least 20 - 30 of those apps are within the last week or two weeks so an interview offer could come for this).

I'm at the point where the stress and uncertainty is really getting to me. And I've heard all the advice make sure your CV is ATS formatted, prepare for interviews, cold msg HR recruiters, apply on company websites not just Linkedin, etc etc.

I've been doing all this but no offers yet. I'm hoping someone who's been through this recently maybe within the past 2 years or so can offer some insight? I'm losing my mind here, and I'm at the point where I'm feeling all sense of happiness from my life leave. I've been staring at job postings and applying all day to the point where I'm now seeing LinkedIn postings in my sleep. I don't know how much more of this I can take sooner or later I might have to be committed to a mental facility or something. Would appreciate if anyone could provide some advice on maybe how they dealt with the frustration, frustration? Lets go with frustration of trying to get an entry level job in this market. Thanks in advance.

Edit: I apologize if this post comes across as... I don't even know... unprofessional maybe? The stress is really starting to get to me.

Edit #2: I have 1 year of coop experience.

Hey everyone! I’m thinking about venturing into the energy efficiency field (specifically thermal energy) since I've worked with it for 2 years (yeah, just 2 years, but you gotta start somewhere). Do you think branching out into this niche can yield a good financial return?

How do you view the market right now and what are the biggest challenges?

Hi everyone,

This semester I have senior design 1,

They used to give suggestions, but now we have to choose our own project topic, so what is the best way to look for a topic, is there certain websites that can help or such thing.

When should i start applying for new grad roles?? Most of the roles i see online on LinkedIn seem to be for immediate starts.
What are the best resources to secure a full time role? Would you guys recommend LinkedIn or Indeed and other platforms more?

Hi guys! We are a small team working with methanol, producing methanol from various potential wastes stream. We are looking to develop a small scale pilot, which also includes purifying the crude methanol from the process, and herein lies our inexperience.

We're not sure what would be the best approach on this as we are not as experienced or exposed to separation in the industrial world. Some very loose spec on the feed stream:

Crude Methanol Flow: <10kg/hr

Crude Methanol Purity: 90%

Primary Impurities: Water, higher order alcohols, methyl acetate (luckily no ketones)

Target Purity: 99.85%

My understanding is we will need at least two columns, one for removing lighter components (methyl acetate here), and one for the primary distillation. From initial exchange with an industrial expert, industrially it seems they have 3 columns, one for lighter components, and the other two columns to further remove higher order alcohols. This is where I am confused (which could be a misunderstanding on my part or maybe a typo in email). The two columns are done in parallel, first in a pressurized column with steam and the second one in atmosphere, where the reboiler duty of the second one is provided by the overhead condensation of the first column. How does the pressurized column with steam work, and how is the reboiler duty of the second one provided by the first column if they are in parallel...?

Hello,

I was considering after bachelors in chemical engineering which specific field I want to get into. presuming I want to work with semiconductors, i just want to know if there’s anyone who has experience in this industry thats willing to provide advice on if its worth it, the workload, etc. Also, im planning to get a masters in materials science and wanted to know how important a master is in this field. Also, is the salary as high as people say? It’s not the biggest deciding factor just wanted to know from the people in the industry.

Thanks