Welcome to the fourth instalment of the 2024 CHEMMAT blog! I hope you are all doing well and had a somewhat restful break! Remembering my midsem break last year for semester 2, I was busy doing the CAD and MATLAB assignments; if you ended up in a similar boat this year, I hope you had some time to touch some grass nonetheless!
I had a hard time deciding what to write about for this blog since my last two blogs were already planned out. I hope you are hyped for Papers Please 2! (working title), but then I thought, what did I really want to know about CHEMMAT when I considered choosing it. So, with the help of my past self and the UOA Reddit, I have compiled some frequently asked questions that I wish I had answered back when I was a fresh first year with a dream! I hope you enjoy :).
Is CHEMMAT 121 a good representation of the specialisation?
In short, no. In fact, I would probably say the spec as a whole is a lot more like 140. 121 is a course focused solely on materials and their properties; you will undertake only two more papers like 121, one in the second year and one in the third. But, no need to despair! We also are able to take 3 electives, which can be materials-based if you so choose. CHEMMAT is mainly a process engineering course with a slight tilt towards materials. This fact shocks most people who step into the specialisation (including me), so it’s good to be aware of it now :). Personally, I found myself really enjoying the processing aspects, so don’t let that deter you from joining this really fun specialisation!
Is there lots of chemistry?
Although it’s part of the name, there isn’t much chemistry in this spec. There is a total of one pure chemistry paper in the second year, but that’s where the fun ends. In reality, we use a lot more physics. Many of the papers that you will have the pleasure to undertake will be thermodynamics-based, and if you’re missing some mechanics, we have a statics section in one of the second semester courses (more on that in the next instalment).
How easy is it to get into CHEMMAT?
It changes from year to year. Chemmat has the third least spaces available out of the specialisations, but there has been no GPA cap for the past few years as spaces rarely fill. This may change as; hopefully, more students will become excited about CHEMMAT, but at the moment, the faculty is welcoming any and all students, regardless of their grades, with open arms!
Are there many job opportunities in NZ for Chemical and Materials Engineers?
Yes! As per my last instalment, we are the go-to people for anything industrial and factory-based work! You won’t find yourself lacking in the jobs you can do, and you can go into a wide range of industries, such as food, energy, water, pharmaceuticals, etc. Of course, you can also go into consulting, but you may want to have some experience in the field before you go off to do that. Materials and research-based jobs are lacking in NZ; the research opportunities and funding are quite limited due to the size of the country. On the other hand, processing is the bread and butter of NZ, especially in the energy and dairy industries. Our studies set us up to almost be a jack of all trades; all the skills we learn are useful not only to the NZ market but overseas, and due to the nature of our job, it is quite stable and highly unlikely to be taken over by AI.
So that’s it for this blog! It was increasingly difficult to find questions that I haven’t already discussed in some detail, but as you go along in your studies and consider your options, I hope you think a little bit about CHEMMAT as well; it’s a mighty multifaceted spec that I personally absolutely adore, and I think you may as well.
Be sure to check out all the other bloggers, they are incredibly passionate and talented people, and I hope that with all our combined efforts, choosing your specialisation may not be as daunting!
Till next time,
Zlata