Explore Full time Roles

Full time roles is a majority of ChemEs and people’s end goal. In this page we will dive into Andy Athawale’s start to his career as a new hire and Ahmed Mustafa’s career path as an experienced engineer. Ahmed Mustafa is currently working as a Module Engineer for TSMC in Pheonix, AZ and Andy Athawale is currently a Process Control Engineer for ExxonMobil in Houston, TX.

Andy Athawale

  • Virginia Tech Chemical Engineering ‘23

  • Current Process Control Engineer for ExxonMobil in Houston, TX.

What is your day to day like?

The job itself is a balance of trouble shooting and process improvement. I start my day with morning meeting that consists of a rundown of what happened the last night, then I focus on fixing whatever it is that when wrong that night. If nothing did go wrong then I work on my over-arching projects. The job also consists of attending meetings with operations and the business team

What do your projects look like?

My main over-arching project is working on a new process control implementation for HDPE before the next turnaround in October. All of the new controls equipment will be installed during the next turnaround.

What is something you wish you knew before starting full time?

My Co-op helped me A LOT considering that you learn a majority of your role on the job. School has a lot of deadlines, industry is much more free flowing and deadlines are often up to you to set up. Another thing is that moving to a new environment can be a little difficult, so its encouraged to network with your coworkers and explore the city on your free time.

Ahmed Mustafa

  • Virginia Tech Chemical Engineering ‘20

  • Process Engineer for Merck & Co from 2020-2021

  • Current Module Engineer for TSMC (2021-current)

What did your day to day and projects look like at merck & co?

Worked in operations writing SOPs, consistently checking the facility, trained operators and lead trial batches. His main project was working on start-up for Covid-19 vaccines.