Chemical Engineering 2035: Careers, AI & India’s Global Opportunity | Ep.15

Vanakkam, naan ungal Arun. 👋 Episode 15 continues our Chemical Engineering exploration inspired by my nephew Kishan Balaji — a Chemical Engineering Student. In Episode 14, we explored gas flaring, waste recovery, sustainability and AI. In this episode, we look forward: 🧪 Where is Chemical Engineering heading? 🌱 Hydrogen, batteries, sustainability and circular engineering 💊 Pharma, biotechnology and advanced materials 💻 Semiconductors and high-purity process engineering 🤖 Digital twins, data, AI and process optimization 🎓 What should students learn today to prepare for 2035? 🇮🇳 Where can India build stronger global capabilities? My key message is simple: Chemical Engineering fundamentals still matter — but combining them with computation, sustainability and AI can create a much stronger future-ready skill set. AI should be a collaborator, not a replacement for engineering judgement. 🚀 CHEMZERO-AI — OPEN EDUCATIONAL POC As part of this series, I created ChemZero-AI, an open educational project demonstrating: Synthetic Process Data → ML Prediction → Mass & Energy Balance → Recovery Scenarios → Uncertainty → Streamlit Dashboard GitHub: https://github.com/tktarun03/ChemZero-AI The project uses completely synthetic data and simplified formulas. It is intended only for learning and demonstration — not for real industrial design, plant operation, control or process-safety decisions. One important lesson from the project itself: a more complex AI model is not automatically better. In the current synthetic dataset, a simpler linear model can outperform the Random Forest — exactly why engineers should compare baselines and validate AI rather than blindly trust complexity. If any fact, number or interpretation discussed in this episode is misaligned, outdated or missing important context, please let me know with a reliable source. I am happy to review it, learn and correct it. The objective is learning together, not proving ourselves right. Thank you, Kishan Balaji, for the question that started this two-part exploration. Learn together. Build together. Grow together. Beyond the Obvious Question. Explore. Rethink. Personal perspectives on technology, AI, careers and the digital future. Views expressed are my own and do not represent any organization I am associated with. #ChemicalEngineering #ArtificialIntelligence #EngineeringStudents #FutureOfEngineering #ChemicalEngineering2035 #ProcessEngineering #DigitalTwin #GreenHydrogen #Sustainability #Semiconductors #BatteryTechnology #MachineLearning #ChemZeroAI #India #BeyondTheObvious