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Undergraduate Program

Chemical engineering deals with the creation, design, operation, and optimization of processes that derive practical benefits from chemical or physical changes. The profession is quite broad and has traditionally provided the technology for: supplying energy and fuel; synthesizing materials such as plastics, chemicals, fertilizers, and pharmaceuticals; and managing environmental and safety concerns of physical and chemical processes.

Chemical engineers have a variety of traditional job opportunities in industries such as petroleum production and refining, chemical and petrochemical manufacturing, mining, pharmaceutical production, and equipment manufacturing. Job opportunities may involve research, development, design, manufacturing, sales, or teaching as professional activities. The chemical engineer can also move easily into environmental engineering, nuclear engineering, oceanography, biomedical engineering, pharmacology, medicine, or other multidisciplinary fields.

In chemical engineering, the student obtains a broad foundation in chemistry, mathematics, physics, communication skills, economics, and the humanities. Courses in material and energy balances, thermodynamics, reaction kinetics, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, process control, computer methods, safety, and design provide students with the background and learning skills required of the practicing chemical engineer. The curriculum includes elective courses that enable a student to prepare for immediate employment or further study at the graduate level. The chemical engineering program also serves as an excellent preparation for medical, dental, pharmacy, or law school.

The following section contains the list of courses required for the Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering degree and a suggested sequence. All courses are not offered every semester so students who deviate from the suggested sequence must pay careful attention to course scheduling and course prerequisites. Technical electives are to be selected from a list approved by the Department.

Suggested Curriculum Diagram Showing Prerequisites (PDF)

The Educational Objectives of our chemical engineering program are to prepare students for career and professional accomplishments after graduation including:

• Successfully practice as an engineer or in some other professional pursuit, including traditional or emerging fields of chemical engineering.
• Enter and successfully participate in a graduate or professional program that continues their career development.

Our program prepares graduates to achieve these educational objectives through development of their skills as outlined in our educational outcomes and taught in our curriculum.

In support of our Educational Objective, our curriculum includes a foundation in mathematics and the basic sciences, the humanities and social sciences, engineering sciences, engineering design methods, and specific chemical engineering skills such as mass and energy balances, single and multi-component thermodynamics, basic fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer operations, process economics, process design, process safety, process control, and laboratory practice. Our curriculum recognizes the importance of biology and biochemistry by applying chemical engineering principles to these systems within the context of required chemical engineering coursework and potential research experiences available to undergraduate students.

By the time of graduation, our students attain the following educational outcomes:

1. an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering
2. an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data
3. an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability
4. an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams
5. an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems
6. an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
7. an ability to communicate effectively
8. the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
9. a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning
10. a knowledge of contemporary issues
11. an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.

These outcomes are reinforced and demonstrated in a senior capstone safety and design sequence.

The following section contains the list of courses required for the Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering degree and a suggested sequence. All courses are not offered every semester so students who deviate from the suggested sequence must pay careful attention to course scheduling and course prerequisites. Technical electives are to be selected from a list approved by the Department.

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM

Freshman Year - First Semester

Second Semester

Sophomore Year - First Semester

Second Semester

Junior Year - First Semester

Second Semester

Senior Year - First Semester

Second Semester

132 Total hours required