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Chemical Engineering Graduate Courses

Graduate work for the Ph.D., M.E., and M.S. degrees in chemical engineering requires course work in three core areas: (1) the basis of chemical engineering core consisting of four courses in the mathematical, the experimental, the continuum, and the molecular bases of chemical engineering; (2) the chemical engineering science and systems core consisting of a large selection of courses in such areas as transport phenomena, thermodynamics, kinetics, reaction engineering, process control, separation processes, and heat and mass transfer; and (3) interdisciplinary chemical engineering--energy conversion and fuel cells, corrosion, electrochemical engineering, polymer science, microelectronics, process economics, and bioengineering.

Beyond the Graduate School requirements, admission to graduate work in chemical engineering depends upon the qualifications of the student, whose record and recommendations are carefully and individually studied. During registration week each graduate student registering for the first time is counseled to develop an initial study program. The program of all students will involve research experience through the courses ECH 6905, 6971, or 7980.

CHM 5275--The Organic Chemistry of Polymers (2) Classification of polymerization types and mechanisms from a mechanistic, organic point of view. Structure of synthetic and natural polymers and polyelectrolytes. Reactions of polymers. Practical synthetic methods of polymer preparation.

CHM 5511--The Physics and Physical Chemistry of Polymers (2)

ECH 5708--Disinfection, Sterilization, and Preservation (2) Description of problems and need for these treatments; causative agents and their nature; nature and use of chemical and physical antimicrobial agents; specific problems and solutions.

ECH 5712--Industrial Safety Science and Health Implications (2) Designed for those responsible for the safety and health of people in the workplace, including the consideration of dangers and hazards in industry and measures for eliminating or reducing them.

ECH 5746--Biochemical Engineering Principles (3) Microbial and enzyme processes, with applications to industrial fermentations, enzyme utilization, and wastewater treatment. Application of chemical engineering principles to bioreactors and to bioseparation processes.

ECH 6126--Thermodynamics of Reaction and Phase Equilibria (3) Methods of treating chemical and phase equilibria in multi-component systems through the application of thermodynamics and molecular theory.

ECH 6146--Applied Statistical Mechanics (2) Methods of wave mechanics and statistical mechanics in engineering problems.

ECH 6207--Rheology (2) Analysis and characterization of rheological systems.

ECH 6208--Non-Newtonian Fluid Dynamics (2) Constitutive equations for non-Newtonian fluids (including viscoelastic substances) such as polymers, plastics, paints, and slurries.

ECH 6226--Heat Transfer Operations (2) Process design of equipment for heat transfer operations based on performance and economic optima.

ECH 6261--Introduction to Transport Phenomena (3)Prereq: MAS 4203. Basic equations of change for heat, mass, and momentum. Applications of conservation and flux equations for laminar and turbulent flow. Transfer coefficients, macroscopic balances.

ECH 6270--Continuum Basis of Chemical Engineering (3). Integrated introduction to transport processes in continuous media with emphasis on fluid mechanics and heat and mass transfer.

ECH 6272--Molecular Basis of Chemical Engineering (3)Statistical mechanics and microscopic explanation of macroscopic laws of classical thermodynamics, transport phenomena, and chemical kinetics. Statistical mechanical theories that connect molecular structure to macroscopic properties.

ECH 6285--Transport Phenomena (1-3; max: 3)Prereq: ECH 6261. Continuation of ECH 6261.

ECH 6326--Computer Control of Processes (2) Introduction to digital computers, sampled data systems and Z-transforms, control of multiple input-multiple output systems, optimal control, state estimation and filtering, self-tuning regulators.

ECH 6506--Chemical Engineering Kinetics (3) Fundamental aspects of chemical reactors, including collision theory, transition rate theory, unimolecular rate theory, homogeneous gas and liquid phase kinetics, and heterogeneous kinetics.

ECH 6526--Reactor Design and Optimization (3) Fundamentals of heterogeneous reactor design including the characterization of catalytic reactions and support, the development of global rate of the intrinsic reaction affected by chemical and physical deactivation of catalyst, intra- and interphase mass and heat transfer, and the design and optimization of various types of heterogeneous reactors.

ECH 6606--Process Economy Analysis (2) Economics in design and operation of chemical engineering equipment. Analysis for decision under conditions of certainty and uncertainty with applications of queuing, Monte Carlo, Markov Processes, and geometric and dynamic programming.

ECH 6626--Optimization Techniques (2) Prereq: ECH 6845. Introducton to optimization techniques used in chemical process operations, process control, and systems engineering.

ECH 6646--Process Equipment Design (2) Unit operations, with emphasis on design of equipment to perform the service required, considering capacity, materials, equipment, and economics.

ECH 6647--Process and Plant Design (2) Techniques in the design of various complex chemical processes and plants.

ECH 6709--Electrochemical Engineering Fundamentals and Design (3) Fundamentals of electrodics and ionics applied to systems of interest in electrochemical engineering.

ECH 6726--Interfacial Phenomena I (2) Air-liquid and liquid-liquid interfaces; surface-active molecules, adsorption at interfaces, foams, micro- and macro-emulsions, retardation of evaporation and damping of waves by films, surface chemistry of biological systems.

ECH 6727--Interfacial Phenomena II (2) Solid-gas, solid-liquid, solid-solid interfaces. Adsorption of gases and surface-active molecules on metal surfaces, contact angle and spreading of liquids, wetting and dewetting, lubrication, biolubrication, flotation, adhesion, biological applications of surfaces.

ECH 6843--Experimental Basis of Chemical Engineering (3) Statistical design of experiments and treatment of data including regression analysis, interpolation, and integration. Introduction to analytical techniques including electron and photon spectroscopes, chromatography, and mass spectrometry.

ECH 6844--Chemical Engineering Calculations (2) Calculation techniques used in advanced engineering problems.

ECH 6845--Models and Methods (3) Prereq: ECH 6844. Mathematical modeling and application to engineering problems of differential equations, operational calculus, computation techniques, complex variables, integral equations, and matrix methods.

ECH 6846--Methods of Multidimensional Systems (3) Green's functions for partial differential equations, regular and singular perturbation methods in transport phenomena. Special topics of related interest. H.

ECH 6847--Mathematical Basis of Chemical Engineering (3) Methods of linear systems, chemical engineering applications in finite and infinite dimensional spaces, concepts of stability, application to transport phenomena.

ECH 6849--Advances in Numerical and Analytical Computation (2) Prereq: ECH 6845, 6846. Numerical and analytical techniques such as iterative matrix methods, hybrid computation, direct vector methods, functional analysis, and adaptive models.

ECH 6905--Individual Work (1-6; max: 12) Individual engineering projects suitable for a nonthesis Master of Engineering degree.

ECH 6910--Supervised Research (1-5; max: 5) S/U.

ECH 6926--Graduate Seminar (1; max: 10)

ECH 6936--Advanced Seminar in Chemical Engineering (1-2; max: 8) Research and current literature.

ECH 6937--Topics in Chemical Engineering I (1-4; max: 9) Separations processes, reactor design, applied molecular and kinetic theory, thermodynamics, particulate systems. Properties of chemical substances, transport phenomena, non-Newtonian fluid dynamics, turbulence, applied mathematics, computer science, biochemical and electrochemical engineering.

ECH 6939--Topics in Chemical Engineering III (1-4; max: 9)

ECH 6940--Supervised Teaching (1-5; max: 5) S/U.

ECH 6969--Research Proposal Preparation (1-2; max: 4) H.

ECH 6971--Research for Master's Thesis (1-15) S/U.

ECH 6972--Research for Engineer's Thesis (1-15) S/U.

ECH 7938--Advanced Special Chemical Engineering Topics for Doctoral Candidates (1-4; max: 8)

ECH 7979--Advanced Research (1-12) Research for doctoral students before admission to candidacy. Designed for students with a master's degree in the field of study or for students who have been accepted for a doctoral program. Not open to students who have been admitted to candidacy. S/U.

ECH 7980--Research for Doctoral Dissertation (1-15) S/U.