5 - Graduate Student Without Ch En B.S. Degree
5.1 – Required Supplemental Courses
Students with a B.S. degree in chemistry, mechanical engineering, or similar technical background may be accepted into our graduate program. They will have to take additional undergraduate coursework subject to the graduate committee’s discretion. This is based on two principles: (1) Each student should have sufficient preparation prior to taking the graduate core classes (ChEn 533, 535, and 531) that he or she has a reasonable chance to do well, and (2) each graduate student should be reasonably competent in a basic set of undergraduate chemical engineering skills, as the student may be called on to exercise those skills by a future employer.
What follows is a list of undergraduate classes that fulfill these two expectations, and which generally will be completed during the first year. It is expected that most students will have prior coursework that fulfills some of the required topics and, based on the department graduate committee’s evaluation, those requirements will be waived.
Year 1 Fall Semester
Chem 357 – Organic chemistry
ChEn 374 – Fluid mechanics
Math 302 – Engineering math (or equivalent)
Year 1 Winter Semester
ChEn 373 – Thermodynamics (or equivalent – must include multi-component phase equilibria)
ChEn 376 – Heat and mass transfer
ChEn 386 – Reaction engineering
ChEn 273 – Chemical process principles
Math 303 – Engineering math (or equivalent)
Following completion of these courses, while maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or better, the student may continue in the program and take the normal graduate core classes and the qualifying examination in the second year. Likewise, the clock for other graduate-student milestones such as the prospectus will begin with the second academic year. The student may take graduate elective classes at any appropriate time including the first year.
5.2 - Financial Support
During the first year, it is anticipated that graduate students in this category will devote most of their time to undergraduate-level coursework. Once a student has been matched with a faculty advisor, the student may receive hourly wages for the time spent initiating and conducting research. Following the successful completion of the first year, the student will be given the normal graduate student financial aid package from the department for their degree program.