The Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering offers programs leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering, with research specialization in the following areas:
• Biomaterials
• Drug Delivery
• Energy and Batteries
• Environmental Engineering
• Interfacial Engineering
• Materials Synthesis and Nanomaterials
• Membranes/Advanced Separations
• Molecular Dynamics
• Nanomaterials
• Polymer Science and Engineering
• Process Design
• Water Treatment
Admission Requirements
Admission to the M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs is on a competitive basis, and financial assistance is available through teaching and research assistantships, as well as a limited number of fellowships. Applicants should have a minimum grade point average of 3.0/4.0 on all undergraduate work and should hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering or its equivalent. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission, as acceptance is on a competitive and space-available basis. Students with undergraduate majors not in chemical engineering (for example, chemistry or physics) may be eligible for direct admission into the M.S. or Ph.D. graduate programs; these individuals are expected to complete a program of selected undergraduate core courses during their first year of study.
Degree Requirements
The Ph.D. degree is a research degree granted on the basis of broad knowledge of chemical engineering and specialized study in a specific area of interest. The student must conduct original and significant research and must submit and defend a dissertation based on that research. Course work requirements include the chemical engineering graduate core, and additional courses so as to fulfill the pre-candidacy residency requirements set forth by the Graduate School; the plan of study is developed by the student in consultation with the research advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies. Advancement to doctoral candidacy is contingent upon successful completion of both the written and oral portions of the Qualifying Examination. The written portion addresses three fundamental areas of the chemical engineering discipline: Kinetics and Reactor Design, Thermodynamics, and Transport. The oral portion consists of a presentation and defense of the student’s proposed dissertation research; a prospectus prepared by the student must be submitted to the doctoral advisory committee prior to the examination. There is no language requirement for the M.S. or Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering.
A wide selection of research topics is available under the direction of the Chemical Engineering faculty. Recent graduate-level elective courses include Biochemical Engineering, Biomedical Micro & Nanotechnology, Computational Materials Science, Drug Delivery, Energy Systems, Interfacial Engineering, Membrane Science and Technology, and Polymer Processing.
For more information, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies.
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