Prior to satisfactory completion of the entire preparatory program, no course may be taken toward the fulfillment of the graduate degree program without prior written permission of the student's advisor.

The graduate program consists of 30 credit hours of approved courses. These credits are distributed as follows:

• Core courses (12 credits):
• CHE 502: Advanced Thermodynamics (4 credits)
• CHE 506: Advanced Transport Phenomena (4 credits)
  and one of the following:
  
• CHE 504: Advanced Reactor Design (4 credits)
  or
• CHE 508: Advanced Separation Processes (4 credits)
• A minimum of nine (9) credits of graduate elective courses, subject to advisor approval. One of these courses may be in a technical discipline outside of chemical engineering. This course may also be at the 400 level. No courses required in the undergraduate chemical engineering program may be applied for graduate credit. All students are required to present a seminar on their research.
• All students are required to present a seminar on their research.
• Students must select either a thesis option or a project option. The requirements for each of the options, in addition to those described above, are as follows:
  • Thesis option (9 credits) The student plans and completes a research project, which may lead to scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals, under the direction of a faculty advisor. The student must enroll in at least nine (9) credits of CHE 699 (Master's Thesis). This option is designed for the student who wants extensive research experience and a focus within a particular field.
  • Project option (3 + 6 credits) The student completes a research project under the direction of a faculty advisor. The student must enroll in three (3) credits of CHE 698 (Master's Project) and six (6) credits of chemical engineering graduate electives. This option is designed to provide the student with a broader education in chemical engineering, as well as to give some experience in research techniques.

Students must achieve at least a 3.00 grade-point average to graduate. Thesis students must submit a thesis to their graduate committee following the Thesis and Dissertation Format Guidelines available from the Graduate College Office, Fenn Tower, Room 1111. Acceptance of the thesis by the graduate committee and passing an oral defense of the thesis are required. Non-thesis students must prepare and present a formal report of their research.

Duration of Study

The graduate program in chemical engineering provides advanced training in core areas and allows the student to take courses on an advanced level in specific areas of interest. The masters program in chemical engineering is designed to meet the needs of both part-time and full-time students. It provides an opportunity for students to hold full-time employment and further their education on a part-time basis. The program meets the needs of students planning to continue their studies at the doctoral level as well as students terminating their formal studies at the MS level.

The load for a full-time graduate student is 12 credits per term. A minimum of 30 credits is required for the MS in Chemical Engineering degree. This degree typically takes 2 years to complete.

Research activities of the faculty provide many opportunities for students to select projects a pplicable to a Master's Thesis (CHE 699) or a Master's Project (CHE 698). Research areas include reaction engineering, process modeling and control, tribology and surface phenomena, environmental engineering, biochemical and biomedical engineering, material synthesis and processing, combustion, adsorption and diffusion in zeolites, transport phenomena, fluid mechanics, separation processes, thermodynamics, and management of technology. The department has a particular interest in materials science and biomedical engineering.