Wherever chemicals are made or used and materials of any kind are processed, the talents of chemical engineers are fundamentally involved. Chemical engineering is concerned with chemical reactions and processes, not only on a small laboratory scale, but also on a massive production scale involving large quantities of consumer and industrial products. These products range from basic chemicals to complex and expensive items such as antibiotics and perfume. Many valued products, now familiar but not available just a few years ago, have been made possible by the work of chemical engineers. Some examples are plastics of all kinds, the miracle medicines such as insulin and various vaccines in large quantities, modern laundry products, paints, and processed foods. Chemical engineers also deal with problems of processing fossil, chemical and nuclear fuels, and air- and water-pollution control. In all these instances, the economical production of massive quantities of products requires approaches and methods that are the unique contributions of chemical engineers.

The mission of the Department of Chemical Engineering is to educate students for professional careers, to advance knowledge, to develop competent professionals, and to make further positive contributions both in the field of chemical engineering and to society in general. The department embraces ABET 2000 program objectives with a highly-structured educational experience that develops learning skills, fosters an appreciation of the need for lifetime learning, provides experiences to function independently and as a team member, to communicate ideas effectively by oral and written presentation, and motivates students to become responsible, knowledgeable, and responsive members of their community. Of special importance to chemical engineers are the abilities:

• to apply knowledge of mathematics and basic sciences to chemical engineering practice,
• to formulate and solve chemical engineering problems,
• to design and conduct laboratory experiments and chemical processes.

The education of the chemical engineer includes a strong sequence of chemistry courses in addition to mathematics, physics, and the engineering sciences. Students also study subjects relating to processes, machinery, and plants used in chemical industries. This intensive study of both engineering and science provides a basis for the graduating student to conduct research, improve processes or materials, develop and design plants, or direct operations of industrial plants involving chemical methods.

The engineering design component of the program involves the learning of design methodologies; the development of problem analysis, formulation, and solving skill; consider-ation of alternative solutions through open-ended problems; development of student creativity; and detailed process design with economic and safety constraints. The design component is structured into three interrelated parts that focus on:

• providing a broad introduction to the elements of engineering design,
• teaching design methodologies and developing problem analysis, formulation, and solving skills,
• providing exposure to open-ended and capstone problems with realistic objectives and constraints.

Students are exposed to the concepts of engineering design during their first quarter of study as part of the Introduction to Engineering course, where a particular problem is assessed and a solution recommended based on provided constraints. Students are required to consider multiple possibilities and make decisions based within the scope of the problem addressed. Students also are introduced to issues of profes-sional and ethical responsibility as related to chemical engineering practice. The remainder of the freshman year and most of the sophomore year provides the required fundamen-tal background in the basic sciences, mathematics, and engineering fundamentals. At the end of their sophomore year, students are exposed to problem solving skills in the Material and Energy Balances course. The students must recognize the problems and formulate the proper approach in order to obtain a solution. The remainder of the coursework through the first quarter of the third, or pre-junior year, focuses on math and both basic and engineering sciences, providing the appropriate theoretical groundwork for upper level coursework.

Departmental courses during the second quarter of the third year through the fourth year include both appropriate engineering science content (i.e., Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics and the Transport Phenomena sequence), and design of process equipment such as heat exchangers (Principles of Heat Transfer), mass-transfer contacting equipment (Equilibrium Processes and Principles of Mass Transfer), chemical reactors (Chemical Reaction Engineer-ing), and control systems (Process Dynamics and Control). Chemical Engineering Laboratory IV and V require students to develop their own research plans in response to specific questions posed in a fictional work environment and arrive at conclusions in terms of optimum operating conditions or an apparatus design specification. Seniors then take three courses — Chemical Engineering Systems, which teaches quantitative optimization techniques, and Design Project I and II, which forms the unifying capstone design sequence drawing on all previous work. The curriculum is designed to ensure that students learn the concepts of engineering design early in the curriculum, but stresses a solid fundamental understanding before detailed work is encountered in coursework.