CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1
Graduate Study

CHAPTER 2
Admission and
Registration

CHAPTER 3
Degree
Requirements

CHAPTER 4
Fields
of Study

CHAPTER 5
Members of
Graduate Studies
Committees

APPENDIX
Course
Abbreviations

Chemical Engineering

Degrees Offered
Master of Science in Engineering
Doctor of Philosophy

Objectives

The graduate program in chemical engineering is designed to provide students with the opportunity to develop advanced competence in transport phenomena, thermodynamics, and reaction engineering for the application of chemistry to the advancement of society. Through formal coursework and mentoring, each student is expected to acquire the tools to develop and transmit new knowledge and processes in a focused area of chemical engineering. The focused research areas include bioengineering, environmental engineering, interfacial phenomena, electronic materials, nanomaterials, polymers, process modeling and control, separations, and surface science.

Facilities for Graduate Work

The Department of Chemical Engineering contains laboratories, offices, and all facilities necessary for research and instruction. Some research in the separations area is conducted at the J. J. Pickle Research Campus. A machine shop and a complete stockroom are maintained. Excellent library facilities include the Mallet Chemistry Library, the McKinney Engineering Library, and the Kuehne Physics-Mathematics-Astronomy Library.

The extensive computer facilities available for graduate student research include more than one hundred microcomputers and workstations in the Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Building as well as the systems of Academic Computing. Computer graphics capabilities are available. State-of-the-art analytical instrumentation, located within the department and in other departments, is available for use by chemical engineering graduate students.

The department enjoys close relations with the chemical, petroleum, and materials processing industries. A number of cooperative research projects are carried out with the support of private companies. A substantial portion of the graduate student research is supported through federal grants and contracts.

Areas of Study

Biochemical and biomedical engineering. Protein engineering, fermentations, genetic engineering technology, mammalian tissue culture, biomaterials, biosensors, cell and tissue engineering, virus removal from blood, hemodialysis.

Chemical engineering fundamentals. Kinetics and catalysts, thermodynamics, transport phenomena.

Energy resources. Secondary and tertiary oil recovery, flow processes in porous media, acid gas treating.

Environmental engineering. Air pollution modeling and control, atmospheric chemistry.

Materials and processes for microelectronics. Plasma processing, etching, chemical vapor deposition, selective laser sintering, supermolecular self-assembly and organization, colloidal systems, mesoscopic materials.

Polymer engineering. Synthesis; processing; reaction injection molding; properties, with specific emphasis on blends, transport, and thermodynamic behavior; membranes; microelectronics; thin film; composition.

Process engineering. Chemical reaction engineering and catalyst development; optimization; process simulation, dynamics, and control; fault detection, rheology and simulation of suspensions.

Separations. Membrane separations, distillation, absorption, supercritical extraction.

Other areas. Aerosol physics and chemistry, surface phenomena, crystal chemistry and physical properties, electrochemistry, electronic and optical materials, electric impedance tomography.

Graduate Studies Committee

The following faculty members served on the Graduate Studies Committee in the spring semester 2000-2001.

Admission Requirements

Students with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering degree from a school accredited by the AIChE-ECPD usually fulfill the department's requirements for admission. Other students, including those with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, physics, engineering, engineering science, or geology (geochemistry), must have a background that the Graduate Studies Committee considers satisfactory for the study of advanced chemical engineering. Six nonelective undergraduate chemical engineering courses are required as part of the course program in this case.

Degree Requirements

Master of Science in Engineering

The student's program of coursework is selected with the advice of the graduate adviser and must be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee.

Master of Science in Engineering with thesis. For students electing this option, thirty semester hours of coursework, including six hours in the thesis course, are required. From twelve to eighteen hours of graduate coursework (the major) must be in chemical engineering, and from six to twelve hours (the minor) must be outside chemical engineering. Only graduate courses in chemical engineering count toward the degree, but up to six hours of upper-division coursework outside chemical engineering may be included in the minor.

A thesis problem is selected after the student has consulted members of the Graduate Studies Committee. The thesis research problem should be selected during the first semester and initial research begun at that time. At least one full year is required to complete the master's degree program.

Master of Science in Engineering with report. This option requires thirty-three hours of coursework, including three hours in the report course. At least eighteen hours must be in chemical engineering; six hours must be outside chemical engineering. Up to six hours of upper-division coursework may be counted, including no more than three hours in chemical engineering.

Master of Science in Engineering without thesis or report. For students electing this option, thirty-six semester hours of coursework are required. From eighteen to thirty semester hours must be in chemical engineering, and from six to eighteen hours must be outside chemical engineering in a program approved by the student's supervising committee. Up to nine hours of upper-division coursework may be included, with from three to six of these hours in the minor area. No research is required, but the level of academic performance is the same as that required for the master's degree with thesis. Enrollment in this option must be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee in chemical engineering.

Doctor of Philosophy

A student may choose to pursue the doctoral degree without first obtaining a master's degree. Before admission to candidacy, the student must have a master's degree in chemical engineering or an equivalent amount of graduate credit and a passing grade on a written qualifying examination that covers material normally presented in an accredited undergraduate chemical engineering curriculum. The doctoral candidate must also pass preliminary and final oral examinations covering the research program.

For a student with a Bachelor of Science degree, at least three years are required to complete the Doctor of Philosophy degree program.

For More Information

Campus address: Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Building (CPE) 5.454, phone (512) 471-6991, fax (512) 475-7824; campus mail code: C0400

Mailing address: Graduate Program, Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712-1062

E-mail: T@che.utexas.edu

URL: http://www.che.utexas.edu/

Chemical Engineering Courses: CHE

Graduate Catalog

Contents
Chapter 1 - Graduate Study
Chapter 2 - Admission and Registration
Chapter 3 - Degree Requirements
Chapter 4 - Fields of Study
Chapter 5 - Members of Graduate Studies Committees
Appendix - Course Abbreviations

Related Information
Catalogs
Course Schedules
Academic Calendars
Office of Admissions

Office of the Registrar
University of Texas at Austin

26 July 2001. Registrar's Web Team

Send comments to rgcat@utxdp.dp.utexas.edu