Lance L. Lobban, Director
M. Ulli Nollert, Graduate Liaison
T-335 Sarkeys Energy Center
100 E. Boyd
Norman, OK 73019-1004
Phone: (405) 325-5811
FAX: (405) 325-5813
Internet: http://cbme.ou.edu
Professors Bagajewicz, Grady, Harwell, Lobban, Mallinson, O’Rear, Resasco, Scamehorn, Shambaugh; Associate Professors Harrison, Nollert, Papavassiliou; Assistant Professors Schmidtke, Sikavitsas; Research Assistant Professor McFetridge; Dean Emeritus Crynes; Emeritus Block, Daniels, Lee, Sliepcevich, Starling.
The vision of the School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering is to serve the changing needs of society through the training of outstanding engineers in the creation and utilization of chemical engineering knowledge.
The School of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering is charged with the responsibility for the undergraduate and graduate programs in chemical engineering. The faculty of this school reflects the variety of backgrounds and areas of specialization which contribute to these programs. All full-time teaching faculty hold doctorates from leading universities such as Padova (Italy), Bath (U.K.), Buffalo, California Institute of Technology, Case Western, Cornell, Georgia Tech, Houston, Illinois Institute of Technology, Northwestern, Purdue, Rice, Texas, Wisconsin, and Yale.
Perhaps the most striking facts about chemical engineering are youth and variety. At the turn of the century people were discontented with simply observing chemical phenomena in the laboratory. Chemical engineering was born out of the desire to use these chemical behaviors to serve people and make the world a better place in which to live.
The world has entered an extremely critical period because of shortages of nonrenewable energy. The chemical engineer is an important factor in solving problems in production and use of fossil fuel resources, nuclear energy and alternate energy resources. Chemical engineers have made important contributions to the production and refining of petroleum products. They are now playing an important part in liquefaction of natural gas and gasification of coal. The use of alternate energy sources such as biomass, geothermal, ocean thermal differences, and solar are dependent on contributions made by chemical engineers.
In the space age, chemical engineers are developing nanoengineered materials that will have structural and electronic properties never before encountered. They must perfect processes for life-support systems in other environments. Chemical engineers are needed to provide the fuels for rockets and booster propulsion. They utilize computers to control and analyze complex chemical processes.
Biotechnology and medicine, which have taken tremendous strides in the past few decades, are quite dependent on the efforts of the chemical engineer. It is the chemical engineer who develops ways to produce new recombinant proteins such as insulin at large scale for mass distribution. The vaccines that have saved a whole generation of children from crippling are available because the chemical engineer worked out the ways to produce them safely and economically. The field of mental health has been revolutionized by drugs, astronomical in cost until the chemical engineer mass-produced them so that they are accessible to nearly everyone who needs them.
Briefly, the job of the chemical engineer is to make commercial application of the chemist’s and biologist’s discoveries. This is not as easy as it sounds, for enormous problems are encountered when the company tries to produce by the ton material that the chemist made by the ounce in the laboratory. The chemical engineer works in a variety of industries, not only the chemical industry, but also in fields of computer systems, electronic materials, environmental control, pharmaceuticals, leather, metals, space, fertilizers, textiles, glass, detergents, paper, food, pesticides, paint, and rubber. New fields are constantly being added.
It is the chemical engineer who develops an economical process for producing a marketable product. The development of penicillin is just such a case. The chemist Sir Alexander Fleming discovered the wonder antibiotic in a Petri dish in his laboratory. The batches produced in a laboratory can hardly supply the millions of people around the world that need the drug, and the cost of a prescription would be exorbitant. Chemical engineers had to develop a continuous process for producing penicillin. Through the efforts of these engineers, millions of lives have been saved.
There are many other kinds of jobs for chemical engineers. A chemical engineer in plant operations must supervise the production process to see that the plant produces a scheduled amount of high-quality material economically. To do this, the engineer is very much involved in managing people and machines.
The research chemical engineer has an analytical mind and likes to solve problems in the technical frontier. If the engineer plans to concentrate on research, exploring new areas and applying untried methods, an advanced chemical engineering degree is probably needed.
Still another type of job appeals to many chemical engineers. This is technical sales. The material that is produced in a plant must be sold. The salesman needs extensive technical training because technical people are the customers.
All chemical engineering jobs — plant operations, research and development, and technical sales — may lead into management or executive positions if the chemical engineer is interested in the broad aspects of a company’s business.
There are, of course, major fields besides industry that need chemical engineers. College teaching for instance, is offering more and more to the engineer, particularly if the person is research-minded. Many college teachers are, in addition, consultants to industry, and the government too is constantly improving the opportunities for chemical engineers in its service. Private research institutes call for chemical engineers. A chemical engineer may choose to work in practically any field.
The curriculum in chemical engineering at the University of Oklahoma is planned to prepare students for the design, construction, and operation of industries in which materials undergo chemical, biological, and physical change. Graduates are prepared to accept a job in chemical engineering practice or to continue studies in graduate school.
Since the chemical engineer must be acquainted with so many diversified subjects, the education at the University is necessarily broad. Students receive solid foundations in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and engineering courses which will prepare them to apply effectively these fundamental principles to the solution of engineering problems. In addition, students in the biotechnology engineering elective patterns receive training in our pre-medical/biomedical life science and bioengineering courses. Because computers play a vital role in the solution of many chemical engineering problems, students use modern computational tools and are required to use these tools in their coursework. In addition, there is increasing emphasis on electives in the life sciences and humanistic-social studies. Because of this broad educational background, the engineer is better prepared to accept leadership in the community, as well as in the company, in a management capacity.
Laboratory Facilities
Laboratories for chemical engineering are housed in a complex of over 24,000 square feet in the Sarkeys Energy Center. Facilities include a unit operations laboratory, separations and purification laboratories, polymers laboratories, small angle x-ray scattering laboratory, catalysis laboratories, thin films laboratory, biotechnology and biomedical laboratories, surfactants laboratories, and other graduate research project laboratories. Areas of research emphasis include novel separation processes, remediation of polluted soil and water, process systems engineering, bone and vascular tissue engineering, rheology of blood, statistical mechanics, polymer fibers processing and polymer characterization, biotechnology and biomedical engineering, advanced design, catalysis, electrochemistry, surface modification using ultrathin films, carbon nanotube production, and natural gas utilization.
Courses designated as Core I, II, III, or IV are elements of the University-Wide General Education curriculum. All students are required to complete a minimum of 40 semester hours of General Education requirements to complete their curriculum. Each core area is listed with its specific components. Courses must be chosen from the General Education approved course list. Courses graded S/U or P/NP will not apply.
(Accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012; telephone (410) 347-7700.)
This program requires a minimum of 126 credit hours with a minimum grade point average of 2.0 (combined and at OU, in the major, curriculum and overall). For detailed semester by semester curriculum requirements, please consult: http://checksheets.ou.edu/engrindx.htm.
The lower-division (1000- and 2000-level courses) requirements of 68 hours are to be met as follows:
1. Communication: six hours. ENGL 1113 and ENGL 1213 or EXPO 2313.
2. Foreign Language: 0-10 hours. Two years in high school or two consecutive semesters (6-10 hours) of foreign language. (College level foreign language does not count toward the curricular hours required for the engineering degree.)
3. Social Science: six hours. P SC 1113; three hours of General Education Social Science electives.*
4. Humanities: 12 hours. HIST 1483 or 1493; one course each of the following General Education fields: Understanding Artistic Forms, Western Civilization and Culture; and Non-Western Culture.*
5. Science and Math: 30 hours. CHEM 1315, 1415; MATH 1823, 2423, 2433, 2443; PHYS 2514, 2524.
6. Core Engineering: three hours. ENGR 1410, 1420, 2003.
7. Chemical Engineering courses: 11 hours. CH E 2002, 2033, 2313, 2153.
The upper division (3000- and 4000-level courses) requirements of 58 hours are to be met as follows:
1. Math and Science: 15 hours. MATH 3113, CHEM 3053, 3153, 3152, 3423, 3421.
2. Chemical Engineering courses: 31 hours. CH E 3113, 3123, 3473, 3723, 3333, 3432, 4253, 4262, 4473, 4153, 4273.
3. Technical elective: six hours. To be selected from an approved technical elective list available in the CBME Office, on the CBME Web site: http://www.cbme.ou.edu/undergrad/curriculum.htm or prior faculty approval. One technical elective must be chosen from engineering science courses and the other may be from engineering, mathematics, physical science and life science. Of the Technical Elective I or II, one must be a CH E elective.
4. Advanced Chemistry elective: three hours. Advanced chemistry elective must be pre-approved as having significant chemistry content.
5. Technical Writing: three hours. ENGL 3153.
*Three of the 12 General Education elective hours (one course each from Social Science, Artistic Forms, Western Civilization, and Non-Western Culture) must be at the upper-division level (3000-4000).
All College of Engineering students are required to make a minimum grade of C in each course presented for the degree. Also, students must make a C in each prerequisite course before progressing to the next course(s).
(Accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012; telephone (410) 347-7700.)
The pre-medical elective sequence is designed so that the student is prepared to enter schools of medicine, dentistry or osteopathic medicine as early as the end of the junior year. Most students who pursue a medical career complete the chemical engineering degree. If the student elects not to enter medical school, a normal chemical engineering degree is obtained, so there is no disadvantage of being in the program. Zoology courses useful in preparation for the Medical College Admission Test are scheduled in the junior year. The biomedical engineering pattern is similar to the pre-med pattern, differing in suggested technical electives.
Pre-med students should consult their pre-med adviser as well as their Chemical Engineering adviser for necessary medical school information.
This program requires a minimum of 135 credit hours with a minimum grade point average of 2.0 (combined and at OU, in the major, curriculum and overall). For detailed semester by semester curriculum requirements, please consult: http://checksheets.ou.edu/engrindx.htm.
The lower-division (1000- and 2000-level courses) requirements of 73 hours are to be met as follows:
1. Communication: six hours. ENGL 1113 and ENGL 1213 or EXPO 1213.
2. Foreign Language: 0-10 hours. Two years in high school or two consecutive semesters (6-10 hours) of foreign language. (College level foreign language does not count toward the curricular hours required for the engineering degree.)
3. Social Science: six hours. P SC 1113; three hours of General Education Social Science electives.*
4. Humanities: 12 hours. HIST 1483 or 1493; one course each of the following General Education fields: Understanding Artistic Forms, Western Civilization and Culture; and Non-Western Culture.*
5. Science and Math: 35 hours. CHEM 1315, 1415; MATH 1823, 2423, 2433, 2443; PHYS 2514, 2524; ZOO 1114, 1121.
6. Core Engineering: three hours. ENGR 1410, 1420, 2003.
7. Chemical Engineering courses: 11 hours. CHE 2002, 2033, 2313, 2153.
The upper division (3000 and 4000 level courses) requirements of 62 hours are to be met as follows:
1. Math and Science: 22 hours. MATH 3113, CHEM 3053, 3153, 3152, 3423, 3421, 3653; ZOO 3103, 3101.
2. Chemical Engineering courses: 31 hours. CHE 3113, 3123, 3473, 3333, 3432, 3723, 4253, 4262, 4473, 4153, 4273.
3. Technical electives: six hours. Pre-med - One of the electives must be chosen from ZOO 3113 or 3333; the other elective must be selected from bioengineering/biosciences courses with prior faculty approval. Biomedical Engineering-Technical electives must include CH E 5203 and an approved bioengineering elective. (To be selected from an approved technical elective list available in the CBME Office, on the CBME Web site: http://www.cbme.ou.edu/undergrad/curriculum.htm or prior faculty approval. Of the Technical Elective I or II, one must be a CH E elective.
4. Technical Writing: three hours. ENGL 3153.
*Three of the 12 General Education elective hours (one course each from Social Science, Artistic Forms, Western Civilization, and Non-Western Culture) must be at the upper-division level (3000-4000).
All College of Engineering students are required to make a minimum grade of C in each course presented for the degree. Also, students must make a C in each prerequisite course before progressing to the next course(s).
(Accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012; telephone (410) 347-7700.)
The biotechnology elective sequence is designed to prepare the student for work on the engineering of biological systems and systems in which cells and biochemicals are processed. It includes courses microbiology, biochemistry, and biochemical engineering. The elective sequence requires two additional credit hours over the basic chemical engineering curriculum.
This program requires a minimum of 128 credit hours with a minimum grade point average of 2.0 (combined and at OU, in the major, curriculum and overall). For detailed semester by semester curriculum requirements, please consult: http://checksheets.ou.edu/engrindx.htm.
The lower-division (1000- and 2000-level courses) requirements of 73 hours are to be met as follows:
1. Communication: six hours. ENGL 1113 and ENGL 1213 or EXPO 1213.
2. Foreign Language: 0-10 hours. Two years in high school or two consecutive semesters (6-10 hours) of foreign language. (College level foreign language does not count toward the curricular hours required for the engineering degree.)
3. Social Science: six hours. P SC 1113; three hours of General Education Social Science electives.*
4. Humanities: 12 hours. HIST 1483 or 1493; one course each of the following General Education fields: Understanding Artistic Forms, Western Civilization and Culture; and Non-Western Culture.*
5. Science and Math: 35 hours. CHEM 1315, 1415; MATH 1823, 2423, 2433, 2443; PHYS 2514, 2524; MBIO 2815 or MBIO 3813 and 3812.
6. Core Engineering: three hours. ENGR 1410, 1420, 2003.
7. Chemical Engineering courses: 11 hours. CH E 2002, 2033, 2313, 2153.
The upper division (3000- and 4000-level courses) requirements of 55 hours are to be met as follows:
1. Math and Science: 18 hours. MATH 3113, CHEM 3053, 3152, 3423, 3421, 3653, 3753.
2. Chemical Engineering courses: 34 hours. CH E 3113, 3123, 3473, 3333, 3432, 3723, 4253, 4262, 4473, 4153, 4273, 5243.
3. Technical Writing: three hours. ENGL 3153.
*Three of the 12 General Education elective hours (one course each from Social Science, Artistic Forms, Western Civilization, and Non-Western Culture) must be at the upper-division level (3000-4000).
All College of Engineering students are required to make a minimum grade of C in each course presented for the degree. Also, students must make a C in each prerequisite course before progressing to the next course(s).
The School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering offers three accelerated dual degree (B.S./M.S.) programs to qualified undergraduate students. The programs allow students to pursue a graduate degree in conjunction with the undergraduate degree requirements. One program is for the B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering, while the other two are for the B.S. in Chemical Engineering and M.S. in Bioengineering. Students admitted into these programs can use up to four courses (12 credit hours) to simultaneously satisfy the requirements of both the B.S. and M.S. degrees.
Students eligible to apply are the following:
Applications are located in our department office or online at http://www.cbme.ou.edu/undergrad/curriculum.htm.
Any student with an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering or its equivalent from an accredited school and a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale) during the last 60 hours of undergraduate coursework may be admitted as a student in full standing.
Coursework requirements for the Master of Science degree are:
Three required graduate-level chemical engineering courses:
Thermodynamics,
Transport Phenomena, and Kinetics 9 hrs.
Two graduate-level chemical engineering electives 6 hrs.
Two graduate-level science, math, or engineering electives 6 hrs.
Seminar (CH E 5971) 3-4 hrs.
M.S. Thesis 6 hrs.
TOTAL 30-31 hrs.
A Master’s Examination and an M.S. thesis are required for the M.S. degree. The Master’s Examination is a written literature survey and research plan on the student’s thesis research.
The Ph.D. in chemical engineering requires nine hours of coursework beyond the M.S. degree requirements including an Advanced Math requirement. These additional hours are selected from graduate-level engineering, science, or math electives in connection with the student’s research supervisor. Ninety post-baccalaureate hours are required for the Ph.D. which include research and coursework credits. It is possible for a good student to complete the requirements for the Ph.D. in a period of four years.
A student working towards a Ph.D. degree must pass a Qualifying Examination and a General Examination before being admitted as a candidate for this degree. The Qualifying Examination consists of written examinations in:
1. Thermodynamics,
2. Transport phenomena, and
3. Kinetics and reaction engineering.
The General Examination is a written literature review and analysis, research plan, discussion of preliminary research results, and development of new research ideas on the student’s Ph.D. dissertation research.
This curriculum has been designed to allow a student holding a Bachelor of Science degree in a field such as chemistry, physics, or mechanical engineering to complete the requirements for the Master of Science degree in chemical engineering over a period of approximately three years. The student will begin research during the first semester in the program. It is assumed that the student entering this program has completed the usual complement of chemistry, mathematics, and physics courses. This includes physical chemistry, organic chemistry and calculus. Any deficiencies in these areas will have to be included in the curriculum. A thesis is required.
If a student can demonstrate that he/she has already had courses covering some of the material in this curriculum, the student may use these courses as credit toward the M.S. degree. The only restrictions, imposed by the Graduate College are that no more than eight hours of graduate courses may be transferred, and that the courses have not counted toward an undergraduate degree. The graduate and undergraduate program directors will meet with each new student during registration to review his/her transcript, and determine if any modifications to the basic curriculum are necessary.
Courses required for this curriculum are outlined below.
CH E 2033 3 hrs.
CH E 3113 3 hrs.
CH E 3123 3 hrs.
CH E 3333 3 hrs.
CH E 3432 2 hrs.
CH E 3473 3 hrs.
CH E 4153 3 hrs.
CH E 4253 3 hrs.
CH E 4473 3 hrs.
CH E 5183 3 hrs.
CH E 5843 3 hrs.
CH E 5971 3-4 hrs.
CH E 5980 6 hrs.
CH E 6723 3 hrs.
MATH 3113 3 hrs.
Graduate science, math, or engineering elective 3 hrs.
50-51 hrs.
The principal objective of the M.S. and Ph.D. graduate degree options in Bioengineering is to provide a focused educational program in chemical engineering for students seeking careers in industry, medicine, business and other fields related to biotechnology. Bioengineering is the use of engineering principles of analysis and design, and technologies to solve problems in medicine and biology. The goal of bioengineering research is to understand living systems and develop new and improved devices and products for medicine and biology.
Students interested in bioengineering should also consider the bioengineering degree programs offered through the Program in Bioengineering/OUBC as well as the options in traditional areas of engineering. The more intense study of the OUBC degrees gives a greater range of employment prospects within bioengineering while the choice of pursuing the bioengineering option within chemical engineering can provide opportunities in other industrial sectors (e.g. the petrochemical industry) as well. These complementary programs allow the individual with an interest in bioengineering to follow a curriculum best suited to his/her needs. More information is on the OUBC Web page at http://www.oubc.ou.edu/.
Requirements for each student include a set of core courses and electives in chemical engineering, science, mathematics and bioengineering. Each student must also do a thesis and orally defend it in accordance with the policies of the School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering (CBME) and the Graduate College. The M.S. degree program requires 30 semester hours and can normally be completed in two years.
Coursework requirements for the M.S. degree in Chemical Engineering— Bioengineering emphasis include:
Three required graduate-level chemical engineering courses:
Thermodynamics,
Transport Phenomena, and Kinetics 9 hours
Two graduate-level bioengineering electives 6 hours
Two graduate-level life science electives (e.g. molecular
biology, physiology,
biochemistry) 6 hours
Seminar (1 hour/semester) 3-4 hours
M.S. Thesis 6 hours
TOTAL 30-31 hours
Requirements for each student in the Ph.D. Bioengineering emphasis include satisfactory completion of core courses and electives in chemical engineering, science, mathematics and bioengineering, passing qualifying exams and a comprehensive/general examination. The doctoral program requires 90 post-baccalaureate hours. Nine additional hours of graduate-level electives in bioengineering (3 hours), life sciences (3 hours), and mathematics/engineering (3 hours) beyond the M.S. are required, including an Advanced Math requirement. Each student must pass a qualifying exam and a general exam and also complete a dissertation and orally defend it in accordance with the policies of the School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering (CBME) and the Graduate College.
Coursework requirements for the Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering — Bioengineering emphasis include:
Three required graduate-level chemical engineering courses:
Thermodynamics,
Transport Phenomena, and Kinetics 9 hours
Three graduate-level bioengineering electives 9 hours
Four graduate-level math, life science or engineering
electives 12 hours
Seminar (1 hour/semester) 7-8 hours
Ph.D. dissertation 53 hours
TOTAL 90-91 hours