Doctoral Programs

Doctoral Programs in Chemical Engineering

Objectives

The Doctor of Philosophy degree is designed to prepare engineers for leadership positions in industry, academia and government.  The program includes advanced graduate course work in engineering and allied subjects, and research culminating in a doctoral dissertation.

Admission Requirements

The applicant is required to have at least a B.S. degree in engineering or science. A student may apply to transfer 24 credit hours of applicable graduate course work toward the doctoral degree in accordance with University policy. Students who do not have adequate preparation in chemical engineering may be required to take additional courses to make up deficiencies. Applicants must meet all Graduate Admissions standards for this program, which includes three letters of recommendation, and official GRE scores.

Degree Requirements

A total of 63 credit hours of graduate level courses are required for the doctoral degree. The general degree requirements follow:

  1. A minimum of 30 approved credit hours of graduate level engineering courses including the core requirements.
  2. A minimum of twenty-one (21) credit hours of dissertation research.
  3. Remaining credits for the degree (12) may be completed through aadditional elective coursework or dissertation credits. 
  4. Full-Time students must enroll in the graduate seminar each semester.
  5. The student must have a minimum grade point average of 3.250 in order to graduate.

Exceptions may be made for students whose Master’s Degree is in a discipline other than engineering. 

Core Requirements

The core requirements consist of the following four courses (12 credits):

Students must obtain a grade point average of 3.250 or better in the core courses, with no more than one core course with a passing grade below B (3.00) in order to continue in the program.

Elective Requirements

A minimum of eighteen (18) credits of elective courses must be taken from the processing, materials or biotechnology/bioprocessing areas.  The specific courses in those areas follow:

Processing:

  • CHEN.5060 Colloidal, Interfacial and Nanomaterials Science and Engineering
  • CHEN.5300 Advanced Control Strategies 
  • CHEN.5330 Macromolecular Colloidal Science and Engineering
  • CHEN.5340 Industrial Bioprocessing
  • CHEN.5350 Cell and Microbe Cultivation
  • CHEN.5450 Isolation and Purification
  • CHEN.5480 Engineering Process Analytics
  • MECH.5xxx (Any Department of Mechanical Engineering graduate level processing course approved by the student's advisor and the Chemical Engineering Graduate Coordinator.)

Materials:

  • CHEN.5060 Colloidal, Interfacial and Nanomaterials Science and Engineering 
  • CHEN.5080 Material Science and Engineering
  • CHEN.5230  Nanodevices and Electronic Materials
  • CHEN.5240 Self Assembly and Nanotechnology
  • CHEN.5290 Advances in Nanotechnology and Green Chemistry 
  • CHEN.5330 Macromolecular Colloidal Science and Engineering
  • CHEN.5370 Nanomaterial Characterization I
  • CHEN.5410 Nanamaterial Characterization II
  • CHEN.5460 Biomaterials Science and Engineering
  • MECH.5xxx (Any Dept of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering graduate level materials course approved by the student's advisor and the Chemical Engineering Graduate Coordinator)
  • PLAS.5xxx (Any Dept of plastics Engineering graduate level materials course approved by the student's advisor and the Chemical Engineering Graduate Coordinator)

Biotechnology/Bioprocessing (in addition to the core courses):

  • CHEN.5340 Industrial Bioprocessing
  • CHEN.5350 Cell and Microbe Cultivation
  • CHEN.5450 Isolation and Purification
  • CHEN.5460 Biomaterials Science and Engineering
  • CHEN.5480 Engineering Process Analytics
  • CHEN.5550 Biopharmaceutical Regulatory Compliance
  • BIOL.5xxx (Any Dept of Biological Sciences graduate level course approved by the student's advisor and the Chemical Engineering Graduate Coordinator)

Qualifying Examination

  1. An oral component will be a research proposal prepared by the student in a area related to the dissertation. The student will prepare the written research proposal and defend it orally before a committee selected by the Graduate Coordinator. The examination committee will exclude the research supervisor and will provide a pass/fail decision with recommendations. The research supervisor may attend the examination but will not have voting privileges. This examination usually will be taken within the first year after the student joins the Ph.D. program.
  2. Students are permitted two attempts at passing the qualifying examination. Students who fail the qualifying exam twice will be dismissed from the doctoral program.  

Dissertation

The research work for the dissertation shall be conducted under the supervision of a departmental faculty advisor and a committee of at least two faculty members. The student must defend and submit an acceptable proposal for the dissertation prior to beginning the research work. Students may register for no more than six credits of research in preparing a formal dissertation proposal. This proposal and the student's ability to perform research must be orally defended before the student's doctoral committee and other interested parties. This constitutes their candidacy examination. Upon passing the examination and completing all course requirements, the student becomes a candidate for the doctoral degree and may register for additional research credit with the advisor's approval. 

All College of Engineering and University requirements fro the defense completion an publication of the final dissertation must be met. 

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