• UNM Catalog 2021-2022
• >Colleges
• >School of Engineering
• >Chemical and Biological Engineering
• >Undergraduate Program

Undergraduate Program

Director of Undergraduate Programs
Eva Y. Chi

Degree Offered

• Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering (B.S.Ch.E.)
  Concentrations: Bioengineering; Chemical Process Engineering; Environmental Engineering; Materials Processing; Semiconductor Manufacturing.

Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program

Undergraduate students in the Chemical Engineering program may seek admission to a Master of Science (M.S.) engineering program or the Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) in Civil Engineering under the Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program. See the School of Engineering section of this Catalog for specific admission information and requirements.

Introduction

The principles and approaches that make up chemical engineering are rooted in the world of atoms, molecules and molecular transformations, and chemical engineers have been leaders in extending our ability to manipulate materials on the atomic scale. Chemical engineers are on the forefront of rapidly developing areas that include biotechnology and biomedicine, semiconductor manufacturing and data storage devices, and advanced materials with precisely-controlled nanostructures. Chemical engineering is a rapidly evolving discipline that offers the excitement of developing cutting-edge products and the satisfaction of making important contributions to technology that improves our lives. Chemical Engineering has a rich history of contributions to the nation’s technology base for production of chemicals and materials for consumer products and basic commodities. Chemical engineers have long played key roles in a diverse set of industries that include petroleum, food, pharmaceuticals, artificial fibers, petrochemicals, plastics and ceramics, to name a few. In these areas, chemical engineers design and develop the processes for large-scale manufacturing that result in affordable products that are essential to our way of life. Chemical engineers also work in the areas of environmental protection and remediation, process safety and hazardous waste management. 

The diverse applications of chemical engineering, as well as the ability of chemical engineers to be on the leading edge of new fields, derive from the breadth of the chemical engineer’s education. The chemical engineering curriculum at the University of New Mexico offers broad training in the fundamentals of mathematics, physics, chemistry and the engineering sciences. These are integrated with the chemical engineering “core” which includes: thermodynamics, heat, momentum and mass transport, chemical reaction engineering, design, and process control. 

Students choose electives which are grouped into concentrations to provide expertise in specific areas. B.S.Ch.E. concentrations consist of 6 credit hours of technical electives.

Undergraduate chemical engineering students benefit greatly from the extensive research activities of department faculty in strategic areas of chemical engineering. The research activities are well integrated and supportive of the department's teaching mission, continually improving the quality of laboratory courses. A significant number of undergraduates participate in one-on-one research projects with individual faculty, often focused on the student’s area of concentration. The nearby national laboratories provide additional opportunities for student research. Learning is enhanced with such hands-on experience, and students are more competitive when they leave the University of New Mexico. The department's research activities develops new courses and alters the content of existing courses to incorporate state-of-the-art knowledge and practice.

The B.S.Ch.E. graduate finds many avenues of opportunity in chemical processing, food and consumer products, fibers and textiles, biotechnology, advanced materials, semiconductor manufacturing, environmental protection and remediation and other vital industries. Extensive opportunities also exist for students desiring to work towards advanced degrees in the field. And finally, a chemical engineering undergraduate degree represents an excellent foundation for an advanced professional degree in medicine, business or law.

Graduates of the undergraduate program in Chemical Engineering successfully progress in their careers or post-graduate endeavors in diverse chemical engineering areas, including chemical process engineering, biomedical engineering, materials processing, semiconductor manufacturing, and environmental engineering, by:

• Meeting or exceeding the expectations of their professional position,
• Successfully pursuing advanced study in a graduate or professional program, and
• Assuming leadership roles in their professions and/or communities.

The most up-to-date version of the objectives is available at the Department Web site.

Mission Statement

The Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering (B.S.Ch.E.) degree program in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering provides an outstanding education that prepares students to be productive and responsible members of society, with the skills and knowledge to be successful in their professional careers or post-graduate studies. This is accomplished by engaging students in a variety of academic, research and service activities, and fostering a learning environment that is supportive for a body of students that is diverse in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, and prior educational background.

Admission Information

Freshmen and transfer students are admitted directly to the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering as pre-major students. Pre-major students are reviewed for admission to the B.S.Ch.E. degree program after they meet the following program admission requirements:

• Earn a cumulative overall GPA of at least 2.30;
• Earn a cumulative GPA of at least 2.50 and grades of “C” or better in the technical courses identified in Footnote 1 of the Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering requirement table below;
• Complete ENGL 1110 or the equivalent with a grade of “C” or better;
• Be in good academic standing with the School of Engineering. See "Additional Information" in the School of Engineering section of this Catalog.

Admission as a major in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering is required for consideration of candidacy for the B.S.Ch.E. degree program.

Policy on "D" or "D+" Grades

Students admitted or readmitted to the B.S.Ch.E. degree program may not apply a course toward the degree if the highest grade earned in the course is a "D+" or less, regardless of where that grade was earned.

Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering

The Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.

Credit hours required for graduation: 120.

A minimum grade of "C-" or better is required for all CBE courses. A minimum grade of "C" is required for all other courses. Refer to the Undergraduate Program section of this Catalog for information on courses that meet General Education curriculum and U.S. Global Diversity and Inclusion requirements.

⁽¹⁾  Major admission to the B.S.Ch.E. program requires completion of these technical courses with the criteria identifed in the "Admission Information" section of this page.

⁽²⁾  General Education curriculum courses may be taken whenever convenient.

⁽³⁾  Program core courses must be taken in the order and semester in which they are listed in the curriculum to avoid a delay in graduation.

⁽⁴⁾  Students must file an application for graduation prior to the completion of 95 credit hours of applicable courses.

⁽⁵⁾  CBE 213 and CE 350 may be taken in a Fall or Spring semester. 

⁽⁶⁾  Students are encouraged to take the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Examination during their senior year (fourth year). This is the first formal step toward professional registration. 

⁽⁷⁾  Technical electives are chosen with the consultation of the student’s Faculty Advisor to ensure that they support the student’s concentration as well as the student’s individual academic, career, and/or research goals. A list of suggested technical electives based on concentration is listed in the next section. 

Persons having special needs and requiring auxiliary aid or service should contact the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (ADA and Rehabilitation Act of 1973).

Concentrations

Future chemical engineers conceive and solve problems on a range of scales (nano, micro and macro). They bring new tools and insights from research and practice in other disciplines: molecular biology, chemistry, solid-state physics, materials science, and electrical engineering. They also make increasing use of computers, artificial intelligence and expert systems in problem solving, in product and process design, and in manufacturing. Chemical engineering can be viewed as the engineering discipline with the strongest tie to the molecular sciences and therefore is an integral part of multidisciplinary research efforts.

To allow students an opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge in specialized areas and to prepare them for diverse career opportunities, the department provides five concentrations:

• Bioengineering
• Chemical Process Engineering
• Environmental Engineering
• Materials Processing
• Semiconductor Manufacturing

Students choose 6 credit hours of technical electives, which are chosen with the consultation of the student’s Faculty Advisor to ensure that they support the student’s concentration as well as the student’s individual academic, career, and/or research goals. Lists of suggested technical electives based on concentration are found below. The Director of Undergraduate Programs may allow up to 6 credit hours of technical electives for students taking required ROTC courses in aerospace or naval science. One technical elective can be replaced with 3 credit hours of CBE 491 for which a student completes a research project done under the supervision of a departmental faculty member and requires advance approval by the Director of Undergraduate Programs.

In addition to the technical elective courses, the projects in the last design course (CBE 494L) and the last laboratory course (CBE 419L) provide opportunities to gain experience in the chosen concentration.

Bioengineering

Since biological and medical systems involve complex chemical and physical processes, chemical engineering is a natural professional background for bioengineering applications. Bioengineering is an interdisciplinary field that combines the tools and methods of engineering to address challenges in the health sciences and in basic research. Bioengineers strive to understand biological systems, from molecules to whole organisms, from a quantitative and analytical perspective. Because of this in-depth study, bioengineers are uniquely qualified to work at the interface between living and non-living systems, enhancing our ability to measure, image, repair, or replace physiological substances or processes. Training in bioengineering prepares students for graduate school or industry, and is an excellent preparation for professional programs (medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy). Career opportunities for bioengineers at the undergraduate level include the biosensor, pharmaceutical and medical device industries as well as positions in hospitals, federal labs, and environmental agencies.

Chemical Process Engineering

The Chemical Process Engineering concentration is designed to provide maximum flexibility for students to pursue career opportunities in a wide range of industries as a process engineer. Historically, many chemical process engineers have found employment in the petroleum or chemical industries, and many still do. However, chemical engineers with a strong process engineering foundation are in increasing demand in many other technology areas, including pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and electronic materials, and environmental or “green” engineering. This concentration builds on the traditional process engineering emphasis, allowing the technical electives to be chosen by the student in consultation with his adviser to fit the interests or professional goals of the student.

Environmental Engineering

The chemical engineer with a concentration in Environmental Engineering is prepared to enter a field of growing importance. This field deals with treatment of waste to reduce its volume, to recover recyclable resources and to prepare appropriately for long-term disposal. Interesting applications exist in atmospheric discharge control and clean-up, bio-treatable water decontamination, soil remediation, and nuclear byproduct handling. Increasingly, chemical engineers are required to develop new processes to minimize byproduct and waste generation, and achieve higher energy efficiencies.

Materials Processing

The Materials Processing concentration is designed to add additional emphasis in inorganic materials, polymeric, or biological materials, depending on the students interest. Students who are interested in working in the realm of high technology materials, biomedical materials, or nanotechnology should choose this concentration. These rapidly developing fields are expected to provide many job opportunities in the next decade. New materials are currently being developed whose properties depend strongly on their microstructure, nanostructure and processing history. Materials included in this category are advanced ceramics, polymers, composites, photonics, superconductors, semiconductors, and recording media. This concentration provides flexibility for students interested in inorganic or organic materials technology.

Semiconductor Manufacturing

There is an increasing demand for chemical engineers in high technology oriented semiconductor manufacturing companies like Intel, Motorola, IBM, etc. This concentration is designed to prepare the student in the fundamental unit operations used in semiconductor manufacturing (oxidation, diffusion, lithography, plasma etch, CVD, ion implant and metalization) and statistical methods used extensively in the industry to optimize the performance of these unit operations. The continuing revolution occurring in computer technology virtually insures there is a strong future demand for engineers with the background needed for semiconductor manufacturing. The goal of this concentration is to introduce students to the specific chemical engineering tools used in micro-chip fabrication.

Students may receive a registration override from the department for ECE **371 after earning a grade of "C" or better in CHEM **311 and MATH **316.

Departmental Honors

Chemical and Biological Engineering students may graduate with Baccalaureate Honors, from the University Honors Program, with Departmental Honors, or with a combination of the three. More information is available from the Undergraduate Program and Honors College: Undergraduate Program sections of this Catalog, or from the Chemical and Biological Engineering department.

Chemical Engineering Laboratory

The chemical engineering laboratory is equipped with pilot plant equipment for the study of heat and mass and momentum transfer including the unit operations: liquid-liquid extraction, multitube heat exchangers, evaporation, distillation and absorption. Experiments also exist for the engineering sciences: thermodynamics, chemical kinetics, fluid mechanics and process control. Automated engineering workstations for data acquisition and control are an integral part of the laboratory. For juniors and seniors, opportunities exist for research projects in the following areas: catalysis, semiconductor manufacturing, fuel cells, biosensors, aerosol synthesis of materials, chemical vapor deposition and plasma etching. Students undertaking individual research projects gain exposure to state-of-the-art analytical equipment such as ellipsometry, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, Auger spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, IR and UV spectroscopy, and x-ray scattering.

Computer Facilities

Computers provide the basic computational tool for today’s modern engineer. The department maintains a computer pod equipped with state-of-the-art computers. Additional computers are available in the many University of New Mexico computer pods maintained by the University of New Mexico’s Computer and Information Resources and Technology division. Freshman engineering students are introduced to the many computer facilities and to programming. Numerical analysis is an important part of each year’s instruction in chemical engineering, and by the senior year students make extensive use of sophisticated process simulation codes, and learn to write digital process control programs. Students interested in working in the semiconductor industry or advanced materials can gain extensive experience with software tools for statistical design of experiments. In addition to these technical software packages, students also gain experience with mathematical packages such as spreadsheets and symbolic manipulation software.

Cooperative Education

Chemical engineering students may participate in the cooperative education program or in summer industrial internship programs. Excellent opportunities exist throughout the southwest for undergraduate chemical engineering students. For further information, refer to Section III: Cooperative Education Program in the School of Engineering: Other Courses of Instruction section of this Catalog, or contact the Director of Career Services.