Bachelor of Science - Chemical Engineering

University of Minnesota Duluth's (UMD) Department of Chemical Engineering strives for nationally recognized excellence in engineering education and research by using modern, hands-on, and active learning experiences to prepare undergraduate students for professional success, and to hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public and protect the environment in performance of their professional duties.

This four-year bachelor's degree (B.S.Ch.E.) program emphasizes the development of the student's ability to analyze and design chemical processing systems. By the end of the program, the student must demonstrate the ability to solve engineering problems, have a sensitivity to the social and environmental impacts of the engineering profession, and the ability to maintain a high level of competency.

The chemical engineering curriculum is based on fundamental sciences including physics, chemistry, and mathematics; traditional chemical engineering sciences such as material and energy balance, transport phenomena, and thermodynamics; and chemical engineering design courses such as reaction engineering, separations, and unit operations, with a capstone design course during the senior year. Students have an opportunity to become involved in research, through either the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program or the department honors program.

• Active learning environment
• Access to state-of-the–art instrumentation
• Focus on undergraduate teaching and research

Career Possibilities

Chemical engineering graduates are qualified for employment in diverse industries, ranging from those that manufacture inorganic chemicals, petrochemicals, plastics, synthetic fibers, paper and pulp, and pharmaceuticals to those that process minerals, materials, and hazardous wastes. There are so many options for chemical engineers, it's hard to define this succinctly. Some recent graduates have done the following:

• Work for a large chemical, pulp and paper, plastics or textile manufacturing firm
• Get a job with a government agency or design and consulting firm specializing in environmental regulations and pollution control
• Enter graduate school to get a more advanced education in areas like thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, mass and heat transfer
• Enter graduate school to get a degree in medicine, law or business to build on their chemical engineering problem solving skills
• Join the Peace Corps to help communities develop sanitary waste disposal systems and teach science in rural areas
• Work in a material science laboratory doing research or developing new products
• Help manage construction and startups of manufacturing plants or analyze production floors to look for ways to improve operations