UW ChemE Curric | Objectives & Outcomes

Objectives and Outcomes

To engage students to acquire the unique knowledge and skills of the profession through education, research, and practice; preparing them for careers in industry, academia, and public service.

1. Have the prerequisite knowledge:

through understanding the basic principles of science and engineering underlying modern chemical technology--from the molecular to the macroscopic level--and applying those principles to solve problems in their chosen career path;

2. Demonstrate professional engineering competence:

through promotion, attainment of positions of increasing responsibility, or successful transition from the "traditional" chemical engineering career path into business, government, education, etc.;

3. Achieve and advance safety and environmental protection;

4. Demonstrate leadership:

through technical, professional, and ethical practices that contribute to achievement of organizational objectives with significant societal benefits;

through publication of papers or internal reports, applications for patents, conference presentations, and/or contributions to innovative, state-of-the-industry articles; and

6. Never stop learning:

through progress toward or successful completion of an advanced degree, continuing education courses, licensure, and/or industry training courses.

An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering in areas relevant to modern chemical technology;
An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data;
An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability
An ability to function on multidisciplinary teams;
An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems;
An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility;
An ability to communicate effectively;
The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context;
A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning;
A knowledge of contemporary issues; and
An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.

An ability to apply knowledge of chemical, physical, and biological interactions relevant to engineering at the molecular and nanometer length scales and integrate these concepts into larger scale chemical processes and products; and
An ability to describe—in both the steady and time-dependent states—the behavior of chemical systems of varying length scales, and the interactions of multiple chemical systems of different length scales within an overall chemical process.

UW ChemE Curriculum Objectives and Outcomes
Navigation Links UW ChemE Curriculum Home Curriculum Content Vision Knowledge Base Objectives & Outcomes Structure Course Listing Course Learning Objectives Prerequisites Course Schedule Implementation Course Materials Physical Resources Approvals Advising Overall Status Sophomore Start Junior Curriculum Senior Curriculum Assessment	Educational Mission (draft dated Feb. 8, 2008) The chemical engineering profession shares a common background in chemical processes, systems analysis, and systems economics. Chemical engineering occurs at all length scales: chemical systems and processes may be large-scale chemical plants or refineries; intermediate-scale fermentation systems, energy-supply systems, or polymer composite fabrication systems; small-scale, specialty chemical systems; or micrometer and nanometer scale colloidal emulsions and photonics. Living systems are chemical systems; a chemical engineering background serves well to understand and treat them. A chemical system consists of the interplay of chemical, physical, and biological phenomena over time. Different length scales determine the nature of the interplay and the complexity of the system at that length scale. Whether milligrams of a high value vaccine or tanker trucks of gasoline, chemical products achieve their function primarily through molecular structure. Yet chemical, physical, and biological interactions extend beyond molecules to groups of molecules, crystal structures, interfaces, and ever increasing length scales. Large length scales—micrometers to meters—affect the rate at which material and energy can be delivered to and from a chemically important location, a concept known as transport phenomena. Achieving specific functions in a chemical product depends upon how the molecules are processed, for example, to build in specific structural properties or freeze-in a desired property that, if not processed correctly, would dissipate in time. In recognition of the chemical engineering profession and its emphasis on rigorous scholarship and broad academic preparation, our mission is: To engage students to acquire the unique knowledge and skills of the profession through education, research, and practice; preparing them for careers in industry, academia, and public service. Program Educational Objectives The UW’s Chemical Engineering Program prepares students for industrial careers in electronics, petroleum, consulting, chemical, automotive, forest products, biotechnology, and energy. Chemical engineers also find careers in academia and government and military service. Our program’s emphasis on rigorous scholarship and broad academic preparation prepares students for success in these areas as well as other non-traditional chemical engineering paths that our graduates may choose. The educational objectives of the UW Chemical Engineering Program are to produce graduates who: 1. Have the prerequisite knowledge: through understanding the basic principles of science and engineering underlying modern chemical technology--from the molecular to the macroscopic level--and applying those principles to solve problems in their chosen career path; 2. Demonstrate professional engineering competence: through promotion, attainment of positions of increasing responsibility, or successful transition from the "traditional" chemical engineering career path into business, government, education, etc.; 3. Achieve and advance safety and environmental protection; 4. Demonstrate leadership: through technical, professional, and ethical practices that contribute to achievement of organizational objectives with significant societal benefits; 5. Communicate: through publication of papers or internal reports, applications for patents, conference presentations, and/or contributions to innovative, state-of-the-industry articles; and 6. Never stop learning: through progress toward or successful completion of an advanced degree, continuing education courses, licensure, and/or industry training courses. Program Outcomes The UW Chemical Engineering Program prepares its graduates to meet the demands of the chemical engineering profession through a novel, comprehensive curriculum covering molecular-level engineering through the production of commodity chemicals. Building on a foundation of mathematics, chemistry, and physics our students study molecular and nanoscale phenomena; energy and entropy; mass and energy balances applied to small- and large-scale systems; transport phenomena; direct energy conversion; chemical storage and transport of information; biological systems engineering; chemical engineering computing; reaction systems engineering; and process design, control, and economics. The curriculum combines an engineering approach to molecular and nanoscale phenomena with the traditional chemical engineering topics of transport phenomena, reaction engineering, unit operations, process control, and process design. Graduates of the UW Chemical Engineering Program attain the following outcomes: An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering in areas relevant to modern chemical technology; An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data; An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability An ability to function on multidisciplinary teams; An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems; An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility; An ability to communicate effectively; The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context; A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning; A knowledge of contemporary issues; and An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice. As the practice of modern chemical technology includes concepts, processes, and products at length scales ranging from the molecular level through macroscopic levels, our graduates will also have: An ability to apply knowledge of chemical, physical, and biological interactions relevant to engineering at the molecular and nanometer length scales and integrate these concepts into larger scale chemical processes and products; and An ability to describe—in both the steady and time-dependent states—the behavior of chemical systems of varying length scales, and the interactions of multiple chemical systems of different length scales within an overall chemical process.
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Revised: 6/17/08	Comments, questions, information? Contact Eric Stuve at stuve@u.washington.edu.