Florida State University Graduate Bulletin 2007-2009

Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering

FAMU—FSU College of Engineering

Chair: Bruce R. Locke; Professors: Alamo, Collier, Locke, Palanki; Associate Professors: Chella, Kalu, Ma, Telotte; Assistant Professors: K. Chen, Grant, Kostov, Ramekrishan, Shanbhag; Adjunct Professor: Schreiber; Research Associate: Finney; Affiliate Faculty: Chase, C.J. Chen, Chin, Kwon, Sachdeva, Wesson

The Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the FAMU—FSU College of Engineering offers the degrees of doctor of philosophy and master of science in both chemical and biomedical engineering, and the bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering. The bachelor's degree is fully accredited by ABET. The department is strongly committed to continue building a graduate research program of national reputation in both applied and fundamental areas. The faculty believes that graduate programs must be diverse, interdisciplinary, and flexible in order to prepare chemical engineers that can handle challenging applications of the modern chemical industry. Eleven full-time teaching faculty members, one adjunct teaching professor, and one research associate currently comprise the faculty.

Research areas include polymer processing, biochemical, biomedical, and electrochemical engineering, process control, materials research, macromolecular dynamics, environmental engineering, transport in porous and microstructured media, reaction kinetics, molecular transport phenomena, thermodynamics, NMR/MRI methods in transport, and engineering education. Many of these efforts are conducted in close cooperation with the Florida State University Institute of Molecular Biophysics (IMB), School of Computational Science (SCS), National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL), Center for Materials Research and Technology (MARTECH), and the Departments of Physics, Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Biological Sciences; the Florida A & M University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; as well as with the Departments of Mechanical, Industrial, and Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering.

The Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering's main office is located in the College of Engineering building at 2525 Pottsdamer Street. The mailing address is: College of Engineering, Suite 131, 2525 Pottsdamer Street, Tallahassee, Florida, 32310–6046; Phone: (850) 410-6149 or 410-6151; Fax: (850) 410-6150; e-mail: cheme@eng.fsu.edu; Web site: www.eng.fsu.edu/deprtments/chemical/.

Research Facilities

The Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering has extensive graduate research laboratory facilities located in the present College of Engineering building. Three undergraduate teaching laboratories, a design classroom, and twelve graduate research laboratories comprise the current physical resources. All laboratories are well equipped with modern experimental apparatus including numerous workstations and microcomputers for data acquisition and analysis. These facilities include laboratories dedicated to polymer science and engineering, electrochemical engineering, aerosol transport and deposition, batch process optimization and control operations, gas/liquid phase pollution treatment by non-thermal plasma, advanced fluid mechanics, and bioengineering.

A wide range of analytical equipment, including gas and liquid chromatographs, UV-Vis spectrophotometers, a chemiluminescence gas analyzer, aerosol particle measurement instrumentation, analytical microscopes, an FTIR spectrometer, potentiostats, a rotating disk electrode system, a hydraulic press for electrode fabrication, differential scanning calorimeters, and pH, conductivity, temperature, flow, pressure, mass and other measuring devices are located in these laboratories. Process equipment including various types of gas and liquid phase chemical reactors, controlled temperature fermentors, and polymer production reactors are also located in these laboratories. Infrastructure includes an autoclave, a controlled environment incubator, water polishing systems, refrigerated/heating circulating baths, isotemp ovens, high voltage power supplies, high purity gas production and mixing systems, a refrigerated centrifuge, a glassware cleaning device, and much additional support equipment.

In the area of computing capabilities, the department has numerous personal computers interconnected to the college's computing network. MATLAB, MATHCAD, CHEMCAD, and other UNIX and PC-based programs are readily available to graduate students in their computational research. Extensive, high level computing capabilities are available to students and faculty through the Florida State University Academic Computing and Network Service (FSU ACNS) and School of Computational Sciences (SCS) through the College of Engineering network cluster. All students are given computer accounts allowing unlimited access to the Internet.

A new, large addition to the College of Engineering building was completed in the summer of 1998. It includes four new laboratories dedicated to various areas of biomedical engineering. In addition, a large laboratory suite dedicated to nuclear magnetic resonance research includes a 500 MHz (12 Tesla) wide-bore, microimaging NMR spectrometer, and a larger bore, lower field NMR spectrometer for the study of larger scale biological samples.

Program in Chemical Engineering

Chemical engineering (ChE) encompasses the development, application, and operation of the processes in which chemical and/or physical changes of material are involved. The work of a chemical engineer is to analyze, develop, design, control, construct, and/or supervise chemical processes in research and development, pilot-scale operations, and industrial production. Emphasis is placed on the application of computer analysis to problems encountered in the above areas. Chemical engineers are employed in the manufacture of inorganic chemicals (i.e., acids, alkalis, pigments, and fertilizers), organic chemicals (i.e., petrochemicals, polymers, fuels, propellants, pharmaceuticals, and specialty chemicals), biological products (i.e., enzymes, vaccines, biochemicals, biofuels), foods, semiconductors, and paper.

Chemical engineers having graduate degrees work in a wide range of organizations where their technical skills are needed. These may include: local, state, and federal governments; private and public corporations; and education. Chemical engineers are involved in process and plant operation, technical services groups, research and development laboratories, plant design groups, occupational and safety programs, technical sales, technical training, and technical management. Graduate education can lead to careers in the medical sciences, chemical engineering, and other engineering and scientific disciplines as well as business and law.

Master of Science

Admission Requirements

  1. A baccalaureate degree in chemical engineering or an allied field from an accredited college or university
  2. Fulfillment of the requirements for the baccalaureate degree or its equivalent. Students may be required to satisfy deficiencies by taking undergraduate courses if they do not have a degree from an accredited chemical engineering degree program
  3. U.S. students: an undergraduate GPA of 3.3 or higher, and a minimum combined score of 1200 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the GRE
  4. International students: an undergraduate GPA of 3.3 or higher, a minimum combined score of 1200 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the GRE exam. In addition, students whose native language is not English are required to take the TOEFL exam and get a score of at least 213
    1. and
  5. Three letters of recommendation from persons familiar with the student's work and background, and a statement of professional goals

Note: All students must present GRE scores prior to being admitted.

Students who do not possess a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering may be required to complete a department-designated sequence of undergraduate courses with grade of "B" or higher in each course. Up to six (6) semester hours of 4000-level course work approved by the department may be counted as graduate electives. Transfer credit from another institution is limited to six (6) semester hours with departmental approval. Typical undergraduate course sequences (in preparation for graduate courses) may include, but are not limited to, the following courses:

ECH 3023 Mass and Energy Balances (4)

ECH 3101 Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics (3)

ECH 3266 Introductory Transport Phenomena (3)

ECH 3418 Separations Processes (3)

ECH 3854 Chemical Engineering Computations (3)

ECH 4267 Advanced Transport Phenomena (3)

ECH 4504 Kinetics and Reactor Design (3)

Additional courses in subjects including mathematics, chemistry, physics, and general engineering may also be required. Departmental financial support may not be available for graduate students taking undergraduate courses.

Degree Requirements

The Department of Chemical Engineering offers both thesis-type and course-type (non-thesis) options leading to the master of science degree.

I. Thesis Option (thirty [30] semester hours)

The thesis-type master's degree is awarded upon successful completion of the following requirements:

  1. Twelve (12) semester hours of chemical engineering core courses (see below)
  2. Nine (9) semester hours of approved electives
  3. Nine (9) semester hours of ECH 5971r, Thesis
  4. Registration and attendance at all departmental seminars

No course with a grade below "C–" will be counted toward fulfillment of degree requirements. No more than one course with a grade in the "C" range will be counted toward fulfillment of degree requirements. The candidate must also complete and defend an original thesis.

Required Courses (twelve [12] semester hours)

ECH 5052 Research Methods in Chemical Engineering (3)

ECH 5126 Advanced Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics I (3)

ECH 5261 Advanced Transport Phenomena I (3)

ECH 5840 Advanced Chemical Engineering Mathematics I (3)

II. Course (non-thesis) Option (thirty-three [33] semester hours)

The course-type master's degree is awarded upon successful completion of the following requirements:

  1. Twelve (12) semester hours of chemical engineering core courses (see below)
  2. Twenty-one (21) semester hours of approved electives
  3. Registration and attendance at all departmental seminars

No course with a grade below "C–" will be counted toward fulfillment of degree requirements. No more than one course with a grade in the "C" range will be counted toward fulfillment of degree requirements.

Note: Departmental support is generally not available for students pursuing a non-thesis master's degree.

Required Courses (twelve [12] semester hours)

ECH 5052 Research Methods in Chemical Engineering (3)

ECH 5126 Advanced Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics I (3)

ECH 5261 Advanced Transport Phenomena I (3)

ECH 5840 Advanced Chemical Engineering Mathematics I (3)

All chemical engineering graduate students are required to attend the Program for Instructional Excellence (PIE) Workshop to prepare for teaching assistant (TA) duties. This requirement is mandatory regardless of the student's classification as a teaching assistant or research assistant. In addition, all students are required to take the safety training course.

Doctor of Philosophy

Admission Requirements

  1. Fulfillment of the department's admission and core course requirements for the master's degree or its substantive equivalent (see above)
  2. Maintenance of a high scholastic record for graduate course work at the previous college or university attended (minimum GPA of 3.3)
    1. and
  3. Demonstrated proficiency in conducting research in chemical engineering by passing the departmental PhD qualifying examination

Degree Requirements

Before students can be admitted to the ChE doctoral program, they must satisfy the department's core course requirements for the master's degree and must pass the written qualifying examination. Students who fulfill these requirements may elect, upon approval of the graduate committee and major supervisor, to proceed directly toward the PhD without first obtaining a master's degree.

The PhD degree will be awarded to a doctoral candidate upon successful completion of the following requirements:

  1. Selection of a research topic and major professor(s)
  2. Formation of a supervisory committee in consultation with the major professor(s)
  3. Submission and defense of a prospectus on the dissertation topic to the supervisory committee
  4. Completion of thirty (30) semester hours of advanced course work (including twelve [12] semester hours of core course work)
  5. Satisfaction of the University residency requirement
  6. Completion of at least twenty-four (24) semester hours of dissertation research
  7. Presentation and defense of an original dissertation
  8. One semester teaching assistantship in the undergraduate laboratory
  9. Presentation of a research topic at one local, regional, or national professional meeting

All chemical engineering graduate students are required to attend the Program for Instructional Excellence (PIE) Workshop to prepare for teaching assistant (TA) duties. This requirement is mandatory regardless of the student's classification as a teaching assistant or research assistant. In addition, all students are required to take the safety training course.

Students with a master's degree in chemical engineering from the FAMU—FSU College of Engineering may, with approval of the graduate committee and major professor, take nine (9) additional approved semester hours beyond the thesis-type master's course requirements to satisfy the thirty (30) semester hour requirement for the PhD. All other requirements must be fulfilled as stated above.

Students with master's degrees in chemical engineering from other institutions will be given a specific course plan by the departmental graduate committee. A maximum of thirty (30) semester hours may be assigned to remedy any deficiencies in the student's background.

Qualifying Examination

All students admitted to the PhD program will be required to take the doctoral qualifying examination at the first offering after completion of the core course ECH 5052, Research Methods in Chemical Engineering. A research topic will be assigned by the graduate committee at the beginning of the semester. The student must write a research proposal and defend it orally in front of the graduate committee by the end of the semester. This examination must be passed within two consecutive attempts, or the student is not allowed to continue as a doctoral student. Upon successful completion of the qualifying examination, the student is admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree.

Program in Biomedical Engineering

Biomedical Engineering Program Director: Michael H. Peters

Recent dramatic advances in health care and medical technology made possible by the merger of engineering and medicine have prompted the development of new graduate degree programs in biomedical engineering at many of the top institutions in the U.S. Currently, biomedical engineering is the most rapidly growing graduate engineering discipline in the U.S. The overall goal of this program is to implement education and research in biomedical engineering that will prepare graduates for industrial, governmental, and academic careers in bioengineering, biotechnology, and related professions.

The graduate program in biomedical engineering (BME) promotes a special emphasis in cellular and tissue engineering. Advanced engineering, medical, chemistry, physics, and biology students will gain the necessary knowledge and skills that will allow them to contribute to improved technology in health and medical care and to solve real-world engineering problems in biology and medicine, both in educational and industrial settings.

The thesis MS degree requires thirty (30) semester hours for completion, the non-thesis MS degree requires thirty-three (33) semester hours, and the PhD requires a total of fifty-four (54) semester hours.

Master of Science

Admission Requirements

  1. A baccalaureate degree in engineering, chemistry, physics, or biological sciences, or an allied field from an accredited college or university
  2. Fulfillment of the requirements for the baccalaureate biomedical engineering degree or its equivalent. Students may be required to satisfy deficiencies by taking undergraduate courses if they do not have a degree from an accredited biomedical engineering degree program
  3. U.S. students: an undergraduate GPA of 3.3 or higher, and a minimum combined score of 1200 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the GRE
  4. International students: an undergraduate GPA of 3.3 or higher and a minimum combined score of 1200 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the GRE. In addition, students whose native language is not English are required to take the TOEFL exam and get a score of at least 213
    1. and
  5. Three letters of recommendation from persons familiar with the student's work and background, and a statement of professional goals

Note: All students must present GRE scores prior to being admitted.

Students with a BS degree in engineering, chemistry, physics, or biological sciences are required to take (or have taken) the following undergraduate engineering courses or their equivalents: ECH 3301, Introduction to Process Analysis and Design for Chemical Engineers, or MAP 3305, Engineering Mathematics I; ECH 3266, Introductory Transport Phenomena; and ECH 4267, Advanced Transport Phenomena. In addition, students should have taken the following courses (if not included in their degree program): Biological Sciences I and II and Biochemistry I and II. An undergraduate course in anatomy and physiology is desirable but not required.

Degree Requirements

The Program in Biomedical Engineering offers both thesis-type and course-type (non-thesis) options for the master of science degree.

Thesis Option (thirty [30] semester hours)

The thesis-type master's degree is awarded upon successful completion of the following requirements:

  1. Eighteen (18) semester hours of biomedical engineering core courses (see below)
  2. Three (3) semester hours of approved electives
  3. Nine (9) semester hours of BME 5971r, Thesis
  4. Registration and attendance at all departmental seminars

No courses with a grade below "C–" will be counted toward fulfillment of degree requirements. No more than one course with a grade in the "C" range will be counted toward fulfillment of degree requirements. The candidate must also complete and defend an original thesis.

Required Courses (eighteen [18] semester hours):

BME 5030 Biochemical Transport Phenomena (3)

or

ECH 5261 Advanced Transport Phenomena (3)

BME 5937r Special Topics in Biomedical Engineering [Quantitative Anatomy and Systems Physiology I and II] (3,3) if no credit given previously

BME 5937r Special Topics in Biomedical Engineering [Cellular Engineering] (3)

ECH 5052 Research Methods in Chemical Engineering (3)

ECH 5840 Advanced Chemical Engineering Mathematics I (3)

Biomedical Engineering Electives

Choose one of six (three [3] semester hours):

BME 5020 Biophysical Chemistry and Biothermodynamics (3)

BME 5105 Biomaterials (3)

BME 5500 Biomedical Instrumentation (3)

BME 5937 Special Topics in Biomedical Engineering [Mathematical Physiology] (3)

BME 6330 Tissue Engineering (3)

BME 6530 NMR and MRI Methods in Biology and Medicine (3)

Other elective courses taught by the College of Medicine and the Department of Biological Sciences may be found in their respective chapters of this Graduate Bulletin.

Thesis Hours (nine [9] semester hours):

BME 5971r Thesis (1–9)

In addition to the thirty (30) semester hours of course work and thesis, an oral examination in defense of the thesis is required for the master's of science in biomedical engineering thesis option.

Course (non-thesis) Option (thirty-three [33] semester hours)

The course-type (non-thesis) master's degree is awarded upon successful completion of the following requirements:

  1. Eighteen (18) semester hours of biomedical engineering core courses (see below)
  2. Fifteen (15) semester hours of approved electives
  3. Registration and attendance at all departmental seminars

No courses with a grade below "C-–" will be counted toward fulfillment of degree requirements. No more than one course with a grade in the "C" range will be counted toward fulfillment of degree requirements.

Note: Departmental support is generally not available for students pursuing a non-thesis master's degree.

Required Courses (eighteen [18] semester hours):

BME 5030 Biochemical Transport Phenomena (3)

or

ECH 5261 Advanced Transport Phenomena I (3)

BME 5937r Special Topics in Biomedical Engineering [Quantitative Anatomy and Systems Physiology I and II] (3,3) if no credit given previously

BME 5937 Special Topics in Biomedical Engineering [Cellular Engineering] (3)

ECH 5052 Research Methods in Chemical Engineering (3)

ECH 5840 Advanced Chemical Engineering Mathematics I (3)

Elective Courses (fifteen [15] semester hours):

BME 5020 Biophysical Chemistry and Biothermodynamics (3)

BME 5105 Biomaterials (3)

BME 5500 Biomedical Instrumentation (3)

BME 5937 Special Topics in Biomedical Engineering [Mathematical Physiology] (3)

BME 6330 Tissue Engineering (3)

BME 6530 NMR and MRI Methods in Biology and Medicine (3)

Other elective courses taught by the College of Medicine and the Department of Biological Sciences may be found in their respective chapters of this Graduate Bulletin.

Doctor of Philosophy

Admission Requirements

  1. Fulfillment of the department's admission and core course requirements for the master's degree or its substantive equivalent (see above)
  2. Maintenance of a high scholastic record for graduate course work at the previous college or university attended (minimum GPA of 3.3)
    1. and
  3. Demonstrated proficiency in the core areas of biomedical engineering by passing all sections of the departmental PhD qualifying examination.

Degree Requirements

Before students can be admitted to the BME doctoral program (PhD), they must satisfy the department's core course requirements for the master's degree and must pass the written qualifying examination. Students who fulfill these requirements may elect, upon approval of the graduate committee and major supervisor, to proceed directly toward the PhD without first obtaining a master's degree.

Students with a thesis-type master's degree in biomedical engineering from the FAMU—FSU College of Engineering may, with approval of the graduate committee and major professor, take nine (9) additional approved semester hours beyond the master's requirements to satisfy the 30-hour course requirement for the PhD. All other requirements must be fulfilled as stated below.

Students with master's degrees in biomedical engineering from other institutions will be given a specific course plan by the departmental graduate committee. A maximum of thirty (30) semester hours may be assigned to remedy any deficiencies in the student's background.

Fifty-four (54) semester hours are required for the PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering, as follows:

  1. Eighteen (18) semester hours of biomedical engineering core courses
  2. Twelve (12) semester hours of approved electives
  3. Twenty-four (24) semester hours of BME 6980r, Dissertation
  4. Registration and attendance at all departmental seminars
Required Courses (eighteen [18] semester hours):

BME 5030 Biochemical Transport Phenomena (3)

or

ECH 5261 Advanced Transport Phenomena I (3)

BME 5937r Special Topics in Biomedical Engineering [Quantitative Anatomy and Systems Physiology I and II] (3,3) if no credit given previously

BME 5937r Special Topics in Biomedical Engineering [Cellular Engineering] (3)

ECH 5052 Research Methods in Chemical Engineering (3)

ECH 5840 Advanced Chemical Engineering Mathematics I (3)

Elective Courses (twelve [12] semester hours)

Typical biomedical engineering elective courses:

BME 5020 Biophysical Chemistry and Biothermodynamics (3)

BME 5105 Biomaterials (3)

BME 5500 Biomedical Instrumentation (3)

BME 5937 Special Topics in Biomedical Engineering [Mathematical Physiology] (3)

BME 6330 Tissue Engineering (3)

BME 6530 NMR and MRI Methods in Biology and Medicine (3)

Other elective courses taught by the College of Medicine and the Department of Biological Sciences may be found in their respective chapters of this Graduate Bulletin.

Dissertation Hours (thirty-six [36] semester hours):

BME 6980r Dissertation (1–9)

The following requirements for the PhD degree in biomedical engineering must be met:

  1. Passage of the BME PhD qualifying examination within two (2) consecutive exam attempts; this will result in formal admission to candidacy for the PhD degree
  2. Selection of a research topic and major professor
  3. Submission and defense of a prospectus on the dissertation topic to the supervisory committee
  4. Completion of a minimum of thirty (30) semester hours of advanced course work in biomedical engineering and related disciplines
  5. Satisfaction of University residency requirements
  6. Completion of at least twenty-four (24) semester hours of dissertation research
  7. Presentation and defense of an original dissertation
  8. Assistance in the teaching of at least one laboratory course
  9. Presentation of one paper at a local, regional, national or international professional meeting

All biomedical engineering graduate students are required to attend the Program for Instructional Excellence (PIE) Workshop to prepare for teaching assistant (TA) duties. This requirement is mandatory regardless of the student's classification as a Teaching Assistant or Research Assistant. In addition, all students are required to take the safety training course.

Academic Regulations and Procedures for Graduate Students

Selection of Course Plan

Selection of courses for the first semester should be done in consultation with the departmental graduate coordinator. All students must also register for the departmental seminar ECH 5935, Chemical Engineering Seminar, every semester.

Selection of Major Professor

All full-time graduate students following the thesis option are required to select a research topic and major professor by the end of the first term in which they enter the department. A form for this purpose is available. The completed form should be submitted to the departmental graduate coordinator.

The major professor is responsible for directing the student's research and progress toward a degree. Once a major professor has been approved, a supervisory committee should be established and a program of study prepared in consultation with the major professor before the end of the second term.

Supervisory Committee

The supervisory committee for a master's degree candidate must consist of a minimum of three faculty members with master's directive status. The major professor is the chair of the supervisory committee and must be a faculty member from the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering. At least one other member of the committee must be from the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering; the third member of the committee should be from outside the department. Additional members may be appointed to the committee if deemed desirable by the major professor.

The supervisory committee for a doctoral candidate must have four members (including major professor) with doctoral directive status. The major professor is the chair of the supervisory committee and must be a faculty member from the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering. Two of the remaining members of the committee must be from the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, and the fourth member must be from outside the department. Additional members may be appointed if deemed desirable.

After the members of the supervisory committee have been identified, the supervisory committee assignment form should be completed and returned to the departmental graduate coordinator. This form will be placed in the student's permanent file.

Program of Study

A program of study should be prepared by the student in conjunction with the major professor and submitted to the supervisory and graduate committees before the end of the second term. The program of study is a complete plan of courses to be taken. On approval of the program of study, this form will also be placed in the student's permanent file. If changes to the initially approved program of study become necessary, a new program of study form must be submitted for approval.

Maintenance of Good Standing

In order to maintain good standing in the department, the student must maintain an overall GPA of at least 3.0, with no more than two grades in the "C" range. No more than one course in the "C" range will be counted toward fulfilling the degree requirements. No grades below "C–" will be counted toward degree requirements. Students without an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering should obtain a grade of "B" or better in all required undergraduate courses.

Master's and doctoral degree students must submit a brief written report on research progress, goals, and completed courses at the beginning of the Fall term for evaluation by the graduate and supervisory committees. A form for this purpose is included in the appendix of the graduate handbook. An assessment of the progress of the student in research and courses by the graduate committee will be placed in the student's permanent file. Continuance of assistantships and/or tuition waivers is contingent upon satisfactory evaluations. PhD students must submit and defend a prospectus on the dissertation topic to the supervisory committee within a period of one year of admission to candidacy for the doctoral program.

Time to Degree Completion

Students with undergraduate degrees in chemical or biomedical engineering normally complete the thesis-type master's program in four or five semesters, including one summer semester. The graduate committee will not normally recommend continuation of assistantships and tuition waivers beyond a period of two years subsequent to the student's admission to the masters program. Students without an undergraduate degree in chemical or biomedical engineering will be given one additional year for completion. However, these students are normally not supported during their first year, when they are primarily taking preparatory undergraduate chemical/biomedical engineering courses. Doctoral candidates will be recommended for departmental support only for a period of three years subsequent to being admitted to candidacy for the doctoral program. They may be supported on research grants after this period.

Assistantship Duties

Graduate student support is generally in the form of research or teaching assistantships (RAs or TAs), although University fellowships are also available. Research assistantships generally do not require the performance of any work beyond the research requirements of the degree. However, research assistants who receive departmental support for tuition waivers may be required to grade for classes. In addition, doctoral candidates will have to satisfy the teaching requirements of the degree (TA for one laboratory course). Teaching assistantship duties include grading homework and/or exams, conducting problem-solving recitation sections, and having office hours for answering student questions. Specific duties are assigned by the course instructor, but will typically require less than ten (10) hours per week.

Definition of Prefixes

BME—Biomedical Engineering

ECH—Engineering: Chemical

Graduate Courses

Biomedical Engineering

BME 5005. Engineering and Applied Science Aspects of Biology and Medicine (3). Prerequisites: BCH 4053; BSC 2010; ECH 4403; PCB 3063 and 3134, or 4024. An introductory biomedical engineering course that covers engineering aspects of biology and medicine, including cellular, tissue, and organ systems, physiology and pathophysiology, biomechanics, energetics of metabolism, and the systems engineering of physiological processes.

BME 5086. Biomedical Engineering Ethics (3). Prerequisite: Senior or graduate standing in Biomedical Engineering. This course is an introduction to the key theories, concepts, principles, and methodology relevant to the development of biomedical professional ethics. The student is facilitated in his/her development of a code of professional ethics through written work, class discussion and case analysis.

BME 5620. Biophysical Chemistry and Biothermodynamics (3). Prerequisites: CHM 4410, 4411; ECH 3101. This course examines engineering thermodynamics and physical chemistry of living systems, as well as biochemical pH monitoring and analysis.

BME 5905r. Directed Individual Study (1–3). Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Detailed examination of some topic in biomedical engineering. Conducted on a personal basis with the instructor. May be repeated with different topics. A maximum of only three (3) semester hours can be used toward the MS or PhD. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

BME 5910. Supervised Research (3). (S/U grade only.) Prerequisites: graduate standing in biomedical engineering and consent of instructor. Performance of research project required for the non-thesis MS degree.

BME 5935r. Biomedical Engineering Seminar (0). (S/U grade only.) Prerequisite: graduate standing in biomedical engineering. Presentations by faculty, students, and visiting scientists. Full-time graduate students must enroll each term.

BME 5937r. Special Topics in Biomedical Engineering (3). Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Detailed study of some topic of special interest to biomedical engineers. May be repeated to a maximum of six (6) semester hours with different topics. May be repeated in same semester.

BME 5971r. Thesis (1–9). (S/U grade only.) Prerequisite: graduate standing in biomedical engineering. Performance of research and preparation of the master's thesis. May be repeated as often as approved by the department. Only six (6) semester hours can be counted toward the degree requirements. A minimum of six (6) hours is required. May be repeated to a maximum of twelve (12) semester hours.

BME 6330. Tissue Engineering (3). Prerequisite: Doctoral candidate in biomedical engineering. This course examines the fundamentals and applications of tissue engineering, tissue culturing and growth, and transplantation and rejection repression.

BME 6530. NMR and MRI Methods in Biology and Medicine (3). Prerequisite: Doctoral candidate in biomedical engineering. This course investigates MR imaging methods, spin echo methods, Bloch equations, proton diffusion, imaging, and microimaging NMR spectrometers in research.

BME 6938r. Special Topics in Biomedical Engineering (3). Prerequisites: doctoral standing in biomedical engineering and consent of instructor. Detailed study of some topic of special interest to biomedical engineers. May be repeated to a maximum of six (6) semester hours with different topics. May be repeated in same semester.

BME 6980r. Dissertation (1–9). Prerequisite: doctoral standing in biomedical engineering. Research on the dissertation topic. May be repeated as often as approved by the supervisory committee. May be repeated to a maximum of twenty-four (24) semester hours.

BME 8965r. Doctoral Qualifying Exam (0). (P/F grade only.) Prerequisite: doctoral standing in biomedical engineering. All doctoral students must enroll in this course the semester they intend to take the qualifying exam.

BME 8976. Thesis Defense (0). (P/F grade only.) Prerequisite: consent of instructor. All students must register for this course for the term during which they intend to defend their thesis.

BME 8985. Dissertation Defense (0). (P/F grade only.) Prerequisites: doctoral standing in biomedical engineering and consent of instructor. This course must be included in the final semester schedule for all doctoral students.

Chemical Engineering

ECH 5052. Research Methods in Chemical Engineering (3). Prerequisites: chemical engineering. Course for first-term graduate students includes instruction in the performance of scientific research, including problem definition, literature review, project proposal development, laboratory and computational research, oral presentations, technical report writing, and professional conduct.

ECH 5126. Advanced Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics I (3). Prerequisite: ECH 3101 or equivalent. Presents the fundamental aspects of classical thermodynamics, and its application to multicomponent, multiphase, and chemically reacting systems. Introduction to the thermodynamics of irreversible processes and statistical mechanics.

ECH 5261. Advanced Transport Phenomena I (3). Prerequisite: ECH 5842 or permission of instructor. Development of the fundamental aspects of continuum mechanics in order to describe the transport of momentum, energy, and mass. The basic equations of fluid mechanics are developed, and a number of applications to chemical engineering problems are considered. Also emphasizes boundary conditions at phase interfaces, and derivation of the point and macroscopic balance equations for these transport processes.

ECH 5262 Advanced Transport Phenomena II (3). Prerequisite: ECH 5261. Rigorous analysis of transport phenomena at the micro- and macroscopic scales in systems with mixtures of several components and featuring more than one phase. Boundary layer flows, mixing effects, transport in porous and structured media, transport processes at interfaces.

ECH 5526. Advanced Reactor Design (3). Prerequisite: ECH 4504. A study of catalytic and noncatalytic reactor design for homogeneous and heterogeneous systems. Includes non-ideal flow and mixing, including distribution functions and modeling.

ECH 5626. Chemical Process Optimization (3). Prerequisite: ECH 4323 or equivalent. This course examines the development of techniques for unconstrained minimization of multivarate functions. Numerical techniques include steepest descent, Newton's Methods, Quasi-Newton's Methods, and conjugate-gradient methods. Topics include introduction to linear and nonlinear programming, simplex method, duality in linear programming, Lagrange multiplier method, Kuhn-Tucker theorems, penalty function and augmented Lagrangian methods.

ECH 5828. Introduction to Polymer Science and Engineering (3). Corequisites: ECH 5126, 5526. This course explores the classification and characterization of polymeric systems. Topics include the introduction to the physical chemistry, synthesis and reaction kinetics, reaction engineering, characterization, and the processing and properties of polymeric systems.

ECH 5840. Advanced Chemical Engineering Mathematics I (3). Prerequisite: ECH 4403, MAP 3305. This course is an introduction at the graduate level to the mathematical formulation and solution of chemical engineering problems involving transport phenomena and reaction. Course includes dimensional analysis and scaling, linear algebraic, ordinary, and partial differential equations, vector and tensor analysis, Fouier series, Integral (Fouier and Laplace) transforms, boundary value problems.

ECH 5841. Advanced Chemical Engineering Mathmatics II (3). Prerequisite: ECH5840. Advanced mathematical techniques for chemical engineering applications presented within a unified framework of operator-theoretic methods. Green's functions solution of partial differential equations, regular and singular perturbation techniques, boundary value problems, and boundary-element and finite-element techniques.

ECH 5852. Advanced Chemical Engineering Computations (3). Prerequisites: ECH 5841. Presentation of the central concepts of practical numerical analysis techniques and their application to chemical engineering problems. Includes interpoation and approximation theory, solution of linear and nonlinear systems, solution of ordinary differential and partial differential equations, single step and multi-step methods, stiff systems, and two-point boundary problems.

ECH 5905r. Directed Individual Study (1–3). Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Detailed examination of some topic in chemical engineering. Conducted on a personal basis with the instructor. May be repeated with different topics. Only three (3) semester hours may be used toward the MS degree.

ECH 5910. Supervised Research (3). (S/U grade only.) Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Performance of research project required for the nonthesis MS degree.

ECH 5934r. Special Topics in Chemical Engineering (3). Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Detailed study of some topic of special interest to chemical engineers. Typical topics might include: aerosol mechanics, polymer processing, combustion, bioseparations, fluidization. May be repeated to a maximum of six (6) semester hours with different topics. May be repeated in the same semester.

ECH 5935r. Chemical Engineering Seminar (0). (S/U grade only.) Presentations by faculty, students, and visiting scientists. Full-time graduate students must enroll each term.

ECH 5971r. Thesis (1–12). (S/U grade only.) Performance of research and preparation of master's. May be repeated as often as approved by the department. Only six (6) hours can be counted toward degree requirements. A minimum of six (6) semester hours is required.

ECH 6272. Molecular Transport Phenomena (3). Prerequisite: Graduate standing. Theory of transport phenomena from a molecular viewpoint. Classical concepts from statistical mechanics and derivation of the Boltzmann equation. The transport theory and properties of dilute gases are developed from the Boltzmann equation, with a more general treatment given for the case of liquids. A brief introduction to time correlation functions is presented.

ECH 6980r. Dissertation (1–24). (S/U grade only.) Prerequisite: Doctoral candidate status. Research on the dissertation topic. May be repeated as often as approved by the supervisory committee. A maximum of twenty-four (24) hours can be applied to the doctoral degree.

ECH 8965r. Doctoral Preliminary Exam (0). (P/F grade only.) All doctoral students must enroll in this course the semester they intend to take the qualifying exam.

ECH 8976. Thesis Defense (0). (P/F grade only.) Prerequisites: ECH 5126, 5261, 5842; Corequisite: ECH 5971r. All students must register for this course for the term in which they intend to defend their thesis.

ECH 8985. Dissertation Defense (0). (P/F grade only.) Corequisite: ECH 6980r. Must be included in the final semester schedule for all doctoral students.