Undergraduate
Degree
Requirements
The B.S.Ch.E. program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012 – telephone: (410) 347-7700.
Grades
To earn the B.S.Ch.E. degree, a student must have a grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.00 for all university courses applicable to the degree. In addition, the GPA of all chemical engineering courses, based on the first time each course is taken, must be at least 2.00. The lowest passing grade at the University is 0.7.
The policy regarding Satisfactory/Not Satisfactory grading is: 1) Students may choose the S/NS grading option only for free elective courses; 2) Students may not take courses on an S/NS basis if they are on probation; 3) A maximum of 6 credits may be taken S/NS in any one quarter.
Course Requirements
The minimum number of credits required for a B.S.Ch.E degree is 180. The minimum credits required in each category are also shown. The University of Washington Course Catalog is available at http://www.washington.edu/students/crscat/.
Some courses cannot be counted toward degree requirements. Students should consult with the Department's undergraduate advisor to determine whether a particular course can be counted. Among those that cannot be counted are chemistry, mathematics, and physics courses at a lower level than those required by the Department.
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- Mathematics (24 credits minimum)
| MATH | 124 | (5 cr) | Calculus with Analytic Geometry I |
| 125 | (5) | Calculus with Analytic Geometry II | |
| 126 | (5) | Calculus with Analytic Geometry III | |
| 307 | (3) | Differential Equations (or AMATH 351) | |
| 308 | (3) | Linear Algebra (or AMATH 352) | |
| 309 | (3) | Linear Analysis (or AMATH 353) | |
MATH 390, STAT 390, or IND E 315 (statistics for engineers) may be substituted for MATH 309. |
| CHEM | 142 | (5 cr) | General Chemistry, with lab (or 145) |
| 152 | (5) | General Chemistry, with lab (or 155) | |
| 162 | (6) | General Chemistry, with lab (or 164) | |
| 237 | (4) | Organic Chemistry (or 223) | |
| 238 | (4) | Organic Chemistry (or 224) | |
| 455 | (3) | Physical Chemistry | |
| 457 | (3) | Physical Chemistry | |
| 461 | (3) | Physical Chemistry Laboratory | |
| (6) | Chemistry Electives
All chemistry courses that require at least one year of college-level chemistry meet this requirement. Courses in instrumental analysis (CHEM 426, 460, 463) are recommended. Other good options are BIOC 405, 406; CHEM 239, 241; CHEM E 455, 461, 467, 470, 477, 570; CEE 485; and ATM S 458. (Some courses count as either chemistry or engineering electives; credits from those courses may be split between the two categories if needed.) Up to five credits of advanced natural science may be substituted for advanced chemistry. |
| PHYS |
121
|
(5 cr) | Mechanics (and Lab) |
|
122
|
(5) | Electromagnetism and Oscillatory Motion (and Lab) | |
|
123
|
(5) | Waves (and Lab) |
| CSE |
142
|
(4 cr) | Computer Programming for Engineers (or any programming course approved by the Department) |
|
|
(9) | Engineering Electives | |
|
|
Click here to see the attached list of courses that count as Engineering Electives. Most courses from outside the College of Engineering do not count (except as noted on the attached list). No more than 9 credits of CHEM E 499 (Undergraduate Research) may be counted as engineering electives. In order to take CHEM E 499, students must have a GPA in chemical engineering courses of 3.00 or higher. (Some courses count as either chemistry or engineering electives; credits from those courses may be split between the two categories if needed.) |
| CHEM E | 260 | (4 cr) | Thermodynamics |
| 310 | (4) | Material and Energy Balances | |
| 326 | (4) | Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics | |
| 330 | (5) | Transport Processes I | |
| 340 | (4) | Transport Processes II | |
| 435 | (4) | Transport Processes III | |
| 436 | (3) | Chemical Engineering Laboratory I | |
| 437 | (3) | Chemical Engineering Laboratory II | |
| 465 | (4) | Reactor Design | |
| 480 | (4) | Process Dynamics and Control | |
| 485 | (4) | Process Design I | |
| 486 | (5) | Process Design II |
Click here to see the prerequisites for all CHEM E courses.
| ENGL | 131 | (5 cr) | Composition: Exposition (or any composition
course approved by the University) |
| T C | 231 | (3) | Intro. to Technical Writing |
| T C | 333 | (4) | Adv. Technical Writing |
| ENGL 182, ENGL 381, SP CMU 220 (Public Speaking), or SP CMU 320 may be substituted for T C 333. |
(Formerly Humanities and Social Sciences) (24 credits minimum)
Students must earn 24 credits in Visual, Literary, & Performing Arts (VLPA) (formerly called Humanities) and Individuals & Societies (I&S) (formerly called Social Sciences), with at least 10 credits in each area. Courses that meet the VLPA and I&S requirements are shown in the UW General Catalog (http://www.washington.edu/students/crscat/)
and in the quarterly Time Schedules (http://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/). For foreign language classes, only the third quarter (or higher) counts as VLPA. Please consult the departmental advisor if you have questions about which courses meet these requirements.
The total number of credits needed for graduation is 180. If students earn only the minimum number of credits in the above categories, they will need 5 additional (elective) credits. The electives may be used to pursue areas of interest outside chemical engineering, or to deepen professional training. Students are urged to include as many upper division courses as possible among the electives they choose.
Students may choose to complete an optional specialty area. They may take a sequence of related courses totaling at least 9 credits (as shown below). In each area, students may substitute a maximum of 3 credits of appropriate CHEM E 499 for any optional course in the area. Many courses that count for the specialty areas also count as engineering electives (compare the courses listed below with those on the attached engineering electives list). Careful planning is necessary for completing a specialty area because some courses are not taught every year and some courses have extensive prerequisites (some of which should be taken in the sophomore year).
Biotechnology
Two courses from the following:
CHEM E 355, 455, 458, 467, 554; BIOEN 420, 436, 440, 455, 457, 485,
490, 491, 492
And one course from the following:
BIOC 405, 406, 440, 441, 442; MICROM 301, 302, 402, 410, 411, 412
Computers Applied to Chemical Engineering
Three courses from the following:
CHEM E 475, 481, 482; CHEM 464, 465, 526; CSE 373, 410, 413, 415
of which at least one must be in CHEM E
Electronic Materials
Three courses from the following:
CHEM E 461; MSE 485, 486
Environmental Engineering
Three courses from the following:
CHEM E 341, 342, 445, 455, 462, 554, 567; ATM S 458; CEE 462, 482, 484,
485, 487, 488, 489, 490, 493, 494; ENVH 552, 553; MICROM 435; OCEAN 421
Fuel Cells and Energy
Three courses from the following:
CHEM E 341, 342, 345, 445, 446, 461; ME 430
Nuclear Chemical Engineering
Three courses from the following:
CHEM E 341, 342, 461, 462; CEE 350; ENVH 512Polymers, Composites, Colloids, and Interfaces
Three courses from the following:
CHEM E 450, 455, 458, 461, 490, 491, 554, 555, 556, 570, 571, 572; CHEM 471
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