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Chemical engineering students take several chemistry, physics, and mathematics courses during the first (freshman) and second (sophomore) years. 3.3.4.1 Chemistry Courses Most engineering students in other disciplines take perhaps one course in chemistry, typically in the first semester of the first (freshman) year. Chemical engineering students take a significantly larger number of chemistry courses. The…

Most chemical engineering programs require students to take a course in computer science, typically a course in a programming language. Historically, most engineers studied FORTRAN programming, but the emphasis has shifted to other newer languages and software in recent years. Students generally take a course in programming languages such as Visual Basic, C/C++, MATLAB, or…

Chemical engineering students also typically are exposed to the concepts related to civil engineering and electrical engineering through courses such as Engineering Statics and Electrical Circuits. The students learn about force balance on rigid bodies, equilibrium, strength of materials and structures, and so on, in the Engineering Statics course. Students learn how to analyze trusses and frames and…

As mentioned previously, thermodynamics is the branch of science that deals with the interconversion of energy and work. Engineers, at a very basic level, are individuals who deal with engines—machinery and processes—to obtain useful work for the benefit of the society. This work is obtained at the expense of energy, and engineers need to have fundamental understanding of…

Piping is the most ubiquitous feature of a chemical plant. Chemical processes typically involve large material flows, and it is essential for a student to understand the physical phenomena occurring in fluid systems. The Fluid Mechanics course teaches the students the application of conservation of mass and energy principles to fluid systems. The two components of Fluid Mechanics…

The second (sophomore) year of the curriculum also features the engineering science courses that are common to nearly all engineering disciplines. Principles and concepts learned in these courses serve as prerequisites for higher-level engineering courses. A chemical engineering student also gains an exposure to other engineering disciplines and is in a position to interface with…

A course in engineering thermodynamics is required of students in all engineering disciplines. In addition, chemical engineering students take, generally in the first semester of the third (junior) year, a specialized thermodynamics course called Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is the engineering science that deals with the interconversion between work and energy. The concept of equilibrium…

Scheduled in the second year of the program, this course is possibly the most important course in the chemical engineering curriculum. The title of course is generally Material and Energy Balance, but it may sometimes be called Chemical Engineering Principles, Introduction to Chemical Processes, or a variation thereof. Simply put, the course is aimed at teaching the students…

The foundation for the advanced chemical engineering courses is laid in the second and third (sophomore and junior) years of the program through two fundamental chemical engineering courses: Material and Energy Balance and Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics. Both these courses are described in the following sections.

As mentioned earlier, a capstone design project in the final year of the program completes the formal education of a chemical engineer. This is accomplished at the University of Idaho through a two-semester sequence of courses called Process Analysis and Design I and II. Typically, a student is assigned a comprehensive project that requires him/her to apply the concepts…