Why Study Chemical Engineering at WPI?

WPI is distinctive among national universities due to its intimate size and clear focus on engineering and science. The students who come to WPI have this interest in common and are academically accomplished. WPI provides an environment where they can grow, not only in their chosen technical discipline, but also personally, with a keen awareness of the global and social consequences of technology and the insepararbility of technology and humanities. The students get involved in many activities outside the classroom such as athletics, music, community service, student government, and clubs to prepare themselves for life. The education is indeed true to the WPI motto: The University of Science and Technology. And Life.®

The Department of Chemical Engineering at WPI provides individual attention to students in small classes, all of which are taught by faculty who are well-respected scholars and world leaders in their academic fields, and are devoted to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge. We firmly believe that teaching and scholarship go hand-in-hand. Unlike many leading universities, teaching is our central mission. Our dedicated faculty engage students intellectually and nurture their academic independence during the three projects that are the hallmark of a WPI education. In addition, the faculty welcome students interested in doing independent research in their laboratories alongside of graduate students. Our student body and faculty are diverse, with roughly 30% of chemical engineering majors being women. The 7-week term, another hallmark of education at WPI, allows you to focus on fewer courses at a time, and also allows for remarkable flexibility, including working off-campus and at project sites around the world. Learn more about the unique aspects of a WPI education...

The Undergraduate Program

The undergraduate program in chemical engineering at WPI is unique. Unlike typical programs, you won't have to wait until the sophomore year to begin to learn about what chemical engineers do. The freshman course CHE 1011 Introduction to Chemical Engineering, offered every year in B-term, provides student with an overview of the discipline and an introduction of the basic principles within a couple of months of arriving on campus. This introduction will also assist you in designing your own course of study based on your individual interests. This is followed by an integrated sophomore year curriculum, where a series of interrelated courses on chemical processes, material and energy balance, thermodynamics, and separation processes are team-taught by a team of four faculty. This unique "spiral curriculum," revisits all the subjects each term at increasing levels of sophistication. We believe this departure from traditional compartmentalized courses results in improved retention and learning by breaking down the barriers between individual courses. The junior level courses provide advanced training in the transport and kinetic sequence. The senior year provides opportunities to integrate the knowledge gained so far in a cap-stone design sequence, the sequence of Unit Operations Laboratory courses, as well as the major project described below.

The Projects

Before graduation, every WPI undergraduate completes three major projects; the Humanities and Arts Project (Sufficiency), the Interactive Project (IQP), and the Major Project (MQP). Our discussion will focus on the MQP, which is completed in the student's major area of study.

The MQP is a practical application of chemical engineering principles to a real world problem. It should demonstrate application of the skills, methods, and knowledge of the discipline to solve a problem representative of the type encountered at the professional level. Thus, it is a usually accomplished over the course of a student's senior year. Each project team, made up of one to four (usually three) students, works closely with one or more faculty advisors. Projects can be done on-campus in a professor's research laboratory or off-campus a government lab (e.g., NASA Lewis, OH) or in collaboration with an industrial partner (e.g., Gallo Winery, CA). Some are even done abroad (e.g., Nancy, France). They may be student-initiated, faculty-initiated, or industrial partner-initiated. MQP activities encompass research, development, application, and design; involve analysis or synthesis; are experimental or theoretical; emphasize a particular concentration in a major or combine aspects of several sub-areas. Students attack a problem, formulate a solution strategy, seek a solution, and deliver both oral and written reports on their results. In addition to being a challenging and fun activity, the MQP is great preparation for life in the real world after graduation whether you go straight to a rewarding job or you continue on to graduate school.

Some titles of recently completed MQPs in the Chemical Engineering Department are listed below and reflect the breadth of projects:

The Facilities

The WPI Chemical Engineering Department is housed primarily in Goddard Hall, which it shares with the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. The department has first rate teaching and research facilities including:

In addition, our students have access to a completely networked campus, numerous computer laboratories, computer class rooms, and other specialized research equipment on the WPI campus.

The Concentrations

The Chemical Engineering Department at WPI strives to develop each student with an extensive background in the fundamentals of chemical engineering. That way they can apply themselves to a broad range of challenges and opportunities that might arise in their careers. At the same time, we provide students with the opportunity to concentrate their elective courses and their projects in one of four sub-areas of chemical engineering. The students can obtain an added distinction on their final transcript that by earning a Concentration in one of the following areas: Environmental, Biochemical, Biomedical, or Materials. In addition, there are opprotunities for obtaining a Minor in another discipline, e.g., chemistry, or biology and biotechnology. It is possible to do a concentration or a minor within four years, although it requires some careful planning.

The Students

The strongest part of our program is our students. Although the chemical engineering student population at WPI varies, on the average we have roughly 200 undergraduate students in our department; about 50 students in each year - freshman through senior. For the most part, they are just like you: students who did well in high school math and science and wanted to be involved in an exciting, challenging, and rewarding career that benefits society. Most will take jobs in industry following graduation, but some will go to graduate school in chemical engineering or other fields or to professional schools like law, medicine, or business. The student body is diverse, with roughly 30% women.

The Faculty

In addition to being accomplished and dedicated teachers and MQP advisors, the faculty members in the WPI Chemical Engineering Department are all involved in exciting research areas. In fact, many of the MQP opportunities for our students arise out of the faculty's governmentally or industrially supported research projects. Please visit the individual faculty web pages to learn of their credentials, research interests, and other activities.

What Will You Learn?

The main thing you will learn is how to solve problems. You will learn how to analyze and design a process from start to finish. This approach has made chemical engineers valuable as production and plant managers since they can see the big picture better than most other engineers. You will also learn how to work effectively in teams, tackle and complete projects, and communicate effectively. You will learn about chemical products, processes, and equipment, but we don't stress any particular ones. The idea is to emphasize the fundamentals of chemical engineering so that they may be applied to any products, processes, and equipment that you encounter in the future. You will also learn how engineers function in a global/societal context.

The Curriculum

WPI has an atypical academic calendar consisting of five seven-week terms in a year; four during the regular academic year and an optional fifth one during the summer. Normally students take three courses or activities during each of the four terms and complete their studies in four years. During their freshman year, our students study chemistry, physics, calculus, and humanities or social science electives in addition to CHE 1011 Introduction to Chemical Engineering. In their sophomore year, in addition to the sequence of chemical engineering courses in Material and Energy Balance, Thermodynamics, and Separation Processes, they normally take physical chemistry, organic chemistry, differential equations, and more humanities and social science courses. During their junior year, students usually take the transport and kinetic sequence, other engineering electives and complete a three-course-equivalent "interactive qualifying project" relating science and technology to society in addition to completing the transport and reactor design courses shown in the table. Students take elective courses in other engineering disciplines and/or our concentration areas of environmental engineering, biochemical engineering, biomedical engineering, or material science. During their senior year, all of our students complete a three-course-equivalent "major qualifying project" in addition to the unit operations, capstone design, and process dynamics and control courses.

The Alumni

The department has 2,200 living alumni, the vast majority of whom have gone on to very successful careers in the chemical industry and elsewhere. Many of our graduates have had distinguished careers including three recent CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.

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Last modified: December 11, 2007 15:16:45