Master of Science in Engineering (Chemical)

Advisor: James Springstead
Room A-222 Floyd Hall

The Master of Science in Engineering (Chemical) is designed to provide theoretical and laboratory experiences which are basic to the development of professional competence. A Thesis Option and a Non-thesis Option are available. While the program requirements for each option differ, the admission requirements for both options are identical.

For those students selecting the non-thesis option, a design experience (not an industrial internship experience) resulting in the student producing a major written report is required. This requirement is fulfilled by successfully completing CHEG 6500.

Thesis Option: 30 total credit hours are required for graduation. This includes 24 credits of coursework and six credits of research (CHEG 7000).
Non-Thesis Option: 33 total credit hours are required for graduation. All the credits are acquired through coursework, and will include CHEG 6500.

Students must have at least one-half of their earned credit hours to be used towards a graduate degree at the 6000 level or higher. Students are responsible for completing any needed prerequisites before taking a course for graduate credit. A maximum of six credit hours of graduate course credits may be transferred from another institution.

Admission Requirements

A Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering or a related discipline from an accredited college or university is required. If an applicant does not have sufficient background in Chemical Engineering, the applicant would need to minimally take or have taken prerequisite courses noted below, and depending on the area of focus, additional courses as determined by the department graduate committee in their case. Prospective graduate students must take the GRE general exam.

International students must successfully complete the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Acceptable scores will be according to the Western Michigan University standard for admission to a graduate-level program.

As noted above, prospective graduate students without a sufficient background in chemical engineering will at a minimum need to have completed or must complete while in the MS in Engineering (Chemical) degree program at WMU the following courses or their equivalent, with a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher:

CHEG 2960 - Material and Energy Balance Credits: 4 hours
CHEG 3110 - Unit Operations in Chemical Engineering I   Credits: 3 hours
CHEG 3120 - Unit Operations in Chemical Engineering II   Credits: 3 hours
CHEG 4100 - Chemical Reaction Engineering   Credits: 3 hours
MATH 3740 - Differential Equations and Linear Algebra   Credits: 4 hours

And either
CHEG 3200 - Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics Credits: 3 hours
OR
CHEM 4300 - Physical Chemistry I Credits: 3 hours

Core Courses

All Chemical Engineering graduate students must complete the Core courses:

CHEG 6100 - Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics Credits: 3 hours
CHEG 6200 - Advanced Transport Processes Credits: 3 hours
CHEG 6300 - Chemical Reaction Engineering Credits: 3 hours

In addition

To fulfill the mathematics requirement for the Core courses, students must select one of the following or an approved substitute course with graduate level mathematical content:

CHEG 6000 - Chemical Engineering Mathematics Credits: 3 hours
MATH 5740 - Advanced Differential Equations Credits: 3 hours
ME 5600 - Engineering Analysis Credits: 3 hours
ME 5610 - Finite Element Method Credits: 3 hours
ME 5620 - Application of Numerical Methods in Engineering Credits: 3 hours

Note:

Students, with permission of the departmental graduate committee, may replace one of the Core courses with an additional course from the list of Electives.

Elective Courses

Thesis option students will select a minimum of six credit hours of Electives from the list below. Non-thesis option students will select a minimum of nine credit hours of Elective courses (including CHEG 6500) from the list below.

CHEG 5100 - Medical and Biomolecular Engineering Concepts Credits: 3 hours
CHEG 5250 - Sustainable Earth Resources Engineering Credits: 3 hours
CHEG 5200 - Renewable Energy and Energy Storage Credits: 3 hours
CHEG 6400 - Pollution Prevention Engineering Credits: 3 hours
CHEG 6500 - Chemical Process Design and Analysis I Credits: 3 hours
CHEG 6510 - Chemical Process Design and Analysis II Credits: 3 hours
CHEG 6600 - Methods of Research and Engineering Communication Credits: 3 hours
CHEG 6950 - Graduate Topics in Chemical Engineering Credits: 3 hours
OR
ECE 6720 - Fuzzy Control Systems Credits: 3 hours

Cognate Courses

Depending on a student’s personal interests, and with permission of the department graduate committee, students will select six credit hours of academic courses (not internships) at the 5000 or 6000 level. These courses are intended to give a student necessary tools to succeed as a chemical engineering professional, and to broaden their academic background. Courses should be of a type that could be taken by any graduate student enrolled at WMU, and do not necessarily have to be scientific or engineering based. Examples of cognate courses are found below.

Any CS course at 5300 or higher level
Any MATH course at 5070 or higher level
Any STAT course at 5610 or higher level

OR
IEE 5160 - Design of Experiments and Regression Analysis Credits: 3 hours
PADM 6080 - Organization Theory and Behavior Credits: 3 hours
PHIL 5440 - Practical Ethics Credits: 3 hours
OR
PHIL 6320 - Theory of Knowledge Credits: 2 to 4 hours
EM 6140 - Project Management Credits: 3 hours