Courses

Additional information is available on the Office of the Registrar’s website. Course schedules for current and upcoming semesters can also be found below.

Advanced topics in chemical engineering to meet the needs and interests of graduate students.

This course deals with the analysis and medication of metabolic pathways. It provides an integration and quantification approach towards metabolism and cell physiology. Areas that will be covered in this course include a review of cellular metabolism, comprehensive models for cellular reactions, regulation of metabolic pathways, examples of pathway manipulations (metabolic engineering in practice), metabolic flux analysis and metabolic control analysis. Some concepts of bioinformatics in a way that relate with cell metabolism studies, will also be introduced.

Introduction to the principles of transport phenomena, particularly fluid mechanics. Fully developed laminar flows. Navier-Stokes equations derived from the point of view of momentum transport. Boundary layer concepts and assumptions discussed and applied to specific configurations. Creeping flows in relation to specific applications. Mathematical techniques, including orthogonal function expansions and similarity-type solutions. Buoyancy-driven flows. Applications in reverse osmosis, crystallization, and chromatography. Asymptotic solutions valid for high Prandtl and Schmidt numbers. Phenomenological theories of turbulence. Free surface and conduit flows.

This course is intended to provide graduate students with both fundamental and applied knowledge in the discipline of catalysis. Fundamental concepts and methodologies relevant to preparation, characterization, and evaluation of heterogeneous catalysts; the "art" of blending various techniques to arrive at the microscopic (atomic level) characterization of a particular solid material; to relate this characterization to catalytic activity. 

This is an advanced bioengineering course designed to teach engineering graduate students fundamental concepts that will assist them to transition from traditional engineering based education to bioengineering research. To achieve this goal, the class seeks to educate the students on fundamental as well as practical knowledge that are directly relevant to the type of research that is conducted in bioengineering laboratories.

The field of nanosensors is one of the most diverse areas of research. This interdisciplinary course will focus on the fundamental physical, chemical, and biological principles underpinning the sensing mechanisms, interpreting the results, and designing /choosing sensor combinations that can overcome the limitations imposed by sensing conditions. Lectures will focus on fundamentals, as well as on applied science/engineering. 

This course is for graduate students in Engineering, Physics, and Chemistry who are interested in sustainable renewable energy and environmental technology. Development of such cutting-edge technologies heavily relies on understanding of electrochemical principles associated with charge/mass transfer during the reactions. This course will start with fundamental thermodynamics and kinetics of electrochemical reactions, followed by systematical descriptions of energy conversion and storage associated electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and battery principles. The targeted technologies, such as solar cells, fuel cells, batteries, and supercapacitors will be introduced. Also, a special emphasis in this course is on environmental electrochemistry, which will cover the latest electrochemical technologies waste treatments, clean synthesis, and electrochemical sensors.

Molecular Imaging is a rapidly expanding, interdisciplinary subject which focuses on quantitative imaging molecular events in living subjects by visualizing disease and by the engineering of new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. This course will introduce senior undergraduate/beginning graduate students to this field. We will cover how bio-molecular systems are designed, and how principles of transport/pharmacokinetics, thermodynamics, and kinetics govern the generation of an in vivo imaging signal. We will also cover the physics of instrumentation including (optical (fluorescence, bioluminescence, absorption, scattering), radionuclide, magnetic, acoustic, photoacoustic etc.), and review applications of these tools for understanding the molecular basis of diseases, developing new drugs, and monitoring new therapies. For chemical or biological engineering students, imaging techniques are becoming more prevalent in industry, and there has been an explosion of new techniques. In this senior level/graduate course, we review fundamental aspects of chemical engineering , biomedical optics and radiology, physics, applied chemistry, and applied biology are taught in an integrated manner. Students learn how to read, analyze, and interpret the molecular imaging literature as well as how to analyze a "molecular image." Further, students learn how to apply chemical and biological engineering principles to design molecular probes and reporter genes that probe biological systems in living tissues. Finally, students learn the basic design and function of various instrumentation used in molecular imaging, and how molecular imaging products are generated and used for the clinical care of patients. 

Brief review of classical equilibrium thermodynamics based on the second law. Statistical concepts helpful in calculating properties of mixtures. Calculations of phase equilibria in binary and multi-component systems using modern approaches based on molecular thermodynamics.

The rather traditional title ‘Colloid and Surface Phenomena’ encompasses core concepts and issues in contemporary nanotechnology. Colloid science is concerned with particles in the nanometer to micrometer range, from inorganic particles, to organic particles, to macromolecules, to finely subdivided multiphase systems. The course introduces fundamentals of interaction forces in interfacial systems, surface, interfacial tensions and free energies, colloidal stability, association colloids: micelles, bilayers, microemulsions, and the repercussions of such fundamentals on interfacial phenomena, complex fluids, and soft matter. The course also covers special topics in nano/bio technology (supramolecules; nanoparticles; nanocoatings; carbon nanotubes; nanomachines and nanodevices; biomineralization; nanomedicine), as well as diverse colloid/‘nano’ applications and developments (in pharmaceutical, food, pulp and paper industry, home and personal care products, imaging technology, oil/gas extraction, environmental protection, etc.) 

Applications of principles of surface chemistry. Chemisorption and catalysis. Detergency. Emulsion. Flotation. Kinetics of coagulation processes. Colloidal methods of studying the molecular weight and shape of polymer molecules and other particles. Polymer adsorption. Cell membrane structure. Adhesion. Environmental applications.

This course will provide students with an understanding of the methods, capabilities, and limitations of molecular modeling. It will consist of the following topics: theory, methods, and hands-on application of molecular simulation. Elementary statistical mechanics, overview of molecular modeling approaches, basic probability and statistical analysis. Students will work in a sample system using high performance computing (HPC) cluster resources and present their findings at the end of the semester. Prior experience with advanced calculus and thermodynamics is advised.

Mathematical and computational techniques of particular interest to chemical engineers. Essential multivariable calculus and coordinate systems. Legendre transforms. Analytical solution of nth-order linear ODEs. Matrix eigenvalue problems, analytical solution of systems of 1st-order linear ODEs, stability of equilibria. Fourier series, method of separation of variables for solving linear elliptic and parabolic PDEs. Programming with Matlab. Numerical solution of systems of nonlinear 1st-order ODEs, as well as linear elliptic, quasilinear parabolic and other PDEs. Applications to model problems describing diagnostic flow cells and controlled drug release.

This course is a fundamental introduction of materials science and engineering. The objective of this course is to introduce the students to the processing, structure, properties, and performance of solid materials including metals, ceramics, polymers and their composites, which students need to understand and exploit in regard to chemical processing and industrial equipment. The correlations of material synthesis, process, structures, and properties will be emphasized to provide insight into rational designs and synthesis of new materials.

Polymer Science and Engineering I is an introductory course on polymers. With the current global annual production of over 400 million tons, polymers are one of the most important materials, with broad applications in everyday life as well as in nearly every industry. CE535 will cover fundamental aspects of polymer chemistry and polymer physics. It focuses on the synthetic methods and structure-property relationship of polymers.

This course covers the fundamental principles of material science and engineering for graduate level students as they apply to basic chemical and biological engineering systems. Four topics will be discussed in-depth, including materials structure, thermodynamics, kinetics and properties. Materials structure includes chemical bonding, crystals and imperfections; materials thermodynamics include phase diagram and transformation; kinetics includes diffusion and solid-state chemical reactions. Electrical, optical and magnetic properties will be discussed in conjunction with applications that rely on these properties and corresponding characterization techniques. This course will cover major material systems (metals, ceramics, polymers and composites) and provides example of structure/property relationship. The use of computational simulation for materials research will be introduced.

Introduction to Six Sigma statistical methodology for identifying critical process variables that affect process operability. Emphasis will be on how to define and quantify the process goal and methods to determine the proper variables to affect continuous positive improvement on a chemical process.

This is a course on biotechnology and the use of genetic engineering methods for protein production in pharmaceutical settings. The course will cover basic biochemistry and microbiology fundamentals including microorgansims and biological molecules; structure-function relationships among macromolecules; molecular genetics; protein synthesis and genetic engineering. The course will also cover aspects related to enzyme catalysis, cell growth and bioreactor design. This includes the principles of enzyme catalysis and enzyme-substrate reactions; enzyme inhibition and modification methods; enzyme immobilization and the relative contributions of mass transfer and enzyme kinetics; stoichiometry and energetics of microbial growth; structured and unstructured biochemical models; bioreactor design and bioseparations.

This course discusses the fundamentals of protein structure and how protein structure dictates function. The students learn various experimental techniques used to analyze proteins as well as the strategies used to engineer novel proteins, including knowledge-based design and directed evolution. Literature examples are presented to illustrate the process of protein engineering and how engineered proteins are used to solve problems in biotechnology and medicine.

Computer-aided research has become vitally important in all facets of both the academic setting and industrial workplace. This course introduces a selection of valuable tools and techniques in this modern domain with a focus on practical, hands-on skill-building. The course covers four principal areas (all in the context of chemical, biological, materials, or engineering problems):  1. Scientific scripting and computing (in particular Python and its various modules); 2. Applied data analysis and mining (including materials informatics, cheminformatics); 3. Molecular and materials modeling, computational chemistry; 4. Visualization of data and results.

Petroleum engineering encompasses activities related to the production of hydrocarbons (crude oil and natural gas), ranging from exploration and drilling, to well completion and production, to processing and transportation of hydrocarbon products. This course introduces key terminology and concepts from petrophysics, drilling, production and reservoir engineering that are needed to understand oil and gas production. Topics covered include: properties of reservoir fluids and rock; petroleum geology; well drilling, logging, and completion; enhanced oil recovery; upstream facilities; production and reservoir performance; midstream and downstream operations; and flow assurance. The course places oil and gas production in the global energy context, and discusses economics, environmental and regulatory issues.

This course introduces concepts and techniques related to the creation and use of mathematical models in the biomanufacturing of chemical and pharmaceutical products. Students will learn various modeling paradigms that are commonly used to describe cellular processes across different length and time scales, as well as tools for model identification, parameter estimation and systems analysis, and their applications to bioprocesses. The concepts learned in the course will be put into practice through a semester-long modeling group project. 

Aerosols, dispersions of nano- and micro-particles in gases, play important roles from the nanoscale, where aerosol processes are used to produce new nanomaterials, to global scales where they play important roles in weather and climate. This course will provide students with an introduction to aerosol science and technology at a senior undergraduate/beginning graduate level. It will provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to understand and predict the production, transport, and other behavior of aerosols and will introduce them to technologies for producing, measuring, and collecting them. It provides a solid foundation for understanding aerosols in contexts ranging from advanced materials to atmospheric chemistry and physics.

Applications of chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, and transport phenomena to the design of chemical reactors. More practical than theoretical.

In this course we discuss the following topics: (i) the basic scientific principles enabling the field of tissue engineering (cell culture, biology of extracellular matrix molecules, elements of immune reaction to transplants); (ii) engineering fundamentals (biomaterials/scaffolds for tissue growth, engineering the microenvironment for optimal cell organization and function; technologies for spatio-temporal control of cell/tissue organization); (iii) methods for genetic manipulation of cells; and (iv) specific examples of bioengineered tissues including skin, blood vessels, bone and others.

Graduate students are required to attend weekly seminars presented by distinguished speakers from academia and industry.

The first semester of a two-semester course sequence that will introduce students to the fundamental concepts of scientific computing, with particular attention given to algorithms that are well-suited to high performance computer architectures. The first semester will concentrate on computational linear algebra, including iterative and direct methods for solving linear systems and for eigenvalue problems, and the use of BLAS and other public domain libraries. This course is equivalent to CDA 609, CE620, CSE 547, MAE 609, MTH 667, and PHY 515.

This course will be a continuation of HPC I, with a more in-depth look at key aspects of high performance parallel computing in large scale computation-intensive applications. The focus will be on algorithms, computational cost, parallelization, scalability, and performance. It is expected that students will have completed HPC I or will have a working knowledge of the topics covered in HPC I, including good command of at least one standard high-level programming language (e.g. Fortran, or C, or Python) as well as message passing software MPI and OpenMP.

This is a two-semester course that aims at training doctoral graduate students in the methodologies and practices used in chemical engineering research. Students learn the techniques for formulating, developing and completing an original research problem in their respective fields of interest. The course material covers development of new research ideas, literature search to identify the state of the art in the specific field, connectivity and cross-fertilization of ideas, multidisciplinary research, as well as instruction on the most popular experimental, theoretical and computational techniques used in chemical engineering research. Students will work on individual research projects developed during the first semester of the course. The second semester will focus on obtaining preliminary original results. Evaluation of student performance will be based on progress reports and a final report. Oral defense of the final reports in front of a committee of graduate faculty is required.