Chemical Engineering (BS): Biomolecular Concentration
To see more about what you will learn in this program, visit the Learning Outcomes website!
The Biomolecular Concentration emphasizes hands-on laboratory molecular biology skills that are highly relevant to pharmaceutical, medical, engineering, and agricultural fields. Students completing this concentration also fulfill the requirements for a Minor in Biotechnology.
Plan Requirements
First Year | ||
---|---|---|
Fall Semester | Hours | |
CH 101 or CH 103 | Chemistry - A Molecular Science 1 or General Chemistry I for Students in Chemical Sciences | 3 |
CH 102 or CH 104 | General Chemistry Laboratory 1 or General Chemistry Laboratory I for Students in Chemical Sciences | 1 |
E 101 | Introduction to Engineering & Problem Solving 2 | 1 |
E 115 | Introduction to Computing Environments | 1 |
MA 141 | Calculus I 1 | 4 |
ENG 101 | Academic Writing and Research 2 | 4 |
Hours | 14 | |
Spring Semester | ||
CH 201 or CH 203 | Chemistry - A Quantitative Science 2 or General Chemistry II for Students in Chemical Sciences | 3 |
CH 202 or CH 204 | Quantitative Chemistry Laboratory 2 or General Chemistry Laboratory II for Students in Chemical Sciences | 1 |
MA 241 | Calculus II 1 | 4 |
PY 205 & PY 206 | Physics for Engineers and Scientists I and Physics for Engineers and Scientists I Laboratory 1 | 4 |
Select one of the following Economics Courses: | 3 | |
Introduction to Agricultural & Resource Economics | ||
Introduction to Agricultural & Resource Economics | ||
Principles of Microeconomics | ||
Fundamentals of Economics | ||
E 102 | Engineering in the 21st Century | 2 |
Hours | 17 | |
Second Year | ||
Fall Semester | ||
CH 221 or CH 225 | Organic Chemistry I 2 or Organic Chemistry I for Students in Chemical Sciences | 3 |
CH 222 or CH 226 | Organic Chemistry I Lab 2 or Organic Chemistry Laboratory I for Students in Chemical Sciences | 1 |
CHE 205 | Chemical Process Principles 2 | 4 |
MA 242 | Calculus III 2 | 4 |
PY 208 & PY 209 | Physics for Engineers and Scientists II and Physics for Engineers and Scientists II Laboratory | 4 |
Hours | 16 | |
Spring Semester | ||
CH 223 or CH 227 | Organic Chemistry II or Organic Chemistry II for Students in Chemical Sciences | 3 |
CH 224 or CH 228 | Organic Chemistry II Lab or Organic Chemistry Laboratory II for Students in Chemical Sciences | 1 |
CHE 225 | Introduction to Chemical Engineering Analysis 2 | 3 |
MA 341 | Applied Differential Equations I 2 | 3 |
BIO 183 | Introductory Biology: Cellular and Molecular Biology | 4 |
Hours | 14 | |
Third Year | ||
Fall Semester | ||
BCH 451 | Principles of Biochemistry | 4 |
CHE 311 | Transport Processes I 2 | 3 |
CHE 315 | Chemical Process Thermodynamics 2 | 3 |
BIT 410 | Manipulation of Recombinant DNA | 4 |
CHE 395 | Professional Development Seminar | 1 |
Hours | 15 | |
Spring Semester | ||
BIT Laboratory Modules | 4 | |
CHE 312 | Transport Processes II | 3 |
CHE 316 | Thermodynamics of Chemical and Phase Equilibria | 3 |
CHE 330 | Chemical Engineering Lab I | 4 |
Hours | 14 | |
Fourth Year | ||
Fall Semester | ||
CHE 446 | Design and Analysis of Chemical Reactors | 3 |
CHE 450 | Chemical Engineering Design I | 3 |
Biotech Minor Group E Elective | 3 | |
CHE 497 | Chemical Engineering Projects I | 3 |
Hours | 12 | |
Spring Semester | ||
CHE 435 | Process Systems Analysis and Control | 3 |
CHE 448 | Bioreactor Design | 2 |
CHE 451 | Chemical Engineering Design II | 3 |
CHE 452 | Biomolecular Engineering | 2 |
Technical Elective | 2 | |
Hours | 12 | |
Total Hours | 114 |
- 1
A grade of C or higher is required.
- 2
A grade of C- or higher is required.
Code | Title | Hours | Counts towards |
---|---|---|---|
GEP Courses | |||
GEP Humanities | 6 | ||
GEP Social Sciences | 3 | ||
GEP Health and Exercise Studies | 2 | ||
GEP US Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | 3 | ||
GEP Global Knowledge (verify requirement) | |||
Foreign Language Proficiency (verify requirement) | |||
Total Hours | 14 |
BIT Lab Modules
Code | Title | Hours | Counts towards |
---|---|---|---|
BEC 463/563/CHE 463/563 | Fermentation of Recombinant Microorganisms | 2 | |
BIT 462/562 | 2 | ||
BIT 464/564 | Protein Purification | 2 | |
BIT 465/565 | Real-time PCR Techniques | 2 | |
BIT 466/566/PO 466/566 | Animal Cell Culture Techniques | 2 | |
BIT 467/567 | PCR and DNA Fingerprinting | 2 | |
BIT 468/568 | 2 | ||
BIT 471/571 | RNA Interference and Model Organisms | 2 | |
BIT 473/573 | Protein Interactions | 2 | |
BIT 474/574 | Plant Genetic Engineering | 2 | |
BIT 476 | Applied Bioinformatics | 2 | |
BIT 477/577 | Metagenomics | 2 | |
BIT 478/578 | 2 | ||
BIT 479/579 | High-Throughput Discovery | 2 | |
BIT 480/580 | Yeast Metabolic Engineering | 2 | |
BIT/PB 481 | Plant Tissue Culture and Transformation | 2 | |
BIT 492 | External Learning Experience | 1-6 | |
BIT 493 | Special Problems in Biotechnology | 1-6 | |
BIT 495 | Special Topics in Biotechnology | 1-3 | |
BIT/BIO/CH 572 | Proteomics | 3 |
Biotech Minor Group E Electives
Code | Title | Hours | Counts towards |
---|---|---|---|
IDS 201 | Environmental Ethics | 3 | |
IDS 303 | Humans and the Environment | 3 | |
NR 303 | Humans and the Environment | 3 | |
PHI 325 | Bio-Medical Ethics | 3 | |
STS 302 | Contemporary Science, Technology and Human Values | 3 | |
STS 304 | Ethical Dimensions of Progress | 3 | |
STS 325 | Bio-Medical Ethics | 3 |
Technical Electives
Code | Title | Hours | Counts towards |
---|---|---|---|
BBS 426/526/BEC 426/526 | Upstream Biomanufacturing Laboratory | 2 | |
BEC 330 | Principles and Applications of Bioseparations | 2 | |
BEC 462/562 | Fundamentals of Bio-Nanotechnology | 3 | |
BEC 463/563 | Fermentation of Recombinant Microorganisms | 2 | |
BEC 480/580 | cGMP Fermentation Operations | 2 | |
BEC 485/585 | cGMP Downstream Operations | 2 | |
BEC/CHE 488 | Animal Cell Culture Engineering | 2 | |
BIT 463/563 | Fermentation of Recombinant Microorganisms | 2 | |
BIT 464/564 | Protein Purification | 2 | |
BME 466/566 | Polymeric Biomaterials Engineering | 3 | |
CE 373 | Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering | 3 | |
CHE 462/562 | Fundamentals of Bio-Nanotechnology | 3 | |
CHE 463/563 | Fermentation of Recombinant Microorganisms | 2 | |
ECE 331 | Principles of Electrical Engineering | 3 | |
FS 426/526 | Upstream Biomanufacturing Laboratory | 2 | |
MSE 201 | Structure and Properties of Engineering Materials | 3 | |
NE 419 | Introduction to Nuclear Energy | 3 | |
PSE 425 | Bioenergy & Biomaterials Engineering | 3 | |
TE 466/566 | Polymeric Biomaterials Engineering | 3 |
Semester Sequence
This is a sample.
First Year | ||
---|---|---|
Fall Semester | Hours | |
CH 101 & CH 102 | Chemistry - A Molecular Science and General Chemistry Laboratory 1 | 4 |
E 101 | Introduction to Engineering & Problem Solving 1 | 1 |
E 115 | Introduction to Computing Environments | 1 |
ENG 101 | Academic Writing and Research 1 | 4 |
MA 141 | Calculus I 1 | 4 |
GEP Health and Exercise Studies | 1 | |
Hours | 15 | |
Spring Semester | ||
CH 201 & CH 202 | Chemistry - A Quantitative Science and Quantitative Chemistry Laboratory 2 | 4 |
MA 241 | Calculus II 1 | 4 |
PY 205 & PY 206 | Physics for Engineers and Scientists I and Physics for Engineers and Scientists I Laboratory 1 | 4 |
GEP Health and Exercise Studies | 1 | |
E 102 | Engineering in the 21st Century | 2 |
Hours | 15 | |
Second Year | ||
Fall Semester | ||
CH 221 & CH 222 | Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry I Lab | 4 |
CHE 205 | Chemical Process Principles 2 | 4 |
MA 242 | Calculus III 2 | 4 |
PY 208 & PY 209 | Physics for Engineers and Scientists II and Physics for Engineers and Scientists II Laboratory | 4 |
Hours | 16 | |
Spring Semester | ||
CH 223 & CH 224 | Organic Chemistry II and Organic Chemistry II Lab | 4 |
CHE 225 | Introduction to Chemical Engineering Analysis 2 | 3 |
MA 341 | Applied Differential Equations I 2 | 3 |
BIO 183 | Introductory Biology: Cellular and Molecular Biology | 4 |
GEP Requirement | 3 | |
Hours | 17 | |
Third Year | ||
Fall Semester | ||
BCH 451 | Principles of Biochemistry | 4 |
CHE 311 | Transport Processes I 2 | 3 |
CHE 315 | Chemical Process Thermodynamics 2 | 3 |
CHE 395 | Professional Development Seminar | 1 |
CHE 497 | Chemical Engineering Projects I | 3 |
BIT 410 | Manipulation of Recombinant DNA | 4 |
Hours | 18 | |
Spring Semester | ||
BIT Lab Modules | 4 | |
CHE 312 | Transport Processes II | 3 |
CHE 316 | Thermodynamics of Chemical and Phase Equilibria | 3 |
CHE 330 | Chemical Engineering Lab I | 4 |
GEP Requirement | 3 | |
Hours | 17 | |
Fourth Year | ||
Fall Semester | ||
CHE 446 | Design and Analysis of Chemical Reactors | 3 |
CHE 450 | Chemical Engineering Design I | 3 |
GEP Requirement | 3 | |
GEP Requirement | 3 | |
Biotech Minor Group E Elective | 3 | |
Hours | 15 | |
Spring Semester | ||
CHE 435 | Process Systems Analysis and Control | 3 |
CHE 451 | Chemical Engineering Design II | 3 |
CHE 452 | Biomolecular Engineering | 2 |
CHE 448 | Bioreactor Design | 2 |
Technical Elective | 2 | |
GEP Requirement | 3 | |
Hours | 15 | |
Total Hours | 128 |
- 1
A grade of C- or higher is required.
- 2
A grade of C or higher is required.
Career Opportunities
Careers in chemical engineering are sometimes exciting, always demanding, and ultimately provide a sense of accomplishment and achievement. Graduates find employment in sub-disciplines such as production, technical service, sales, management and administration; research and development; and consulting and teaching. Students desiring careers in teaching, research, or consulting are encouraged to continue their education and pursue a graduate degree (consult the Graduate Catalog). The undergraduate curriculum also provides strong preparation for graduate study in a wide range of professional specialties, and chemical engineering graduates often pursue careers in the medical sciences, business management, and law.