Paper Science and Engineering (BS): Dual Major
The Paper Science and Engineering curriculum prepares students for careers in the paper industry, which ranks as the fifth-largest manufacturing industry in the United States. Science, engineering, and mathematics form the basis for a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the fundamental aspects of materials science and engineering of these complex renewable materials. Students study the technology and engineering of wood pulping processes, chemical and energy recovery systems, and pulp bleaching. In addition, various papermaking operations, such as refining, sizing, coating, and drying are studied. These topics, along with the chemical and biological modification of wood, papermaking, and the physics of paper based materials form a fundamental set of core courses that all students in the curriculum take.
Two concentrations are available emphasizing the different engineering aspects of pulping and paper making. The Paper Science and Engineering concentration provides an extensive background in the pulp and paper manufacturing processes and elective credit hours for studies in chemistry, marketing, economics, management or other areas of interest to the student. Greater depth in general chemical engineering principles can be obtained from the Chemical Engineering Concentration. Students who have completed the Chemical Engineering Concentration in Paper Science and Engineering can, in cooperation with the College of Engineering and with an additional semester of study, earn a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering as a second degree.
Program Educational Objectives
Within a few years after graduation, alumni of the Paper Science & Engineering Program at NC State University will be:
- Effective engineers and leaders in the paper, chemical process, and related industries.
- Professionals who act in a safe and ethical manner.
- Learners who acquire, analyze, and apply new knowledge effectively.
Summer Internship
All Paper Science and Engineering majors are required to work one summer in a pulp or paper manufacturing facility. One hour of academic credit is granted after completion of 12 weeks of this work and presentation of an engineering report of professional quality. In addition, students are urged to work in manufacturing facilities the other two summers, as the work provides valuable practical experience. Departmental advisers assist students in locating summer jobs, which are found throughout the US and abroad.
Many Paper Science & Engineering students work at least one co-op rotation, in which they leave school for one semester and work in the industry. The resulting experience adds significantly to a student’s desirability upon graduation.
Accredited Program
The Paper Science and Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.
Regional Program
The Paper Science and Engineering curriculum is a regional program approved by the Southern Regional Education Board as the undergraduate program to serve the Southeast in this field.
Scholarships
Approximately 125 undergraduate academic scholarships worth approximately $380,000 are granted annually to new and continuing students by companies comprising the Pulp and Paper Advisory Board, and by alumni and supporters of the program.
Contact
Dr. M. V. Byrd
Director of Undergraduate Programs
919.515.5790
med_byrd@ncsu.edu
Plan Requirements
| First Year | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| CH 101 & CH 102 | Chemistry - A Molecular Science and General Chemistry Laboratory 1 | 4 |
| CH 201 & CH 202 | Chemistry - A Quantitative Science and Quantitative Chemistry Laboratory | 4 |
| E 101 | Introduction to Engineering & Problem Solving | 1 |
| E 115 | Introduction to Computing Environments | 1 |
| Acad Writing Research 2 | 4 | |
| MA 141 | Calculus I 1 | 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 |
| PSE 201 | Pulping and Papermaking Technology 1 | 3 |
| Economics Elective | 3 | |
| Hours | 32 | |
| Second Year | ||
| CH 221 & CH 222 | Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry I Lab | 4 |
| CH 223 & CH 224 | Organic Chemistry II and Organic Chemistry II Lab | 4 |
| CHE 205 | Chemical Process Principles 2 | 4 |
| CHE 225 | Introduction to Chemical Engineering Analysis 2 | 3 |
| MA 242 | Calculus III 2 | 4 |
| MA 341 | Applied Differential Equations I 2 | 3 |
| PY 208 & PY 209 | Physics for Engineers and Scientists II and Physics for Engineers and Scientists II Laboratory | 4 |
| PSE 212 | Paper Properties 2 | 4 |
| PSE 371 | Pulping Process Analysis 2 | 3 |
| Hours | 33 | |
| Third Year | ||
| CHE 315 | Chemical Process Thermodynamics 1 | 3 |
| CHE 311 | Transport Processes I 2 | 3 |
| CHE 312 | Transport Processes II | 3 |
| CHE 316 | Thermodynamics of Chemical and Phase Equilibria 2 | 3 |
| Chemistry Elective | 4 | |
| PSE 211 | Pulp and Paper Internship | 1 |
| PSE 322 | Wet End and Polymer Chemistry | 4 |
| PSE 332 | Wood and Pulping Chemistry | 3 |
| PSE 360 | Pulp and Paper Unit Processes II | 3 |
| PSE 370 | Pulp and Paper Products and Markets | 3 |
| Hours | 30 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| PSE 415 | Paper Industry Strategic Project Analysis | 3 |
| PSE 416 | Process Design and Analysis | 3 |
| PSE 417 | Modeling & Simulation of Pulp & Paper Processes | 3 |
| PSE 425 | Bioenergy & Biomaterials Engineering | 3 |
| PSE 465 | Process Engineering | 3 |
| PSE 472 | Paper Process Analysis | 3 |
| PSE 475 | Process Control in Pulp and Paper | 3 |
| Hours | 21 | |
| Fifth Year | ||
| CHE 330 | Chemical Engineering Lab I | 4 |
| CHE 446 | Design and Analysis of Chemical Reactors | 3 |
| ECE 331 or MSE 201 | Principles of Electrical Engineering or Structure and Properties of Engineering Materials | 3 |
| Hours | 10 | |
| Total Hours | 126 | |
- 1
A grade of C or better is required.
- 2
A grade of C- or better 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 Interdisciplinary Perspectives | 5 | ||
| GEP Global Knowledge (verify requirement) | |||
| World Language Proficiency (verify requirement) | |||
| Total Hours | 19 | ||
Acad Writing Research
| Code | Title | Hours | Counts towards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acad Writing Research | |||
| ENG 101 | Academic Writing and Research | 4 | |
| FLE 101 | Academic Writing and Research | 4 | |
| Transfer Sequence | |||
| ENG 1GEP | 3 | ||
| ENG 202 | Disciplinary Perspectives in Writing | 3 | |
Economics Electives
| Code | Title | Hours | Counts towards |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARE 201 | Introduction to Agricultural & Resource Economics | 3 | |
| ARE 201A | Introduction to Agricultural & Resource Economics | 3 | |
| EC 201 | Principles of Microeconomics | 3 | |
| EC 205 | Fundamentals of Economics | 3 |
Chemistry Electives
| Code | Title | Hours | Counts towards |
|---|---|---|---|
| BCH 351 | General Biochemistry | 3 | |
| BCH 451 | Principles of Biochemistry | 4 | |
| BIO 183 | Introductory Biology: Cellular and Molecular Biology | 4 | |
| CH 315 | Quantitative Analysis | 3 | |
| CH 316 | Quantitative Analysis Laboratory | 1 | |
| CH 331 | Introductory Physical Chemistry | 4 | |
| CH 335 | Principles of Green Chemistry | 4 | |
| CH 437 | Physical Chemistry for Engineers | 4 | |
| FS 402 | Chemistry of Food and Bioprocessed Materials | 4 | |
| FS 403 | Analytical Techniques in Food & Bioprocessing Science | 4 | |
| FS 502 | Chemistry of Food and Bioprocessed Materials | 4 | |
| PCC 461 | Chemistry of Polymeric Materials | 3 | |
| PCC 464 | Chemistry of Polymeric Materials Laboratory | 1 | |
| PSE 335 | Principles of Green Chemistry | 4 |
Semester Sequence
This is a sample.
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall Semester | Hours | |
| CH 101 | Chemistry - A Molecular Science 1 | 3 |
| CH 102 | General Chemistry Laboratory 1 | 1 |
| E 101 | Introduction to Engineering & Problem Solving 2 | 1 |
| E 115 | Introduction to Computing Environments | 1 |
| ENG 101 | Academic Writing and Research 2 | 4 |
| MA 141 | Calculus I 1 | 4 |
| GEP Health and Exercise Studies | 1 | |
| Hours | 15 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| CH 201 | Chemistry - A Quantitative Science 2 | 3 |
| CH 202 | Quantitative Chemistry Laboratory | 1 |
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Fundamentals of Economics | ||
| Principles of Microeconomics | ||
| Introduction to Agricultural & Resource Economics | ||
| 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 |
| PSE 201 | Pulping and Papermaking Technology 2 | 3 |
| Hours | 18 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| CH 221 | Organic Chemistry I 2 | 3 |
| CH 222 | Organic Chemistry I Lab | 1 |
| CHE 205 | Chemical Process Principles 2 | 4 |
| MA 242 | Calculus III 2 | 4 |
| PSE 212 | Paper Properties 2 | 4 |
| GEP Health and Exercise Studies | 1 | |
| Hours | 17 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| CH 223 | Organic Chemistry II | 3 |
| CH 224 | Organic Chemistry II Lab | 1 |
| CHE 225 | Introduction to Chemical Engineering Analysis 2 | 3 |
| MA 341 | Applied Differential Equations I 2 | 3 |
| PY 208 & PY 209 | Physics for Engineers and Scientists II and Physics for Engineers and Scientists II Laboratory | 4 |
| PSE 371 | Pulping Process Analysis 2 | 3 |
| Hours | 17 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| Chemistry Elective | 4 | |
| CHE 311 | Transport Processes I 2 | 3 |
| CHE 315 | Chemical Process Thermodynamics 2 | 3 |
| PSE 211 | Pulp and Paper Internship | 1 |
| PSE 322 | Wet End and Polymer Chemistry | 4 |
| GEP Requirement | 3 | |
| Hours | 18 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| CHE 312 | Transport Processes II | 3 |
| CHE 316 | Thermodynamics of Chemical and Phase Equilibria 2 | 3 |
| PSE 332 | Wood and Pulping Chemistry | 3 |
| PSE 360 | Pulp and Paper Unit Processes II | 3 |
| PSE 370 | Pulp and Paper Products and Markets | 3 |
| Hours | 15 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| PSE 415 | Paper Industry Strategic Project Analysis | 3 |
| PSE 417 | Modeling & Simulation of Pulp & Paper Processes | 3 |
| PSE 425 | Bioenergy & Biomaterials Engineering | 3 |
| PSE 475 | Process Control in Pulp and Paper | 3 |
| GEP Requirement | 3 | |
| GEP Requirement | 3 | |
| Hours | 18 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| PSE 416 | Process Design and Analysis | 3 |
| PSE 465 | Process Engineering | 3 |
| PSE 472 | Paper Process Analysis | 3 |
| GEP Requirement | 3 | |
| GEP Interdisciplinary Perspectives | 2-3 | |
| Hours | 14 | |
| Fifth Year | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| CHE 330 | Chemical Engineering Lab I | 4 |
| CHE 446 | Design and Analysis of Chemical Reactors | 3 |
| GEP Requirement | 3 | |
| ECE 331 or MSE 201 | Principles of Electrical Engineering or Structure and Properties of Engineering Materials | 3 |
| Hours | 13 | |
| Total Hours | 145 | |
- 1
Grade of C (2.0) or higher required.
- 2
Minimum grade of C- required.
Career Opportunities
Graduates of this curriculum find opportunities for challenging careers as process engineers, product development engineers, process control engineers, chemists, technical service engineers, quality control supervisors, and production supervisors. Design and construction engineering companies employ graduates as project engineers, and pulp and paper machinery/chemical companies use their education and skills for technical service and sales positions. Opportunities for managerial and executive positions are available to graduates as they gain experience.
The broad and intensive nature of this curriculum makes graduates attractive not only to the pulp and paper industry, but also to a variety of other major chemical process and bio-energy industries. This appeal is especially true for the dual degree in Paper Science & Engineering and Chemical Engineering.
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