Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering

Faculty

Rufina Alamo, Professor; Ph.D. University of Madrid, 1981. Polymer crystallization and characterization; structure - property relations; morphology of semi-crystalline polymers.

Ravindran Chella, Associate Professor; Ph.D. University of Massachusetts, 1984. Biomolecular transport in microchannels and nano- channels; morphogen transport in tissue constructs.

Hoyong Chung, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University, 2011. Polymer synthesis, biomaterials, smart materials, bio-inspired polymers, catalytic polymerization.

John R. Collier, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D. Case Institute, 1966. Rheology; processing of polymers; biomass conversion; whiskey processing.

Wright C. Finney, Senior Research Associate; M.S. Florida State University, 1978. Environmental science and engineering; aerosol dynamics and characterization.

Samuel C. Grant, Associate Professor; Ph.D. University of Illinois- Chicago, 2001. Magnetic resonance microscopy; neurodegenerative diseases; bioengineered constructs & materials; high field MRI contrast; single cell diffusion analysis; spectroscopy and osmoregulation.

Jingjiao Guan, Associate Professor; Ph.D. Ohio State University, 2005. Micro and nano-devices for drug delivery.

Daniel J. Hallinan, Assistant Professor; Ph.D. Drexel University, 2010. Modern battery technology, solid state electrolytes, polymer physics.

Egwu E. Kalu, Professor; Ph.D. Texas A&M University, 1991. Electrochemical engineering; electrophysiological processes.

Yan Li, Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Ohio State University, 2002, Stem cell technology and engineering, biomaterials.

Bruce R. Locke, Distinguished Research Professor and Associate Vice-President; Ph.D. North Carolina State University, 1989, P.E. Transport/reaction in tissues and complex media; transport process using NMR/MRI; reaction kinetics in non-thermal plasmas.

Biwu Ma, Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of Southern California, 2005. Development of new functional materials for applications in technological areas such as energy, environment, and information; examples are solar energy conversion devices, energy storage devices, light emitting devices, transistors, and sensors.

Teng Ma, Professor and Department Chair; Ph.D. Ohio State University, 1999. Cell and tissue engineering; biomaterials.

Jose Mendoza-Cortes, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, 2012. Energy storage; electrochemistry; materials and catalysts design, chemical and crystallization mechanisms, biomaterials.

Anant K. Paravastu, Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of California - Berkeley, 2004. Protein self-assembly, amyloid diseases; regenerative medicine; solid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Subramanian Ramakrishnan, Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, 2001. Colloidal and interfacial science; nanoparticle self-assembly; structure-property relationships in soft condensed matter.

Loren B. Schreiber, Professor; Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, 1975. Engineering education; batch reaction and batch distillation; physical properties of fine organic chemicals.

Theo M. Siegrist, Professor; Ph.D., ETH Switzerland, 1982. Organic semiconductors; structural analysis of organic nanoscale materials.

John C. Telotte, Associate Professor; Ph.D,. University of Florida, 1985. Chemical thermodynamics; radon transport; semiconductor processing, fuel cell development.

Yaw Yeboah, Professor and Dean of the College of Engineering, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1979. Electrocatalysis/heterogeneous catalysis; combustion and emission control; oilfield scale formation; coal and/or biomass conversion processes; petroleum and natural gas production and processing; energy, materials, and the environment.

Affiliate Faculty

Ching-Jen Chen, Affiliate Professor; Ph.D., Case Western Reserve, 1967. Heat transfer, fluid mechanics, numerical simulation, biomagnetics.

Chang S. Hsu, Affiliate Professor and Assistant Scholar/Scientist; Ph.D., University of Kentucky, 1974. Petroleum chemistry, exploration, and processing; hydrocarbon science and technology; environmental chemistry, monitoring, and controls; lubricant oils and petrochemicals; biomass fuels and chemicals.

Mandip Sachdeva, Professor of Pharmacy (FAMU); Ph.D., Dalhouise University, 1994. Drug delivery systems, pharmaceutics.

Sachin Shanbhag, Assistant Professor, Department of Scientific Computing (FSU); Ph.D., Michigan, 2004. Computer modeling of polymer rheology; modeling of biological cell morphology and interactions.

Undergraduate Program Overview

The vision of the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering as an educational unit is to be recognized as a place of excellence in fundamental and applied chemical and biomedical engineering education and life-long learning, and to maintain a national research leadership in modern areas of engineering challenge. To attain this vision, the department realizes that it has to continually satisfy its major stakeholders: students, industrial employers, alumni, departmental faculty, the college, the universities, the community, the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, Inc., http://www.abet.org., and other professional societies. Chemical engineering encompasses the development, application, and operation of processes in which chemical, biological, and/or physical changes of material are involved. The work of the chemical engineer is to analyze, develop, design, control, construct, and/or supervise chemical processes in research and development, pilot-scale operations, and industrial protection. Chemical engineers are employed in the manufacture of inorganic chemicals (e.g., acids, alkalis, pigments, fertilizers), organic chemicals (e.g., petrochemicals, polymers, fuels, propellants, pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals), biological products (e.g., enzymes, vaccines, biochemicals, biofuels), and materials (e.g., ceramics, polymeric materials, paper, biomaterials). The graduate in chemical engineering is particularly versatile. Industrial work may involve production, operation, research, and development. Graduate education in medicine, dentistry, and law, as well as chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, and other engineering and scientific disciplines are viable alternatives for the more accomplished graduate.

The Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering has made a long-term commitment to emphasize a biological component in its curriculum. The increasing importance of biological and medical subjects within the field of engineering cannot be underestimated. Many of the remarkable breakthroughs in medical science can be directly attributed to advances in chemicals, materials, and devices spearheaded by biochemical and biomedical engineers. Currently, biomedical engineering represents the fastest growing engineering discipline in the U.S., and it is likely to continue as such. The biomedical/biotechnology industries are also the fastest growing of all current industries that employ engineers. Training in biological and biomedical engineering provides an excellent background for graduate and/or medical school, especially in light of the increasing technological complexity of medical education.

The Department currently offers the Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Chemical Engineering with three major options (Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Chemical-Materials Engineering). The BS degree takes between four and five years to complete. The undergraduate curriculum emphasizes the application of experimental and computer analysis to classical chemical engineering principles. This includes laboratory instruction in modern, state-of-the-art facilities in the transport phenomena, unit operations, and process control laboratories. Students are instructed in and utilize state-of-the-art computational programs such as MATLAB, Aspen, and COMSOL Multiphysics. In order to meet newly developed interests in chemical engineering and related fields, elective courses are available in bioengineering, polymer engineering, materials engineering, electrochemical engineering, environmental engineering, and biomedical engineering. The major options in Materials Engineering and Biomedical Engineering build upon the core classical chemical engineering principles developed initially for the original major in Chemical Engineering. Consult an advisor for specific requirements for the three major options.

Please contact the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at Suite A131, 2525 Pottsdamer Street, Tallahassee, Florida, 32310-6046; phone: (850) 410-6149 or 410-6151; fax: (850) 410-6150; e-mail: chemical@eng.fsu.edu.

Program Objectives and Outcomes

The Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering is nationally accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). As part of the accreditation process, the Department has developed program educational objectives and program outcomes to reflect the educational goals of the Department. These objectives and outcomes are continually assessed and modified to meet the changing demands of the departmental stakeholders.

Program Educational Objectives

The Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering shall prepare its students for academic and professional work through the creation and dissemination of knowledge related to the field, as well as through the advancement of those practices, methods, and technologies that form the basis of the chemical engineering profession. Accordingly, the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering has identified the following three departmental educational objectives for the Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering:

Successfully pursue careers in a wide range of industrial, professional and academic settings through application of their rigorous foundation in chemical engineering and strong communication skills
Successfully adapt and innovate to meet future technological challenges and evolving regulatory issues, while addressing the ethical and societal implications of their work at both the local and global level
Successfully function on interdisciplinary teams and assume participatory and leadership roles in professional societies, and interact with educational, community, state, and federal institutions.

Program Outcomes

These objectives are further expanded and detailed through eleven program student outcomes:

Program Outcome A: Scientific Knowledge. Students graduating from the program will have the ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and chemical engineering to analyze chemical engineering processes (c3.a).

Program Outcome B: Chemical Engineering Process Experimentation. Students graduating from the program will be able to design and conduct chemical engineering experiments and analyze and interpret fundamental data of importance to the design and operation of chemical processes (c3.b).

Program Outcome C: Design Skills. Students graduating from the program will have the ability to design and analyze new and existing chemical systems and processes to meet desired needs (c3.c).

Program Outcome D: Multidisciplinary Teams. Students graduating from the program will have the ability to function on multidisciplinary teams (c3.d).

Program Outcome E: Problem Solving. Students graduating from the program will have the ability to identify, formulate and solve chemical engineering problems (c3.e).

Program Outcome F: Professional and Ethical Responsibility. Students graduating from the program will have an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility (c3.f).

Program Outcome G: Effective Communications and Team Participation. Students graduating from the program will have the ability to communicate effectively (c3.g).

Program Outcome H: Global and Societal Impact of Chemical Engineering. Students graduating from this program will have an understanding of the global and societal impact of chemical engineering practice (c3.h).

Program Outcome I: Lifelong Learning. Students graduating from the program will be able to assess the need for, and engage in, lifelong learning (c3.i).

Program Outcome J: Contemporary Issues in Chemical Engineering. Students graduating from this program will have an understanding of contemporary issues in chemical engineering (c3.j).

Program Outcome K: Modern Engineering Skills and Tools. Students graduating from the program will be able to use the modern engineering skills and tools necessary for chemical engineering practice either in industry or in pursuit of advanced education (c3.k).

Note: Identifiers beginning with c3, such as c3.a above, refer to specific outcomes in Criterion 3 of the ABET Engineering Criteria 2000. They indicate the ABET outcome that the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering outcome addresses.

The Department sees ABET Engineering Criteria 2000 as encouraging each engineering department to pursue its own unique BS degree program objectives in accordance with its own environment and stakeholder demands. ABET EC 2000 also stipulates that the outcomes of program implementation must be assessed and evaluated regularly, and the results of such assessments and evaluations must be utilized as needed in future program objectives and implementation.

Undergraduate Laboratory and Computational Facilities

Undergraduate teaching laboratories in measurements and transport phenomena, unit operations, and process control are designed to augment classroom instruction. The undergraduate chemical engineering laboratory experiments feature a 20 stage distillation column for the study of organic chemical separations, several reactor vessels for the design and analysis of batch and continuous reactor configurations, and a liquid/liquid continuous extraction process system, among others. All experiments include computer data control and computer data acquisition systems in order to provide a “real world” experience for our students.

The Department has extensive computational and laboratory facilities in a number of areas. In addition to the University computing center facilities accessible by remote terminals, students have access to College of Engineering computer labs that have either remote terminals or workstations connected to college-wide servers. Within the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, undergraduate students working on research projects utilizing laboratory computer terminals connected to the college servers and workstations dedicated to research use. The Department requires the use of computers for data acquisition, process control, experimental design and analysis, report writing, and homework problem calculations in the chemical engineering curriculum.

Areas of Study (Majors)

Although the department offers one Bachelor of Science degree (BS) in Chemical Engineering, students may choose from among three diverse areas of study that reflect new directions in the broader field of chemical engineering. These major options include chemical engineering, chemical-materials engineering, and biomedical engineering.

Chemical Engineering

The most common major, it prepares students for employment or further study in traditional areas of chemical engineering (described above).

Chemical - Engineering Materials

Chemical engineers have extensively developed and studied the molecular structures and dynamics of materials-including solids, liquids, and gases-in order to develop macroscopic descriptions of the behavior of such materials. In turn, these macroscopic descriptions have allowed the construction and analysis of unit processes that facilitate desired chemical and physical changes. This constant interplay between molecular scale understanding and macroscopic descriptions is unique and central to the field of chemical engineering.

Chemical - Biomedical Engineering

Biomedical engineering concerns the application of chemical engineering principles and practices to large scale living organisms, most specifically human beings. As one of the newest subdisciplines of chemical engineering, the field is a rapidly evolving one involving chemical engineers, biochemists, physicians, and other health care professionals. Biomedical research and development is carried out at universities, teaching hospitals, and private companies, and it focuses on conceiving new materials and products designed to improve or restore bodily form or function. Biomedical engineers are employed in diverse areas such as artificial limb and organ development, genetic engineering research, development of drug delivery systems, and cellular and tissue engineering. Many chemical engineering professionals are engaged in medical research to model living organisms (pharmacokinetic models), and to make biomedical devices (e.g., drug delivery capsules, synthetic materials, and prosthetic devices). Because of increasing interest in this field of study, the major in chemical-biomedical engineering also provides an avenue for students interested in pursuing a career in medicine, biotechnological patent law, or biomedical product sales and services.

State of Florida Common Program Prerequisites

The State of Florida has identified common program prerequisites for this University degree program. Specific prerequisites are required for admission into the upper-division program and must be completed by the student at either a community college or a state university prior to being admitted to this program. Students may be admitted into the University without completing the prerequisites, but may not be admitted into the program. Students are strongly encouraged to select required lower division electives that will enhance their general education coursework and that will support their intended baccalaureate degree program. Students should consult with an academic advisor in their major degree area.

The following lists the common program prerequisites or their substitutions necessary for admission into this upper-division degree program:

MAC X311 or MAC X281
MAC X312 or MAC X282
MAC X313 or MAC X283
MAP X302 or MAC X305
CHM X045/X045L or CHMX045C or CHS X440
CHMX046/X046L or CHMX046C
PHY X048/X048L or PHYX048C or PHYX043/X048L
PHY X049/X049L or PHYX049C or PHYX044/X049L

Note: The Department also requires CHM X1046/X1046L and EGN 1004L for acceptance into one of the Department’s majors from the Pre-Engineering major. Courses marked with an asterisk (*) have at least one acceptable substitute. Contact the department for details.

Academic Requirements and Policies

In accordance with ABET criteria, all engineering students are subject to a uniform set of academic requirements agreed upon by Florida State University and Florida A&M University. Students should consult the “FAMU-FSU College of Engineering” chapter of the General Catalog and the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering web site for a list of all academic requirements and policies.

Prerequisite Grade Requirements

In addition to the college course prerequisite requirements, the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering requires students to have obtained a grade of at least “C-” in all courses listed as prerequisites for the department’s engineering courses.

Undergraduate Research Program (URP)

The Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering offers an Undergraduate Research Program (URP) in chemical and biomedical engineering to encourage talented juniors and seniors to undertake independent and original research as part of the undergraduate experience. The program is two-tiered, with those students meeting a more stringent set of academic requirements being admitted to the Honors in the major (Chemical and Biomedical Engineering) program. For requirements and other information, contact the department, and see the “University Honors Office and Honor Societies” chapter of this General Bulletin.

Course Descriptions

Definition of Prefixes

BME-Biomedical Engineering
ECH-Engineering: Chemical
EGN-Engineering: General

Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Graduate Programs

Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty

Rufina Alamo, Professor; Ph.D., University of Madrid, 1981. Polymer crystallization and characterization; structure - property relations; morphology of semi-crystalline polymers.

Ravindran Chella, Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, 1984. Biomolecular transport in microchannels and nano-channels; morphogen transport in tissue constructs.

Hoyong Chung, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University, 2011. Polymer synthesis, biomaterials, smart materials, bio-inspired polymers, catalytic polymerization.

John R. Collier, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Case Institute, 1966. Rheology; processing of polymers; biomass conversion; whiskey processing.

Wright C. Finney, Senior Research Associate; M.S., Florida State University, 1978. Environmental science and engineering; aerosol dynamics and characterization.

Samuel C. Grant, Associate Professor; Ph.D. University of Illinois-Chicago, 2001. Magnetic resonance microscopy; neurodegenerative diseases; bioengineered constructs & materials; high field MRI contrast; single cell diffusion analysis; spectroscopy and osmoregulation.

Jingjiao Guan, Associate Professor; Ph.D. Ohio State University, 2005. Micro and nano-devices for drug delivery.

Daniel J. Hallinan, Assistant Professor; Ph.D. Drexel University, 2010. Modern battery technology, solid state electrolytes, polymer physics.

Egwu E. Kalu, Professor; Ph.D. Texas A&M University, 1991. Electrochemical engineering; electrophysiological processes.

Yan Li, Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Ohio State University, 2002. Stem cell technology and engineering, biomaterials.

Bruce R. Locke, Distinguished Research Professor and Associate Vice-President; Ph.D., North Carolina State University, 1989, P.E. Transport/reaction in tissues and complex media; transport process using NMR/MRI; reaction kinetics in non-thermal plasmas.

Teng Ma, Professor and Department Chair; Ph.D. Ohio State University, 1999. Cell and tissue engineering; biomaterials.

Anant K. Paravastu, Associate Professor; Ph.D. University of California - Berkeley, 2004. Protein self-assembly, amyloid diseases; regenerative medicine; solid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Subramanian Ramakrishnan, Associate Professor; Ph.D. University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, 2001. Colloidal and interfacial science; nanoparticle self-assembly; structure-property relationships in soft condensed matter.

Loren B. Schreiber, Professor; Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, 1975. Engineering education; batch reaction and batch distillation; physical properties of fine organic chemicals.

Theo M. Siegrist, Professor; Ph.D. ETH Switzerland, 1982. Organic semiconductors; structural analysis of organic nanoscale materials.

John C. Telotte, Associate Professor; Ph.D. University of Florida, 1985. Chemical thermodynamics; radon transport; semiconductor processing, fuel cell development.

Affiliate Faculty

Ching-Jen Chen, Affiliate Professor; Ph.D., Case Western Reserve, 1967. Heat transfer, fluid mechanics, numerical simulation, biomagnetics.

Chang S. Hsu, Affiliate Professor and Assistant Scholar/Scientist; PhD, University of Kentucky, 1974. Petroleum chemistry, exploration, and processing; hydrocarbon science and technology; environmental chemistry, monitoring, and controls; lubricant oils and petrochemicals; biomass fuels and chemicals.

Mandip Sachdeva, Professor of Pharmacy (FAMU); Ph.D., Dalhouise University, 1994. Drug delivery systems, pharmaceutics.

Sachin Shanbhag, Assistant Professor, Department of Scientific Computing (FSU); Ph.D., Michigan, 2004. Computer modeling of polymer rheology; modeling of biological cell morphology and interactions.

Department Overview

The Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering offers the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Master of Science (MS) in both chemical and biomedical engineering, and the Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in chemical engineering. The bachelor’s degree is fully accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, Inc. The Department is strongly committed to building a graduate research program of national reputation in both applied and fundamental areas. The faculty believes that graduate programs must be diverse, interdisciplinary, and flexible in order to prepare chemical and biomedical engineers who can handle the challenging applications in modern research, industry and society.

Major research areas include:
Polymers and Complex Fluids
Cellular and Tissue Engineering
Multi-Scale Theory, Modeling and Simulations
Nanoscale Science and Engineering
Plasma Reaction and Electrochemical Engineering
Biomedical Imaging

Many of these efforts are conducted in close cooperation with the Florida State University High Performance Materials Institute (HPMI), Aero-Propulsion, Mechatronics, and Energy (AME) Center, and Institute of Molecular Biophysics (IMB); the FSU Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Physics, and Scientific Computing; the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL); the FSU College of Medicine and Department of Biomedical Sciences; the Florida A&M University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; as well as with the Departments of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing, and Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering.

Please contact the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at: Suite 131, 2525 Pottsdamer Street, Tallahassee, Florida, 32310-6046; phone: (850) 410-6149; fax: (850) 410-6150; e-mail: chemical@eng.fsu.edu.

Research Facilities

The Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering has extensive graduate research laboratory facilities located in the College of Engineering buildings. Three undergraduate teaching laboratories, a design classroom, and fifteen graduate research laboratories comprise the current physical resources. All laboratories are well equipped with modern experimental apparatus. These facilities include laboratories dedicated to polymer science and engineering, electrochemical engineering, gas/liquid phase pollutant treatment by non-thermal plasma, biomass processing, nuclear magnetic resonance, and cell and tissue engineering.

Research facilities include: a 500-MHz (11.75-T) NMR spectrometer; a 4.7-T MRI system; an atomic-force microscope; extensive cell and tissue growth facilities; rheological apparatus; pulsed and DC power supplies; analytical instruments (GC, GC/MS, HPLC, UV-IR, spectrophotometers, TOC, etc.); and analytical microscopes. Process equipment including various types of gas and liquid phase chemical reactors, controlled temperature fermenters, and polymer production reactors are also located in these laboratories. Infrastructure includes autoclaves, controlled environment incubators, water polishing systems, refrigerated/heating circulating baths, isotherm ovens, high purity gas production and mixing systems, refrigerated centrifuges, and additional support equipment.

Faculty and students have access to the FSU Research Computing Center’s high level computing facilities. The High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster provides 403 compute nodes and 6,464 CPU cores with 75.4 peak teraflops to promote the advancement of scientific research. Jobs are managed by the MOAB and TORQUE scheduling software. Many faculty are also closely affiliated with the world-class National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (www.magnet.fsu.edu) and make extensive use of NHMFL resources and instrumentation.

Transition Program for Non-Chemical or Non-Biomedical Engineering Majors

The Graduate Committee of the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering has instituted an accelerated transition program for prospective graduate students who are non-Chemical or Biomedical Engineering Majors. These students should follow the summer preparatory curriculum shown below in order to formally enter the FAMU-FSU Chemical and Biomedical Engineering graduate program. More details are available online at the departmental web site.

Target Applicants and Eligibility

Applicants with non-ChE or non-BME BS degrees in engineering.
Applicants with Physics BS degrees.
Applicants with Chemistry, Biochemistry, or Biology BS degrees having strong math skills (through Ordinary Differential Equations).

Transition Program Requirements

The transition program requires that students take one online course and one accelerated transition course during the preparatory summer prior to taking the graduate core courses offered in the Fall semester, as follows:

ACS online course or equivalent - Beakers to Barrels: Chemical Engineering for Chemists Online Short Course. This course will be replaced in subsequent years by a departmental online course;
Graduate preparatory course - combined summer course of Mass and Energy Balances, Transport I and II, and Thermodynamics for accelerated preparation of entering students. Two three credit hour six-week courses (Summer terms B and C) will be taken during the Summer before core ECH/BME coursework; and
Required completion of the graduate section of ECH 4504 Kinetics And Reactor Design (3) .

Requirements 1 and 2 must be completed successfully prior to matriculation in the Fall Semester core graduate courses. Students who do not successfully complete all three requirements before their third semester in the graduate program will not be allowed to continue.

Notes:

Students needing to take any mathematics course(s) through differential equations would need to complete these prior to entrance. Students needing a course in ordinary differential equations should take ECH 3301 Introduction To Process Analysis And Design For Chemical Engineers (3) .
Other graduate electives or thesis hours can be taken during the first two years if prerequisites are met.
Courses prior to the first Fall semester will be at the student’s expense or supported by the department based on available funds.
The PhD Qualifying Examination (see below) follows the first Spring semester.

Academic Regulations and Procedures for Graduate Students

Selection of Course Plan

Selection of courses for the first semester should be done in consultation with the departmental Graduate Coordinator. All students must also register for the departmental seminar ECH/BME 5935r, Chemical/Biomedical Engineering Seminar, every semester. After the first semester in the graduate program, the supervising major professor will develop a course plan for MS-thesis and PhD candidates. For course-based MS students, the departmental Graduate Coordinator will assist in developing the course plan, acting as the de facto supervisor.

Selection of Major Professor

All full-time graduate students following the MS thesis or PhD options are required to select a research topic and major professor by the end of the first term in which they enter the Department. A form for this purpose is available online at the departmental web site. The completed form should be submitted to the departmental Graduate Coordinator.

The major professor is responsible for directing the student’s research and progress toward a degree. Once a major professor has been approved, a supervisory committee should be established and a program of study prepared in consultation with the major professor before the end of the second semester of enrollment in the graduate program.

Supervisory Committee

The supervisory committee for a master’s degree candidate must consist of a minimum of three faculty members with graduate faculty status. The major professor is the chair of the supervisory committee and must be a faculty member from the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering. At least one other member of the committee must be from the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering; the third member of the committee should be from outside the department. Additional members may be appointed to the committee if deemed desirable by the major professor.

The supervisory committee for a doctoral candidate must have at least four members (including major professor) with graduate faculty status. The major professor is the chair of the supervisory committee and must be a faculty member from the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering. Two of the remaining members of the committee must be from the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, and the fourth member must be from outside the Department. Additional members may be appointed if deemed desirable. Members of the supervisory committee must be approved by the Department Chair.

Program of Study

A program of study should be prepared by the student in conjunction with the major professor and submitted to the supervisory and graduate committees. For graduate students working toward a thesis-based MS or PhD, the program of study should be defined based on the student’s background and research objectives, in consultation with the major professor and supervisory committee. For graduate students working toward a course-based MS, the program of study should be defined in consultation with the Graduate Committee. The program of study is a complete plan of courses to be taken and research objectives to be achieved. On approval of the program of study, this form will also be placed in the student’s permanent file. If changes to the initially approved program of study become necessary, a new program of study form must be submitted for approval.

PhD Qualifying Examination and Prospectus

All students admitted to the PhD program will be required to take the PhD qualifying examination after completion of the core course ECH 5052, Research Methods in Chemical Engineering. A research topic will be assigned by the graduate qualifying examination committee. The student must write a research proposal and defend it orally in front of the graduate qualifying-examination committee by the end of the first Summer Semester, unless otherwise approved by the Graduate Committee. This examination must be passed within two consecutive attempts, or the individual will not be allowed to continue as a doctoral student. For additional details, see PhD Qualifying Examination Requirements on the departmental Web site.

Upon successful completion of the qualifying examination, the student may continue work toward the PhD degree. Within five semesters of admission to the graduate program (within the three semesters following the PhD qualifying examination), students are expected to present a prospectus detailing their program of study for PhD dissertation work. If this timeframe cannot be met, the student must petition the graduate program chair for special dispensation, stating specific reasons the delay. The PhD prospectus will consist of a written plan of research that must be orally defended in a formal presentation before the student’s major professor and supervisory committee. After the successful completion of the PhD prospectus, the student will be admitted formally to the PhD candidacy and their research program.

The doctoral committee should provide continual feedback to the PhD candidate throughout the progression of the student’s research. As such, it is important to maintain regular and at least annual meetings of the student and doctoral committee so that updates on research can be presented and feedback can be received by the student. For additional details, see Academic Regulations and Procedures for Graduate Students and the College of Engineering’s website.

Maintenance of Good Standing

In order to maintain good standing in the department, the student must maintain an overall GPA of at least 3.0, with no more than two grades in the “C” range. No more than one course in the “C” range will be counted toward fulfilling the degree requirements. No grades below “C” will be counted toward degree requirements. Students without an undergraduate degree in chemical or biomedical engineering should obtain a grade of “B” or better in all required undergraduate courses.

Master’s and doctoral degree students must submit a brief written annual report on research progress, goals, and completed courses during the Spring Semester for evaluation by the graduate and supervisory committees. A form for this purpose is available on the departmental web site. An assessment of the progress of the student in research and courses by the student’s supervisory committee will be placed in the student’s permanent file. Continuance of assistantships and/or tuition waivers is contingent upon satisfactory evaluations.

Time to Degree Completion

Students with undergraduate degrees in chemical or biomedical engineering normally complete the thesis-type master’s program in four to five semesters, including one Summer Semester. Although the availability of departmental support ultimately is subject to budgetary constraints, the Graduate Committee will not normally recommend continuation of assistantships and tuition waivers beyond a period of two years subsequent to the student’s admission to the master’s program. Students without an undergraduate degree in chemical or biomedical engineering will be given one additional year for completion. However, these students are normally not supported financially during their first year, when they are primarily taking preparatory undergraduate chemical/biomedical engineering courses.

Students with undergraduate degrees in chemical or biomedical engineering normally complete the doctoral program within five years of their admission to graduate school, with reduced time expected if the student enters the program with a master’s degree. Although the availability of departmental support ultimately is subject to budgetary constraints, departmental/college commitments and research grant availability, doctoral candidates will be recommended for departmental support only for a period of three years subsequent to being admitted to candidacy for the doctoral program following the successful completion of the PhD Qualifying Examination. PhD students should submit and defend a prospectus on the dissertation topic to the supervisory committee within five semesters from admission to the graduate program.

Assistantship Duties

Graduate student support is generally in the form of research or teaching assistantships (RAs or TAs), although University fellowships are also available. Research assistantships derived from contracts and grants focus mainly on the performance of research leading to their degree but may be required to perform service to the department in the form of minimal teaching duties. However, research assistants who receive departmental support for tuition waivers will be required to grade, TA, or run recitation sections for lecture courses in addition to research responsibilities. Doctoral candidates will also have to satisfy the teaching requirements of the degree (TA for one laboratory course). Typical TA duties include grading homework and/or exams, conducting problem-solving recitation sections, and having office hours for answering student questions. Specific duties are assigned by the course instructor.

University Doctoral Residency Requirements

The residency requirement for the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering states that after having finished thirty (30) semester hours of graduate work or being awarded the Master’s degree, the student must be enrolled continuously on either the FSU or FAMU Tallahassee campus for a minimum of twenty-four (24) graduate semester hours credit in any period of 12 consecutive months.

Definition of Prefixes

BME-Biomedical Engineering
ECH-Engineering: Chemical

Programs

Bachelor’s Degree

Master’s Degree

Doctorate’s Degree