Program in Chemical Engineering

Chemical engineering (ChE) encompasses the development, application, and operation of the processes in which chemical and/or physical changes of material are involved. The work of a chemical engineer is to analyze, develop, design, control, construct, and/or supervise chemical processes in research and development, pilot-scale operations, and industrial production. Emphasis is placed on the application of computer analysis to problems encountered in the above areas. Chemical engineers are employed in the manufacture of inorganic chemicals (i.e., acids, alkalis, pigments, and fertilizers), organic chemicals (i.e., petrochemicals, polymers, fuels, propellants, pharmaceuticals, and specialty chemicals), biological products (i.e., enzymes, vaccines, biochemicals, biofuels, etc.), foods, semiconductors, and paper.

Graduate-level chemical engineers with graduate degrees work in a wide range of organizations for which their technical skills are needed. These organizations may include: local, state, and federal governments; private and public corporations; and education. Chemical engineers are involved in process and plant operation, technical services groups, research and development laboratories, plant design groups, occupational and safety programs, technical sales, technical training, and technical management. Graduate education can lead to careers in the medical sciences, chemical engineering, and other engineering and scientific disciplines as well as business and law.

The thesis MS degree requires thirty semester hours for completion, the non-thesis MS degree requires thirty-three semester hours, and the PhD requires a total of fifty-seven semester hours.

Admission Requirements

1. A baccalaureate degree in chemical engineering or an allied field from an accredited college or university;
2. Fulfillment of the requirements for the baccalaureate degree or its equivalent. Students may be required to satisfy deficiencies by taking undergraduate courses or can enroll in a transitional summer program if they do not have a degree from an accredited chemical engineering degree program;
3. An undergraduate or graduate GPA of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale);
4. A minimum revised GRE percentile of at least 48% on the verbal portion and 75% on the quantitative portion of the test. It is noted that the GRE percentiles of funded graduate students on assistantship are typically higher than these minima;
5. Three letters of recommendation from persons familiar with the student’s work and background;
6. A personal statement of professional goals; and
7. International students: For students whose native language is not English and who did not graduate from an accredited US institution with either a BS or MS degree, minimum scores on the TOEFL are 550 (paper-based), 213 (computer-based), or 80 (Internet- based).

Note: All students must present GRE scores prior to being admitted. Effective August 2011, the GRE Revised General Test replaced the GRE General Test. To learn more about this new test, go to www.ets.org/gre.

Students who do not possess a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering may be required to complete a department-designated sequence of undergraduate courses with grade of “B” or higher in each course or must participate in a summer transition program, for students with bachelor’s degrees in either another engineering discipline or basic science (e.g., physics, chemistry or biology). In all cases, an applicant must have taken a course in differential equations prior to their matriculation.

Typical undergraduate course sequences (in preparation for graduate courses) may include, but are not limited to, the following courses:

• ECH 3023 Mass And Energy Balances (4)   
• ECH 3024 Mass And Energy Balances II  (3)
• ECH 3101 Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics (3)  
• ECH 3266 Introductory Transport Phenomena (3)  
• ECH 3418 Separations Processes (3) 
• ECH 3854 Chemical Engineering Computations (3)  
• ECH 4267 Advanced Transport Phenomena (3)  
• ECH 4504 Kinetics And Reactor Design (3) 

Additional courses in subjects including mathematics, chemistry, physics, and general engineering also may be required. Departmental financial support may not be available for graduate students taking undergraduate courses. Up to six semester hours of 4000-level coursework approved by the department may be counted as graduate electives. Transfer credit from another institution is limited to six semester hours with departmental approval. Acceptance of equivalent courses is evaluated on a case-by-case basis, following petition to the Graduate Committee. Departmental financial support may not be available for graduate students taking undergraduate courses.

Eligible candidates for the summer transition program for non-ChE majors, which would replace the majority of the above course requirements, will be identified and notified by the Graduate Admissions Committee. Additional information about the summer transition program can be found below and at the departmental web site or by contacting the Graduate Coordinator.

Degree Requirements

The Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering offers both thesis-type and course-type (non-thesis) options leading to the Master of Science (MS) degree. Each semester, all graduate students are required to enroll in and attend ECH 5935 Chemical Engineering Seminar (0)  (S/U grade only). In addition, all students are required to take required safety training courses and annual refreshers. All graduate students are required to attend the Program for Instructional Excellence (PIE) Teaching Conference/TA Orientation (pie.fsu.edu/PIE-TA-Orientations-Conference) to prepare for teaching assistant (TA) duties. This requirement is mandatory regardless of the student’s classification as a teaching assistant or research assistant. For international graduate students, the SPEAK (Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit) is a test for evaluating the English speaking ability of non-native speakers of English. The SPEAK test is administered by the Center for Intensive English Studies to international students who have been appointed or will be appointed as teaching assistants in an academic department. The SPEAK exam requirement must be cleared (scores greater than 45 or 50 for graders or TAs, respectively) before students can serve as teaching assistants.