University General Course Catalog 2020-2021

Nov 22, 2024

University General Course Catalog 2020-2021 ARCHIVED CATALOG: LINKS AND CONTENT ARE OUT OF DATE. CHECK WITH YOUR ADVISOR.

Chemical Engineering, Ph.D.

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The doctor of philosophy degree in chemical engineering is designed for exceptional students who want to pursue advanced careers in research, teaching, or industry. Students gain significant research experience and have the opportunity to work closely with our nationally recognized faculty.
Departmental research strengths include:

Process system engineering,
Energy conversion and storage,
Modeling and simulation,
Waste valorization,
Water treatment and re-use

Students in the Ph.D. program develop expertise on a topic within chemical engineering and conduct original research that contributes to knowledge in the field.

Contact Information

Sage Hiibel, Ph.D. Graduate Program Director
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering
(775) 327-2260
shiibel@unr.edu

Department website
Graduate Handbook *

Program Objectives/Student Learning Outcomes

An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering to engineering problems.
An ability to design and conduct experiments as well as to analyze and interpret data.
An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability constraints.

Admission Requirements

The Chemical Engineering graduate program offers Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Chemical Engineering. The general university requirements for these advanced degrees are listed in the Graduate School section of this catalog.

Students must have an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering; students without a chemical engineering degree may be admitted to the M.S. program by taking additional preparatory courses.

Students must meet the following minimum requirements:

Have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 for four years of undergraduate work.
The GRE is a required part of the application. Minimum scores for admission to the PhD program are 148 (Verbal), 156 (Quantitative) and 4.0 (analytical writing).
Students whose native language is not English must earn an acceptable score on the TOEFL or IELTS unless they have completed BS/MS degrees at an English-speaking university. Minimum scores for admission to either the MS or PhD program are 80 for the internet-based TOEFL or 550 for the paper-based TOEFL. A minimum band score of 6.5 is required of the IELTS.
Submit letters of recommendation from former professors indicating the student’s capability for advanced course work and research.

Prospective graduate students should contact the Graduate Program Director for further information. Formal application is completed through the Graduate School.

I. Program Requirements

Requirements include the following:

A. Thermodynamics Core Course (3 units)

If the CHE courses are available within a calendar year, they should be taken instead of non-CHE courses from the list.

CHE 762 - Statistical Thermodynamics (3 units)
CHE 760 - Advanced Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics (3 units)
CHEM 755 - Statistical Thermodynamics (3 units)

B. Reactor Design Core Course (3 units)

If the CHE courses are available within a calendar year, they should be taken instead of non-CHE courses from the list.

CEE 756 - Environmental Chemical Kinetics (3 units)
CHE 741 - Advanced Kinetics and Reactor Design (3 units)
CHEM 752 - Chemical Kinetics (3 units)

C. Transport Core Course (3 units)

If the CHE courses are available within a calendar year, they should be taken instead of non-CHE courses from the list.

CHE 764 - Advanced Transport Phenomena I (3 units)
ME 764 - Two-Phase Heat Transfer and Flow (3 units)

D. Dissertation (24 units)

CHE 799 - Dissertation (1 to 24 units)

E. Seminar (6 units)

CHE 790 - Seminar (1 to 3 units)

F. Electives (33 units)

33 units in graduate courses approved by the student’s dissertation committee, including 1 unit of CHE 795 - CHE 795 - Comprehensive Examination are required.
15 of these units must be at the 700-level.

II. Total Units

72 units

Note(s):

For additional requirements, please see the Graduate School section of this catalog and http://www.unr.edu/engineering/academics/degree-programs/chemical-engineering/phd .

Research and teaching assistantships are available to Ph.D. students. Current areas of research are: biomaterials, chemical process safety, polymer engineering, process control, biomedical engineering, fuel cells, renewable energy, process simulation, molecular simulation, surface and colloid engineering, applied surfactant research, fluidization, process design and optimization, separation processes, water treatment, phase equilibria, reaction engineering, environmental remediation, and risk analysis.

Graduate Handbook: * Curriculum requirements in the catalog supersede the Graduate handbook.

Undergraduate Prerequisites

An undergraduate degree in chemical engineering is recommended. Students without a chemical engineering undergraduate degree may be admitted to the M.S. program on a case-by-case basis but will be required to take additional preparatory courses. M.S. students may apply to the Ph.D. program at any time if they meet the eligibility criteria.