The Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering offers students solid preparation for professional work in development, design, and operation of chemical products and processes. It prepares the student for employment in such industries as chemical, petroleum, electrochemical, biochemical, semiconductor, nuclear, aerospace, plastics, food processing, or environmental control.
Students with high scholastic attainment are well prepared to enter graduate programs leading to advanced degrees in chemical engineering or in related professional, scientific, and engineering fields. The undergraduate program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, under the commission’s General Criteria and Program Criteria for Chemical, Biochemical, Biomolecular, and Similarly Named Engineering Programs.
Suggested Sequence of Courses
| First Year Course | Fall | Spring |
|---|---|---|
| Math 1A, 1B, Calculus | 4 | 4 |
| Chemistry 4A (F), 4B (S), General/Quantitative Analysis | 5 | 5 |
| Physics 7A1, Physics for Scientists and Engineers | - | 4 |
| Reading and Composition R1A | 4 | - |
| Engineering 71, Intro to Computer Programming for Scientists and Engineers or CS 61A, Structure & Interpretation of Computer Programs | - | 4 |
| Total Units | 13 | 17 |
| Second Year Course | Fall | Spring |
|---|---|---|
| Math 53, 54, Multivariable Calculus; Linear Algebra and Differential Equations | 4 | 4 |
| Chemistry 12A(F), Organic Chemistry | 5 | - |
| Physics 7B, Physics for Scientists and Engineers | - | 4 |
| Chem Eng 1302 (F) Mathematics & Statistics in Chemical Engineering | 4 | - |
| Chem Eng 140 (F) Process Analysis | 4 | - |
| Chem Eng 141 (S) Thermodynamics | - | 4 |
| Chem Eng 150A (S) Transport Processes | - | 4 |
| Total Units | 17 | 16 |
| Third Year Course | Fall | Spring |
|---|---|---|
| Biology 1A, General Biology OR Bio Eng 11, Engineering Molecules I | 3 | - |
| Chemistry 120A Physical Chemistry or Physics 137A, Quantum Mechanics | - | 3-4 |
| Breadth Elective3 | 3-4 | - |
| Chem Eng 142 (F), Kinetics | 4 | - |
| Chem Eng 150B (F), Transport Processes | 4 | - |
| Science Elective | - | 3-4 |
| Chem Eng 154 or C170L4, Lab | - | 3-4 |
| Breadth Elective/American Cultures3 | - | 3-4 |
| Total Units | 14-15 | 13-16 |
| Fourth Year Course | Fall | Spring |
|---|---|---|
| Chem Eng 162, Process Control | 4 | - |
| Chem Eng 160, Design | - | 4 |
| Lower Division or Upper Division Engineering Elective | 3-4 | - |
| Chem Eng Elective | 3-4 | - |
| Upper Division Engineering Elective | - | 6-8 |
| Breadth Electives3 | 6-8 | 3-4 |
| Total Units | 13-19 | 13-16 |
(F) course is offered in fall only
(S) course is offered in spring only
11 Students who have satisfied Math 1A and who plan to take Math 1B or 53 in the Fall may consider also taking Physics 7A or a programming course. Math 1B is a prerequisite or corequisite for these courses. Students may take either CS 61A or Eng 7 to satisfy the programming requirement.
CS 61A vs. Engineering 7: CS 61A is a foundational programming course that teaches important concepts like debugging code, persistence in debugging code, and writing clean code that minimizes bugs and is reproducible. Eng 7 places a greater emphasis on numerical methods. Since some of the material in Eng 7 is covered in CBE 130, the Chemical Engineering faculty recommend taking CS 61A. They note that CS 61A will teach students how to think critically about and design a project before you start coding. This foundation will provide a good transition to CBE 130 and other upper-division CBE classes, which will cover the scientific aspects of coding. The faculty also note that CS 61A will likely be more work than Eng 7, but that CS 61A will help build proficiency in coding which will pay off in the future.
2 Required co-requisite for CBE 140 for all new students beginning Fall 2022. Maybe be used as an elective for continuing students.
3 The breadth elective requirement is comprised of 22 units, including one semester of Reading & Composition (R1A) and the breadth series requirement. If a student took Chem Eng 185 Technical Communications by spring 2017, the breadth requirement is 19 units.
4 CBE C170L may be used to satisfy the Chemical Engineering lab requirement in lieu of CBE 154 beginning in Spring 2022, not before. CBE C170L also satisfies the prerequisite for CBE 160, 161S, and any other upper division CBE course in which 154 is a prerequisite. Students who take both C170L and 154 may use one to satisfy the lab requirement and the other to satisfy either the CBE elective requirement or an engineering elective. C170L may NOT be used to satisfy both the lab requirement AND an elective or concentration requirement.