Chemical Engineering

Advisement

Advisement for class registration will be held at a designated time each semester.  Students can obtain their advisor's name from their Banner accounts.

Students must obtain a Student Advisement Record form from the ChE office before being advised. After a form has been obtained, students will need to schedule a meeting with their advisors. Check your advisor's office door for advisement times.

All students will need an alternate PIN to register.  Once you have a completed and approved (by your advisor) Student Advisement Record form, you will be given your alternate PIN by the Departmental Secretary.

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Degree Maps

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Distinction in the Major

In an effort to provide an additional learning opportunity for qualified engineering undergraduates, the Department of Chemical Engineering has joined with the Honors Program to develop a special Distinction in the Major program.

This program, which started in Fall 2004, allows select senior-level undergraduate students to participate in an integrated research experience with departmental faculty on a cutting-edge research project over the course of a full academic year. As a requirement of the program, students must present a Research Proposal (both written and oral) to their DITM Thesis Committee, which is composed of the DITM Program Coordinator, their DITM Thesis Advisor, and a faculty member affiliated with the Tennessee Tech Honors Program. At the conclusion of the year, the students defend their research in an oral presentation. Finally, they publish the results of their work in a “mini” thesis that is bound and archived within the department.

There are several major benefits to this program from a student perspective. First, it provides the students with something exceptional to enhance their resumes and make them more attractive to potential employers. Second, the program can serve as a practice for graduate school if a student is undecided about whether to attempt an M.S. or a doctorate. Finally, the research that the student has performed can make them much more competitive in attempting to secure prestigious graduate school grants, such as the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

In order to provide a well-rounded experience, the DITM program is linked with the existing Honors Program on campus. Although students do not have to be members in the Tennessee Tech Honors Program to participate in the DITM program, they must participate in several enrichment opportunities offered by the Honors Program. Additionally, the DITM students participate in a special graduation ceremony for Honors students held the day prior to general commencement.

Qualifications for the DITM program are:

• An overall GPA of 3.2
• A ChE course GPA of 3.0
• Junior Standing
• Acceptance into program by DITM committee

Each spring the ChE Distinction in the Major Program coordinator and committee members review applications and required recommendation letters to select a small number of candidates from the applicant pool. Additionally, a successful completion (oral defense and thesis) of the DITM Program by a ChE student is equivalent to six credit hours of ChE technical electives.

Chemical Engineering DITM Application

2006 DITM Research Projects

Advisor: Pedro E. Arce

Jennifer Pascal, “Electrokinetic-based Drug Delivery in Skin-Mediated Approaches”
2005 DITM Research Projects

Advisor: Joseph J. Biernacki

Kurt Johanns – “Thermoporosimetry of Cement-based Materials"
Advisor: Donald P. Visco, Jr.

Crystal Childers – “I-QSAR Studies Using Signature on COX-2 Inhibitors”
Robyn Rawlings – “I-QSAR Studies Using Signature on DHFR Inhibitors”
Advisor: Chunsheng Wang

Richard Lawson – “Polymer-ceramic composite membrane for fuel cell applications”

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Bachelors/Masters Fast Track Program

The Chemical Engineering Fast-track Master of Science (MS) program is designed to enable Tennessee Technological University ChE undergraduates to accumulate up to nine credit hours of graduate coursework while still pursuing their undergraduate degrees and to transition to the graduate program with anticipated accelerated completion. ChE Fast-track MS students receiving their bachelor's degrees at the end of the Spring semester will be expected to complete the MS by the end of the Summer term of the following year.

Students admitted to the Fast-track CHE MS program will meet the following criteria:

• Be enrolled as an undergraduate CHE student at Tennessee Tech with at least Junior standing
• Have at least an overall GPA of 3.25
• Have at least a 3.25 GPA in ChE

Meeting these minimum requirements does not guarantee admission to the graduate program. In addition to the requirements for admission to the CHE Fast-track MS program, all requirements for admission to the CHE graduate program must also be met upon graduation.

Participation in the CHE Fast-track MS program does not change the requirements for either the undergraduate or graduate degree. All students in the MS program take 30 credit hours: 24 hours of coursework and 6 hours of research and thesis.

Students who are accepted into the Fast-track MS program will be given strong consideration when prioritizing funding for graduate students research assistantships. Sources of funding usually include the Department, the Centers of Excellence, or external agencies. Selection is based on academic merit and student interest in a particular research area of the faculty and/or Centers of Excellence.

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Bio-Molecular Engineering

The Department of Chemical Engineering offers the B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering with one concentration: Bio-Molecular Engineering.  Both options result in a B.S. Chemical Engineering degree and, in both options, students take the same core chemical engineering courses.

Students interested in biological areas of chemical engineering, such as medicine, pharmaceuticals, bio-fuels, bio-remediation, etc., should consider enrolling in the Bio-Molecular Engineering concentration. Even if you are registered as a Chemical Engineering major, you still need to "join" the Bio-Molecular Engineering concentration (abbreviated BMOL). To do this, you will need to see the Chemical Engineering Departmental Associates for more details on making this change.  

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