UMass Lowell
Graduate Course Catalog
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Doctoral Programs in Chemical Engineering

 

D.Eng. and Ph.D. - Chemical Engineering Option or Energy Engineering Option (Nuclear Engineering Concentration)

Objectives
The Doctor of Engineering/Doctor of Philosophy degree is designed to prepare engineers for leadership positions in industry, academia and government.  The program includes advanced graduate course work in engineering and allied subjects. 

Admission Requirements
The applicant is required to have at least a B.S. degree in engineering or science.  A student may apply to transfer up to 24 credit hours of applicable graduate course work toward the doctoral degree. In cases where a student has an M.B.A., in addition to the B.S. degree or its equivalent, the management portion of the Doctor of Engineering program may be waived.  Students who do not have adequate preparation in chemical engineering may be required to take additional courses to make up deficiencies.

Degree Requirements
A total of 63 credit hours of graduate level courses are required for the doctoral degree. The general degree requirements follow:

  1. Forty two (42) approved credit hours of graduate level engineering courses including the core requirements.
  2. A two course sequence in advanced mathematics (with approval of the graduate coordinator).
  3. For the D. Eng degree, nine (9) credit hours of approved management/non-technical courses is substituted for nine credit hours of engineering courses.
  4. Twenty-one (21) credit hours for the dissertation.
  5. Students must enroll in at least two semesters of graduate seminar.
  6. The student is required to be in full time residence at the University for at least one year.
  7. The student must have a minimum grade point average of 3.25 in order to graduate. 

Exceptions may be made for students whose Master’s Degree is in a discipline other than engineering. Students may register for no more than six credit hours of research in preparing a formal dissertation proposal. This proposal and the student’s ability to perform research must be orally defended before the student’s doctoral committee and other interested parties. This constitutes their candidacy examination. Upon passing this examination and completing all course requirements, the student becomes a candidate for the doctoral degree and may register for additional research credit with the advisor’s approval.

Core Requirements
The core requirements will consist of two courses in advanced mathematics, two courses in thermal/fluid processes and one course in solid mechanics. The specific courses follow:

Advanced Mathematics:
10/24.509 Systems Dynamics
10/24.539 Mathematical Methods for Engineers
Thermal/Fluid Processes (select two of the following):
10.510 Advanced Separation Processes
10.520 Advanced Thermodynamics
10.528 Advanced Transport Phenomena
Solid Mechanics (select one of the following):
10.506 Colloidal, Interfacial and Nanomaterials Science and Engineering
10.508 Material Science and Engineering
10.523 Nanodevices and Electronic Materials
10.525 Design and Packaging of Materials
10.535 Principles of Cell and Microbe Cultivation

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Elective Requirements
A total of 27 credits of elective courses must be taken.  For the Chemical Engineering Option, the courses will be from either the processing, materials or biotechnology/bioprocessing area.  For the Nuclear Concentration in the Energy Option, the courses will be from the nuclear area. The specific courses in those areas follow:

Processing (in addition to the core courses):
10.506 Colloidal, Interfacial and Nanomaterials Science and Engineering
10.518 Microprocessor Control
10.522 Computer-Aided Chemical Process Design
10.530 Advanced Control Strategies
10.533 Macromolecular Science and Engineering
10.535 Cell and Microbe Cultivation
10.545 Isolation and Purification
Materials (in addition to the core courses):
10.504 Process Calculations of Paper and Pulp Processes
10.506 Colloidal, Interfacial and Nanomaterials Science and Engineering
10.508 Material Science and Engineering
10.523  Nanodevices and Electronic Materials
10.525 Design and Packaging of Materials
10.529 Advances in Nanotechnology and Green Chemistry
10.533 Macromolecular Science and Engineering
10.535 Cell and Microbe Cultivation
10.541 Nanostructural Characterization by SEM, TEM and AFM
22.5xx (Any Dept of Mechanical Engineering graduate level materials course approved by the student's advisor)
26.5xx (Any Dept of Plastics Engineering graduate level materials course approved by the student's advisor)

Biotechnology/Bioprocessing (in addition to the core courses):
10.535 Cell and Microbe Cultivation
10.538 Advanced Separations in Biotechnology
10.545 Isolation and Purification
10.555 Biopharmaceutical Regulatory Compliance
10.586 Bioprocessing Projects Laboratory
81.519 Biochemistry I
81.576 Cell Culture
81.5xx (Any Dept of Chemistry graduate level materials course approved by the student's advisor)

Nuclear (in addition to the core courses):
24.504 Energy Engineering Workshop
24.505 Nuclear Reactor Physics
24.506 Special Topics in Nuclear Reactor Physics
24.507 Nuclear Reactor Engineering and Safety Analysis
24.508 Special Topics in Nuclear Reactor Engineering
24.511 Advanced Reactor Concepts
24.514 Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Management
24.519 Nuclear Reactor Operator Training I
24.520 Nuclear Reactor Operator Training II
22.5xx (Any Department of Mechanical Engineering graduate level course approved by the student’s advisor)
98.5xx (Any Department of Radiological Sciences graduate level course approved bythe student’s advisor)

Qualifying Examination

  1. The student is permitted two attempts at passing the qualifying examination which is administered on a declared schedule. Students who fail the qualifying examination the first time must retake the exam at its next scheduled offering. Students failing the doctoral exam twice will automatically be dismissed from the doctoral program. Those who do not take the examination at the prescribed time may lose all their financial support, if any, and may be dismissed from the doctoral program.

  2. The qualifying exam will be a closed book examination and will be administered during two specified days. Supplementary material will be provided to th student at the time of the exam.  The first day will focus on basic science and engineering concepts and will be similar to the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam. The student is encouraged to use the FE Exam study guide or take an FE Review Course to prepare for the first day exam. The topics which could be covered are: Chemistry; Fluid Mechanics; Material Science/Structure of Matter; Mathematics; Thermodynamics;Chemical Reaction Engineering; Chemical Thermodynamics; Heat Transfer; Mass Transfer; Material/Energy Balances;and Process Control. The second day will focus on the core areas of Advanced Mathematics and Thermal/Fluid Processes as well as a specialty area selected by the student. For the Chemical Engineering Option the specialty areas are Chemical Processing, Materials and Biotechnology/Bioprocessing.

  3. A student enrolled in the Energy Engineering (Nuclear Engineering Concentration) will follow the qualifying exam guidelines for the Energy Engineering Program. 


Dissertation
The research work for the dissertation shall be conducted under the supervision of a departmental faculty advisor and a committee of two others. The student must defend and submit an acceptable proposal for the dissertation prior to beginning the research work.

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