Undergraduate Program in Chemical Engineering

The Field
Chemical engineers have long played key roles in a diverse set of industries that include petroleum, food, pharmaceuticals, artificial fibers, petrochemicals, plastics and ceramics. In these areas, chemical engineers design and develop the processes for large-scale manufacturing that result in affordable products that are essential to our way of life.

Chemical engineers are on the forefront of rapidly developing areas that include biotechnology and biomedicine, semiconductor manufacturing and data storage devices, and advanced materials with precisely-controlled microstructures. Chemical engineering is also widely applied to environmental protection and remediation, process safety, and hazardous waste management.

The Major
The chemical engineering course of study at UNM offers broad training in the fundamentals of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and the engineering sciences. These are integrated with the chemical engineering "core," which includes thermodynamics; heat, momentum, and mass transport; chemical reaction engineering; design; and process control.

Chemical Engineering Program Educational Objectives
Graduates of the undergraduate program in Chemical Engineering will be successfully progressing in their careers or post-graduate endeavors in diverse chemical engineering areas, including chemical process engineering, biomedical engineering, materials processing, semiconductor manufacturing and environmental engineering, by:

Resources
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
For juniors and seniors, opportunities exist for research projects with individual faculty in their laboratories. The range of projects includes such things as catalysis, biotechnology, semiconductor manufacturing, chemical vapor deposition, and plasma etching. Students undertaking individual h projects gain exposure to state of the art processing and analytical equipment, including aerosol, chemical vapor deposition, and plasma reactors; ellipsometry; scanning electron microscopy; Auger spectroscopy; and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Computer Facilities
Along with the other computing facilities available on campus, the department maintains a computer pod with state-of-the-art PCs, loaded with software and tools relevant to Chemical Engineering students.

ChemE students make extensive use of the sophisticated process simulation code, ASPEN-PLUS, and learn to write digital process control programs. Students interested in working in the semiconductor industry or advanced materials can gain extensive experience with the RS/1 suite of software tools for statistical design of experiment. In addition to these technical software packages, students also gain experience with other computer software including word processing mathematics.

Advising
Engineering students benefit from comprehensive advising. Following admission to the department, students are assigned a faculty mentor within his or her area of interest. Students are required to meet with the faculty advisor and department advising coordinator before registering each semester. Students in pre-major status or who have not been admitted to the department are advised in Engineering Student Services.

Opportunities

• Cooperative Education
  Opportunities for the cooperative education program or summer industrial internship program may be available through UNM’s Career Services Cooperative Education Program.


• Department Honors Program
  Eligible freshmen and upperclassmen in the Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering are urged to enroll in the Honors Program. Chemical and nuclear engineering students may graduate with General Honors (honors in general studies), with Departmental Honors, or both. Information is available from departmental advisors and the University Honors Center.


• Student Organizations
  Students are encouraged to participate the various student organizations represented at the University.

Need More Information?
For more information, contact us at chne@unm.edu.