2011-2012 Bulletin – PDF - SEAS Bulletin - Columbia University

chemical engineering: Third and Fourth Years
85
Semester V Semester VI Semester VII Semester VIII
Required
Courses
CHEN E3110 (3)
Transp. phenomena, I
CHEE E3010 (3)
Principles of chem.
eng. thermodynamics
CHEN E3020 (2)
Analysis of
chem. eng. problems, I
CHEN E3120 (3)
Transp. phenomena, II
CHEN E3210 (3)
Chem. eng.
thermodynamics
CHEN E4230 (3)
Reaction kinetics and
reactor design
CHEN E3220 (2)
Analysis of
chem. eng. problems, II
CHEN E4500 (4)
Process and product
design, I
CHEE E4140 (3)
Eng. separations
processes
CHEN E4510 (4)
Process and product
design, II
Required labs
CHEN C3543 (3) 1
Org. chem. lab
CHEN E4300 (2)
Chem. eng. control
CHEN 3810 (3)
Chem. eng. lab
required
Electives
nontech 3 points 3 points 3 points
tech 2 3 points 3 points 3 points 6 points
total points
(normal track)
17 17 15 13
1
May be taken in Semester III with adviser’s permission if CHEN E3100: Material and energy balances is taken in Semester V.
2
The total of 15 points (5 courses) of required technical electives must include two chemical engineering courses, one engineering course outside of chemical
engineering, and 9 points (3 courses) of “advanced natural science” (i.e., courses in chemistry, physics, biology, and certain engineering courses—contact a
departmental adviser for details).
the departmental office or graduate
coordinator. Students with degrees
in related fields such as physics,
chemistry, biochemistry, and others
are encouraged to apply to this highly
interdisciplinary program.
Areas of Concentration
After satisfying the core requirement
of Chemical process analysis (CHEN
E4010), Transport phenomena,
III (CHEN E4110), and Statistical
mechanics (CHAP E4120), chemical
engineering graduate students are free
to choose their remaining required
courses as they desire, subject to
their research adviser’s approval.
However, a number of areas of
graduate concentration are suggested
below, with associated recommended
courses. Each concentration provides
students with the opportunity to gain
in-depth knowledge about a particular
research field of central importance to
the department. Graduate students
outside the department are very
welcome to participate in these course
concentrations, many of which are
highly interdisciplinary. The department
strongly encourages interdepartmental
dialogue at all levels.
Science and Engineering of Polymers
and Soft Materials. Soft materials
include diverse organic media with
supramolecular structure having scales
in the range 1–100 nm. Their smallscale
structure imparts unique, useful
macroscopic properties. Examples
include polymers, liquid crystals,
colloids, and emulsions. Their “softness”
refers to the fact that they typically flow
or distort easily in response to moderate
shear and other external forces. They
exhibit a great many unique and useful
macroscopic properties stemming from
the variety of fascinating microscopic
structures, from the simple orientational
order of a nematic liquid crystal to
the full periodic “crystalline” order of
block copolymer mesophases. Soft
materials provide ideal testing grounds
for such fundamental concepts as the
interplay between order and dynamics
or topological defects. They are of
primary importance to the paint, food,
petroleum, and other industries as well
as a variety of advanced materials and
devices. In addition, most biological
materials are soft, so that understanding
of soft materials is very relevant
to improving our understanding of
cellular function and therefore human
pathologies. At Columbia Chemical
Engineering, we focus on several
unique aspects of soft matter, such
as their special surface and interfacial
properties. This concentration is similar
in thrust to that of the “Biophysics and
Soft Matter” concentration, except here
there is greater emphasis on synthetic
rather than biological soft matter,
engineering 2011–2012