Chemical Engineering, M.S. | NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Chemical Engineering, M.S.

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Chemical Engineering

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Chemical engineering is part of a rapidly expanding field that requires interdisciplinary engineers educated in both the molecular and medical sciences. For every discovery made in the health and industrial sectors, a chemical engineer finds a way to develop and implement it on a large scale.

The MS in Chemical Engineering program at the School of Engineering prepares you to fulfill this unique role. Our curriculum introduces you to advanced design methods and provides an in-depth look at the research and development process. Our curriculum offers an advanced course of study to refine your research skills, and we teach you the problem-solving skills to surmount any problem along the way.

As a member of the program, you will have the opportunity to work closely with our leading research faculty. The School of Engineering research areas include biopolymers at interfaces, bio-sensors, dynamics of complex fluids, nanotechnology and nanomaterials, process-systems engineering, protein engineering, and biomolecular diagnostics.

In the coming years, we expect to see a significant increase in the demand for capable chemical engineers. Our graduates will be able to explore a number of exciting fields — from chemical manufacturing, energy production, and health care to biotechnology, nanotechnology, and environmental and consumer safety.

Find out about Admission Requirements.

Curriculum

Plan your Chemical and Engineering MS program in accordance with the list of requirements below. 

To meet graduation requirements, you must have an overall B average in all courses (excluding MS Thesis or Guided Study Project) and must not obtain more than 2 grades of C in required subjects.


Required (core) courses (12 credits)

3 Credits Applied Mathematics in Engineering CBE-GY 6153
This course covers mathematical formulation of chemical engineering problems in terms of ordinary, partial differential and differential equations. Topics include solutions of boundary and initial value problems using Green's functions and other techniques; characterization of second-order partial differential equations and properties of their solutions; asymptotic methods and numerical techniques.
Prerequisite: MA-UY 2122 and MA-UY 2132 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Transport Phenomena CBE-GY 6333
The topics in this course include vector analysis review; diffusive fluxes; conservation equations for chemical species and thermal energy; boundary conditions; scaling and approximation techniques; solution methods for conduction and diffusion problems; transient unidirectional diffusion and conduction; momentum diffusion and viscous stress; conservation equation for momentum and the Navier-Stokes equations; unidirectional and lubrication flows; and low- and high-Reynolds number flows.
Prerequisite: CBE-UY 3313 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics CBE-GY 6733
This course is an organized exposition of fundamental concepts of classical thermodynamics and traditional tools that will help chemical engineers understand and analyze systems they are likely to encounter in practice and/or original research. This course is for students who seek a much deeper understanding of classical thermodynamics than a typical undergraduate course provides. Topics include phase, chemical, and reaction equilibria, ideal and non-ideal solutions, stability of thermodynamic systems and thermodynamics of surfaces..
Prerequisite: CBE-UY 3153 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Chemical Reactor Analysis and Design CBE-GY 6813
The topics in this course include trends and issues in modern reactor design; kinetics of complex homogenous and heterogeneous reactions: determination of nonlinear kinetic parameters, effects of transport processes, and catalyst deactivation; analysis and design of reactors; laminar flow reactors; dispersion model; split boundary condition problems; effects of non-ideal flow on conversion; and fixed-bed, fluidized-bed and multiphase reactors.
Prerequisite: CBE-UY 3223 or adviser's approval.

Electives (12 credits)

Choose at least 2 electives (6 credits) from CBE 6003 - CBE 9413, and 2 electives (6 credits) from other graduate programs with the approval of the graduate adviser in chemical engineering.

Guided study course (6 credits)

CBE 902X Guided Studies in Chemical Engineering, Credits: 6.00 


Required (core) courses (12 credits)

3 Credits Applied Mathematics in Engineering CBE-GY 6153
This course covers mathematical formulation of chemical engineering problems in terms of ordinary, partial differential and differential equations. Topics include solutions of boundary and initial value problems using Green's functions and other techniques; characterization of second-order partial differential equations and properties of their solutions; asymptotic methods and numerical techniques.
Prerequisite: MA-UY 2122 and MA-UY 2132 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Transport Phenomena CBE-GY 6333
The topics in this course include vector analysis review; diffusive fluxes; conservation equations for chemical species and thermal energy; boundary conditions; scaling and approximation techniques; solution methods for conduction and diffusion problems; transient unidirectional diffusion and conduction; momentum diffusion and viscous stress; conservation equation for momentum and the Navier-Stokes equations; unidirectional and lubrication flows; and low- and high-Reynolds number flows.
Prerequisite: CBE-UY 3313 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics CBE-GY 6733
This course is an organized exposition of fundamental concepts of classical thermodynamics and traditional tools that will help chemical engineers understand and analyze systems they are likely to encounter in practice and/or original research. This course is for students who seek a much deeper understanding of classical thermodynamics than a typical undergraduate course provides. Topics include phase, chemical, and reaction equilibria, ideal and non-ideal solutions, stability of thermodynamic systems and thermodynamics of surfaces..
Prerequisite: CBE-UY 3153 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Chemical Reactor Analysis and Design CBE-GY 6813
The topics in this course include trends and issues in modern reactor design; kinetics of complex homogenous and heterogeneous reactions: determination of nonlinear kinetic parameters, effects of transport processes, and catalyst deactivation; analysis and design of reactors; laminar flow reactors; dispersion model; split boundary condition problems; effects of non-ideal flow on conversion; and fixed-bed, fluidized-bed and multiphase reactors.
Prerequisite: CBE-UY 3223 or adviser's approval.

Electives (9 credits)

Choose at least 2 electives (6 credits) from CBE 6003 - CBE 9413, and 1 elective (3 credits) from other graduate programs with the approval of the graduate adviser in chemical engineering.

Master thesis (9 credits)

CBE 997X Master's Thesis, Credits: 9.00


3 Credits Applied Mathematics in Engineering CBE-GY 6153
This course covers mathematical formulation of chemical engineering problems in terms of ordinary, partial differential and differential equations. Topics include solutions of boundary and initial value problems using Green's functions and other techniques; characterization of second-order partial differential equations and properties of their solutions; asymptotic methods and numerical techniques.
Prerequisite: MA-UY 2122 and MA-UY 2132 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Transport Phenomena CBE-GY 6333
The topics in this course include vector analysis review; diffusive fluxes; conservation equations for chemical species and thermal energy; boundary conditions; scaling and approximation techniques; solution methods for conduction and diffusion problems; transient unidirectional diffusion and conduction; momentum diffusion and viscous stress; conservation equation for momentum and the Navier-Stokes equations; unidirectional and lubrication flows; and low- and high-Reynolds number flows.
Prerequisite: CBE-UY 3313 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics CBE-GY 6733
This course is an organized exposition of fundamental concepts of classical thermodynamics and traditional tools that will help chemical engineers understand and analyze systems they are likely to encounter in practice and/or original research. This course is for students who seek a much deeper understanding of classical thermodynamics than a typical undergraduate course provides. Topics include phase, chemical, and reaction equilibria, ideal and non-ideal solutions, stability of thermodynamic systems and thermodynamics of surfaces..
Prerequisite: CBE-UY 3153 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Chemical Reactor Analysis and Design CBE-GY 6813
The topics in this course include trends and issues in modern reactor design; kinetics of complex homogenous and heterogeneous reactions: determination of nonlinear kinetic parameters, effects of transport processes, and catalyst deactivation; analysis and design of reactors; laminar flow reactors; dispersion model; split boundary condition problems; effects of non-ideal flow on conversion; and fixed-bed, fluidized-bed and multiphase reactors.
Prerequisite: CBE-UY 3223 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Polymer Rheology and Processing CBE-GY 7213
The topics in this course include science and engineering of polymer processing; Newtonianand non-Newtonian flow phenomena; molecular and phenomenological models of polymer rheology; experimental characterization of shear flows; and the theory and application of engineering principles to extrusion, co-extrusion, blown film extrusion, injection molding and fiber spinning.
Prerequisite: CBE-UY 3313 and 3233 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Engineering Physics of Synthetic and Biological Macromolecules CBE-GY 7263
The course covers physical states of synthetic and biological macromolecules; sizes, shapes and ordered structures; dynamics of unentangled and entangled chains; networks and gels; mechanical, dielectric and optical properties; and viscoelasticity and fracture.
Prerequisite: CBE-UY 4173 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Polymer Composites CBE-GY 7283
The course covers composites of linear or cross-linked polymer matrix and reinforcing fibers: carbon, graphite, Kevlar and glass; manufacturing of composites; autoclave bag molding, filament winding, pultrusion; science and engineering of processing of composites; chemorheology, heat and mass transfer, residual stresses, monitoring and optimization of processing; mathematical models; in-situ real-time sensing; nanocomposites and ?green? composites.
Prerequisite: CBE-UY 4173 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Air Pollution Engineering Control CBE-GY 7523
The course covers control of air pollutants in response to government regulation, regeneration;pollutant-emissions control and the U.S. Clean Air Act mandates; EPA controltechnology approaches, BACT, MACT and RACT; analysis of pollutant properties, concentrations and atmospheric boundary conditions; absorptive and reactive recovery processes for moving and stationary sources; and formation and removal of gaseous oxides (NOx, SOx, CO) of VOC?s, Hg and HAP?s) and of aerosols and other particulates.
Prerequisite: Adviser's approval.
3 Credits Optimization in Biological Systems CBE-GY 8113
This course introduces the mathematical programming approach. Topics include tree and network representations; review of the basic concepts in optimization; Kuhn-Tucker optimality conditions; non-linear programming algorithms; modeling techniques for formulating non-linear models; review of linear programming; modeling of continuous and discrete decisions; mixed-integer linear programming techniques (MILP); logical inference and MILP; mixed-integer non-linear programming algorithms (MINLP); applications in computational molecular biology; genotyping of pooled micro-satellite markers; genome rearrangement by DNA inversions; multiple alignment problems; optimization applications in protein systems; and optimization applications in metabolic networks.
Prerequisite: Adviser's approval.
3 Credits Biointerfacial Engineering CBE-GY 8313
The course explores design, physical properties and experimental analysis of interfaces from a bioengineering perspective. The course comprises about two-thirds lecture and one-third laboratory. Topics covered incorporate experimental characterization including electrochemical, optical and spectroscopic methods; the biochemistry of surfaces; physical properties including surface thermodynamics, electrostatics and biomolecular properties at interfaces; and select biotechnological applications.
Prerequisite: CBE-UY 3323, CBE-UY 3223, CM-UY 3314, CM-UY 2234 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Engineering Principles of Drug Delivery CBE-GY 8373
The course covers fundamental concepts in drug delivery from an engineering perspective. Emphasis will be on materials, processing methods and characterization of drug delivery vehicles ranging from antibody drug conjugates, to nanoparticles, to hydrogels. The class will begin with an overview of drug delivery fundamentals ? rationale, mechanisms, approaches ? and dive into specifics ? delivery vehicle material properties, processing techniques and characterization. Topics will include therapeutic modalities and mechanisms of action; engineering principles of controlled release and of drug transport; thermodynamic principles of self-assembly; physicochemical characterization of drug delivery vehicles; processing and purification methods; effects of macromolecular conformation on bio-interactions; and significance of biodistributions. Clinical and industrial examples will be presented where possible.
Prerequisite: CBE-UY 3313 and CBE-UY 3323 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Biochemical Engineering CBE-GY 8813
The course covers biochemical and bioprocess engineering; enzyme kinetics; cellular control systems, genetic and protein engineering; metabolism, stoichiometry and metabolic engineering; cell growth kinetics; bioreactor design and operation; heat/mass transfer in biological system; and biological product purification and characterization.
Prerequisite: CBE-UY 3223 and CBE-UY 3233 or adviser's approval.
3 Credits Selected Topics in CBE I CBE-GY 9403
Topics of special interest in chemical and biomolecular engineering are announced in advance in each semester offering.
Prerequisite: Adviser's approval.
3 Credits Selct Topics Chemical & Bio Engineering II CBE-GY 9413
Topics of special interest in chemical and biomolecular engineering are announced in advance in each semester offering
Guided Studies in Chemical Engineering CBE-GY 902X
These studies involve selections, analyses, solutions and presentations of engineering reports of problems in products, processes or equipment design, or other fields of chemical engineering practices under faculty supervision. Conferences are scheduled. Master?s-degree candidates are required to submit three unbound copies of their reports to advisers one week before the last day of classes.
Prerequisite: Adviser's approval
6 Credits Guided Studies in Biomolecular Engineering CBE-GY 903X
These studies involved selections, analyses, solutions and presentations of engineeringreports of problems in products, processes or equipment design, or other fields of biomolecular engineering practices under faculty supervision. Conferences are scheduled. Master?s-degree candidates are required to submit three unbound copies of their reports to adviser one week before the last day of classes.
Prerequisite: Adviser's approval.
Seminar in Chemical & Biology Engineering CBE-GY 9910
Recent developments in chemical and biomolecular sciences and engineering are presented by engineers and scientists from industry and academia. Four semesters are required for PhD candidates.
Seminar in Chemical & Biological Engineering CBE-GY 9920
Recent developments in chemical and biomolecular engineering are presented by engineers and scientists from industry and academia
MS Thesis in Chemical & Biological Engineering CBE-GY 997X
Theses for the master's degree in chemical engineering should give results of original investigation of problems in chemical engineering or the application of physical, chemical or other scientific principles to chemical engineering. Theses may involve experimental research, theoretical analyses or process designs, or combinations thereof. Master?s-degree candidates are required to submit four unbound copies to advisers before the seventh Wednesday before commencement.
Prerequisite: Adviser's approval.
PhD Dissertation in Chemical and Biological Engineering CBE-GY 999X
Theses for the PhD degree must give results of independent investigations of problems in chemical engineering and may involve experimental or theoretical work. Theses must show ability to do creative work and must show that original contributions, worthy of publication in recognized journals, are made to chemical engineering. Candidates are required to take oral examinations on thesis subjects and related topics. Doctoral-degree candidates must submit five unbound thesis copies to advisers before or on the seventh Wednesday before commencement.
Prerequisite: Adviser's approval and students must have passed the doctoral qualifying examination.


Download the evaluation rubric for MS thesis defense and guided study exams.