The Department of Chemical Engineering provides graduate programs at the Master's and Doctoral levels. A general description of these programs follows. For a more detail on the graduate program and degree requirements, please see our latest handbook located below.
Doctorate (PhD)
Those with a Master's degree in chemical engineering from a recognized institution are admitted to the PhD program. This requires the completion of several graduate courses and a research thesis. Those holding a Master's degree with minimal course requirements or in a field other than chemical engineering may be required to take additional courses. The residence requirement is 3 years, with most students completing the PhD in 4-5 years. Successful candidates are awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree.
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Chemical Engineering
Offered by:Chemical Engineering
Degree:Doctor of Philosophy
Program Requirement:
The Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering focuses on advanced materials and polymers, biomedical engineering and biotechnology, environmental engineering, energy, plasma science and artificial intelligence-assisted design and optimization. The program offers advanced training in fundamentals as well as research methods and techniques, laboratory safety and research ethics.
Thesis
A thesis for the doctoral degree must constitute original scholarship and must be a distinct contribution to knowledge. It must show familiarity with previous work in the field and must demonstrate ability to plan and carry out research, organize results, and defend the approach and conclusions in a scholarly manner. The research presented must meet current standards of the discipline; as well, the thesis must clearly demonstrate how the research advances knowledge in the field. Finally, the thesis must be written in compliance with norms for academic and scholarly expression and for publication in the public domain.
Required Courses (4 credits)
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CHEE 681
Laboratory Safety 1
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemical Engineering: The basics of laboratory safety in a chemical engineering laboratory. Mandatory safety orientation (administration, contacts, fire, waste, emergency procedures) and official WHIMIS training.
Offered by: Chemical Engineering
- The course must be completed by the end of the first semester in which the course is offered during the student's program.
- Restriction: Restricted to Chemical Engineering students.
-
CHEE 682
Laboratory Safety 2
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemical Engineering: Demonstration of the safety of students' thesis experiments to the departmental safety committee.
Offered by: Chemical Engineering
- M.Eng. students must complete the course by the end of the first year of their degree. Ph.D. students must complete the course by the end of the third term of their degree.
- Corequisite: CHEE 681
- Restriction: Restricted to Chemical Engineering students.
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CHEE 687
Research Skills and Ethics
2 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemical Engineering: The course provides a foundation in three areas: (i) integrity and ethical conduct, (ii) knowledge dissemination and translation, and (iii) research management. Ethical considerations in situations involving conflict of interest, authorship, and intellectual property attributions are discussed. Students will gain experience in identifying and selecting key information for different situations. Best practices in data reporting, maintenance of research notebooks and legal aspects of data ownership and rights are discussed.
Offered by: Chemical Engineering
- Restriction(s): Restricted to graduate students registered in the Department of Chemical Engineering.
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CHEE 795
Ph.D. Thesis Proposal
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemical Engineering: Independent work under the supervision of the thesis advisor(s) leading to a thesis proposal.
Offered by: Chemical Engineering
- Terms
- Instructors
- Phillip Servio
- Phillip Servio
-
CHEE 796
Ph.D. Proposal Defence
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemical Engineering: Presentation and defence of thesis proposal at an oral examination.
Offered by: Chemical Engineering
- Terms
- Instructors
- Phillip Servio
- Phillip Servio
-
CHEE 797
Ph.D. Seminar 1
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemical Engineering: Presentation of a seminar on an aspect of the Ph.D. candidate's research thesis work.
Offered by: Chemical Engineering
- Terms
- Instructors
- Phillip Servio
- Phillip Servio
-
CHEE 798
Ph.D. Seminar 2
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemical Engineering: Presentation of a seminar on an aspect of the Ph.D. candidate's research thesis work.
Offered by: Chemical Engineering
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year
Complementary Courses (6-12 credits)
6-12 credits at the 500 level or higher, in consultation with the supervisor and depending on student's background. May include the following:
-
CHEE 611
Heat and Mass Transfer
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemical Engineering: General conservation equations for volumes and interfaces; scaling analysis and approximate solutions to diffusion problems; reaction-diffusion processes; phase changes; convective heat and mass transfer; selected advanced topics.
Offered by: Chemical Engineering
-
CHEE 621
Thermodynamics
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemical Engineering: Theory and application of phase and chemical equilibria in multicomponent systems.
Offered by: Chemical Engineering
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year
-
CHEE 631
Foundations of Fluid Mechanics
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemical Engineering: Rigorous derivation of equations of motion; creeping flow inviscid flow; boundary layer theory; hydrodynamic stability; turbulent flow, separated flows, drag on submerged bodies.
Offered by: Chemical Engineering
-
CHEE 641
Chemical Reaction Engineering
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemical Engineering: Interpretation of chemical reaction data, especially for heterogeneous systems. Residence time, complete segregation, maximum mixedness, other advanced concepts. Reactor design.
Offered by: Chemical Engineering
-
CHEE 651
Adv Biochemical Engineering
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemical Engineering: The use of chemical engineering and biological principles in the study, design, use and creation of biologically-based processes and products. Topics: biochemical thermodynamics, protein engineering, manipulation of gene expression, transport phenomena and bioreactor design.
Offered by: Chemical Engineering
- Restriction: Restricted to graduate students
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year
-
CHEE 662
Computational Methods
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemical Engineering: Methods of weighted residuals; solution to non-linear algebraic equations; stability in nonlinear equations; bifurcations; mesh refinement strategies; convection dominated transport; hyperbolic equations, particle simulation methods.
Offered by: Chemical Engineering
-
CHEE 672
Process Dynamics and Control
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemical Engineering: Process representation and identification and simulation; sensor stability; sensitivity of feedback control systems; feedward control; discrete representation of continuous systems; controller tuning; adaptive control.
Offered by: Chemical Engineering
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year
-
CHEE 688
Adv Materials in Chemical Eng
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Chemical Engineering: Fundamentals of materials science and engineering for chemical engineers,applying thermodynamic, transport, reaction kinetics principles to thesynthesis, characterization and performance of advanced nano-, micro- and meso-structured materials, polymer solutions, gels, colloidal dispersions, emulsions, natural materials, bio-inspired materials, and composites. Applications of advanced materials in chemical engineering, including design for sustainability, and environmental/health considerations. Critical analysis of contemporary advanced-materials research literature.
Offered by: Chemical Engineering
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year
Applicants with a Bachelor's degree who wish to pursue a PhD without completing a Master’s degree should apply for admission to the MEng (thesis option) program, indicating that their ultimate goal is a PhD. The candidate has two options to study at the PhD level:
- After one year at the Masters level, students performing at an outstanding level in research and course work may petition to fast-track to the PhD program without the submission of a Master's thesis.
- At their request, applicants with exceptionally high academic standing and outstanding research potential will be considered for direct admission to the PhD program (certain conditions apply).
Master's (MEng) degrees
All Master's programs within the Department of Chemical Engineering comprise coursework and research. Opportunities exist for graduate students who want to focus on independent research, and gain experience in applying the scientific method. Students who want a traditional classroom-based education can follow a program focused on coursework. The programs have evolved to accommodate students with diverse scientific backgrounds and career goals. However, the sole requirement that remains constant is academic excellence. Note that applicants who already hold a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering cannot enter our Master's program.
MEng with research focus
The "Thesis Option" Master's degree emphasizes independent research. In general, this program requires the completion of an intensive research project performed under the direction of an academic staff member. The research is summarized in a formal thesis submitted at the end of the program. Also required are a research proposal, presentation of a seminar, and twelve (12) credits of graduate-level courses. Most students complete the MEng thesis option requirements in 20 months, earning a Master of Engineering (MEng) degree. Required courses, please click below:
program not available
Program Requirement: