DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL & BIOCHEMICAL ENGINEERING
Undergraduate Department of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering
FAMU—FSU COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Website: https://www.eng.famu.fsu.edu/cbe
Chair: Bruce R. Locke; Professors: Grant, Kalu, Li, Locke, Ramakrishnan, Ramamoorthy, Siegrist, Yeboah; Associate Professors: Arnett, Chung, Guan, Hallinan, Mohammadigoushki; Assistant Professors: Ali, Driscoll, Liu, Mao, Mysona, Ricarte; Teaching Faculty I: Slauch, Thourson, Wandell; Teaching Faculty II: Hunter; Teaching Faculty III: Arce; Professor Emeritus: Alamo, Collier; Affiliate Faculty: Hsu, Sachdeva, Shanbhag, Zheng
Program Overview
The vision of the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering is to be recognized as a place of excellence in fundamental and applied chemical and biomedical engineering education and life-long learning, and to be recognized as a national leader in research in modern areas of engineering. To attain this vision, the department realizes that it must continually satisfy its major stakeholders: students, industrial employers, alumni, departmental faculty, the college, the universities, the community, ABET, and other professional societies.
Chemical engineering encompasses the development, application, and operation of processes in which chemical, biological, and/or physical changes of material are involved. Chemical engineers analyze, develop, design, control, construct, and/or supervise chemical processes in research and development, pilot-scale operations, and industrial production. Chemical engineers are employed in the manufacture of inorganic chemicals (e.g., acids, alkalis, pigments, fertilizers), organic chemicals (e.g., petrochemicals, polymers, fuels, propellants, pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals), biological products (e.g., enzymes, vaccines, biochemicals, biofuels), and other materials (e.g., ceramics, polymeric materials, paper, biomaterials). The graduate in chemical engineering is particularly versatile. Industrial work may involve production, operation, research, and development. Graduate education in business, medicine, dentistry, and law, as well as chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, and other engineering and scientific disciplines are viable alternatives for the more accomplished graduate.
The Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering emphasizes a biological component in its curriculum. The increasing importance of biological and medical subjects within the field of engineering cannot be underestimated. Many of the remarkable breakthroughs in medical care can be directly attributed to advances in chemicals, materials, and devices spearheaded by biochemical and biomedical engineers. Training in biological and biomedical engineering provides an excellent background for graduate and/or medical school, especially considering the increasing technological complexity of medical practice.
Biomedical engineering concerns the application of engineering and life science principles and practices to living organisms, most specifically humans. The field is based upon the fundamentals of chemical, electrical, and mechanical engineering, as well as the medical and life sciences. Biomedical engineering is carried out at universities, teaching hospitals, and private companies and focuses on developing new materials and products designed to improve or restore bodily form or function. Biomedical engineers are employed in diverse areas such as artificial limb and organ development, genetic, metabolic and cellular engineering applications, development of drug delivery systems, and cellular and tissue engineering. Many biomedical engineering professionals are engaged in medical research and to make biomedical devices (e.g., drug delivery capsules, synthetic materials, and prosthetic devices). Because of the increasing interest in biomedical sciences and biotechnology, the degree in biomedical engineering also provides an avenue for students interested in pursuing a career in medicine, biotechnological patent law, or biomedical product sales and services.
The Department currently offers two Bachelor of Science (BS) degrees. The first is in Chemical Engineering with two major options (Chemical Engineering and Chemical-Materials Engineering). The second is the Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Biomedical Engineering with three major options (Cell and Bioprocess, Biomaterials and Biopolymers, and Imaging and Signal Processing). The BS degrees are based upon a four-year curriculum. The undergraduate curriculum emphasizes the application of experimental and computer analysis to major chemical and biomedical engineering principles. This includes laboratory instruction in modern, state-of-the-art facilities in transport phenomena, unit operations, process control, anatomy and physiology, biodynamics, tissue engineering, biomaterials, and bioinstrumentation laboratories. Students are instructed in and utilize state-of-the-art computational programs such as MATLAB, Simulink, Aspen, and COMSOL Multiphysics.
To meet newly developed interests in chemical and biomedical engineering and related fields, elective courses are available in bioengineering, polymer engineering, materials engineering, neural engineering, electrochemical engineering, and petroleum engineering. The majors build upon the core chemical and biomedical engineering principles. Consult an advisor for specific requirements for the majors.
Please contact the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at Suite A131, 2525 Pottsdamer Street, Tallahassee, FL 32310-6046; phone: (850) 410-6144 or (850) 410-6149; fax: (850) 410-6150; e-mail: chemical@eng.famu.fsu.edu; or website: https://www.eng.famu.fsu.edu/cbe.
Program Objectives and Outcomes
The Program in Chemical Engineering and the Program in Biomedical Engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, found at https://www.abet.org. As part of the accreditation process, the department has developed program educational objectives and student outcomes to reflect our specific educational goals, and we continually assess and modify outcomes to meet the changing demands of the departmental stakeholders.
Program Educational Objectives
The Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering shall prepare its students for academic and professional work through the creation and dissemination of knowledge related to the field, as well as through the advancement of those practices, methods, and technologies that form the basis of the chemical engineering profession. Accordingly, the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering has established the following educational objectives that our graduates are expected to attain within five years of graduation from our undergraduate program:
Successfully pursue careers in a wide range of industrial, professional, and academic settings through application of their rigorous foundation in chemical engineering principles and strong communication skills.
Successfully adapt and innovate to meet future technological challenges and evolving regulatory issues, while addressing the ethical and societal implications of their work at both the local and global level.
Successfully function on interdisciplinary teams and assume participatory and leadership roles in professional societies, and interact with educational, community, state, and federal institutions.
Student Outcomes
These objectives are further expanded and detailed through seven student outcomes.
Student Outcome #1 – Scientific Knowledge and Problem Solving.
Outcome Definition: Students graduating from the program will have an ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
Student Outcome #2 – Design Skills
Outcome Definition: Students graduating from the program will have the ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
Student Outcome #3 – Effective Communication
Outcome Definition: Students graduating from the program will have the ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
Student Outcome #4 – Professional and Ethical Responsibility
Outcome Definition: Students graduating from the program will have the ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
Student Outcome #5 – Teamwork
Outcome Definition: Students graduating from the program will have the ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.
Student Outcome #6 – Experimentation
Outcome Definition: Students graduating from the program will be able to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
Student Outcome #7 – Lifelong Learning
Outcome Definition: Students graduating from the program will have the ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.
ABET encourages each engineering department to pursue its own unique BS degree program objectives in accordance with its own environment and stakeholder demands. ABET also stipulates that the outcomes of program implementation must be assessed and evaluated regularly, and the results of such assessments and evaluations must be utilized as needed in future program objectives and implementation.
Digital Literacy Requirement
Students must complete at least one course designated as meeting the Digital Literacy Requirement with a grade of “C–” or higher. Courses fulfilling the Digital Literacy Requirement must accomplish at least three of the following outcomes:
Evaluate and interpret the accuracy, credibility, and relevance of digital information
Evaluate and interpret digital data and their implications
Discuss the ways in which society and/or culture interact with digital technology
Discuss digital technology trends and their professional implications
Demonstrate the ability to use digital technology effectively
Demonstrate the knowledge to use digital technology safely and ethically
Each academic major has determined the courses that fulfill the Digital Literacy requirement for that major. Students should contact their major department(s) to determine which courses will fulfill their Digital Literacy requirement. Undergraduate majors in chemical engineering satisfy this requirement by earning a grade of “C–” or higher in ECH 3854. Undergraduate majors in biomedical engineering satisfy this requirement by earning a grade of “C–” or higher in BME 3702.
State of Florida Common Program Prerequisites for Chemical Engineering
The Florida Virtual Campus (FLVC) houses the statewide, internet-based catalog of distance learning courses, degree programs, and resources offered by Florida's public colleges and universities, and they have developed operational procedures and technical guidelines for the catalog that all institutions must follow. The statute governing this policy can be reviewed by visiting https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2021/1006.73.
FLVC has identified common program prerequisites for the degree program in Chemical Engineering. To obtain the most up-to-date, state-approved prerequisites for this degree, visit: https://cpm.flvc.org/programs/338/279.
Specific prerequisites are required for admission into the upper-division program and must be completed by the student at either a community college or a state university prior to being admitted to this program. Students may be admitted into the University without completing the prerequisites but may not be admitted into the program.
Undergraduate Laboratory and Computational Facilities
Undergraduate chemical engineering teaching laboratories in measurements and transport phenomena, unit operations, and process control are designed to augment classroom instruction. Our undergraduate chemical engineering laboratory experiments feature a twenty-stage distillation column for the study of organic chemical separations, several reactor vessels for the design and analysis of batch and continuous reactor configurations, and a liquid/liquid continuous extraction process system, among others. All experiments include computer data control and data acquisition systems to provide a “real world” experience for our students. The department has biomedical engineering laboratories in the areas of bioinstrumentation, cell and tissue engineering, medical imaging, anatomy and physiology, and biodynamics and control.
The department has extensive computational and laboratory facilities in several areas. In addition to the University computing center facilities accessible by remote terminals, students have access to College of Engineering computer labs that have workstations connected to college-wide servers. Within the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, undergraduate students working on research projects utilize laboratory computer terminals connected to the college servers and workstations dedicated to research use. The department requires the use of computers for data acquisition, process control, experimental design and analysis, report writing, and homework problem calculations in the chemical engineering curriculum.