MChE
Our graduate program is primarily a PhD program, with a limited number of MChE students admitted without funding (i.e., industrial, part-time masters students). Currently, admission to our PhD program includes full financial support. The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering offers two options for graduate education leading to a Master of Chemical Engineering (MChE) Degree. Our thesis option requires 6 credit hours of thesis work and 24 credit hours of course work and is designed for full-time graduate students in residence. Our course option requires 30 credits of course work and is designed for engineers who are studying part-time.
The faculty member supervising the thesis research will act as an advisor for students in the thesis option. The Department’s graduate student advisor will act as an advisor to all students in the course work option.
General Admissions Requirements
- Students must satisfy the general graduate admission requirements of the College of Engineering but satisfaction of these minimum requirements in no way guarantees admission.
- A baccalaureate degree in the field or in a closely allied field of science or mathematics.
- A minimum undergraduate grade-point average in engineering, science, and mathematics courses of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
- A minimum of three letters of strong support from former teachers or supervisors.
- For Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering applicants, the scholastic index of 3.0 in the major field is computed from the previous undergraduate work.
We encourage candidates with research experience (undergraduate as well as industrial), as well as those with practical industrial experience after the baccalaureate degree to apply.
Fee waiver requests
We welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds to our program, including those from groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM and in research areas of great national need. To eliminate potential barriers to applying, requests for waiving the graduate application fee for domestic applicants can be sent to cyounce@udel.edu.
- The email should include i) a brief statement about research interests, ii) rationale for fee waiver request, and iii) a copy of CV including GPA.
- Requests for fee waivers will receive a response within 10 business days; inquiries about original fee waiver request should not be sent until after this period of time has elapsed.
- UD offices will be closed between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Fee waiver requests received during this time will not receive a response.
- We are not able to offer fee waivers for international applicants at this time.
Course Requirements
The thesis option requires 6 credit hours of thesis work (CHEG869 Master’s Dissertation) and 24 credit hours of course work; it is designed for full-time graduate students in residence. The course option requires 30 credits of course work and is designed for engineers who are studying part-time. The faculty member supervising the thesis research will act as an advisor for students in the thesis option. The Department’s Graduate Program Director will act as an advisor to all students in the course work option.
Both options require 10 credits (five courses) of core courses in chemical engineering fundamentals: Modeling, Analysis, and Acquisition of Data (CHEG 807, 2 credits); Molecular Thermodynamics (CHEG 810, 2 credits); Kinetic Processes (CHEG 820, 2 credits); Diffusive Transport Processes (CHEG 821, 2 credits) and either Introduction to Data and Systems Analysis (CHEG 802, 2 credits) or Chemical Interfaces and Surfaces (CHEG 811, 2 credits). Students must also take 2 credits of Advanced Scientific Communication (CHEG 803), and take 4 credits (two modules) of Advanced chemical and biomolecular engineering modules. Students must take an additional 14 credits of chemical engineering elective courses (or at least 8 credits of chemical engineering electives and 6 credits of CHEG869).
Modules can be combined to form a concentration.
Biomolecular Concentration
- CHEG 840 Rate Processes & Dynamics for Microbial Systems (2 credits)
- CHEG 843 Rate Processes & Dynamics for Mammalian Cellular Systems (2 credits)
Catalysis and Energy Concentration
- CHEG 850 Electrochemical Processes (2 credits)
- CHEG 851 Applied Thermodynamics (2 credits)
Data and Systems Concentration
- CHEG 860 Process Systems Engineering: Mathematical Modeling and Optimization Principles (2 credits)
- CHEG 861 Data Science for Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (2 credits)
Soft Matter Concentration
- CHEG 830 Continuum Transport in Materials (2 credits)
- CHEG 832 Soft Materials, Colloids, and Polymers (2 credits)