Free electives begin to appear in the chemical engineering curriculum in the junior year. These electives give students the opportunity to explore different areas of interest. Some students choose to devote their free electives to the pursuit of an additional major or a minor.
If you are interested in exploring different areas of interest for chemical engineering careers, we have identified some thematic areas that are highly relevant to chemical engineers and gathered lists of suitable courses for each area. These courses might not be offered every semester, and new ones may appear. You may choose to explore some thematic area in depth, or you may choose to sample a few areas. You should check the prerequisites for any courses they consider as electives.
Please note that a 600-level course is considered an advanced undergraduate/beginning graduate course, so all chemical engineering juniors or seniors would be well qualified to take 06-6xx courses. 700-level courses are considered Ph.D. level and are designed to be taken by first year Ph.D. students. Seniors who get mostly A's in their chemical engineering core courses are well-qualified to take 06-7xx courses. When considering 600 or 700 level courses in other majors, you should consider whether your background is a good match, based on the course description.
Advanced chemical engineering fundamentals
If you are interested in gaining a deeper knowledge of the fundamentals of chemical engineering and are a senior with mostly A's in your chemical engineering core courses, you should consider the following courses as electives:
| Course |
Description |
| 06-702 |
Advanced Reaction Kinetics |
|
| 06-704 |
Advanced Heat and Mass Transfer |
|
| 06-705 |
Advanced Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics |
|
| 06-713 |
Mathematical Techniques in Chemical Engineering |
|
| 06-720 |
Advanced Process Systems Engineering* |
|
| 06-722 |
Bioprocess Design |
*Advanced Process Systems Engineering is typically offered in spring semester—appropriate for students who have completed 06-421 Chemical Process Systems Design in fall semester.
If you are interested in the use of computational tools to solve chemical engineering problems and are a senior with mostly A's or B's in your chemical engineering core courses, you should consider the following courses as electives:
| Course |
Description |
| 06-623 |
Mathematical Modeling of Chemical Engineering Processes |
|
| 06-625 |
Chemical and Reactive Systems |
|
| 06-663 |
Analysis and Modeling of Transport Phenomena |
|
Note: The course 06-606 Computational Methods for Large Scale Process Design and Analysis is not recommended if it is taught in the fall semester (as it normally is), since students in this class are expected to have already completed an undergraduate Processes Systems Design course such as 06-421.
Note: These courses may not be substituted for any of the required core courses for the BS in chemical engineering.
Sustainability and environmental aspects
Chemical engineers develop catalysts and processes to improve yields in the production of fuels, and they develop new battery systems, fuel cells, and biofuels to help build the renewable energy economy.
Chemical engineers apply their knowledge of transport and reaction processes to model the fate and transport of pollutants in aquatic, soil, and atmospheric systems.
Please note that there is a College of Engineering designated minor in environmental & sustainability studies. Courses listed for that minor would certainly be appropriate.
College of Engineering general
| Course |
Description |
| 79-336 |
Introduction to Environmental Ideas |
|
Chemical Engineering
| Course |
Description |
| 06-644 / 24-642 |
Electrochemical and Decarbonization Technologies |
|
| 06-664 |
Special Topics: Design and Optimization of Sustainable Processes |
|
Chemistry
| Course |
Description |
| 09-225 |
Climate Change: Chemistry, Physics and Planetary Science |
|
| 09-529 |
Introduction to Sustainable Energy Science |
|
Civil & Environmental Engineering
| Course |
Description |
| 12-351 |
Environmental Engineering |
|
| 12-352 |
Environmental Engineering Lab |
|
| 12-353 |
Environmental Biology and Ecology |
|
| 12-612 |
Intro to Sustainable Engineering |
|
| 12-651 |
Air Quality Engineering |
|
| 12-657 |
Water Resource Systems Engineering |
| 12-629 |
Environmental Microbiology for Engineers |
|
| 12-766 |
Climate Change Science and Solutions |
|
| 12-702 |
Fundamentals of Water Quality Engineering |
|
| 12-714 |
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment |
|
| 12-724 |
Biological Wastewater Treatment |
|
| 12-725 |
Fate, Transport & Physicochemical Processes of Organic Contaminants in Aquatic Systems |
| 12-726 |
Mathematical Modeling of Environmental Quality Systems |
|
| 12-728 |
Remediation Engineering |
|
| 12-749 |
Climate Change Adaptation |
|
Engineering and Public Policy
| Course |
Description |
| 19-421 |
Emerging Energy Policies |
|
| 19-424 |
Energy and the Environment |
|
| 19-425 |
Sustainable Energy for the Developing World |
|
| 19-666 |
Energy Policy and Economics |
|
Mechanical Engineering/Chemistry
| Course |
Description |
| 24-291 / 09-291 |
Environmental Systems on a Changing Planet (9 units + a 3 unit co-requisite with the same course name) |
|
Energy and batteries: energy storage and electrochemical systems
Students may also consult the website of the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation for a list of energy-related courses.
Chemical Engineering
| Course |
Description |
| 06-625 |
Chemical and Reactive Systems |
|
| 06-640 |
Principles and Applications of Molecular Simulation |
|
| 06-644 / 24-642 |
Electrochemical and Decarbonization Technologies |
|
| 06-714 |
Surfaces and Adsorption |
|
Chemistry
| Course |
Description |
| 09-529 |
Introduction to Sustainable Energy Science |
|
| 09-534 |
Chemical Approaches to Energy Conversion & Storage |
|
Computer Science
| Course |
Description |
| 17-340 |
Green Computing |
|
Electrical and Computer Engineering
| Course |
Description |
| 18-372 |
Fundamental Electrical Power Systems |
|
Engineering and Public Policy
| Course |
Description |
| 19-424 |
Energy and the Environment |
|
| 19-425 |
Sustainable Energy for the Developing World |
|
| 19-421 |
Emerging Energy Policies |
|
| 19-427 |
Special Topics: Energy Innovation and Entrepreneurship |
|
| 19-624 |
Emerging Energy Policies |
|
Mechanical Engineering
| Course |
Description |
| 24-292 |
Renewable Energy Engineering |
|
| 24-424 |
Energy and the Environment |
|
| 24-628 |
Energy Transport and Conversion at the Nanoscale |
|
| 24-629 |
Direct Solar and Thermal Energy Conversion |
|
| 24-643 |
Energy Storage Materials and Systems |
|
| 24-722 |
Energy System Modeling |
Materials Science and Engineering
| Course |
Description |
| 27-432 |
Electronic and Thermal Properties of Metals, Semiconductors and Related Devices |
|
| 27-729 |
Solid State Devices for Energy Conversion |
|
Physics
| Course |
Description |
| 33-226 |
Physics of Energy |
|
Complex fluids and soft materials
Chemical engineers in the consumer products, pharmaceuticals, coatings, and agrochemicals industries use their knowledge of chemical and physical transformations to formulate and manufacture nearly all the liquid products that people use in their everyday and professional lives.
Students may be interested in the designated minor in colloids, polymers, and surfaces or in the Materials Science and Engineering minor.
Chemical Engineering
| Course |
Description |
| 06-607 |
Physical Chemistry of Colloids and Surfaces |
|
| 06-609 / 09-509 |
Physical Chemistry of Macromolecules |
|
| 06-610 |
Rheology and Structure of Complex Fluids |
|
| 06-612 |
Formulation Engineering |
|
| 06-663 |
Analysis and Modeling of Transport Phenomena |
|
| 06-801 |
Colloids, Polymers & Surfaces Laboratory I |
| 06-802 |
Colloids, Polymers and Surfaces Lab II: Polymers |
Chemistry
| Course |
Description |
| 09-108 |
The Illusion and Magic of Food |
|
| 09-110 |
The Design and Making of Skin and Hair Products |
|
| 09-502 |
Organic Chemistry of Polymers |
|
| 09-760 |
The Molecular Basis of Polymer Mechanic |
|
Materials Science and Engineering
| Course |
Description |
| 27-477 |
Introduction to Polymer Science and Engineering |
|
| 27-505 |
Exploration of Everyday Materials |
|
| 27-515 |
Introduction to Computational Materials Science |
|
| 27-588 |
Polymer Physics and Morphology |
|
| 27-565 |
Nanostructured Materials |
|
| 27-591 |
Mechanical Behavior of Materials |
| 27-704 |
Principles of Surface Engineering and Industrial Coatings |
Biochemical, bioprocess, and pharmaceutical engineering
The pharmaceutical industry recruits chemical engineers who can use their knowledge of chemical reaction engineering and separation processes to produce pure and effective pharmaceutical agents and drug delivery systems.
The biopharmaceutical industry attracts chemical engineers who can apply this expertise to biomanufacturing systems based on microbiology and biochemistry.
Students may be interested in the designated minor in biomedical engineering.
Chemical Engineering
| Course |
Description |
| 06-500 |
Special Topics: Prin of Immunoengineering and Development of Immunotherapy Drugs |
|
| 06-634 |
Drug Delivery Systems |
|
| 06-685 |
Bioseparations and Bioprocess Analytical Techniques |
|
| 06-722 |
Bioprocess Design |
|
Biomedical Engineering
| Course |
Description |
| 42-610 |
Introduction to Biomaterials |
|
| 42-624 |
Biological Transport and Drug Delivery |
|
| 42-611 |
Engineering Biomaterials |
|
| 42-612 |
Tissue Engineering |
|
| 42-620 |
Engineering Molecular Cell Biology |
|
| 42-676 |
Bio-nanotechnology: Principles and Applications |
Biological Sciences
| Course |
Description |
| 03-118 |
Beer: A Yeast’s Perspective |
|
| 03-344 |
Experimental Biochemistry |
|
| 03-435 |
Cancer Biology |
|
| 03-729 |
Entrepreneurship and protein-based drug development |
|
| 03-776 |
Molecular Techniques for Bioprocessing |
|
Semiconductors and materials for electronic technologies
The semiconductor industry seeks the chemical processing expertise of chemical engineers to manufacture chips, integrated circuits, or photovoltaic cells.
Students may be interested in the designated minor in electronic materials.
Chemistry
| Course |
Description |
| 09-348 |
Inorganic Chemistry |
|
| 09-529 |
Introduction to Sustainable Energy Science |
|
Electrical and Computer Engineering
| Course |
Description |
| 18-220 |
Electronic Devices and Analog Circuits |
|
| 18-310 |
Fundamentals of Semiconductor Devices |
|
| 18-403 |
Microfabrication Methods and Technology |
|
Materials Science and Engineering
| Course |
Description |
| 27-201 |
Structure of Materials |
|
| 27-432 |
Electronic and Thermal Properties of Metals, Semiconductors and Related Devices |
|
| 27-433 |
Dielectric, Magnetic, Superconducting Properties of Materials & Related Devices |
|
| 27-445 |
Structure, Properties and Performance Relationships in Magnetic Materials |
|
| 27-533 |
Principles of Growth and Processing of Semiconductors |
|
| 27-542 |
Processing and Properties of Thin Films |
|
| 27-551 |
Properties of Ceramics and Glasses |
|
| 27-565 |
Nanostructured Materials |
|
Physics
| Course |
Description |
| 33-225 |
Quantum Physics and Structure of Matter |
|
Building math skills
Math
| Course |
Description |
| 21-127 |
Concepts of Mathematics |
|
| 21-240 |
Matrix Algebra with Applications |
|
| 21-228 |
Discrete Mathematics |
|
Statistics and Data Science
| Course |
Description |
| 36-220 |
Engineering Statistics and Quality Control |
|
