Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - Program in Chemical Engineering - Overview
Graduate Study in Chemical & Biological Engineering at Rensselaer
The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering has a premier program in chemical and biological engineering. The program shows a shift in emphasis that has occurred over the last few years, with increasing focus on biological systems, molecular engineering, nanotechnology, and alternative energy. The faculty includes internationally recognized leaders in biocatalysis and bioseparations, molecular dynamics, polymer chemistry and engineering, nanotechnology, process modeling and control, interfacial phenomena, and heat and mass transfer.
The major educational objective in the Howard P. Isermann Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering is to prepare students to enter their engineering practices dealing with chemical as well as physical processes to meet future challenges. Opportunities for creative and satisfying practice in chemical and biological engineering can be found in conception, design, control, or management of processes involving chemical and/or biochemical transformations. These processes range from the more conventional conversion of crude oil into petrochemicals and plastics to the development of novel processes for the production of biopharmaceuticals to the creation of lab-on-a-chip devices using nanomaterials.
The Department offers Master of Science (M.S.), Master of Engineering (M.Eng.), and Ph.D. degree programs. The curriculum, which builds on chemistry, biology, mathematics, basic sciences, and engineering science, culminates in professional applications in which theory is tempered by engineering art and economic principles. Through this curriculum, graduates are prepared equally well for professional practice or for advanced study.
The graduate programs offer flexibility--students tailor their programs to fulfill their individual goals and needs. Students are encouraged to use electives to conduct intensive studies in one or more subdisciplines or specialties. Cross-disciplinary studies using courses offered by other departments or schools at Rensselaer are also encouraged. The educational process thrives on close student-faculty interactions and leads to the transition from student to peer, from novice to colleague.
The M.S., which requires a thesis, may be used for professional entry but is also well suited to students who wish to measure their ability to get a Ph.D. without commitment of extra time beyond that required for an M.S. A special optional master¿s program is available for this purpose. For the M.S., 30 credits of graduate-level studies, including 6 credits for the thesis, are normally required. However, the thesis requirement may vary from 3 to 9 hours at the discretion of the Department.
The M.Eng. degree involves formal course work only and does not require a thesis. This degree is awarded on completion of 30 credits of course work.
The Ph.D. degree represents the highest level of academic preparation. With it, a student can expect to maintain technical competence and contributions throughout a professional career. It is usually the preferred degree for research and development in industry and government and for teaching. Within the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, 72 credits of graduate-level studies, including the dissertation, are required for a Ph.D. The emphasis is on advanced study in a specialty with major focus on the dissertation. A doctoral student must pass a comprehensive examination, prepare a dissertation proposal and the dissertation itself, and present and defend the dissertation.
Research Facilities
Research is supported by state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, including the Rensselaer Libraries, whose electronic information system provides access to collections, databases, and the Internet from campus and remote terminals; the Rensselaer Computing System, which permeates the campus with a coherent array of more than 7,000 nodes of distributed laptops, desktops, advanced workstations, and servers; a shared toolkit of applications for interactive learning and research and high-speed Internet connectivity; one of the country's largest academically based, class 100 clean room facilities; high-performance campuswide computing facilities that allow for serial or parallel computation; and five core laboratories for molecular biology, proteomics, bioimaging, and tissue engineering.
Rensselaer's research capabilities have been enhanced with the addition of the Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations (CCNI). The result of a $100-million collaboration with IBM and New York State, the CCNI is the world¿s most powerful university-based supercomputing center and a top-ten supercomputing center of any kind in the world. The CCNI is made up of massively parallel Blue Gene supercomputers, POWER-based Linux clusters, and Opteron-based clusters, providing more than 100 teraflops of computational muscle and approximately a petabyte of shared online storage.
Other facilities and research centers include the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies; the George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation; research centers for integrated electronics, terahertz science, nanotechnology, fuel-cell and hydrogen research, lighting research, science and technology policy, and infrastructure and transportation studies; the Geotechnical Centrifuge Research Center; the Darrin Fresh Water Institute; and the Scientific Computation Research Center. In addition, academic departments and faculty laboratories have extensive discipline-specific research capabilities and equipment.
The Department maintains extensive research and instructional laboratories that house special and unique equipment developed for specific studies as well as extensive analytical and optical instrumentation, minicomputers, and microcomputers. Several research areas involve participation and cooperation with other departments. These include polymer studies with the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemistry, fermentation and other biochemical research with the Department of Biology, studies in fluid mechanics with the Department of Mathematics, polymer membrane fabrication with the Department of Chemistry, and research on lubrication and other interfacial phenomena with the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Department research programs also use a number of major university facilities, including the Center for Polymer Synthesis, the Rensselaer Exploratory Center for Cheminformatics Research, the Center for Biotechnology, the Center for Integrated Electronics, and the Center for Future Energy Systems.
Student Outcomes
Rensselaer's graduate students are hired in a variety of industries and sectors of the economy and by private and public organizations, the government, and institutions of higher education. Their starting salaries average $74,807 for master¿s degree recipients and $82,750 for Ph.D. recipients.
The Institute
Recognized as a leader in interactive learning and interdisciplinary research, Rensselaer continues a tradition of excellence and technological innovation dating back to 1824. Rensselaer has five schools--Architecture, Engineering, Management, Science, and Humanities and Social Sciences--that offer more than 100 graduate programs in over forty-eight disciplines that attract top students, researchers, and professors. The discovery of new scientific concepts and technologies, especially in emerging interdisciplinary fields, is the lifeblood of Rensselaer's culture and a core goal for the faculty, staff, and students. Fueled by significant support from government, industry, and private donors, Rensselaer provides a world-class education in an environment tailored to the individual.