Program in Chemical Engineering School of Engineering Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

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, synthetic biology, 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 (MS), Master of Engineering (MEng), and PhD degree programs. 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 MS, 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 PhD without commitment of extra time beyond that required for an MS. A special optional master's program is available for this purpose. For the MS, 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 MEng 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 PhD 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. To earn a PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering, 72 credits of graduate-level studies, including dissertation credits, are required. 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

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. 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.

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.

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.

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 campus-wide 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 one of the world's most powerful university-based supercomputing centers. 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.

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 $66,273 for master's degree recipients and $83,545 for PhD recipients in 2011.

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 5 schools -- Architecture, Engineering, Management, Science, and Humanities and Social Sciences -- that offer more than 100 graduate programs in over 48 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 members, staff members, 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.

• Degrees Offered
• Major Degree Levels Offered
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
  Master of Science (MS)
  Master of Engineering (M Eng)

• Degrees Awarded
• Master's Degrees 6
• Doctoral Degrees 9
• First Professional Degrees Not reported
• Other Advanced Degrees Not reported
• * Shows the number of degrees awarded for the last academic year that data was reported.

• Earning Your Degree
• Part-time study available? Yes
• Evening/weekend programs available? No
• Distance learning programs available? No
• Terminal master's degree available? Yes

• Degree Requirements
• Master's Degrees Not reported
• Doctoral Degrees Not reported
• First Professional Degrees Not reported
• Other Advanced Degrees Not reported

• Acceptance Rate
• Applied198
• Accepted48
• Acceptance Rate24%
• Enrolled16
• Applying
• Application Fee - Domestic $75
• Application Fee - International $75
• Electronic applications accepted? Yes
• Applications processed on a rolling basis? Yes
• Application Deadlines
• Type Domestic International Priority Date
• Fall deadline January 1st January 1st Yes
• Winter deadline Not Reported Not Reported Not Reported
• Spring deadline August 15th August 15th Not Reported
• Entrance Requirements
• Master's DegreesGRE (minimum score 550 verbal)
• Doctoral's DegreesGRE (Verbal minimum score of 550)
• First-Professional's DegreesNot Reported
• Other Advanced DegreesNot Reported
• International DegreesTOEFL required, 570 paper based

• Tuition & Fees
• In-state tuition *$39,600
• Out-of-state tuition *$39,600
• International student tuitionNot Reported
• * Tuition for full-time graduate student per academic year
• Fees
• Per-academic year fees$1,896.00
• Per-term feesNot Reported
• One-time feeNot Reported
• * Fees for full-time graduate students
• Financial Support
• Financial award applicants must submitNot Reported
• Application deadlines for financial awardsJanuary 1
• Types of financial support availableFellowships, Research Assitantships, Teaching Assistantships, Institutionally-sponsored Loans, Scholarship and/or loans

• Gender
• Total Graduate Students69
• Female Percentage23%
• Male Percentage77%
• Participation
• Total Graduate Students69
• Part-time Percentage3%
• Full-time Percentage97%
• Ethnicity
• Hispanic / Latino3%
• Black / African American3%
• White / Caucasian77%
• American Indian / Alaskan Native0%
• Asian17%
• Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander0%
• Two or more races0%
• Unknown0%

• Faculty Breakout
• Total Faculty13
• Full-time Percentage100%
• Part-time Percentage0%
• Female Percentage8%
• Male Percentage92%

• Existing Research
• Focus of faculty researchBiocatalysis, bioseparations, biotechnology, molecular modeling and simulation, advanced materials, interfacial phenomena, systems biology
• Externally sponsored research expenditures last year$4,900,000