Chemical Engineering (CHEG)

Graduate Studies

570-577-1114
www.bucknell.edu/ChemicalEngineering

Professors: Jeffery Csernica (chair), Ph.D. Massachusetts.Institute of Technology. William E. King Jr., Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania. Michael J. Prince, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley. William J. Snyder,Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University.

Associate Professors: Daniel P. Cavanagh, Ph.D. Northwestern University. James E.Maneval, Ph.D. University of California, Davis. Margot A.S. Vigeant, Ph.D. University of Virginia.

Assistant Professors: Michael Gross, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania. Erin Jablonski, Ph.D. Iowa State University. Timothy Raymond, Ph.D. Carnegie Mellon University. Ryan C. Snyder, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara. Brandon Vogel, Ph.D. Iowa State University. Katsuyuki Wakabayashi, Ph.D. Princeton University.

Program of Study

Candidates for a master’s degree in chemical engineering must complete three required core courses in chemical engineering, four elective courses, and a graduate thesis. The program requires an average of 24 months of full-time study.

The core courses are offered in engineering mathematics, thermodynamics, reaction engineering, and transport theory. Topics offered as chemical engineering electives include polymer science, bioprocess engineering, advanced materials science and engineering, particle technology, fuel cell technology and independent study projects. In addition, graduate-level courses offered by other departments may be taken as electives with the approval of the chemical engineering department.

Master's Thesis

A written master's thesis is an integral part of Bucknell chemical engineering master's program and a primary contribution to the education of the candidate. The thesis must describe work on an experimental or educational research, mathematical and/or computational modeling, or design or other problem involving original scientific inquiry. Selection of a thesis advisor will be conducted prior to the start of the candidate's graduate program.

Thesis Projects and Facilities

The department maintains state-of-the-art laboratory and computing facilities, enabling master's degree candidates to pursue a variety of research/thesis activities. Graduate students are encouraged to present their work at professional meetings at both the regional and national levels, and serve as coauthors for journal and other peer-reviewed publications. Some recent thesis titles are:

  • Development of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Electrodes with High Conductivity and Enhanced Redox Stability
  • Solid-State Fabrication and Characterization of Polymer-Graphite Nanocomposites
  • Morphology and Cloud Condensation Nuclei Activity of Single-Component and Multi-Component Organic Aerosols
  • Investigation of Drag Reducing Polymers by Dielectric Spectroscopy
  • eLEAPS - an Investigation of Web Application to Support Learning Engineering and Problem Solving
  • Calcium Alginate Encapsulation and Continuous Separation of the Capsules Through Co-Laminar Flow of Immiscible Fluids
  • Ultrasonic Studies of Polymer-Toluene Solutions in the Dilute Region
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Measurements of Fluid-Solid Interactions in Dialysis-Membrane Materials

Click here to view current Faculty Research Interests.


Contact Information

For additional information, contact: Graduate Studies Adviser, Department of Chemical Engineering, Bucknell University, Lewisburg PA 17837, USA; 570-577-1114; cheg@eg.bucknell.edu. Departmental website is www.bucknell.edu/chemicalengineering

Courses Offered

600. Process Engineering (I; 4, 2)
Applications of engineering, economic, environmental, and ethical principles in preliminary process design. Problem definition, literature survey, flowsheet development, material and energy balances, equipment design and profitability analysis. Open only to students without previous process design course work.

610. Advanced Process Engineering (II; 4, 2)
Applying principles of process synthesis and analysis to evaluate the economic potential of alternate flowsheets using sophisticated computer-aided design tools, such as process simulators. Tasks include HAZOP analysis, separation sequence selection, energy integration, parametric and continuous-variable optimization, and technical report writing. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

640 and 642. Chemical Engineering Projects (I and II; R; 1, 8) Half to two courses
Individual research, development, or design projects. Problem analysis involving collection, correlation, and interpretation of experimental data, or a mathematical modeling study. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

644. Green Engineering (II; 4, 0)
Economic design of processes and products that reduce the generation of pollution as well as risk to human health and the environment. Risk assessment, evaluation and prediction of toxicity and fate of chemicals, and environmental performance analysis applied to chemical products and processes. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

650. Polymer Science (I or II; 3, 3)
The chemistry and kinetics of polymerization. Polymerization processes and polymer processing. Properties and application of polymers.

651. Applied Process Analysis (II; 3, 2)
Exploration of computer-assisted solutions of chemical processing problems in fluid flow, thermodynamics, heat and mass transfer, reaction kinetics, engineering design and economics. Application of software systems, such as spreadsheet, symbolic processor, numeric computation and visualization environment, optimizer, and process simulator.

652. Bioprocess Engineering (I or II; 4, 0)
Survey course in biochemical engineering. Introduction to microbiology, biochemistry, cell metabolism and genetic control. Enzyme structure and function; enzyme kinetic mechanisms. Emphasis on the design of biochemical reactors and separation processes utilizing fundamental principles of kinetics, thermodynamics
and heat, mass and momentum transfer. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

653. Product and Process Chemistry (II; 4, 0)
Examination of the internal structure of the chemical industry. The roles of key chemicals and intermediates in modern chemical synthesis will be emphasized to provide an overview of current industrial product methods. Process history, design and improvement will be covered through discussions, simulations and case studies. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

655. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (I; 4, 0)
Addresses the relationships of chemistry, physics, and engineering principles in understanding processes in the Earth's atmosphere. Topics include overview of the Earth's atmospheric history and problems of current environmental concerns including urban ozone, acid rain, particulate pollution, and global change. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor

657. Applied Colloid, Surface, and Nanoscience (I; 4, 0)
Exploration of the ways in which surfaces are different from bulk substances, and how this impacts processes such as illness, chemical processing, contaminant transport, and enzymatic activity. The topics discussed will be shaped by student interest. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor

660. Biomaterials: Materials in Medicine (I or II; 4, 0)
Classes of biomaterials, their applications, and current trends in biomaterials research and technology. Medical/ ethical implications of biomaterials development and research

670 and 672. Special Topics in Chemical Engineering (I and II; R; 4, 0)
Advanced in-depth courses developed from areas of chemical engineering science or technology. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

680. Graduate Research and Thesis (I or II; 1, 6-12)
Individual graduate-level investigations culminating in a thesis. Required for the master of science in chemical engineering degree.

681. Topics in Reaction Engineering (I or II; 4, 0)
Reactor design and analysis applied to specific systems. Complex chemical reaction networks with emphasis on nonideal flow and transport effects on heterogenous reactors. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

682. Topics in Chemical Engineering Applied Mathematics (I or II; 4, 0)
Analytical and numerical methods for ordinary and partial differential equations with problems drawn from chemical engineering. Topics include transform methods, matrix methods, weighted-residual methods, and finite differences. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.

683. Topics in Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics (I or II; 4, 0)
Advanced study of thermodynamics applied to fluid flow, heat transfer, gas compression, air conditioning, refrigeration, and chemical equilibria.

685. Topics in Transport Theory (I or II; 4, 0)
Mass, energy, and momentum transfer in continuous media. General equations of transfer developed and used to analyze real systems.

686. Advanced Transport Theory (II; 4, 0)
Turbulent momentum, energy and mass transport. Interphase transport phenomena. Transport of heat, mass, and momentum in lumped systems. Radiant energy transport. Prerequisite: CHEG 685.

687 and 688. Advanced Study in Chemical Engineering (I and II; R; 4, 0)
Courses in chemical engineering theory designed to meet the needs of graduate students in residence.

695. Advanced Topics in Engineering Mathematics
Linear algebra and analytical/computational techniques for solving ordinary and partial differential equations relevant to engineering applications.