Current Students
Undergraduate Studies
Biological Engineering and Chemical Engineering are dynamic, innovative fields atÌýthe forefront of biotechnology, therapeutics, alternative and renewable energy, nanotechnology, CO2 reductionÌýand much more.
Our students begin their journey withÌýcourses in computing, chemistry, math, biology and physics. In their sophomore and junior years, they delve into engineering fundamentals such as fluids, heat & mass transfer, thermodynamicsÌýand statistics. These concepts are then applied in the junior and senior years to industry-facing courses such as (Bio)Design, (Bio)Separations, (Bio)Materials, (Bio)Kinetics, Biological/Chemical LabÌýand a myriad of ever-updated technical electives, includingÌýDrug Delivery, Immuno Engineering, Tissue Engineering, Solar Cells, Polymer EngineeringÌýand Nanomaterials. During the senior-year Capstone Design Sequence, students work in small groups on different company projects each with their own company liaison.
Learn more about our bachelor’s degree curricula, graduation requirements, policiesÌýand more below.Ìý
Note for students who started before August 2024: the ChBE Advising GuideÌýhas been replaced with this easy-to-navigate webpage.
Curricula
The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering curricula each consist of 128 credit hours. Students follow one of three paths:
In 2024 the department changed the BSÌýin Chemical and Biological Engineering to a BSÌýin Biological Engineering. This change was sparked by years of student, alumni, and employer requests to add more and earlier bio-focused courses into the curriculum. By removingÌý"Chemical" from the name we are beholden to fewer accreditation requirements and have added more bio-focused courses and flexibility in the degree. A Chemical Engineering Minor will also be available starting fall 2025.
Interested in working on the next artificial organ, vaccine, or cancer treatment? Biological engineers are leading the charge in fields such as tissue engineering, personalized medicine, sustainable biofuels, pharmaeuticals, biotechnology, biomaterials, and therapeutics & antimicrobials development. With a pre-med path, ample opportunities to conduct research, and technical electives such as pharmaceutical biotechnology, drug delivery, immuno engineering, metabolic engineering, tissue engineering, and protein & enzyme engineering, BIEN majors are well-prepared to make an immediate impact in industry or continue on to a graduate, medical, MD-PhD, or pharmacy program.
| First Year Fall Semester | 14 Credits | Ìý | First Year Spring Semester | 17 Credits |
| APPM 1350 Calc 1 for Engineers | 4 | APPM 1360 Calc 2 for Engineers | 4 | |
| CHEN 1201 Gen Chem 1 for Eng | 4 | CHEM 1221 Gen Chem Lab for Eng | 1 | |
| ^CHEN 1300 Intro to ChE | (1) | CHEN 1203 Gen Chem 2 for Eng | 2 | |
| CHEN 1310 Intro to Eng Computing | 3 | CHEN 2810 Bio for Engineers | 3 | |
| *H&SS Elective | 3 | PHYS 1110 Physics 1 | 4 | |
| Ìý | Ìý | *H&SS Elective | 3 | |
| Ìý | ||||
| Sophomore Year Fall | 18 Credits | Ìý | Sophomore Year Spring | 16 Credits |
| APPM 2350 Calc 3 for Engineers | 4 | APPM 2360 Diff Eq w/Linear Alg | 4 | |
| CHEM 3311 Organic Chem 1 | 4 | CHEM 3331 Organic Chem 2 | 4 | |
| CHEM 3321 Organic Chem 1 Lab | 1 | CHEM 3341 Organic Chem 2 Lab | 1 | |
| CHEN 2120 Material & Energy Bal | 3 | CHEN 3200 Fluid Mechanics | 3 | |
| BIEN 3800 Fundamentals of Bio | 3 | CHEN 4090 Undergrad Seminar | 1 | |
| Free Elective | 3 | CHEN 4521 Physical Chem for Eng | 3 | |
| Ìý | ||||
| Junior Year Fall | 16 Credits | Ìý | Junior Year Spring | 18 Credits |
| CHEN 3010 Applied Data Analysis | 3 | BCHM 4611 Princ of Biochemistry | 3 | |
| CHEN 3210 Heat & Mass Transfer | 4 | BIEN 4820 Bioseparations | 3 | |
| CHEN 3320 Thermodynamics | 3 | BIEN 4805 Biomaterials | 3 | |
| *College-Approved Writing | 3 | BIEN 4830 Biokinetics | 3 | |
| *H&SS Elective | 3 | ^^Technical Elective | 3 | |
| Ìý | Ìý | Ìý | *H&SS Elective | 3 |
| Ìý | ||||
| Senior Year Fall | 15 Credits | Ìý | Senior Year Spring | 14 Credits |
| BIEN 4520 Biodesign | 3 | BIEN 4530 Biodesign Project | 2 | |
| BIEN 4810 Bio Lab | 3 | ^^^BIEN Focus Technical Elective | 3 | |
| ^^^BIEN/CHEN Tech Elective | 3 | ^^^BIEN/CHEN Tech Elective | 3 | |
| ^^Technical Elective | 3 | ^^Technical Elective | 3 | |
| ^^Technical Elective | 3 | *H&SS Elective | 3 | |
^CHEN 1300 is an optional technical elective.
^^15 Technical Electives: Twelve credits can come from the Approved Technical Electives and three credits must be a Focus Technical Elective.
^^^Focus Technical Elective options are BIEN 4800 Bioprocess Engineering, BIEN 4801 Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, BIEN 4802 Tissue Engineering and Medical Devices, BIEN 4803 Metabolic Engineering, BIEN 4804 Protein and Enzyme Engineering, BIEN 4806 Immunoengineering, BIEN 4838 Biomolecular Simulations, BIEN 4838 Data Projects, BIEN 4838 Drug Delivery, or BIEN 4838 Synthetic and Systems Biology.
*When selecting H&SS electives and the College-Approved Writing Course, consult the College's degree requirements.
| First Year Fall | 15 Credits | Ìý | First Year Spring | 16 Credits |
| APPM 1350 Calc 1 for Engineers | 4 | APPM 1360 Calc 2 for Engineers | 4 | |
| CHEM 1221 Gen Chem Lab for Eng | 1 | CHEN 2810 Bio for Engineers | 3 | |
| CHEN 1211 Accelerated Gen Chem | 4 | PHYS 1110 Physics 1 | 4 | |
| ^CHEN 1300 Intro to ChE | (1) | *H&SS Elective | 3 | |
| CHEN 1310 Intro to Eng Computing | 3 | Free Elective | 2 | |
| *H&SS Elective | 3 | Ìý | Ìý | |
| Ìý | ||||
| Sophomore Year Fall | 18 Credits | Ìý | Sophomore Year Spring | 16 Credits |
| APPM 2350 Calc 3 for Engineers | 4 | APPM 2360 Diff Eq w/Linear Alg | 4 | |
| CHEM 3311 Organic Chem 1 | 4 | CHEM 3331 Organic Chem 2 | 4 | |
| CHEM 3321 Organic Chem 1 Lab | 1 | CHEM 3341 Organic Chem 2 Lab | 1 | |
| CHEN 2120 Material & Energy Bal | 3 | CHEN 3200 Fluid Mechanics | 3 | |
| BIEN 3800 Fundamentals of Bio | 3 | CHEN 4090 Undergrad Seminar | 1 | |
| Free Elective | 3 | CHEN 4521 Physical Chem for Eng | 3 | |
| Ìý | ||||
| Junior Year Fall | 16 Credits | Ìý | Junior Year Spring | 18 Credits |
| CHEN 3010 Applied Data Analysis | 3 | BCHM 4611 Princ of Biochemistry | 3 | |
| CHEN 3210 Heat & Mass Transfer | 4 | BIEN 4820 Bioseparations | 3 | |
| CHEN 3320 Thermodynamics | 3 | BIEN 4805 Biomaterials | 3 | |
| *College-Approved Writing | 3 | BIEN 4830 Biokinetics | 3 | |
| *H&SS Elective | 3 | ^^Technical Elective | 3 | |
| Ìý | Ìý | *H&SS Elective | 3 | |
| Ìý | ||||
| Senior Year Fall | 15 Credits | Ìý | Senior Year Spring | 14 Credits |
| BIEN 4520 Biodesign | 3 | BIEN 4530 Biodesign Project | 2 | |
| BIEN 4810 Bio Lab | 3 | ^^^BIEN Focus Technical Elective | 3 | |
| ^^^BIEN/CHEN Tech Elective | 3 | ^^^BIEN/CHEN Tech Elective | 3 | |
| ^^Technical Elective | 3 | ^^Technical Elective | 3 | |
| ^^Technical Elective | 3 | *H&SS Elective | 3 | |
^CHEN 1300 is an optional technical elective.
^^15 Technical Electives: Nine credits can come from the Approved Technical Electives and three credits must be a Focus Technical Elective.
^^^Focus Technical Elective options are BIEN 4800 Bioprocess Engineering, BIEN 4801 Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, BIEN 4802 Tissue Engineering and Medical Devices, BIEN 4803 Metabolic Engineering, BIEN 4804 Protein and Enzyme Engineering, BIEN 4806 Immunoengineering, BIEN 4838 Biomolecular Simulations, BIEN 4838 Data Projects, BIEN 4838 Drug Delivery, or BIEN 4838 Synthetic and Systems Biology.
*When selecting H&SS electives and the College-Approved Writing Course, consult the College's degree requirements.
| First Year Fall | 15 Credits | Ìý | First Year Spring | 18 Credits |
| APPM 1350 Calc 1 for Engineers | 4 | APPM 1360 Calc 2 for Engineers | 4 | |
| CHEM 1114 Gen Chem 1 Lab | 1 | CHEM 1133 Gen Chem 2 | 4 | |
| CHEN 1201 Gen Chem 1 for Eng | 4 | CHEM 1134 Gen Chem 2 Lab | 1 | |
| ^CHEN 1300 Intro to ChE | (1) | PHYS 1110 Physics 1 | 4 | |
| CHEN 1310 Intro to Eng Computing | 3 | MCDB Lab | 2 | |
| MCDB 1150 Intro to Cell Bio | 3 | *H&SS Elective | 3 | |
| Ìý | ||||
| Sophomore Year Fall | 17 Credits | Ìý | Sophomore Year Spring | 16 Credits |
| APPM 2350 Calc 3 for Engineers | 4 | APPM 2360 Diff Eq w/Linear Alg | 4 | |
| CHEM 3311 Organic Chem 1 | 4 | CHEM 3331 Organic Chem 2 | 4 | |
| CHEM 3321 Organic Chem 1 Lab | 1 | CHEM 3341 Organic Chem 2 Lab | 1 | |
| CHEN 2120 Material & Energy Bal | 3 | CHEN 3200 Fluid Mechanics | 3 | |
| MCDB 2150 Genetics | 3 | CHEN 4090 Undergrad Seminar | 1 | |
| Free Elective | 2 | CHEN 4521 Physical Chem for Eng | 3 | |
| Ìý | ||||
| Junior Year Fall | 16 Credits | Ìý | Junior Year Spring | 15 Credits |
| CHEN 3010 Applied Data Analysis | 3 | BCHM 4611 Princ of Biochemistry | 3 | |
| CHEN 3210 Heat & Mass Transfer | 4 | BIEN 4820 Bioseparations | 3 | |
| CHEN 3320 Thermodynamics | 3 | BIEN 4805 Biomaterials | 3 | |
| *H&SS Elective | 3 | BIEN 4830 Biokinetics | 3 | |
| *College-Approved Writing | 3 | *H&SS Elective | 3 | |
| Ìý | ||||
| Senior Year Fall | 16 Credits | Ìý | Senior Year Spring | 15 Credits< |