Undergraduate Studies in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
At present, the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department enrolls about 170 undergraduate students. After declining in recent past, undergraduate chemical engineering enrollments are again beginning to increase which is consistent with national trends. Approximately 32 per cent of the undergraduate students are women, 13 per cent are minority, and 5 per cent are international. Over the past year, the department has granted 25 bachelor's degrees.
The University operates a long-standing Cooperative Engineering (Co-op) Program, in which students alternate semesters of academic study with semesters of work related to their career goals. The program is open to all students in the College of Engineering who are making satisfactory progress toward their degrees, and 60 per cent of the chemical engineering undergraduates participate in this program. In addition to Co-op and undergraduate research experiences, a limited number of seniors may be invited to participate in an industrial internship for academic credit. In these internships, small groups of students under the direction of a faculty member are introduced to an actual industrial problem and are given the opportunity to develop a proposed solution. Most of the work is conducted on-campus, and at the end of the semester, the students make a formal presentation of their proposed solution to the engineers who posed the original problem. In a number of instances, these solutions have been actually implemented in the industrial setting, or have led to further studies that ultimately yielded a satisfactory solution. Currently, these internships are conducted with cooperation and support by the Eastman Chemical Company in the area of chemical process control under the direction of Dr. Moore, and by the Du Pont Company in the area of green engineering under the direction of Dr. Counce.
The undergraduate curriculum allows some flexibility for specialization through the inclusion of three technical electives and two chemical electives. The technical elective courses may be selected from a wide variety of advanced engineering, science, mathematics or business courses, and the Chemistry elective is taken in advanced chemistry or other advanced science (e.g., microbiology, materials science). Possible areas of specialization include biotechnology, process control, industrial pollution prevention, and polymer engineering; a designated faculty member in each area can advise students on proper elective selection. Other areas of emphasis can also be developed in consultation with a faculty advisor.
Chemical engineering undergraduates regularly fill leadership roles outside the department. Amy Akard, a recent senior in chemical engineering, was award a Chancellor's Citation for her volunteer work for various university organizations. Also, Josh Watson was president of the Tennessee Alpha Chapter of Tau Beta Pi in 1999-00. It is worth noting that the Tau Beta Pi National Headquarters have been located at The University of Tennessee since 1907 with offices currently in the Dougherty Engineering Building along with the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department.