Faculty of Engineering

Chemical Engineers combine a sound background in the fundamental understanding of science and mathematics with highly-developed problem-solving skills to improve existing processes or methods, or to implement new ones. Chemical Engineers are distinguished from physical scientists, such as chemists, by their training in the "engineering method": the use of heuristics to cause the best change in a poorly understood situation, within the available resources.

Chemical Engineers design, analyze, optimize, and control processing operations, or guide others who perform these functions, in industry, government, universities, or private practice. Most materials encountered in daily life have been impacted by Chemical Engineering at some stage. Chemical Engineers will continue to be in demand for many exciting new developments over the next few decades.

Current and future activity areas include:

• Energy: conservation; renewable and non-renewable resources; fuel cells; hydrogen economy.
• Materials: petrochemicals; biochemicals and foods; nanomaterials; consumer goods; pulp and paper; polymers; pharmaceuticals; etc.
• Environment: pollution prevention; pollution control; climate change mitigation; recycling; environmental safety and regulations; etc.

In a world faced with growing shortages of non-renewable resources and a finite limit on the amounts of renewable resources, persons wishing to use their talents to optimize the recovery or utilization of matter and energy will find Chemical Engineering a challenging and satisfying career, one which will place them in enviable positions with respect to the availability of employment opportunities. In addition to technical positions, Chemical Engineers often move into managerial functions within their companies. Traditionally, significant numbers of women enter Chemical Engineering and this trend continues.

Waterloo offers students a first-rate opportunity to obtain a sound, relevant background in the discipline of Chemical Engineering. The Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo is one of the largest and most active departments in North America. Full-time faculty, each of whom specializes in a particular sub-field through research and consulting activities, bring depth as well as breadth to the instruction and professional development of students.

Chemical Engineering at Waterloo is a co-operative education program and offers many advantages:

• an opportunity through work terms to gain exposure to a variety of job-related experiences within Chemical Engineering 
• work term salaries effectively reduce the costs associated with university education 
• Waterloo graduates receive favourable recognition from employers for their work term experiences 
• work terms can offer an opportunity to travel through a worldwide network of co-op employers 
• academic terms become more meaningful and relevant against a background of work term related experience

The Waterloo Chemical Engineering Curriculum

A Curriculum for the 21st Century

The curriculum offers courses in life science and material science to provide the fundamentals required for future careers in the biotechnology or nanotechnology areas. There are four technical elective courses that can be taken to gain depth in different areas of application of Chemical Engineering.

The main emphasis in the first and second year is on courses in science and mathematics which provide the foundations upon which engineering skills can be built. The upper-year core and elective courses assume and require this background.

Engineering is both a quantitative and an applied discipline, which requires a strong mathematical ability. Courses in Calculus, Algebra, Engineering Computation, Differential Equations, Engineering Economics, and Statistics help develop this ability. More specialized Engineering Mathematics courses extend into the third year.

To perform successfully, the Chemical Engineer must be able to design, analyze, and control processes to produce useful and desirable products from less valuable raw materials in an efficient, economic, and socially responsible way. The knowledge and skills essential for achieving these goals are developed in the core Chemical Engineering courses taken mainly in the third and fourth years (e.g., in fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, thermodynamics, reactor design, biotechnology, process control, process and equipment design). Most of these courses are a mixture of theory and practice. Computer simulations and hands-on laboratory experiences are used in several courses to reinforce the theoretical principles.

Students in the fourth year complete a group project in direct collaboration with one of their professors. These projects allow students to focus on topics and industries of special interest for their career goals. Numerous Canadian companies also sponsor projects, reinforcing the bridge between academic and work term experience. There are opportunities to compete in national and international design competitions.

In the third and fourth years, students select technical elective courses to further develop their understanding of, and ability to use, engineering principles applied to important Canadian industrial sectors. Courses from other departments in Engineering and the University are available as electives.

An important component of the development of a professional engineer, which receives emphasis throughout the entire four-year curriculum, is frequent practice in learning to communicate technical results clearly, accurately, and effectively to others. Written practice is provided in the requirement for co-op work term reports which are graded by faculty. Written and oral report requirements in laboratory and other courses provide additional practice opportunities.

Accelerated Master's Program in Chemical Engineering

Provision is made for outstanding students to pursue an Accelerated Master's Program. This program provides a quicker route to the Master of Applied Science (MASc) degree. Admission is normally granted to qualified students possessing a consistently good cumulative academic record at the end of the 3A term. See Accelerated Master's Program in Engineering for more details.

Complementary Studies Electives (CSEs)

A total of five Complementary Studies Electives (CSEs), not including MSCI 261, must be taken. If some Complementary Studies Electives are satisfied online or from other institutions on Letters of Permission, when not in an academic term, each term's minimum course load must be maintained by substituting an approved "free" elective (technical or non-technical).

Ethics and Equity Milestone

This degree milestone must be met by all graduating Chemical Engineering students by either completing one course from the following list (can be taken as a CSE)

• PHIL 215 - Professional and Business Ethics
• PHIL 219J - Practical Ethics
• PHIL 315/GENE 412 - Ethics and The Engineering Profession

or by completing PD 22 - Professionalism and Ethics in Engineering Practice.

Options, Minors and Specializations

A number of Faculty or University Options, Specializations and Electives for Engineering Students are listed and described elsewhere in this Engineering section. Students who satisfy the option requirements (usually seven or eight courses) will have the appropriate designation shown on their transcript.

Minors are sequences of courses, usually totalling eight to ten, which are arranged in conjunction with another department outside of Engineering, such as Economics, Biology, Psychology, etc. and lead to an appropriately designated degree. Approval from both Chemical Engineering and the other department is required.

Usually students must take extra courses to complete a Minor or a Designated Option. Students in Chemical Engineering are most frequently interested in the Management Sciences Option, the Environmental Engineering Option, the Biomechanics Option, the Statistics Option and the Water Resources Option.

The Faculty of Engineering recognizes three designated specializations within the BASc degree in Chemical Engineering: Specialization in Energy and Environmental Systems and Processes, Specialization in Materials and Manufacturing Processes, and Specialization in Chemical Process Modelling, Optimization and Control. These specializations are described in more detail below. Students interested in pursuing one of these specializations must take four required technical elective courses from the corresponding list of approved technical electives (List 1, List 2 or List 3). An average of at least 60% in the four specialization courses and a grade of at least 50% in each of the four courses is required. Students who satisfy the requirements for Faculty Options, Specializations and Electives for Engineering Students will have the appropriate designation shown on their diploma and transcript.

1. The Specialization in Energy and Environmental Systems and Processes (List 1) provides students with an opportunity to examine in-depth systems and processes related to energy sources, conversion and management or the assessment and control of impacts to the environment resulting from industrial activity, depending on the exact combination of courses selected. Students interested in the design of energy or pollution control systems may be particularly interested in this specialization.
2. The Specialization in Materials and Manufacturing Processes (List 2) provides students with an opportunity to examine in-depth the properties and the methods of production and processing of a broad spectrum of technologically relevant materials, including polymers, metals, alloys, ceramics, composites, as well as materials of biological origin finding application in the medical, pharmaceutical, and food industries. Focus on a specific class of materials depends on the exact combination of courses selected. Students interested in the production or processing of engineering materials may be particularly interested in this specialization.
3. The Specialization in Chemical Process Modelling, Optimization and Control (List 3) provides students with an opportunity to examine in-depth mathematical and computational approaches underpinning the simulation, optimization and control of processes related to the production of energy and materials. Students interested in process simulation and/or optimization, in addition to control of chemical processes, may be particularly interested in this specialization.

Academic Program

The following program is applicable to students entering Chemical Engineering in the Fall 2012 term and beyond. Students admitted prior to 2012 should consult the calendar pertinent to their year of admission for the applicable requirements. Note that CHE 425 must be completed in addition to a total of 5 approved Complementary Studies Electives (excluding Engineering Economics) and 4 approved Technical Electives (TE).

Glossary of descriptions for the next table:

Approved Technical Electives

Technical Elective (TE) courses for Chemical Engineering students are organized in three main thematic areas and may be selected from the following lists. Only one non-CHE course is permitted if CHE 499 is chosen. Otherwise, students may select up to two non-CHE TE courses. Courses from other departments (i.e., non-CHE) will likely require permission of the instructor and/or other prerequisites. Consult a current calendar for prerequisites and terms of offering. In brackets are recommended minimum levels that CHE students should be enrolled in before attempting a given course.  Variations from this course selection list must be approved by the Department.

List 1 - Energy and Environmental Systems and Processes:

List 2 - Materials and Manufacturing Processes:

List 3 - Chemical Process Modelling, Optimization and Control:

All undergraduate course descriptions including Chemical Engineering can be found in the Course Descriptions section of this Calendar.