Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Advising

Author: Katie Torrey

I’m interested in bioengineering. What technical electives do you recommend?

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We recommend an intro to cell biology course as early as possible because this will allow you to take more advanced courses later. If you received AP biology credit then this is already done.

  • BL 1200 General Bio II: Intro to Cellular Biology AND BL 1210 General Bio II Lab: Into to Cellular Biology. (spring semesters, preferred course)
  • or BL 1400 Principles of Biology AND BL 1410 Principles of Biology Lab. (fall and summer semesters)

We also recommend our bioprocessing lab because it’s a good introduction to the entire manufacturing process for making products using microorganisms.

  • CM 3025 Bioprocessing Lab (spring semesters, can be taken anytime after University Chemistry I)

After that, you have lots of choices, depending on your interests. Dr. Ong has put together a list of possible courses. This information was accurate as of the 2023-24 academic year, so be sure to look in the current catalog of classes and schedule of classes for the most up-to-date information.

Course Title Credits Type of Course Prerequisites Semester
CM 4710 Biochemical Processes 3 lecture CH 2410 fall of odd years
CM 4780 Biomanufacturing and Biosafety 3 lecture CH 4710 or CM 4710 or (CM 3110 (C) and Intro to Bio) or undergrad research in bio or bioengineering fall of even years
BE 4200 Cellular & Molecular Bio II 3 lecture BE 2400 spring and summer
BE 2200 Genetics 3 lecture Intro to Bio spring
BL 2210 Genetics Lab 1 lab BL 2200 (C) concurrently spring
BL 2700 Principles of Computational Biology 3 lecture Intro to Bio fall
BL 3020 Biochemistry I 3 lecture Intro to Bio and CH 2410 fall and summer
BL 3210 General Microbiology 4 lecture and lab Intro to Bio fall and summer
BL 3300 Intro to Genomics 3 lecture BL 2200 or FW3320 fall
BL 3310 Environmental Microbiology 3 lecture and lab Intro to Bio spring
BL 3820 Biochemical Lab Techniques I 2 lab BL 3020 (C) or CH 4710 (C) or BL 3025 (C) concurrently spring
BL 4020 Biochemistry II 3 lecture BL 3020 spring and summer
BL 4030 Molecular Biology 3 lecture BL 3020 or CH 4710 or BL 3025 fall and summer
BL 4153 Applied Genome Editing 3 lecture and lab BL 2200 or FW 3230 fall of odd years
BL 4200 Microbial Physiology 3 lecture BL 3210 or BL 3310 fall of even years
BL 4300 Applied Bacterial Genomics 3 lecture BL 2200 fall of odd years
BL 4310 Applied Eukaryotic Genomics 3 lecture BL 2200 and BL 2210 fall of even years
BL 4805 Molecular Diagnostics 5 lecture and lab BL 2200 and BL 3025 spring
BL 4840 Molecular Biology Techniques 3 lecture and lab BL 2200 and BL 4030 (C) concurrently fall
CH 3200 Chemistry and Biology of Brewing 2 lecture and lab CH 1150 and CH 1151 spring
CH 3540 Biophysical Chemistry 3 lecture Intro to bio and CH 1160 and CH 1161 and MA 2160 spring
CH 3541 Biophysical Chemistry Lab 2 lab CH 3540 (C) concurrently spring
CH 4110 Medicinal Chemistry: Mechanism of Drug Action 3 lecture CH 2410 spring
CH 4120 Medicinal Chemistry: Drug Design 3 lecture CH 2420 fall
CH 4140 Intro to Pharmaceutical Analysis 3 lecture and lab CH 2410 spring
CH 4710 Biomolecular Chemistry I 3 lecture CH 2420 fall
CH 4720 Biomolecular Chemistry II 3 lecture BL 3020 or CH 4710 spring
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How do I sign up to take the FE exam?

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The Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam is maintained by the NCEES, National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying. Go to the NCEES webpage to register for the exam. Once you have paid the fee you will be able to choose your testing site. The Michigan Tech testing center will be one option. If none of the Michigan Tech testing center dates work for you then contact the testing center directly and ask if other dates can be made available.

The Chemical Engineering department will help you pay for a portion of the test if you request the reimbursement prior to graduating. Drop off or email your receipt to the department office to request reimbursement.

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How does doing Enterprise for senior design work?

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If you are involved in Enterprise, you may use an Enterprise project as your capstone design project, pending departmental approval. You need to be taking an Enterprise project work course (ENT 2950, 2960, 3950, 3960, or 3980) during the Spring semester before your senior classes to qualify for this.

Students choosing this option will take the following design classes senior year.

Fall Semester

CM 4855 Process Analysis and Design I. 3 credits. All ChE students take this course.

ENT 4950 Enterprise Project Work V Capstone. 2 credits. You will need departmental permission to enroll in this class. This class can count towards your technical or free electives.

Spring Semester

CM 4860 Process Analysis and Design II. 2 credits. All ChE students take this course.

ENT 4960 Enterprise Project Work VI Capstone. 2 credits. This course will substitute for CM 4861 Capstone Design Project (1 credit) on your online degree audit. The additional credit can count towards your technical or free electives.

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What is graduate school?

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After your Bachelors degree you can continue going to school to get an advanced degree. In engineering this would be a Masters or PhD.

In our program you can get a coursework Masters, thesis Masters, or PhD. The coursework Masters is just like it sounds. It’s where you take additional advanced engineering classes. You can complete a coursework Masters in a year.

The thesis Masters and PhD are both research degrees. There is a coursework component to them, but you will also work on a research project with a faculty member. A thesis Masters usually takes 1.5-2 years to complete. A PhD takes several years to complete.

If you’d like to work at a university, national lab, or in research and development for a company then you will likely need a PhD.

You can change disciplines. Your graduate degree can be in a different or more specialized discipline than your undergraduate degree.

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Can I take graduate courses while still an undergrad?

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Yes, but you will need special permission to enroll. You can either:

  • use the courses as technical electives. Many of our graduate courses are approved for this.
  • or, you can use the courses towards a Michigan Tech graduate degree under “Senior Rule”.

Senior Rule

You are allowed to take courses to apply to a graduate degree during your last year of undergraduate. However, once a course is approved for senior rule then it may no longer be used towards your undergraduate degree.

You will need to submit the approval to the Registrar’s Office by Wednesday of week 2 for the course semester. Read all the details on the Registrar’s Office webpage.

We allow up to 6 credits of graduate courses to be completed under senior rule.

Accelerated Master’s

This program allows you to double count up to 6 credits towards both an undergraduate and graduate degree. You need to apply before graduating to be eligible. Read all the details on the Accelerated Master’s webpage.

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What can I do to prepare myself for graduate school in engineering?

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There are things you can do now to prepare for graduate school.

Participate in undergraduate research

This is important. A PhD or thesis masters is a research degree, and doing research as an undergraduate can open many doors. This is true even if you eventually decide to do a coursework masters. We recommend looking for opportunities at Michigan Tech, and off-campus at another university, business, or research lab.

Take additional math classes

Graduate engineering classes are very math intensive and so additional math courses work can help prepare you. Statistics is useful in almost all areas. Dr. Morrison also has some recommendations.

Practice your writing and presenting skills

You need these skills to be successful in graduate school and your career. If you participate in undergraduate research there are opportunities to present a poster of your research during department events, campus events, and professional conferences.

Keep your books

Your books and notes will be useful for reviewing core engineering topics when you’re taking the more advanced graduate courses.

Attend research seminars and graduate defenses

These events happen on campus throughout the year and are open to the public. Look for posters and emails announcing them. Seek out presentations in areas that interest you, even if they are in other departments. Research is interdisciplinary and the things you learn and people you meet could help you in the future.

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What chemical engineering electives are being offered next semester? next year?

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We plan to offer the following chemical engineering electives in future semesters.

Fall 2022

  • CM 2200  Intro to Minerals and Materials (3 credit)
  • CM 3450  Computer-Aided Problem Solving (3 credits)
  • CM 3979  Alternative Energy Technology and Processes (1 credit)
  • CM 4610  Intro to Polymer Science (3 credits)
  • CM 4780  Biomanufacturing and Biosafety (3 credits) This is an alternate-year class and will not be offered next year.
  • plus the undergraduate research courses

Spring 2023

  • CM 3025  Bioprocessing Lab (1 credit)
  • CM 3830  Mineral Processing and Extraction Lab (1 credit)
  • CM 4510   Interfacial Engineering (3 credits) This is an alternate-year course and will not be offered next year.
  • CM 4620  Polymer Chemistry (3 credits)
  • CM 4740  Hydrometallurgy/Pyrometallurgy (4 credits)
  • plus the undergraduate research courses

Fall 2023

  • CM 2200  Intro to Minerals and Materials (3 credit)
  • CM 3450  Computer-Aided Problem Solving (3 credits)
  • CM 3979  Alternative Energy Technology and Processes (1 credit)
  • CM 4610  Intro to Polymer Science (3 credits)
  • CM 4710  Biochemical Processes (3 credits) This is an alternate-year class and will not be offered next year.
  • plus the undergraduate research courses

Spring 2024

  • CM 3025  Bioprocessing Lab (1 credit)
  • CM 3830  Mineral Processing and Extraction Lab (1 credit)
  • CM 4505   Particle Technology (3 credits) This is an alternate-year course and will not be offered next year.
  • CM 4620  Polymer Chemistry (3 credits)
  • CM 4740  Hydrometallurgy/Pyrometallurgy (4 credits)
  • plus the undergraduate research courses

Undergraduate Research Courses

These classes are always offered. You will need special permission to enroll in it. There is more information on how this works on our undergraduate research page.

  • CM 4000  Undergraduate Research (1-3 credits)
  • CM 4020  Undergrad Research in Mineral Proc Engineering (1-3 credits)
  • CM 4040  Undergrad Research in Bioengineering (1-3 credits)
  • CM 4060  Undergrad Research in Polymer Engineering (1-3 credits)
  • CM 4080  Undergrad Research in Biofuels Engineering (1-3 credits)
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Which Enterprise team should I join?

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You should join whichever one you like best. We’ve had students join many different teams, but those listed below have been the most popular so far:

  • Consumer Product Manufacturing (CPM)
  • Alternative Energy Enterprise (AEE)
  • Green Campus
  • HOTFOREST
  • Multiplanetary Innovation Enterprise (MInE)
  • Aerospace

Take a look at the Enterprise teams webpages to get more information about their projects.

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How do I figure out which classes to take next semester?

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You need two items to figure this out:

  • Your transcript. Go to Banweb to see your unofficial transcript.  It is extremely important to look at it and know exactly what classes are on it.
  • A flowchart or sample schedule for your catalog year.  All of our advising handouts are available on the Degree Requirements page, sorted by catalog year.

Start by crossing off the classes that you have completed and are currently enrolled in. Run your online degree audit on Banweb to see if it matches. If you see anything that doesn’t match then see your academic advisor to find out why.

Choose classes that are next on the flowchart/sample schedule. It’s usually useful to plan for several semesters out. Review your plan with your academic advisor. It really helps to have a second set of eyes look at your plan.

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