Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Advising

What does a “Linked Course Required” error mean?

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There are a number of classes that have multiple parts (a lecture, recitation, and/or lab), and you must enroll in all of the parts to register for the class.  If you only register for one part you will get a registration error that says “Linked Course Required”.  If you look at the section column when you search for classes (labeled “Sec”), the lecture sections are lettered (0A, 0B, etc.), the recitation sections start with an R (R01, R02, etc.), and the lab sections start with an L (L01, L02, etc.).  All of the parts of a single course will have the same course number.

For example to enroll in CM 3215, Transport Lab, you must register for both the lecture and lab portions:

CM 3215 0A (lecture)

CM 3215 L01 or L02 or etc. (lab)

Classes with multiple parts include:  MA 1160, MA 1161, MA 2160, MA 3160, CM 3215, CM 3310, CM 4110, CM 4120, and CM 4855.

Some classes instead require a “co-requisite”.  This means that you must sign up for both classes (different course numbers) or you will get a “Linked Course Required” error.  Classes that require co-requisites include:  CH 1150/CH 1151, CH 1160/CH 1161, and MA 2321/MA 3521.

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I am an incoming transfer student; how do I register?

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Per the Registrar’s office on 18March2015, students with more than 30 transfer credits can register themselves through Banweb. Visit the Chemical Engineering 24/7 Advising page (blog) and the ChemE Advising Handout page to see Chemical Engineering degree requirements and suggested schedules.  Once you have taken a crack at sorting out a schedule, email the ChemE advisor at  cmadvise@mtu.edu to receive additional advice.

Students with fewer than 30 transfer credits will be registered by the Registrar’s office in July as part of the incoming first-year registration process that puts first-year students into “cohorts”.   See the website for the website for the Waino Wahtera Center for Student Success (Scheduling Information for Engineering Majors) for more information about cohorts and first-year student scheduling.  Some first-year classes are added during orientation and cannot be added ahead of time.

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What are the changes to GenEd for Fall 2015?

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The Michigan Tech General Education program is changing as of Fall 2015.  All student starting or transferring to Tech as of Fall 2015 must follow the new General Education rules.  For chemical engineering students, this impacts mostly what courses count as HASS electives.  The program will soon be outlined on the Registrar’s General Education page; that’s the definitive page for determining the rules.  We do have an advanced copy of the rules/HASS list posted on the we that you can access at this link:  www.chem.mtu.edu/~fmorriso/curriculum/HASS2015RegistrarList.pdf.

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Volunteer Opportunity: Conversation Partners

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Leading a well-rounded and meaningful life means helping others.  We highlight here some volunteer opportunities at Michigan Tech.

(see Tech Today newsletter 14Jan2015)

IESL Conversation Partner Opportunity

by Clare Zuraw, ESL Instructor

Conversation Partners  that pairs students in the Intensive English as a Second Language (IESL) program with more proficient English-speaking members of the Michigan Tech community. The program is open to students, faculty and staff. Participants commit to one-hour per week of one-on-one informal conversation by signing a contract with the IESL program for one semester. The contract commits them to meet their partner in public places on campus for a minimum of one hour per week.

Please consider giving an international student an hour of your time. It makes an enormous difference.

How the Program Works

  1. Interested students, faculty and staff members may download and complete the online form.
  2. IESL matches students with participants. The program makes every effort to match people of the same gender though sometimes this may be difficult. IESL will always check with volunteers before matching them with someone of the opposite gender.
  3. IESL introduces the conversation partners to each other at an initial meeting. Both parties sign a contract stating that they will meet on campus once per week for the duration of the semester.
  4. Though partners meet independently, listening and speaking teachers will often check in with students.
  5. If there are any concerns, we ask that volunteers please contact the IESL program as soon as possible.

Why participate in this opportunity?

As a member of the Tech community, there are many reasons why you should consider and commit to being conversation partner. Here are some of them:

  • Make a new friend and create a potentially rewarding friendship
  • Help an international student understand American culture and society
  • Experience the contemporary global landscape from the unique perspective of one of our international students
  • Develop deeper cultural awareness and understanding by developing a sustained conversation with someone from a different country
  • Participate in promoting rewarding cross-language relations and cross-cultural dialogue on campus

The Role of a Conversation Partner
As a partner your main responsibility is to offer your IESL student conversation practice. At times you may have to explain English language points but we are not asking you to be an English as a Second Language teacher. The goal is for your conversation partner to have plenty of speaking and listening practice.

The IESL program can provide ideas for your weekly meetings at the program’s preliminary meeting. Those who have participated have found the experience rewarding. We urge others to give it a try. For questions, contact IESL at iesl@mtu.edu.

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What computer programs are used in the ChemE program at Michigan Tech?

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We use a variety of computer programs in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Michigan Tech.  Microsoft Word is widely used for report preparation.  Dr. Morrison has a YouTube video showing some short-cuts for writing equations with Microsoft Word.  In the junior laboratory, CM3215 Fundamentals of ChemE Lab, we use Microsoft Excel extensively and we also use Visio for creating Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&ID).

Microsoft Excel is introduced in the first-year engineering classes (ENG 1101 and and ENG 1102), and so it is assumed that Chemical Engineering juniors have some familiarity with Excel.  In CM3215 there are several exercises meant to gauge and build Excel proficiency.  We also ask students to learn how to use Excel’s LINEST program for determining least squares fits as well as uncertainty parameters related to least squares fits.  Error analysis is a big part of CM 3215, and in that and subsequent classes we add error bars to graphs (using Excel) to show uncertainty.  Excel also has a function called Solver that we use in several classes (CM 3215, CM 3450, CM4655 for example) to perform nonlinear curve fitting and optimization.

Here is a list of some of the software programs used in CM courses

  • CM2110 Fundamentals of Chem E 1: Polymath, Excel, Visio
  • CM2120 Fundamentals of Chem E 2: Excel, Word, and UniSim
  • CM3215 Fundamentals of ChemE Lab:  Excel, Word, Visio
  • CM3110 Transport 1:  Excel, Comsol, Word
  • CM3120 Transport 2: Excel, Word
  • CM3230 Thermodynamics:  Excel, Word, Mathcad
  • CM3310 Process Control: LabVIEW
  • CM3410 Tech Communication for Che:  Excel, Word, PowerPoint
  • CM3510: Chemical Reaction Engineering: Polymath, Word, UniSim
  • CM3450: Computer-Aided Problem Solving:  UniSim, MatLab, MathCAD, Excel w/ VBA, and Minitab
  • CM4110 Unit Operations Lab: Excel, Word, Visio, PowerPoint
  • CM4120 Plant Operations Lab:  Excel, Word, Visio, PowerPoint, PI DataLink, PI ProcessBook
  • CM4310 Process Safety/Environment:  Excel, Word, EPI Suite, SimaPro
  • CM4855 Plant Design 1:  Excel, Word, Visio, UniSim, SuperTarget
  • CM4860 Plant Design 2:  Excel, Word, Visio, UniSim, SuperTarget
  • CM4861 Plant Design Lab 2: Excel, Word, Visio, UniSim, SuperTarget

 

 

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Can I take PH 2200 and CM 3110 at the same time?

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We recommend that you complete all the first and second year courses, including PH 2200, before beginning your junior chemical engineering courses, especially CM 3110.

Although we recommend that you complete PH 2200 before taking CM 3110, you are permitted to take them at the same time or to defer PH 2200 to a later semester.    In Fall 2014, 44% of the students taking PH 2200 and CM 3110 at the same time failed CM 3110 or earned a D in CM 3110.  Note, also, that PH 2200 is a prerequisite for CM 3310 Process Controls, which is only offered in the spring semester.

If you are not following the standard sequence, please reflect on your capabilities and your academic strengths and weaknesses as  you plan your schedule.  You may wish to discuss your situation with your advisor.  If you are a strong student, you can succeed in CM 3110 even without having completed all your second-year physics.  Even strong students, however, will get more out of CM 3110 if they approach it with the full preparation of all the first and second year courses having been completed with a C or better.

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What is the Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS)?

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One of the frustrating things about registering is the uncertainty:  what classed do I need?  Does this class I’m looking at count as tech elective?  as gen ed?

One resource you have to sorting this out (besides seeing Katie) is the DARS tool in Banweb (Degree Audit Reporting System).  This tool checks your records (according to Michigan Tech) against the requirements for your degree.  If you’ve met the requirements, it goes GREEN.  If the requirements are not met, it stays RED.  See our advising video on this subject.  Degree services also have their own tutorial video (March 2018).

I would like to suggest that everyone try it out.

To get to DARS you log onto your Banweb account and under Student in the middle column look for “Degree Audit”.  Click there and run the current year audit.  Sometimes you have to wait – look for the circle above to see if it’s thinking.  It always has to generate the report to get the most current version.

When the DARS opens, you will see some graphics and a long column of red or green “buckets” of courses or requirements.  They are:

1.  Two buckets that check your GPA for both the department and for overall.  Both must be over 2.0 for you to graduate.
2.  Major requirements:  This is all your core math, physics, chemistry, and chem eng courses.
3.  Chemistry option:  here whether you take Organic 1 or Hydro Pyro you chose a different audit path.  In this section you will see the technical electives and the various categories of the electives.  Take a close look to see what classes you may choose from in each category.
4.  Six gen ed buckets that check if you meet all the gen ed requirements.  It checks if you have the freshmen courses, the sophomore courses, the HASS, etc.  It checks that at least 6 credits of HASS are at the 3000 level.
5.  Co curricular bucket – your phys ed courses.

The DARS system is what actually checks you out for graduation.  If it says you graduate, you do.  We have worked long and hard with the programmers in the Admin Building to get this system to accurately check you out for graduation – please use the DARS tool to guide you as you plan for registration.

There are some things that the DARS system will not do right until Katie “touches” your audit and makes an adjustment.  If something you chose or transfered puts you into this situation, you do need to come see Katie.  She’ll be happy to look at DARS adjustments after registration is over.

Hope this eases your registration experience!

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