Yes, you can! The faculty approved these new rules in March 2023, and we want you to be able to take advantage of them. This will be especially helpful if you are working towards certain minors.
If there is a course you’d like to take that is on the new list but not the old, then email cmadvise@mtu.edu. Request the course to be added to your degree audit.
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.
We also recommend our bioprocessing lab because it’s a good introduction to the entire manufacturing process for making products using microorganisms.
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 |
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.
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.
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.
Yes, but you will need special permission to enroll. You can either:
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.
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.
We plan to offer the following chemical engineering electives in future semesters.
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.
Yes. The second-year and above project work classes count as technical electives. These courses are all 1 credit, except for the senior-year courses, which are 2 credits.
The first-year Enterprise course, ENT 1960, can be used only as a free elective.
You can also earn a minor in Enterprise.
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:
Take a look at the Enterprise teams webpages to get more information about their projects.
Yes. They can be used as technical electives or free electives. Up to six credits can be used as technical electives.
You just need to ask. You’ll need to find a faculty member who has a project you can work on with them. A good place to start is to look at the department faculty page and read about their research topics.
Find two or three who are doing research in an area that sounds interesting to you. Don’t worry about the jargon. You’ll be taught what you need to know as part of the project. Then reach out to them and ask if they have a project you can work on with them.
Introduce yourself and share what interests you about their work. If you’re willing to do the research for credit then you can begin work even if there isn’t funding to pay you. If the first person doesn’t work out then ask some else. You may need to talk to several faculty before finding someone.
There is also a great video on finding a research mentor on the Pavlis Honors College research workshop page.
Yes, if your faculty supervisor agrees.
Some other summer research options are:
