Tag: technical electives

What do I need to know to plan out a business minor with my ChE degree?

Go to the Registrar’s Office minor page for the most current list of requirements. Jodie Filpus-Paakola, the advisor for the business minor, has provided the additional information below to help you plan.

Block I

The following courses can double count:

  • EC 2001 Principles of Economics is a gen ed core Social Responsibility & Ethical Reasoning list. It is also on the HASS Social & Behavioral Science list. It can count for one of these requirements.
  • FIN 2400 Finance Literacy is on the HASS Restricted list.

Block II

Courses on this list may be offered online in the summer and are typically offered both fall and spring semesters. The following course can double count :

  • EC 3400 Economic Decision Analysis is on the HASS Social & Behavioral Science list.

Block III

The following course can double count:

  • OSM/ENG 4300 Project Management is on the ChE technical elective list, but requires statistics as a prereq. [Statistics is also on the technical elective list and is recommended.]

Elective Courses

The following courses can double count:

  • EC 3100 International Economics is on the HASS Social & Behavioral Science list, but requires EC 2001 Principles of Economics as a prereq.
  • HU 3120 Technical & Professional Communication is on the HASS Communication/Composition list.
  • PSY 4340 Culture & Cognition is on the HASS Social & Behavioral Science list, but requires PSY 2000 Intro to Psychology as a prereq.
  • SS 3650 Intellectual Property Management is on the HASS Social & Behavioral Science list.

How do I sign up for the undergraduate research course?

Follow these step to enroll in the course.

Find a faculty supervisor.

Approach a faculty member who is doing research that interests you and request to work with them.  Together you will settle on the research project details.  You’ll need to provide these details when you request to enroll in the class.

Submit the enrollment request form.

The link to the form is on the department’s undergraduate research page.

Complete lab safety training.

You’ll receive an email with a link to the lab safety training system. This needs to be completed the same week that the training was assigned.

Register for the class.

You will be given permission to enroll in the class once the safety training is complete. You can then enroll yourself in the research class on Banweb.

What changed on the new 2021-22 ChE flowchart?

If you are comparing the 2021-22 flowchart with an older version, then here’s what look for:

CM 2110 Material and Energy Balances. The title was change from Fundamentals of ChE I to Material and Energy Balances. The class itself hasn’t changed.

CM 3230 Thermodynamics for ChE. This course was moved from spring of third year to spring of second year and CH 3510 pchem lecture is no longer a prerequisite.

CM 3240 Separations. This is a new course that is replacing the old CM 2120 Fundamentals of ChE II course. CM 3240 is considered an equivalent to CM 2120, and so if you’ve already taken CM 2120 then you do not need to take this new course. The new CM 3240 course requires CM 3230 thermo as a prereq.

CM 3980 Sustainable ChE and CM 4320 Process Safety. These are new courses that are replacing CM 4310 Chemical Process Safety/Environment. You may take the new CM 3980 sustainability course anytime after completing CM 2110 and differential equations and we will be offering it both fall and spring semesters even though the flowchart only has it listed for fall semesters.

Technical Electives. The technical elective rules were simplified. The CH 2420 Organic Chemistry II or CM 4740 Hydro/Pyro or BL 2100 Principles of Biochemistry option was changed to a technical elective. CH 3511 Pchem Lab was changed to a technical elective. The core engineering elective was changed to a technical elective. On the new curriculum you need 18 credits of technical electives. The flowchart shows this as CM 1000 Intro to ChE plus an additional 17 credits of technical electives.

How will the curriculum changes affect me?

Anyone in sophomore, junior, or senior ChE classes will be affected by these changes.

Seniors graduating in Spring ’22: For Fall ’21, you need to enroll in both CM 4320 Process Safety (2 credits) and CM 3980 Sustainable Chemical Engineering (1 credit).  These classes are replacing the old CM 4310 Process Safety/Environment (3 cr) course and are only planned to be offered in the fall next year (2021).

Students taking third-year ChE class: For Fall ’21, you should enroll in CM 3230 Thermo for ChE along with the other usual CM classes and take Pchem in either fall or spring semesters of junior year.  Pchem lecture, CH 3510, is still required for graduation, but will no longer need to be taken before thermo.  You should take thermo in the fall because this will spread out your junior ChE classes more evenly between fall and spring semesters and will allow room for the sophomores to take thermo in the spring.  Be aware that the last time CM 2120 is being offered is Summer ’21.

Students taking second-year ChE classes: For Fall ’21, you should enroll in all the classes on your flowchart.  However, be aware that the title for CM 2110 has been changed to Material and Energy Balances.  Then in the spring you will be taking CM 3230 Thermo for ChE.  If you are done with your math by spring semester then you will also be able to start taking some of the other third-year level ChE classes, if you wish.  During third-year you will be taking a 3000-level separations course that is replacing the old CM 2120 course.  

If you have completed CM 2120 fundamentals of ChE II then you may stay on your current catalog year.  However, if you would like to take advantage of the new technical elective rules and/or pchem lab no longer being a requirement,  then next fall you will need to let me know that you’d like to be moved to the new catalog year.  The required classes that you’ve already taken will work with any of the catalog years.  

Spring 2022 will be the last semester that students will be allowed to take CM 3230 thermo concurrently with the spring third-year ChE classes, CM 3120 transport/UO II, CM 3310 process control, and CM 3510 chemical reaction engineering.

What are the new technical elective rules that are starting Fall 2021?

Beginning Fall 2021, the following changes will be made to our technical elective rules:

  • The organic chemistry II or substitute requirement will be changed to any technical elective from the list.
  • Pchem lab will no longer be required and will be changed to any technical elective from the list.  Pchem lecture will still be required.
  • The core engineering elective requirement will be changed to any technical elective from the list.

Under these new rules there will be one technical list and you will need to take a total of 18 credits from the list.  Pchem lab will be on the technical elective list.  The reason for this change was to make the elective rules easier to understand and to give you greater flexibility in pursing your interests.  This will also help you be able more easily earn a minor in a math, science, or engineering area, if you desire.

Students who started at Michigan Tech before Fall 2021 will have the option to move to these new rules.  Students who start in Fall 2021 or later will be required to follow the new rules.

What do I do now that CM 3410 Tech Comm is no longer offered?

The faculty have decided to merge the tech comm topics into transport lab to better help you with the communication of engineering topics.

Effective Fall 2018, CM 3410 Tech Comm will no longer be offered and CM 3215 Transport Lab will be changed to a 3 credit course.  Because of this change you must now have UN 1015 Compositions done before taking CM 3215 Transport Lab, and you need to have CM 3215 Transport Lab done before taking CM 4110 Unit Operations Lab and CM 4855 ChE Design I.

If you have taken both CM 3410 and CM 3215 then you are unaffected by this change.

If you have taken CM 3410 and you take the 3-credit version of CM 3215 then you can use the additional credit towards your technical electives or free electives, if needed.  Send an email to cmadvise@mtu.edu to have this change made to your degree audit.

For students who started at Michigan Tech prior to Fall 2018, if you have not taken CM 3410 then you have a choice.  You can either take a technical elective or HU 3120, the Humanities tech comm course, as a substitute for CM 3410.  Send an email to cmadvise@mtu.edu to have this change made to your degree audit.  If you choose to take HU 3120 as a substitute for CM 3410 then it cannot be used towards your general education HASS requirements.

For students who start at Michigan Tech during Fall 2018 or later, you will be on the new curriculum that no longer requires CM 3410.