Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Major (BA, BS, HBA, HBS)
This program is available at the following location:
- Corvallis
The Bachelor of Science and Honors Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.ABET.org.
Chemical engineering is the discipline that focuses on the science and engineering of processes to convert raw materials into valued chemicals and products at a manufacturing scale. These include products found in everyday life such as transportation and heating fuels, plastics, pharmaceuticals, household and paper products (soaps, cosmetics, health care and cleaning products, etc.), as well as more advanced products like solar cells, computer chips, and advanced composites for jet aircraft.
Chemical engineers find employment in traditional chemical industries such as pulp and paper manufacturing and petroleum refining, high-tech industries such as semiconductor device manufacturing, biopharmaceutical production, aerospace, and emerging industries, particularly sustainable energy.
Alumni of the chemical engineering program will be work-ready engineers, problem solvers, responsible professionals, and interdisciplinary collaborators. Program educational objectives can be found here.
The chemical engineering undergraduate curriculum is designed to meet the student objectives through relevant course content, structured collaborative learning experiences, and hands-on laboratory and design experiences at the first year through senior levels. The school has a core curriculum where students from all three programs housed within the school (CHE, BIOE, ENVE) take common courses in the areas of first-year engineering, material and energy balances, thermodynamics, transport phenomena, and senior year laboratory.
Chemical engineering students have opportunities to obtain internships offered through the School of CBEE, and through the Multiple Engineering Cooperative Program (MECOP). Many scholarships are available on a competitive basis for chemical engineering undergraduate students. More detailed descriptions of the curriculum and requirements may be viewed on the CBEE website.
Major Code: 303
Upon successful completion of the program, students will meet the following learning outcomes:
- Identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
- Apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
- Communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
- Recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
- Function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.
- Develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
- Acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.
| First Year | Credits | |
|---|---|---|
| ENGR 100 | THE OREGON STATE ENGINEERING STUDENT | 3 |
| ENGR 102 | DESIGN ENGINEERING AND PROBLEM SOLVING | 3 |
| ENGR 103 | ENGINEERING COMPUTATION AND ALGORITHMIC THINKING | 3 |
| CH 231 & CH 261 | GENERAL CHEMISTRY and *LABORATORY FOR CHEMISTRY 231 | 5 |
| CH 232 & CH 262 | GENERAL CHEMISTRY and *LABORATORY FOR CHEMISTRY 232 | 5 |
| CH 233 & CH 263 | GENERAL CHEMISTRY and *LABORATORY FOR CHEMISTRY 233 | 5 |
| COMM 114 or COMM 111Z | *ARGUMENT AND CRITICAL DISCOURSE or +*PUBLIC SPEAKING | 3-4 |
| MTH 251 | *DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS | 4 |
| MTH 252 | INTEGRAL CALCULUS | 4 |
| MTH 254 | VECTOR CALCULUS I | 4 |
| WR 121Z | *COMPOSITION I | 4 |
| HHS 231 | *LIFETIME FITNESS FOR HEALTH | 2 |
| HHS 241 | *LIFETIME FITNESS (or any PAC course) | 1 |
| Credits | 46 | |
| Second Year | ||
| CH 331 | ORGANIC CHEMISTRY | 4 |
| CH 332 | ORGANIC CHEMISTRY | 4 |
| CBEE 211 | MATERIAL BALANCES AND STOICHIOMETRY | 3 |
| CBEE 212 | ENERGY BALANCES | 3 |
| CBEE 213 | PROCESS DATA ANALYSIS | 4 |
| ENGR 201 | ELECTRICAL FUNDAMENTALS I | 3 |
| ENGR 211 | STATICS | 3 |
| MTH 256 | APPLIED DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS | 4 |
| MTH 264 & MTH 265 | INTRODUCTION TO MATRIX ALGEBRA and INTRODUCTION TO SERIES | 4 |
| PH 211 | *GENERAL PHYSICS WITH CALCULUS | 4 |
| PH 212 | *GENERAL PHYSICS WITH CALCULUS | 4 |
| PH 213 | *GENERAL PHYSICS WITH CALCULUS | 4 |
| WR 227Z | *TECHNICAL WRITING | 4 |
| *Perspectives Course | 3 | |
| Credits | 51 | |
| Third Year | ||
| CH 440 | PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY | 3 |
| CH 441 | PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY | 3 |
| CH 442 | PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY | 3 |
| CHE 311 | THERMODYNAMICS | 3 |
| CHE 312 | CHEMICAL ENGINEERING THERMODYNAMICS | 3 |
| CHE 320 | SAFETY, ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM | 3 |
| CHE 331 | TRANSPORT PHENOMENA I | 4 |
| CHE 332 | TRANSPORT PHENOMENA II | 3 |
| CHE 333 | TRANSPORT PHENOMENA III | 3 |
| CHE 334 | TRANSPORT PHENOMENA LABORATORY | 3 |
| CHE 361 | CHEMICAL PROCESS DYNAMICS AND SIMULATION | 3 |
| CHE 461 | PROCESS CONTROL | 3 |
| *Perspectives Courses | 6 | |
| *Biological Science w/Lab | 4 | |
| Credits | 47 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| CHE 411 | MASS TRANSFER OPERATIONS | 4 |
| CBEE 414 | ^PROCESS ENGINEERING LABORATORY | 3 |
| CHE 415 | CHEMICAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY I | 3 |
| CHE 431 | CHEMICAL PLANT DESIGN I | 3 |
| CHE 432 | CHEMICAL PLANT DESIGN II | 3 |
| CHE 443 | CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING | 4 |
| Free Elective | 2-3 | |
| Advanced Chemistry Course With Lab | 4 | |
| Advanced Chemistry Course | 3 | |
| Engineering Electives | 7 | |
| *Perspectives Course | 3 | |
| *Difference, Power & Discrimination | 3 | |
| *Synthesis Course | 6 | |
| Credits | 49 | |
| Total Credits | 193 | |
- *
Baccalaureate Core Course (BCC)
- ^
Writing Intensive Course (WIC)
- +
Core Education course. Applies only to students admitted to an OSU undergraduate degree from Summer 2025 onwards
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Chemistry | ||
| CH 411 | INORGANIC CHEMISTRY | 3 |
| CH 412 | INORGANIC CHEMISTRY | 3 |
| CH 421 | ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY | 3 |
| CH 422 | ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY | 3 |
| CH 424 | BIOANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY | 3 |
| CH 435 | STRUCTURE DETERMINATION BY SPECTROSCOPIC METHODS | 4 |
| CH 450 | INTRODUCTORY QUANTUM CHEMISTRY | 3 |
| WSE 321 | WOOD CHEMISTRY | 3 |
| BB 350 | ELEMENTARY BIOCHEMISTRY | 4 |
| BB 450 | GENERAL BIOCHEMISTRY | 4 |
| OEAS 540 | THE BIOGEOCHEMICAL EARTH | 4 |
| Advanced Chemistry with Lab | ||
| OC 350 & OC 499 | CHEMICAL OCEANOGRAPHY and SPECIAL TOPICS IN OCEANOGRAPHY (4 credits each) | 8 |
| CH 324 | QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS | 4 |
| CH 337 | ORGANIC CHEMISTRY LABORATORY | 4 |
| CHE 417 | INSTRUMENTATION IN CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING | 4 |
| Engineering Electives | ||
| CHE 444 | THIN FILM MATERIALS PROCESSING | 4 |
| CHE 445 | POLYMER ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE | 4 |
| CHE 450 | CONVENTIONAL AND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SYSTEMS | 3 |
| CHE 451 | SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES | 3 |
| CHE 499 | SPECIAL TOPICS | 4 |
| CHE 514 | FLUID FLOW | 4 |
| CHE 520 | MASS TRANSFER I | 4 |
| CHE 525 | CHEMICAL ENGINEERING ANALYSIS | 4 |
| CHE 537 | CHEMICAL ENGINEERING THERMODYNAMICS I | 4 |
| BIOE 351 | BIOMATERIALS AND BIOINTERFACES | 3 |
| BIOE 440 | BIOCONJUGATION | 3 |
| BIOE 445 | SURFACE ANALYSIS | 3 |
| BIOE 457 | BIOREACTORS | 3 |
| BIOE 459 | CELL ENGINEERING | 3 |
| BIOE 462 | BIOSEPARATIONS | 3 |
| ENVE 322 | FUNDAMENTALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING | 4 |
| ENVE 421 | DRINKING WATER TREATMENT PROCESSES | 4 |
| ENVE 422 | WASTEWATER TREATMENT PROCESSES | 4 |
| ENVE 425 | AIR POLLUTION CONTROL | 3 |
| ENVE 431 | FATE AND TRANSPORT OF CHEMICALS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS | 4 |
| ENVE 456 | SUSTAINABLE WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT | 3 |
| CE 412 | HYDROLOGY | 4 |
| ECE 416 | ELECTRONIC MATERIALS AND DEVICES | 4 |
| ECE 417 | BASIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES | 4 |
| ECE 418 | SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING | 4 |
| IE 355 | QUANTITATIVE METHODS FOR SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND IMPROVEMENT | 4 |
| IE 356 | QUANTITATIVE METHODS FOR SYSTEM MODELING AND EXPERIMENTATION | 4 |
| MATS 321 | INTRODUCTION TO MATERIALS SCIENCE | 4 |
| MATS 322 | MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS | 4 |
Major Code: 303
Degree plans are subject to change and the following is only an example of how students may complete their degree in four years. Students should consult their advisor to determine the best degree plan for them. Contact details for advisors can be found on the Academic Advising page.
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | |
| ENGR 100 | THE OREGON STATE ENGINEERING STUDENT | 3 |
| CH 231 & CH 261 | GENERAL CHEMISTRY and *LABORATORY FOR CHEMISTRY 231 | 5 |
| MTH 251 | *DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS | 4 |
| WR 121Z | *COMPOSITION I | 4 |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Winter | ||
| ENGR 102 | DESIGN ENGINEERING AND PROBLEM SOLVING | 3 |
| CH 232 & CH 262 | GENERAL CHEMISTRY and *LABORATORY FOR CHEMISTRY 232 | 5 |
| COMM 114 or COMM 111Z | *ARGUMENT AND CRITICAL DISCOURSE or +*PUBLIC SPEAKING | 3 |
| MTH 252 | INTEGRAL CALCULUS | 4 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| ENGR 103 | ENGINEERING COMPUTATION AND ALGORITHMIC THINKING | 3 |
| CH 233 & CH 263 | GENERAL CHEMISTRY and *LABORATORY FOR CHEMISTRY 233 | 5 |
| MTH 254 | VECTOR CALCULUS I | 4 |
| HHS 231 | *LIFETIME FITNESS FOR HEALTH | 2 |
| HHS 241 | *LIFETIME FITNESS (or any PAC course) | 1 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| CBEE 211 | MATERIAL BALANCES AND STOICHIOMETRY | 3 |
| CH 331 | ORGANIC CHEMISTRY | 4 |
| MTH 256 | APPLIED DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS | 4 |
| PH 211 | *GENERAL PHYSICS WITH CALCULUS | 4 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Winter | ||
| CBEE 212 | ENERGY BALANCES | 3 |
| CH 332 | ORGANIC CHEMISTRY | 4 |
| MTH 264 & MTH 265 | INTRODUCTION TO MATRIX ALGEBRA and INTRODUCTION TO SERIES | 4 |
| PH 212 | *GENERAL PHYSICS WITH CALCULUS | 4 |
| *Perspectives Course | 3 | |
| Credits | 18 | |
| Spring | ||
| CBEE 213 | PROCESS DATA ANALYSIS | 4 |
| ENGR 201 | ELECTRICAL FUNDAMENTALS I | 3 |
| ENGR 211 | STATICS | 3 |
| PH 213 | *GENERAL PHYSICS WITH CALCULUS | 4 |
| WR 227Z | *TECHNICAL WRITING | 4 |
| Credits | 18 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| CH 440 | PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY | 3 |
| CHE 311 | THERMODYNAMICS | 3 |
| CHE 331 | TRANSPORT PHENOMENA I | 4 |
| CHE 320 | SAFETY, ENGINEERING ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM | 3 |
| *Perspectives Course | 3 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Winter | ||
| CH 441 | PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY | 3 |
| CHE 361 | CHEMICAL PROCESS DYNAMICS AND SIMULATION | 3 |
| CHE 312 | CHEMICAL ENGINEERING THERMODYNAMICS | 3 |
| CHE 332 | TRANSPORT PHENOMENA II | 3 |
| *Biological Science w/Lab | 4 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Spring | ||
| CH 442 | PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY | 3 |
| CHE 461 | PROCESS CONTROL | 3 |
| CHE 333 | TRANSPORT PHENOMENA III | 3 |
| CHE 334 | TRANSPORT PHENOMENA LABORATORY | 3 |
| *Perspectives Course | 3 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| CBEE 414 | ^PROCESS ENGINEERING LABORATORY | 3 |
| CHE 411 | MASS TRANSFER OPERATIONS | 4 |
| CHE 443 | CHEMICAL REACTION ENGINEERING | 4 |
| Advanced Chemistry Elective | 3 | |
| *Perspectives Course | 3 | |
| Credits | 17 | |
| Winter | ||
| CHE 415 | CHEMICAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY I | 3 |
| CHE 431 | CHEMICAL PLANT DESIGN I | 3 |
| *Difference, Power & Discrimination | 3 | |
| Engineering Elective | 3 | |
| Free Elective | 3 | |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| CHE 432 | CHEMICAL PLANT DESIGN II | 3 |
| Engineering Elective | 4 | |
| Advanced Chemistry Elective | 4 | |
| *Synthesis Courses | 6 | |
| Credits | 17 | |
| Total Credits | 193 | |