Undergraduate Study Information

Professor Paul Van Tassel
Director of Undergraduate Studies

Energy, the environment, and health care represent the greatest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. No single discipline is better poised to confront these challenges than Chemical Engineering. From a foundation rooted in the basic sciences of mathematics, chemistry, physics, and (increasingly) biology; a traditional engineering science core of thermodynamics, transport phenomena, and chemical kinetics; a rigorous design component; and an expanding focus on emerging topics in materials, nanotechnology, and life sciences; Chemical Engineering has grown from its petro-chemical origins to become a central discipline to state-of-the-art technologies in microelectronics, alternative energy, biomedicine, and pharmaceutics. Yale students -- with their well-rounded educational backgrounds and diverse interests -- are particularly well-suited to capitalize on emerging opportunities within Chemical Engineering.

The Yale Chemical Engineering program is principally focused on basic and engineering sciences, and problem solving. Additional focus is on communication, analysis of experiments, and chemical process design. A special feature of our program is the accessibility of laboratory research -- most Chemical Engineering majors participate in faculty-led research projects, often resulting in publication and/or presentation at national meetings.

Yale Chemical Engineering graduates find a wide range of professional opportunities. Many go on to top graduate programs in Chemical, Biomedical, or Environmental Engineering, or to esteemed medical, law, or business schools. Yale Chemical Engineering majors ultimately become leaders in academia, industry, government, business, and the non-profit sector.

The Department of Chemical Engineering at Yale offers the following two majors:

• Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering*
  
  

  Program educational objectives allow graduates from the Yale Undergraduate Chemical Engineering ABET Program to:

  • Achieve positions of leadership within academia, industry, and government.
  • Enter and excel within top graduate programs in chemical, biomedical, environmental, and related engineering fields.
  • Enter and excel within top professional schools in e.g. law, medicine, or management.
  • Enter and rise within large and small corporations.
  • Become successful entrepreneurs.
  • Practice engineering toward the benefit of humankind.
  * Accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012 - telephone: (410) 347-7700.
  
  
• Bachelor of Science in Engineering Sciences (Chemical)