Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Bachelor of Science

Graduates receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org. As permitted under the ABET guidelines, we continually update our undergraduate programs to include the latest advances in chemical and biomolecular engineering. Such modifications will enable us to offer the best possible educational experience to our undergraduates. For the latest chemical engineering educational programs, potential applicants are referred to our website at http://www.jhu.edu/chembe/

Program Requirements

(See also General Requirements for Departmental Majors)

The Bachelor of Science degree requires a minimum of 128 credits. Additional details are given in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Undergraduate Advising Manual available from the department or online.

The 128 credits must include:

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
CHEMBE CORE COURSES 1
EN.500.113	Gateway Computing: Python	3
EN.540.202	Introduction to Chemical & Biological Process Analysis	4
EN.540.203	Engineering Thermodynamics	3
EN.540.301	Kinetic Processes	4
EN.540.303	Transport Phenomena I	3
EN.540.304	Transport Phenomena II	4
EN.540.306	Chemical & Biomolecular Separations	4
EN.540.311	Projects in ChemE Unit Operations with Experiments	4
or EN.540.313	Projects in ChemBE Unit Operations with Experiments
EN.540.315	Process Design with Aspen	2
EN.540.409	Dynamic Modeling and Control	4
EN.540.490	Introduction to Chemical Process Safety	1
Select one of the following Product Design options:		3-6
EN.540.309 & EN.540.310	Product Design Part 1 and Product Design Part 2
EN.540.314	ChemBE Product Design
EN.660.345 & EN.660.346	Multidisciplinary Engineering Design 1 and Multidisciplinary Engineering Design 2
ENGINEERING ELECTIVES 2
6-9 credits of engineering electives		6-9
PHYSICS COURSES AND LAB		9-11
AS.171.101	General Physics: Physical Science Major I	4-5
or AS.171.105	Classical Mechanics I
or AS.171.107	General Physics for Physical Sciences Majors (AL)
or EN.530.123 & EN.530.124	Introduction to Mechanics I and Intro to Mechanics II
AS.171.102	General Physics: Physical Science Major II	4
or AS.171.106	Electricity and Magnetism I
or AS.171.108	General Physics for Physical Science Majors (AL)
AS.173.111	General Physics Laboratory I	1-2
or EN.530.115 & EN.530.116	MechE Freshman Lab I and MechE Freshman Lab II
BASIC CHEMISTRY COURSES AND LABS 3
AS.030.101	Introductory Chemistry I	3
AS.030.102	Introductory Chemistry II	3
AS.030.105	Introductory Chemistry Laboratory I	1
AS.030.106	Introductory Chemistry Laboratory II	1
ADVANCED CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGY COURSES
AS.020.305	Biochemistry	3
AS.030.205	Introductory Organic Chemistry I	4
Advanced Chemistry or Biology Elective 4		3-5
ADVANCED CHEMISTRY OR BIOLOGY LAB
Select one of the following: 5		1-3
AS.020.315	Biochemistry Project lab
AS.030.225	Introductory Organic Chemistry Laboratory
AS.030.305	Physical Chemistry Instrumentation Laboratory I
AS.250.253	Protein Engineering and Biochemistry Lab
MATHEMATICS REQUIREMENT 6
AS.110.108	Calculus I (Physical Sciences & Engineering)	4
AS.110.109	Calculus II (For Physical Sciences and Engineering)	4
AS.110.202	Calculus III	4
or AS.110.211	Honors Multivariable Calculus
AS.110.302	Differential Equations and Applications	4
or EN.553.291	Linear Algebra and Differential Equations
HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES/WRITING REQUIREMENTS 7,8		15
EN.661.315	Culture of the Engineering Profession	3
UNDESIGNATED ELECTIVES 9		16
TOTAL CREDITS		128-134

¹

Students must have a grade point average of at least 2.00 in the chemical and biomolecular engineering core courses to graduate.

²

All courses offered by the Whiting School of Engineering that hold an Area Designation of E, and are taken for a letter grade (not S/U) are approved as Engineering Electives. Additionally, up to 4 credits of research, conducted within a WSE department, are approved. In addition to these, other accepted courses are AS.250.302 Modeling the Living Cell, EN.500.132 Bootcamp: Java, EN.500.133 Bootcamp: Python, EN.500.134 Bootcamp: MATLAB. Students need to take 6-9 electives beyond the required courses to meet the 48 engineering credit requirement. Further exceptions exist to these courses; please consult the ChemBE Undergraduate Manual for full stipulations.

³

If you are receiving chemistry credits via AP, IB, or GCE exam, consult your academic advisor to discuss which chemistry course(s) may be appropriate for you. 

⁴

Students need to take 3-5 elective credits beyond the required courses to meet the 13-credit total Advanced Chem/Bio Requirement. These courses must be chosen from the 030 or 020 Departments, should be at the 200-level minimum, and must carry an "N", Natural Sciences, area designation. Additionally, some courses offered by 250 (Biophysics) may be acceptable. MCB Track students must take  EN.540.307 Cell Biology for Engineers or AS.020.306 Cell Biology, IN Track students must take AS.030.452 Materials & Surface.

⁵

Students doing the MCB Track must take either AS.020.315 Biochemistry Project lab, or AS.250.253 Protein Engineering and Biochemistry Lab here. Students doing the IN Track must take AS.030.305 Physical Chemistry Instrumentation Laboratory I here.

⁶

Calculus is essential to Chemical Engineering. A grade of C- or better in both Calculus I and Calculus II is required.

⁷

Eighteen credits designated as Humanities or Social Sciences are required (6 courses of at least 3 credits each). At least one of these courses must be an advanced course at the 300-level or higher in addition to EN.661.315 Culture of the Engineering Profession. See the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Undergraduate Advising Manual for more details.

⁸

Two writing-intensive courses are required. One of the courses must be EN.661.315 Culture of the Engineering Profession. Courses that are taken to satisfy the university writing requirement must be passed with a grade of C- or better. Note that 540.311/313 does not count towards the writing-intensive requirement.

⁹

A minimum of 128 credits is required for the degree. Therefore, in addition to all the credits taken to fulfill the requirements mentioned in the various sections above (e.g., chemical engineering core courses, engineering electives, basic science, advanced chemistry electives, mathematics requirement, and Humanities and Social and Sciences courses) students will need to take some undesignated credits. 

Tracks

Students pursuing a degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering have the option of concentrating on specific fields including Interfaces and Nanotechnology and Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering. These focus areas have additional and/or alternate requirements, as described.

Interfaces and Nanotechnology (IN) TRACK

Students must fulfill the following requirements:

• The Advanced Chemistry and Biology laboratory requirement is fulfilled with AS.030.305 Physical Chemistry Instrumentation Laboratory I. 
• AS.030.452 Materials & Surface is required and satisfies 3 credits of the Advanced Chemistry and Biology electives. 
• Six credits of interfaces and nanotechnology electives are required- See department for a list of approved electives. 

Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering (MCB) Track

Students must fulfill the following requirements:

• Students take either AS.020.306 Cell Biology or EN.540.307 Cell Biology for Engineers. It satisfies 3 credits of the Advanced Chemistry and Biology electives.
• The Advanced Chemistry and Biology laboratory requirement is fulfilled with AS.020.315 Biochemistry Project lab or AS.250.253 Protein Engineering and Biochemistry Lab.
• Six credits of bioengineering electives are required. See department for a list of approved electives.
• Students take EN.540.313 Projects in ChemBE Unit Operations with Experiments instead of EN.540.311 Projects in ChemE Unit Operations with Experiments.

Sample Programs

Standard Track 

First Year
First Semester	Credits	Second Semester	Credits
AS.030.101	3	AS.030.102	3
AS.030.105	1	AS.030.106	1
AS.110.108	4	AS.110.109	4
AS.171.1011	4	AS.171.102	4
AS.173.111	1	Humanities/Social Sciences Electives	3
HEART course (optional - EN.500.111)	1	Humanities/Social Sciences Elective	3
FYS Course (optional - EN.501.xxx)	2-3
	16-17		18
Second Year
First Semester	Credits	Second Semester	Credits
AS.030.205	4	AS.110.202	4
AS.110.302 or EN.553 291	4	EN.540.203	3
EN.500.113	3	EN.540.303	3
EN.540.202	4	Humanities/Social Sciences Elective	3
		Undesignated Elective	3
	15		16
Third Year
First Semester	Credits	Second Semester	Credits
AS.020.305	3	EN.540.301	4
EN.540.304	4	EN.540.306	4
EN.540.490	1	EN.661.315	3
Advanced Chemistry or Biology Lab2	1-3	Advanced Chemistry or Biology Elective3	3
Engineering Elective	3	Undesignated Elective	3
Undesignated Elective	3
	15-17		17
Fourth Year
First Semester	Credits	Second Semester	Credits
EN.540.311	4	EN.540.314	3
EN.540.409	4	EN.540.315	2
Engineering Elective	3	Engineering Elective	3
Humanities/Social Sciences Elective	3	Humanities/Social Sciences Elective	3
Undesignated Elective	3	Undesignated Electives	3-6
	17		14-17
Total Credits 128-134

¹

Students beginning at the Calculus I level should discuss when to take Physics I and lab with an academic advisor.

²

Advanced Chemistry or Biology lab:  AS.030.225 Introductory Organic Chemistry Lab,  AS.030.305 Physical Chemistry Instrumentation Lab I, AS.020.315 Biochemistry Project Lab, or AS.250.253 Protein Engineering and Biochemistry Lab.

³

Cell Biology for Engineers EN.540.307 or any course designated AS.020 and AS.030 at the 200, 300, 400 level.  

Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering Track

First Year
First Semester	Credits	Second Semester	Credits
AS.030.101	3	AS.030.102	3
AS.030.105	1	AS.030.106	1
AS.110.108	4	AS.110.109	4
AS.171.1011	4	AS.171.102	4
AS.173.111	1	Humanities/Social Sciences Elective	3
HEART course (optional - EN.500.111)	1	Humanities/Social Sciences Elective	3
FYS Course (optional - EN.501.xxx)	2-3
	16-17		18
Second Year
First Semester	Credits	Second Semester	Credits
EN.540.202	4	EN.540.203	3
AS.110.302 or EN.553 291	4	EN.540.303	3
AS.030.205	4	AS.110.202	4
EN.500.113	3	Humanities/Social Sciences Elective	3
		Undesignated Elective	3
	15		16
Third Year
First Semester	Credits	Second Semester	Credits
EN.540.304	4	EN.540.301	4
EN.540.490	1	EN.540.307	3
AS.020.315 or AS.250 253	1-3	EN.540.306	4
AS.020.305	3	EN.661.315	3
Engineering Elective	3	Undesignated Elective	3
Undesignated Elective	3
	15-17		17
Fourth Year
First Semester	Credits	Second Semester	Credits
EN.540.313	4	EN.540.314	3
EN.540.409	4	EN.540.315	2
Bioengineering Elective	3	Bioengineering Elective	3
Humanities/Social Sciences Elective	3	Humanities/Social Sciences Elective	3
Undesignated Elective	3	Undesignated Electives	4-6
	17		15-17
Total Credits 129-134

¹

Students beginning at the Calculus I level should discuss when to take Physics I and lab with an academic advisor.

Interfaces and Nanotechnology (IN) Track

First Year
First Semester	Credits	Second Semester	Credits
AS.030.101	3	AS.030.102	3
AS.030.105	1	AS.030.106	1
AS.110.108	4	AS.110.109	4
AS.171.1011	4	AS.171.102	4
AS.173.111	1	Humanities/Social Sciences Elective	3
HEART course (optional - EN.500.111)	1	Humanities/Social Sciences Elective	3
FYS Course (optional - EN.501.xxx)	2-3
	16-17		18
Second Year
First Semester	Credits	Second Semester	Credits
EN.540.202	4	EN.540.203	3
AS.110.202 or EN.553 291	4	EN.540.303	3
AS.030.205	4	AS.110.202	4
EN.500.113	3	Undesignated Elective	3
		Humanities/Social Sciences Elective	3
	15		16
Third Year
First Semester	Credits	Second Semester	Credits
EN.540.304	4	EN.540.301	4
EN.540.490	1	EN.540.306	4
AS.030.452	3	EN.661.315	3
AS.020.305	3	AS.030.305	3
Engineering Elective	3	Undesignated Elective	3
Undesignated Elective	3
	17		17
Fourth Year
First Semester	Credits	Second Semester	Credits
EN.540.311	4	EN.540.314	3
EN.540.409	4	EN.540.315	2
Interfaces/Nanotechnology Elective	3	Interfaces/Nanotechnology Elective	3
Humanities/Social Sciences Elective	3	Humanities/Social Sciences Elective	3
		Undesignated Electives	5-6
	14		16-17
Total Credits 129-131

¹

Students beginning at the Calculus I level should discuss when to take Physics I and lab with an academic advisor.