Technical electives offered by the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering may be found under the acronym "CHBE" in the course catalog and on Testudo, our online service where you will also find admission, registration, financial, class scheduling, residency, and other important information. Please note that not all electives will be available in every semester or year. Please check Testudo for course availability each semester!

Please use the following policies to guide you as you select your courses each semester:

  • Nine (9) credits of approved technical electives are required to fulfill degree requirements.
  • The ChBE program allows students to take up to 6 credits of the independent study (research) course CHBE 468; however, a maximum of three credits of CHBE 468 can be used to fulfill technical elective requirements.
  • The senior CHBE technical electives are 400-level chemical engineering courses, including CHBE 468x, and a limited number of approved 400-level technical courses from outside chemical engineering (see below).
  • Students should select electives with the help of an academic advisor.
  • Normally at least two of the three technical electives should be CHBE 4XX; the third elective may be chosen from CHBE or from the approved list of non-CHBE technical courses. 400-level technical electives from other departments cross-listed with CHBE also will count as CHBE electives, but please note that students should register for the CHBE section whenever possible.
  • Any other classes, including 400-level Biosciences courses, will be considered only through the Department's exemption request procedure. Business or non-technical courses are normally not approved.
  • It is recommended that technical electives be taken during the senior year.

Questions?
Questions about the undergraduate program may be sent to Kathy Gardinier at lopresti@umd.edu.

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Electives

Approved electives from other departments are below.

Course Number
Course Title/Description
Credits
CHBE 451 Photovoltaics: Solar Energy
Formerly ENCH 468L
Prerequisite: Permission of Department. Credit only granted for ENCH 468L or CHBE 451.
The emphasis of the class is on developing a conceptual understanding of the device physics and manufacturing processes of crystalline and thin-film photovoltaic cells, and to develop elementary computational skills necessary to quantify solar cell efficiency. The class material includes detailed, system-level energy balances necessary to understand how solar energy fits into the complete energy generation, conversion, and storage picture. Quantitative comparisons of PV technology to solar chemical conversion processes and biofuels are made.
3
CHBE 454 Chemical Process Analysis and Optimization
Formerly ENCH468C
Prerequisites: MATH 246, CHBE 426 and CHBE 440. Applications of mathematical models to the analysis and optimization of chemical processes. Models based on transport, chemical kinetics and other chemical engineering principles will be employed.
3
CHBE 468/469 Undergraduate Research
Prerequisite: Permission of both department and instructor. Repeatable up to 6 credits; however, a maximum of three credits of CHBE 468 can be used to fulfill technical elective requirements.
Investigation of a research project under the direction of a faculty member. Comprehensive reports are required.
1-3
CHBE 469 Undergraduate Special Project
Prerequisite: Permission of both department and instructor. Repeatable up to 6 credits; however, a maximum of three credits of CHBE 469 can be used to fulfill technical elective requirements.
Investigation of a research project under the direction of a faculty member. Comprehensive reports are required.
1-3
CHBE 472 Control of Air Pollution Sources
Sources and effects of air pollutants, regulatory trends, atmospheric dispersion models, fundamentals of two-phase flow as applied to air pollution and air pollution control systems, design of systems for control of gases and particulate matter
3
CHBE 473 Electrochemical Energy Engineering
Formerly ENCH 468K
Prerequisite: Permission of Department. Credit only granted for ENCH 468K or CHBE 473.

The lecture will start from the basic electrochemical thermodynamics and kinetics, with emphasis on electrochemical techniques, fundamental principle and performance of batteries, and supercapacitors.
3
CHBE 474 Biopharmaceutical Process Development and Manufacturing Syllabus Repository
Prerequisite: BIOE120; and permission of instructor. 
Covers the fundamental steps involved in process development and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals. An overview of different classes of biopharmaceuticals as well as manufacturing requirements for clinical development and regulatory approval will be provided. In depth coverage of manufacturing steps including cell culture, purification and formulation as well as drug product manufacturing, analysis and stability will be covered. Scientific literature will be used to highlight current challenges and novel solutions in each step of the manufacturing process. Scale up considerations, GMP requirements and process economics will also be introduced.
3
CHBE 476 Molecular Modeling Methods
Statistical mechanics will be introduced to give the fundamental background for atomic to mesoscale molecular modeling. Classical atomic-level simulations methods (Monte Carlos and Molecular Dynamics) and the procedures to develop intra and intermolecular potentials will be covered. This course will also discuss the theory and application of coarse-grained molecular simulations, mesoscale simulations and other modern simulation techniques. A broad range of applications will be included throughout the semester, e.g., phase behavior of small molecules, kinetics, and biophysics.
3
CHBE 477 Mesoscopic and Nanoscale Thermodynamics: Fundamentals for Emerging Technologies
Prerequisite: The course assumes that students have had a prior course in classical thermodynamics. Interdisciplinary course primarily for graduate and senior undergraduate students from engineering or science departments. New emerging technologies deal with bio-membrane and gene engineering, microreactor chemistry and microcapsule drug delivery, micro-fluids and porous media, nanoparticles and nanostructures, supercritical fluid extraction and artificial organs. Engineers often design processes where classical thermodynamics may be insufficient, e.g., strongly fluctuating and nanoscale systems, or dissipative systems under conditions far away from equilibrium.
3
CHBE 480 Bionanotechnology: Phyical Principles
Bionanotechnology focuses on Physics at nano/micro scales. Biomolecular building blocks. Simplest biomolecular assembly: protein folding. Nanoscale intermolecular interactions important for biology. Protein-ligand binding. Protein higher-order assembly: filaments, networks. Protein filaments and motility. DNA, RNA and their assembly assisted by proteins. Viral capsid assembly. Lipid assembly into micelles, bilayers. Lipid-protein co-assembly in membranes. Lipid and polymer structures useful in medicine. Targeted delivery of drugs, genes by nano/micro structures. Cellular assembly in the eye, in insect wings. Cellular assembly at surfaces: gecko feet, duck feathers. Cellular assembly in the presence of crystals: biomineralization.
3
CHBE 481 Transport Phenomena in Small and Biological Systems
Prerequisites: A prior course in transport phenomena such as CHBE 422 or CHBE 424, or permission of the instructor. Interdisciplinary course primarily for senior undergraduate and graduate students from engineering or science departments. The course's main goal is to make the students familiar with the fundamental physics and modeling of transport phenomena in small and biological systems, and their current scientific and engineering utilization in microfluidics, nanofluidics and biological systems.
3
CHBE 482 Biochemical Engineering
Prerequisite: CHBE 440. Introduction to biochemical and microbiological applications to commercial and engineering processes, including industrial fermentation, enzymology, ultrafiltration, food and pharmaceutical processing and resulting waste treatment. Enzyme kinetics, cell growth, energetics and mass transfer.
3
CHBE 484 Metabolic Pathway Engineering
This course will cover state of the art metabolic engineering, with a focus on the analysis and engineering of metabolic pathways through (chemical) engineering principles, Topics covered include: (1) overview of biochemistry and metabolism; (2) metabolic flux analysis and isotope labeling illustrated with examples from the recent scientific literature; (3) technologies for engineering metabolic pathways; (4) metabolic control analysis and pathway regulation; (5) applications of metabolic engineering to synthesis of biofuels and therapeutics; (6) specialized and related subjects such as protein engineering and synthetic biology.
3
CHBE 486 Heterogeneous Catalysis for Energy Application
Prerequisites: Minimum grade of C- in CHBE 302, CHBE 424, and CHBE 440; and permission of instructor. Credit only granted for: CHBE 486 or ENCH 686. Additional information: This is a pilot course.
Introduction to heterogeneous catalytic science and technology for energy conversion and hydocarbon processing. Preparation and mechanistic characterization of catalyst systems, kinetics of catalyzed reactions, adsorption and diffusion influences in heterogenious reactions. An overview of heterogeneous catalysis in various energy-related applications, including petroleum refining, chemicals from biomass, valorization of shale gas, and CO2 utilization will be introduced.
3
CHBE 487 Tissue Engineering
Formerly: ENCH 468T
Prerequisite: Must be in a major within the ENGR-Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department; or permission of Department. Also offered as: BIOE411. Credit only granted for BIOE 411, CHBE 487, or ENCH 468T.
A review of the fundamental principles involved in the design of engineered tissues and organs. Both biological and engineering fundamentals will be considered. Specific tissue systems will be emphasized at the end of the course.
3
CHBE 490 Introduction to Polymer Science
Prerequisites: CHBE 424 and CHBE 440. Also offered as ENMA 495. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: CHBE 490 or ENMA 495. The elements of the polymer chemistry and industrial polymerization, polymer structures and physics, thermodynamics of polymer solutions, polymer processing methods, and engineering applications of polymers.
3
CHBE 495 Nanoparticle Aerosol Dynamics and Particle Technology
Prerequisites: Must be in a major within the ENGR-Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department; and permission of Department.
NanoParticles (NA) ( < 100 nm), and their science and technology play an important role in nature and industry. From air quality standards, nuclear reactor safety, inhalation therapy, workplace exposure, global climate change, to counterterrorism, aerosols play a central role in our environment. On the industrial side, NA plays an integral part of reinforcing fillers, pigments and catalysts, and the new emerging field of nanotechnology, they are the building blocks to new materials, which encompass, electronic, photonic and magnetic devices, and bio and chemical sensors.
3
CHBE 497 Protein Engineering Syllabus Repository
Prerequisites: BIOE120, CHBE302, and CHBE440; and permission of instructor.
This course will cover the fundamentals of protein engineering and its applications in medicine, chemical processes, and energy. Topics will include the structure and function of biological molecules, rational design and directed evolution, construction of protein and peptide libraries, protein screening platforms, methods for characterizing structure and function of biological molecules. Scientific literature will be used to highlight key discoveries and current work in protein engineering.
3

Approved Electives From Other Departments

For the most up-to-date course descriptions and information on prerequisites, please see Testudo or visit the websites of the departments offering the courses.

Course Number
Course Title/Description
Credits
BCHM 462 Biochemistry II
Prerequisite: BCHM 461
3
BSCI 4XX 400-Level Bioscience Courses
Certain courses will be approved on a case by case basis and will be considered only through the Department's exemption request procedure.
3
CHEM 425 Instrumental Methods of Analysis
 
CHEM 474 Environmental Chemistry
3
CHEM 482 Physical Chemistry II
3
ENES 489P Special Topics in Engineering: Hands-On Systems Engineering Projects
3
ENFP 464/489I Industrial Fire Safety
3
MATH 461 Linear Algebra for Scientists and Engineers
3
ENMA 411 Materials for Energy
3

 


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