Introduction to the principles underlying chemical and biochemical engineering. This course begins with the basics of engineering calculations, and continues on to the core subjects of material and energy balances in single and multi-phase systems; both with and without reactions. The topics in this course lay the bedrock for the remaining CBE curriculum, and students will see the subjects that they learn here time and again in their future CBE courses.

This course covers the theory and practice of separation technologies used in the chemical and biochemical industries. Both equilibrium and rate-based separations will be discussed including distillation, chromatography, and membrane processes.

How do you design a drug delivery system that will kill a tumor but not the patient? What are the major constraints in building a new artificial heart? Why are some cooling systems more efficient than others? A strong understanding of transport phenomena is essential for solving these and other grand challenges facing society. This course combines applied mathematics with fundamental physics to promote an intuitive understanding of steady and unsteady heat and mass transfer and fluid dynamics. We will focus on key applications in processes related to biology, energy, materials, and chemical synthesis.

Subjects chosen by the student with the approval of the faculty for independent study. A written report, and an oral presentation will be required. Students generally spend 15-20 hours per week on the independent project.

From treatment of infections to prophylactic use following surgery, antibiotics have transformed healthcare since their discovery and distribution. However, poor management of this medical resource has seen resistance whittle down their efficacies, and it is now recognized that antibiotics can disrupt the microbiota that keep us healthy. This course will use lectures, lab demonstrations, guest speakers, and primary literature to introduce how science, engineering, medicine, and policy have shaped the current age of antibiotics, which is characterized by a variety of treatment options, MDR bacteria, and a weak pipeline of new agents.

Enzymes are the engines that fuel life, catalyzing a vast array of different chemical reactions. This course will focus first on enzyme kinetics and the structural biology of enzymes. With these tools we will next move to a series of case studies about different enzymes and enzyme families.

The milk we drink in the morning (a colloidal dispersion), the gel we put into our hair (a polymer network), and the plaque that we try to scrub off our teeth (a biofilm) are all familiar examples of soft or "squishy" materials. Such materials also hold great promise in helping to solve engineering challenges such as water remediation, therapeutic development/delivery, and the development of new coatings, displays, formulations, foods, and biomaterials. This class covers fundamental aspects of the science of soft materials, presented within the context of these challenges, with guest speakers to describe new applications of soft materials.

The course covers (1) conceptual process synthesis: reactor and separation network synthesis, and heat integration; (2) tools for process design (flowsheeting, simulation, and equipment sizing and costing); (3) basic principles underpinning safety, health, and environmental issues; (4) optimization methods; and (5) economic evaluation. A major design project allows students to apply their skills to design a complex system.

This course provides an graduate-level introduction to thermodynamics and statistical mechanics relevant to problems in biological, chemical, and materials science and engineering. Topics include: thermodynamic laws and transformations; microstates, macrostates, partition functions, and statistical ensembles; equilibrium, stability, and response of multicomponent systems; phase transitions; fluctuations; structure of classical fluids; viral expansion; computer simulation methods. Applications include polymer elasticity and phase separation, electrolytes, colloidal suspensions, protein folding, surface adsorption, crystal melting, magnets.

Molecular processes in chemical systems, reaction kinetics and catalysis. Interaction of mass and heat transfer in chemical processes. Performance of systems with chemical reactors.

A seminar course designed to acquaint first-year graduate students with the different research areas represented by the CBE department, as well as to train these students in the methodologies and practices used in chemical engineering research. Students learn how to read and evaluate the literature, and the techniques for formulating and developing an original research problem in the field. Each lecture is given by a different member of the CBE faculty (or associated faculty), who will review his or her field of research and discuss open questions for future investigation.

We cover fundamental aspects of the mechanics of soft matter and see how they provide useful insights about novel engineering designs and materials (3D printing, soft robotics, metamaterials). Particular attention is given to interfacial effects, which dominate the physics of small objects. Topics include, drops, bubbles, wetting, coatings, instabilities. We also cover the mechanics of thin elastic objects whose deformability characterizes many biological systems. Students learn how to build quantitative physical models, combining experimental observations, scaling analysis and formal approaches.

Amorphous polymers, including modulus-temperature behavior, and mechanical and dielectric measurements; crystallization and crystalline polymers, including X-ray diffraction; physics of other multiphase and multicomponent polymers, especially block and segmented copolymers, and including ionomers and polymer blends.

Prediction of the structure and properties of equilibrium and nonequilibrium states of matter. Topics include Gibbs ensembles; microscopic basis of thermodynamics; Boltzmann statistics; ideal gases; Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein statistics; models of solids; blackbody radiation; Bose condensation; conduction in metals; virial expansion; distribution functions; liquids; structural glasses; sphere packings and jamming; computer simulation techniques; critical phenomena; percolation theory; Ising model; renormalization group methods; irreversible processes; Brownian motion; Fokker-Planck and Boltzmann equations.

A treatment of the theory and applications of ordinary differential equations with an introduction to partial differential equations. The objective is to provide the student with an ability to solve standard problems in this field.

Methods of mathematical analysis for the solution of problems in physics and engineering. Topics include an introduction to linear algebra, matrices and their application, eigenvalue problems,ordinary differential equations (initial and boundary value, eigenvalue problems), nonlinear ordinary differential equations, stability, bifurcations, Sturm-Liouville theory, Green's functions, elements of series solutions and special functions, Laplace and Fourier transform methods, and solutions via perturbation methods, partial differential equation including self-similar solution, separation of variables and method of characteristics.

Collective behaviors are all around us, from bird flocking, to mosh pit dynamics, to how the cells in our bodies work together. In this course, we explore not only how to understand and quantify these behaviors, but also how we can start to engineer them to reduce traffic, heal faster, develop new materials, and introduce new robotics approaches. The course spans three modules: hands-on training in analyzing real-world swarming systems; fundamental concepts underlying collective behaviors; and key case studies in manipulating these systems.

Important concepts and elements of molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, and cell biology are examined in an experimental context. This course fulfills the requirement for students majoring in the biological sciences and satisfies the biology requirement for entrance into medical school.

Emphasizes the connection between microscale features of hard and soft materials and their properties. Topics include crystal structures and defects, phase diagrams and transformations, polymer conformation and solutions, and mechanical and electrical properties. This course combines traditional lecture with active learning approaches like peer-peer instruction, social annotation, and discussion.