This sophomore/junior-level elective seminar will examine the complexities of the energy transition. Through case studies and interviews with industry leaders, students will appreciate the scale and magnitude of the challenge and the factors that limit the pace of the transition. The seminar will specifically focus on the decarbonization challenges of difficult-to-abate sectors, like shipping, and in teams of two or three, students will work together to come up with hypothetical policy interventions to accelerate the transition.

The course focuses on basic principles governing the equilibrium behavior of macroscopic systems and their applications to materials and processes of interest in modern chemical engineering. We introduce the fundamental thermodynamic concepts: energy conservation (First Law); temperature and entropy (Second Law); thermodynamic potentials; equilibrium and stability. These ideas are applied to problems such as calculating the equilibrium compositions of coexisting phases or reacting mixtures, as well as analyzing the thermodynamic efficiency of power generation and refrigeration cycles.

This course examines engineering as a profession and the responsibilities of that profession to society. Professional responsibilities of engineers are compared to those of lawyers, doctors, scientists and business leaders. Ethical theories are introduced as frameworks to guide ethical decisions on technology implementation. Simple quantitative decision making concepts, including risk-benefit analysis, are introduced as a method for engineers to make ethically optimal choices. A wide range of technologies are discussed and ethical issues facing engineers in maintaining existing technologies and implementing new technologies are examined.

An intensive hands-on practice of engineering. Experimental work in the areas of separations, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, process dynamics and control, materials processing and characterization, chemical reactors. Development of written and oral technical communication skills.

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 about 15-20 hours per week on the independent project.

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.

Light-driven catalysis offers a promising pathway towards more sustainable chemical transformations due to milder process conditions and the potential to capitalize on sunlight as a scalable, carbon-free energy source. This course explores applications of such photocatalytic systems in important reactions and sectors - including CO2 upgrading, pharmaceuticals, and microplastic mitigation - covering fundamental concepts related to redox chemistry and thermodynamics, optoelectronic properties of photocatalytic materials, and photocatalyst/photoreactor design.

This course introduces the concepts of soft condensed matter and their use in understanding the mechanical properties, dynamic behavior, and self-assembly of living biological materials. We will take an engineering approach that emphasizes the application of fundamental physical concepts to a diverse set of problems taken from the literature, including mechanical properties of biopolymers and the cytoskeleton, directed and random molecular motion within cells, aggregation and collective movement of cells, and phase transitions and critical behavior in the self-assembly of lipid membranes and intracellular structures.

This course will focus on the structure, function, design and engineering of biomacromolecules and their use in modern biotechnologies. After a brief review of protein and nucleic acid chemistry and structure, we will delve into rational, evolutionary, and computational methods for the design and engineering of these biomolecules. Then we will review applications in the primary literature including: protein and RNA-based switches and sensors, unnatural amino acids and nucleotides, enzyme engineering, integration of these parts via synthetic biology, and metabolic engineering.

Introduction to chemical reaction engineering and reactor design in chemical and biological processes. Concepts of chemical kinetics for both homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions. Coupled transport and chemical/biological rate processes.

An introduction to numerical and Monte Carlo methods useful for engineering and scientific applications. Topics covered include solution of non-linear equations, interpolation and extrapolation, integration of functions, solution of ordinary and partial differential equations, random number generation, and stochastic sampling (Monte Carlo) methods. The emphasis is on the practical use of these methods. Assignments are expected to be completed using MATLAB or a comparable environment.

A full year study of an important problem or topic in chemical and biological engineering culminating in a senior thesis. Projects may be experimental, computational, or theoretical. Topics selected by the students from suggestions by the faculty. Written thesis, poster presentation, and oral defense required. The senior thesis is recorded as a double course in the spring. Departmental permission required.

A survey of modeling and solutions methods for problems involving heat, mass and momentum transport. Topics include conservation equations, conductive heat transfer, species diffusion, kinematics and dynamics of viscous flows, the Navier-Stokes equations, scaling principles and approximation techniques, boundary layer theory, convective heat and mass transfer, multi-component energy and mass transfer, buoyancy-driven convection, transport in ionic solutions, introduction to instability and turbulence.

An introductory course on the physics, chemistry and applications of low temperature plasmas. Emphasis is on non-equilibrium plasmas, ranging from low to atmospheric pressure, and generally coupled with chemically reactive neutral species. Applications include semiconductor device and thin film qubit fabrication; plasma for sustainability and pollution control; and biomedical and agricultural applications. Surveys of computer simulations and plasma diagnostics included. The course may be taken by undergraduates with permission of the instructor.

Over the next several decades environmental sustainability will be a major challenge for engineers and society to overcome. This course is an introduction to environmental biotechnology focusing on how the applications of biotechnologies are impacting sustainability efforts in a variety of sectors including water systems, food and chemical production, and infrastructure construction. This course will provide a broad background in biological design concepts across scales from molecules to ecosystems, how bioengineering enables the design of new biotechnologies, and the ethical implications of engineering biology for use in the environment.

What are biofuels, and why are we making them? How can they help address our energy needs in a warming planet? What are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation biofuels? What is the controversy surrounding the food versus fuel debate? Will thermocatalysis or genetic engineering improve biofuel production? Can we make biofuels directly from light or electricity? These are some of the questions we will answer through discussions during lecture. In precept we will discuss primary literature, relevant news reports, and studies on the socio-economic impact of biofuels. Grades are based on participation, HW assignments, 3 short quizzes, and one final project.

This course introduces the fundamental physical mechanisms behind sustainable energy technologies and the basic concepts to evaluate and compare their efficiency, environmental impact, and costs. Among others, we will examine the potential of wind energy, photovoltaics, geothermal energy, biofuels, and nuclear energy. We will also examine the concepts of intermittency and dispatchability of energy sources and discuss the relevance of the electric grid, energy storage, energy efficiency, and green buildings. Taken together, this will help us assess energy scenarios and possible pathways to a net-zero carbon energy future.

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 problems in this field.

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

This course examines methods for simulating matter at the atomistic scale with emphasis on the concepts that underline modern computational methodologies for classical many-body systems at or near statistical equilibrium. The course covers Monte Carlo and Molecular Dynamics (from basics to advanced techniques), and includes an introduction to molecular coarse graining and the use of Machine Learning techniques in molecular simulations.