Undergraduate Technical Electives for Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Fall 2010 and Later

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Chemical Process Analysis and Optimization
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.

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Model Predictive Control
Prerequisite: CHBE 442. Spring Semester. Introduction to sampled-data systems and the z-transform. Dynamic response of discrete systems. Impulse and step response model identification from process data. Formulation of process control as a linear least squares problem involving model prediction. Multi-input multi-output processes. Robustness with respect to modeling error. Extension to constrained and nonlinear processes.

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Undergraduate Research
Prerequisite: Permission of both department and instructor. Repeatable to 6 credits.
Investigation of a research project under the direction of a faculty member. Comprehensive reports are required.

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The Science and Technology of Colloidal Systems
Prerequisites: CHBE 302, CHBE 424, CHBE 426, and CHEM 482. Formerly ENCH 468C. Introduction to colloidal systems. Preparation, stability and coagulation kinetics of colloidal suspensions. Introduction to DLVO theory, electrokinetic phenomena, rheology of dispersions, surface/interfacial tension, solute absorption at gas-liquid, liquid-liquid, liquid-solid and gas-solid interfaces and properties of micelles and other microstructures.

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Particle Science and Technology
Prerequisites: Knowledge of undergraduate engineering thermodynamics, and transport phenomena; knowledge of numerical methods for solving systems of ordinary differential equations. Particles are everywhere. We breathe them, eat them, and use them to make many non-particulate materials. Knowledge of particle science and technology is important for manufacturing, for occupational health and safety, as well as environmental considerations. In this multidisciplinary course, the focus will be on the study of the science and technology relevant to multiphase systems consisting of solid and/or liquid particles surrounded by a gas. These topics fall loosely under the headings of powder and aerosol technology. Team design projects will be an integral component of this course.

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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

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Ethics in Science and Engineering
Prerequisite: 12 credit hours of laboratory science or engineering and permission of instructor. The course will examine ethical issues in science and engineering and their resolutions. The main topics will be ethics and scientific truth (including issues of proper data analysis, proper data presentation, and record-keeping), ethics and other scientists and engineers (including issues of attribution, confidentiality, conflict of interests, mentoring, and inclusion of under-represented groups), ethics and the practice of engineering (including responsibilities of engineers to clients, ecological issues, and conflicts of interest), and ethics and society (including funding priorities, moral issues, and human and animal subjects). Class meetings will be organized around discussions, case studies, and student reports. The course is aimed at postdoctoral students, graduate students and advanced undergraduate students who wish to ponder the important contemporary questions about the ethics of how science and engineering get done.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Instrumental Methods of Analysis

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