Development of Human Resources

Chemical Engineers use the language of math to describe molecular phenomena; then rearrange the mathematical “sentences” to indicate the best way to design and operate processes that make the molecules behave as desired.   Whether the chemicals become pharmaceuticals, fuels, food, semiconductors, or other products; and whether the processes are industrial, medical devices, on-board a space station, or other, the principles used for describing and controlling molecular behavior are the same.   Our students are well prepared in the technical fundamentals.  

But our comprehensive education extends beyond science and technology.   Engineering is a human endeavor.   Our products must benefit society; and we must operate the processes in a manner that is consistent with public desires for the environment, security, and safety, and the enterprise desires for sustainability.   Accordingly, our program emphasizes both the knowledge and practice of both science and human fundamentals required for effective engineering.   And we are also very pleased with the human achievements of our students.   Our undergraduate degree requirements show the comprehensive scope of our curriculum, and our understanding of “desired engineering attributes” describes our values.

We have about 250 students in our undergraduate program, and 40 in the graduate program; and we include our constituents in our continuous quality improvement efforts that keep our excellent degree programs getting better.   With our constituents, we have developed a list of attributes that characterize the desired ability of our graduates upon graduation, and their accomplishments several years after.   We use multiple methods of gathering performance data, and consider the data in our semi-annual program reviews.   If you would like to provide program feedback, email it to the School Head at rrr@okstate.edu.

The faculty also develops engineers outside of the university through seminars, short courses, off-campus degree programs, and publications aimed at practicing engineers and researchers.

We are an award-winning team, as our news events indicate.  

Computers are at the heart of the engineer’s set of tools.   Excellent computer facilities are available to our students through the College and University networks.   Personal computers are available in several microcomputer laboratories maintained by both the College and the University and in our School's research laboratories.   The Library and the School have the capability to conduct on-line computer searches.

Instructional labs provide important experiences.   In our Unit Operations Laboratory, students operate pilot-scale equipment that is characteristic of industrial practice – complex, integrated, automated, and non-ideal.   Intentionally, these are not simple ideal experiments.   One of our lab objectives is to reinforce the classroom concepts, but we also want to prepare students with an ability to apply the fundamentals to the real world.  

Objectives for each course in the ChE program reveal a progressive experience from the fundamentals to the practice of engineering.  The course objectives include both technical and human factors.