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This course provides advanced undergraduate students the opportunity to become involved in a research project in Chemical Engineering. The variable credit accomodates projects of differing scope and magnitude. The only prerequisite is approval by the department.
The possible topics are as varied as the research interests of the faculty. The procedure requires the students to identify a topic or area in which they would like to work, and to identify one or more faculty members with research in that area. The students and faculty researchers discuss the project and after agreeing on a specific topic the students prepare a formal proposal providing the background, significance, objectives and methods pertinent to the project. This proposal is reviewed and must be approved by the 485 Committee (consisting of three faculty) before the student can register for the course. The student has the option of taking the course credit over and above the curriculum requirements, or to petition to substitute up to three hours of this credit for one of the required Chemical Engineering Electives in the curriculum (no more than three hours total from any source may be substituted toward the required nine hours of CHEN Electives). If the petition option is exercised, the formal final report describing the project and results must be reviewed and approved by the 485 Committee (after being approved and graded by the project supervisor) before the petition is approved. The report must document the breadth and depth of work which is at least equivalent to that of a typical Chemical Engineering Course of the same credit value.
The nature of the project may be theoretical, experimental, computational or some combination of these.
Strong emphasis is placed on proper documentation of the work done by the means of a formal, well organized, technical report. The report must include sections which address background information, justification and objectives of the project, methodology, theory and analysis (as appropriate), results, conclusions, and proper reference citations. It is not unusual for the report to be revised one or more times before being accepted in final form.
