Knowledge and understanding
On completion of a Bachelor of Engineering in chemical engineering, the student is expected to have acquired a basic knowledge and understanding of:
* the relevant sciences and scientific methods;
* ethical standards and legal responsibilities;
* the principles of the management of physical, human and financial resources associated with the practice of engineering;
* the theory and methodology underlying analysis and modelling of systems relevant to chemical engineers;
* the constraints on engineering practice posed by economic factors, safety considerations and impact on the environment.
General skills
The student is expected to have developed skills in:
* written and oral communication;
* interpersonal relations and the capacity to work in teams;
* planning and organizing resources efficiently;
* integrating knowledge from different areas to synthesise a coherent approach to the solution of a problem;
* recognising and accommodating the need for continuous change to improve outcomes;
* creative approaches to problem solving;
* the use of computer-based methods to solve problems;
* self-directed learning for continuing education.
Professional skills
The student is expected to have developed professional skills in:
* theoretical and numerical analysis of physical and chemical phenomena to predict, design, control and optimise the performance of systems involving reactions and separations of constituents;
* the methods to measure, estimate or otherwise determine the physical and chemical properties of the constituents of the process;
* the integration of concepts of safe design and practice in the solution of problems;
* the evaluation of the performance of a process in terms of economics, safety and impact on the environment;
* creating new or improved processes for existing and new products.
Attitudes and behaviour
The student is expected to have developed appropriate attitudes and behaviour towards:
* the highest standards of personal performance;
* continuing education;
* the critical evaluation of new knowledge and practice;
* the responsibilities of chemical engineers to the community, the engineering profession and the process and allied industries;
* minimising any adverse impact on the environment;
* safe practice;
* ethical codes of practice.
Course of studies
Chemical engineering is concerned with the economic design, operation and management of process systems in which materials are changed in composition or physical state. Chemical engineering has its foundation in chemistry, physics and mathematics; its operations are developed from knowledge provided by these disciplines and by other branches of engineering, applied sciences, biological sciences and economics.
Historically, chemical engineering has been closely associated with the development of the chemical and process industries. Today, many chemical engineers find employment in the fine and heavy chemical, the petroleum and petrochemical, the mineral and metallurgical, pulp and paper, and the food and biochemical industries. Chemical engineers are becoming increasingly involved with pollution control, the protection of the environment and with energy conservation and conversion.
The Department of Chemical Engineering offers a four-year (eight-semester) course which is sufficiently general to enable graduates to enter any of these fields. The aim of the first four semesters is to provide a necessary background in mathematics, physics and chemistry and such engineering subjects as electrical engineering, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, materials science and chemical engineering.
The final four semesters of the course are taken almost entirely within the department; the course is designed around the core topics of mass, heat and momentum transfer, kinetics, thermodynamics, process control, environmental engineering and design.
Management studies are introduced and a greater emphasis is placed on synthesis and design culminating in each student completing a plant design project. Technical electives also form part of the final two semesters.
Practical work forms an essential part of all subjects administered by the department and considerable emphasis is placed on this aspect of the program. Students have the opportunity of using digital computers for the solution of course problems.