Student working in a lab.
Prepare to Make a Difference in the World

Undergraduate Experience

Chemical engineers are critical thinkers, prepared to take on global and societal challenges in order to create a safer and more sustainable world and improve our quality of life.

We are ready to help you tailor your Michigan Tech experience to match your interests and aspirations. Our three-story Chemical Engineering Unit Operations Laboratory provides a unique hands-on learning experience with real world equipment. You'll find the educational environment and facilities here to be among the best in the nation. Student-led organizations in the chemical engineering program help you hone your professional skills. Our Undergraduate Learning Commons provides coaching and peer-tutoring services to all ChE undergraduates.

Tomorrow needs chemical engineers who are prepared to solve some of the world's most pressing problems. We're ready. Are you?

Bachelor's Degree

Student looking at an instrument with an instructor.

Chemical Engineering

With a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering, you might design or streamline equipment and processes for chemical and biological transformation in large-scale manufacturing plants, ensuring these operations are safe, sustainable, and economical; or you could devote your career to protecting the environment, inventing cleaner technologies, or modeling the environmental impacts of chemical processes. Perhaps your interests lie in pioneering new developments in medicine, energy, nanotechnology, advanced materials, manufacturing, microelectronics, or biotechnology. The state-of-the-art Unit Operations Lab supports the undergraduate curriculum.

Learn More

Unit Operations Laboratory (UO Lab)

This multistory learning complex is one of the best in the nation.

  • two pilot-plant set-ups
  • numerous bench-scale processes
  • state-of-the-art process simulation and control facility

Minors

Add to your degree at a flagship technological university with a chemical engineering minor. A minor allows you to specialize in a discipline outside of or complementary to your major. We recommend that you begin your minor studies as early as possible in your academic career.

  • Polymer Science and Engineering
  • Mineral Processing
  • Bioprocess Engineering
  • Alternative Energy Technology (Interdisciplinary Minor)
  • 90%
    student participation in co-ops, internships, or Enterprise
  • 3
    semesters of student experience in our state-of-the-art UO Lab
  • 18
    bench and pilot-plant-scale unit operations experiments
  • 6,500
    square foot unit operations laboratory and process simulation and control center
  • 5
    student clubs and groups

Ready to take the next step?

Learn more about studying chemical engineering at Michigan's flagship technological university.

"The best part about chemical engineering is you can go into anything."Logan McMillan, chemical engineering graduate

Earn an ABET Accredited Engineering Degree

With ABET accreditation, you can be sure that your Michigan Tech degree meets the quality standards that prepares you to enter a global workforce.

And, because it requires comprehensive, periodic evaluations, ABET accreditation demonstrates our continuing commitment to the quality of your program—both now and in the future.

Sought Worldwide

ABET's voluntary peer-review process is highly respected. Its criteria are developed by technical professionals and focuses on what you, as a student, experience and learn. It adds critical value to academic programs in technical disciplines—where quality, precision, and safety are of the utmost importance.

Chemical Engineering Program Criteria

The curriculum includes:

  1. Applications of mathematics, including differential equations and statistics to engineering problems.
  2. College-level chemistry and physics courses, with some at an advanced level.
  3. Engineering application of these sciences to the design, analysis, and control of processes, including the hazards associated with these processes.

Read more about chemical engineering accreditation, educational objectives, and student outcomes.

ABET logo

Chemical Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the General Criteria and the Chemical, Biochemical, Biomolecular and Similarly Named Engineering Programs Program Criteria.

The Chem Eng Department

In the Department of Chemical Engineering, we offer the tools, hands-on experiences, and a nurturing environment to help you realize your goals and dreams. We provide a high-quality learning experience—one that will prepare you to assume a leadership position as a chemical engineer. You'll receive our personalized attention to support your academic success.

  • Our state-of-the-art facilities support our undergraduate curriculum by allowing students to experiment with real-world applications of classroom theory. Our world-class Unit Operations Lab will provide you with a unique opportunity for hands-on experience in chemical processing.
  • Our Chemical Engineering Learning Commons, a space dedicated to undergraduates, hosts peer-tutoring and peer-mentoring services, and other student gatherings. We offer the tools and a nurturing environment to help you realize your goals.
  • Get ready to contribute on the job from day one. Our students benefit from hands-on chemical engineering experiences ranging from Enterprise and Senior Design to industry internships and co-ops and Study Abroad programs.
  • We also offer a technical communication course designed especially for undergraduate chemical engineering curriculum—specifically in response to industry's great need for effective communicators.

MTU engineering

Real Engineering. Meaningful Work.

We are committed to inspiring students, advancing knowledge, and innovating technological solutions to create a sustainable, just, and prosperous world. With an entering engineering class of about 1,000 students, 17 degrees to choose from, and 160 faculty in the College of Engineering alone, we provide a world-class education with the trusted reputation of Michigan Tech.

As a student at Michigan Tech you’ll work closely with faculty mentors, immerse yourself in experience-powered learning, and gain a thorough understanding of engineering practice. Collaborate and innovate in laboratories, coursework, Enterprise, and Senior Design—you'll work with industry partners on real engineering projects and develop strong skill sets for your future.

You could study abroad, with engineering opportunities ranging from a few weeks to one full year. Or focus on problems facing disadvantaged communities in countries around the world. Michigan Tech’s Global and Community Engagement program offers you a range of options.

More than 400 employers regularly recruit our students for internships, co-ops, and full-time employment. Engineering students average seven interviews, and 98 percent are employed within their field of study, enlist in the military, or enroll in a graduate school within six months of graduation. A degree in engineering from Michigan Tech can take you anywhere.

Tomorrow Needs You

Engineers do a lot of things, but there's one thing we do first and foremost: we help people. We use creative ideas and technologies to solve problems in health care, energy, transportation, hunger, space exploration, climate change, and more—much more. Become an engineer who is ready for what tomorrow needs.

Student Stories