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

Undergraduate Chemical Engineering Majors

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

The Chem Eng Department

At Michigan Tech’s Department of Chemical Engineering, students gain hands-on experience through real-world applications of classroom theory. With access to a world-class Unit Operations Lab and a dedicated learning commons, undergraduates are supported by peers and mentors every step of the way. Our program emphasizes both technical expertise and essential communication skills, ensuring students are well-prepared for academic and professional success.

  • We offer real-world applications of classroom theory.

  • Learn chemical processing in our world-class Unit Operations Lab.

  • A dedicated learning commons is available for undergraduates, their peers, and mentors.

  • We understand the importance of communication skills for your core training.

  • You will receive personal attention and support necessary for academic success.

MTU engineering

Real Engineering. Meaningful Work.

Michigan Tech’s College of Engineering is 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, 18 degrees to choose from, and 160+ engineering faculty alone, our students take part in a world-class education with the trusted reputation of Michigan Tech.

Collaborate and innovate as part of Michigan Tech’s discovery-based learning environment. Explore the endless possibilities of your engineering education in Engineering Fundamentals. Work closely with world-renowned faculty as a research assistant or develop real solutions with industry partners on an Enterprise team or Senior Design capstone project. 

Join the pack and find the support you need. Map your academic career with the help of an academic advisor. Transition to University life with the support of the Waino Wahtera Center for Student Success or receive academic support in any of the Learning Centers across campus. 

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

A degree in engineering from Michigan Tech can take you anywhere. After graduating, 95 percent of our alumni find successful employment within six months. Tech engineers work at NASA, Whirlpool, General Motors, Dow, Lockheed Martin, and beyond. With multiple annual Career Fairs and one-on-one advising from Career Services, you can find an internship, co-op, or full-time job where your engineering expertise can make a difference.

Tomorrow Needs Every Engineer

Michigan Tech engineers are at the forefront of change. Using creative ideas and technologies to solve problems in healthcare, energy, transportation, space exploration, climate change, and beyond, Tech engineers are prepared to help people and their communities adapt toward an equitable future. Become an engineer who is ready for what tomorrow needs.

College News

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.