Course 10-ENG

Several key elements of this new degree program are as follows:

• The program provides flexibility for those who seek it, yet remains grounded in the engineering fundamentals of the chemical engineering discipline.
• Students who receive the degree will have the background required for graduate study in Chemical Engineering for pursuit of the Master’s or Doctoral degree, as is the case with all of our accredited degree programs.
• Clustered sets, or concentrations, of thematically-organized, multidisciplinary subjects across the Institute will be used to intellectually organize subjects in a manner that improves the students’ ability to move from the disciplinary foundations of chemical engineering to multidisciplinary practice. Although the department will provide a short list of suggested subjects for each concentration from which each student may choose, students will also have the opportunity to propose courses that fit the theme of the concentration and put together a comprehensive set of classes that meets their specific interests within the broad concentration topic.
• The program responds to changes in the professional and multidisciplinary world engineering graduates face while upholding the educational rigor and depth in engineering education of the Department of Chemical Engineering and the School of Engineering.
• Graduates of the program will be sufficiently prepared for graduate school in the chemical engineering discipline and other engineering disciplines if they choose this path after graduation.
• The Engineering (Course 10-ENG) program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org. [Enrollments | Degrees]

The field of chemical engineering has seen growth in areas involving significant interdisciplinary effort. They include new energy technologies; biomedical engineering applications; control, protection and remediation of the environment; micro- and nanoscale materials design and manufacture; and multi-scale computational modeling. The department established 10-ENG to address this changing environment, as well as to respond to an expressed need by undergraduates for more flexible options in their chemical engineering education. Students who are seeking a strong chemical engineering core background in combination with knowledge in a specific subtopic area of chemical engineering have the opportunity to design a concentration within the eight concentration areas that meet their interests and needs.

Students in the 10-ENG program must take Differential Equations and the Chemistry Thermodynamics course as part of their GIR requirements. They must also take the 5 Chemical Engineering Core Courses that define the fundamental knowledge of the field of chemical engineering (heat and mass balances, thermodynamics, kinetics, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transport). The 10-ENG student will then be able to take options with regard to their scientific/ engineering foundation class work, their concentration, and their senior capstone experience.

The 10 and 10B undergraduate programs are strong, comprehensive and complete course programs that serve the needs of a large number of students who choose to pursue training in chemical engineering. These programs are accredited by ABET as Chemical Engineering and as Chemical and Biological Engineering degree programs, respectively.  However, the constraints of the field-specific accreditation for chemical engineering lead to a highly prescribed set of courses, leaving students to pursue specific engineering interests within the field primarily by using their 48 units of unrestricted electives that are provided to all MIT students.  There are a number of students who arrive at MIT with a strong interest in or passion for a specific interdisciplinary area or set of problems in the field of engineering such as energy, environment, medicine, etc. For these students, the flexibility of the traditional programs can constrain deeper exploration of these interdisciplinary areas in the depth desired for meaningful exposure and expertise. It is not possible to cover these topics in such depth within a traditionally accredited chemical engineering degree program. The flexible engineering degree program, 10-ENG, allows the department to offer a professional degree that encompasses core fundamentals of chemical engineering while enabling comprehensive study in specific subtopics by taking courses within and beyond the Chemical Engineering Department. By providing an opportunity for students to elect specifically designed sets of topics within these critical areas of growth in the engineering field, the proposed degree program will provide opportunities to those students who wish to focus their engineering experience on such topic areas in a rigorous engineering program that is guided by the principles of chemical engineering.

10-ENG students will receive a Bachelor of Science in Engineering as Recommended by the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT.

You will have a faculty advisor in the department.  In addition, as a 10ENG student you will be assisted with your concentration by a specific 10-ENG advisor who is a member of the faculty associated with your concentration topic.  The 10-ENG advisors are informed of the requirements of the 10-ENG program, and can ensure that in selecting courses for the Foundational Concepts and Concentration, your CI-M and laboratory requirements are completed, and the required number of engineering requirements is achieved.  The Undergraduate Officer in the Department of Chemical Engineering is the key administrator for the 10-ENG program, and is available to students and 10-ENG advisors to address questions, instruct on program requirements, and consider any petitions to the degree program.

The present Concentration topics of 10-ENG represent very broad areas in Chemical Engineering, and are thought to cover a large range of student interest. There may be subject areas currently not covered in these seven topic areas for which a student has a strong interest. Student input will indicate interest in additional concentrations, so if you have a strong interest, please let our Undergraduate Officer know directly.