This concentration provides a mechanism to give students credit for a focused study in biological engineering on their academic transcripts. Extending this opportunity to students is valuable to them because of growing industrial interest in these areas of chemical engineering.
Modern biology has emerged as an underlying fundamental science in chemical engineering. Advances in biology are prompting new discoveries in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical technology, and chemical industries. Developing commercial-scale processes based on these advances requires that chemical engineers clearly understand the biochemical principles behind the technology, in addition to developing a firm grasp of chemical engineering principles. The skills training will be valuable in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, which are advantageously concentrated in New Jersey and the Northeast region.
Instead of working at the “macro” scale, as traditional chemical engineers have, there is a need for students to be able to work across scales - from the molecular level to the microscopic to the macroscopic. Macroscopic processes focus on bioreactor design, agitation, and microbial cultures as a whole. Current and future applications will require students to be familiar with the molecular details of the product of interest, which help determine how to design and operate microscopic and macroscopic operations for production and purification.
This concentration is a cohesive set of courses that focus on biological engineering within chemical engineering To obtain this concentration in biological engineering, at least 12 semester hours of credit are required. The requirements to earn a concentration in biological engineering are as follows:
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Biology Elective (at least 3 s.h.)
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Bio-Related Chemical Engineering Electives (at least 6 s.h.)
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Bio-Related Junior/Senior Engineering Clinic (ENGR 01303 and ENGR 01403 ) project (2-4 s.h.)
Junior/Senior Engineering Clinic is a required 2-credit course for students in all engineering disciplines. This course is a hallmark of the Rowan College of Engineering and provides undergraduate students with hands-on experience on practical engineering research and design problems, frequently in collaboration with local industrial sponsors. All engineering students are required to take four semesters (8 credits) of Junior/Senior Clinic. Students who wish to earn a Concentration in Biological Engineering must select an approved Junior/Senior Clinic project for at least one of their four semesters. Note that students can also fulfill the project requirement through independent study on bio-related projects (ENGR 01391 - Independent Study in Engineering ). Because the department wishes to maintain a “depth and breadth” approach to the biological engineering concentration, a student will not be allowed to apply more than 4 credits worth of Junior/Senior Clinic to their concentration. Students must earn the balance of the 12 credits by taking any combination of courses from the following lists.
