Description: Directed research project under the supervision of a faculty member. Participation will give students experience in advanced research techniques, which is valuable training for those interested in graduate school or industrial research careers. Taken over and above normal course load. Good standing and permission of department required for registration.
Purpose: To provide a research and/or engineering design experience for undergraduate students. Registration in the course provides documented academic credit for the activity, which is completed above the normal course load. It does not count towards any degree requirements. This experience could take many different forms:
- Completion of an Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA)
- Completions of a volunteer research assistantship in a faculty members lab or research group; or,
- Participation in an extra-curricular, on-campus student design team, including national and international competitions such as University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team (UWAFT) in ECOCAR, Midnight Sun Solar Car, H2U Hydrogen Design Team, WERC Environmental Design Contest, AIChE's Student Chapter Competition - Chem-E-Car Competition, Minerva Canada’s James Ham Safe Design Award, Electric Mobility Canada Student Design Competition, Hatch Plant Design Competition, iGEM Foundation's International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition, Canadian Engineering Competition, PEO Essay Contest, or Fuels Institute University Case Competition.
Courses: CHE 298, CHE 299, CHE 398, CHE 399, CHE 498, CHE 499
To participate in one of these courses, students must follow these guidelines:
- Ensure that you can commit the extra time to participate in a research project. A time commitment of 60 hours during the term would be typically required to make significant progress in a project. A previous term average over 70% will normally be required.
- Find a research supervisor (normally a faculty member in Department of Chemical Engineering or another engineering department). Project lists are not available. Use the department website to identify a professor with research activity in your area of interest, and contact them to inquire about possible projects.
- Fill out a registration form (available from the Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Office at E6-3026) describing the project title and name of supervisor. In addition, summarize the "deliverables", i.e., things that you and your supervisor have agreed will be done during the term, such as reports or presentations. Obtain signatures and submit to the office for approval.
- The registration form must be submitted by the end of the "Add" period (normally the end of the second week of classes) along with a completed Course Override Form.
- Work with your supervisor during the term on the project as agreed upon. At the end of the term, the supervisor will be asked if the grade should be credit (CR) or no credit (NCR). NCR would result if you fail to meet reasonable time commitments or achieve significant deliverables.
- If necessary, the course can be dropped during the term, subject to the normal drop deadlines.
- CHE 499 in 4B term counts as a TE, the pre-requisite for CHE 499 is CHE 498 in 4A term.
Note: Students enrolled in any Directed Research Project must read the department safety manual and submit a safety report to their supervisor and the Safety Officer (Charles Dal Castel) as described in the manual.