Degree Enhancements

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Fill out a registration form 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 Chemical Engineering Undergraduate office in E6 Room 3026 for approval.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. If necessary, the course can be dropped during the term, subject to the normal drop deadlines.
7. CHE 499 in 4B term counts as a TE, the pre-requisite for CHE 499 is CHE 398 or CHE 399 or CHE 498.

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.

There are currently 13 options available to engineering students. The most common option completed by chemical engineering students is the Management Sciences option. Options often require advanced planning and extra courses on top of your scheduled workload. Chemical Engineering students are allowed to take one extra course during an academic term if they have an average greater than 70% in each of the previous two academic terms. Another possibility is to add a course during a co-op term.

The Faculty of Engineering recognizes three designated specializations within the BASc degree in Chemical Engineering:

• Specialization in Energy and Environmental Systems and Processes
• Specialization in Materials and Manufacturing Processes
• Specialization in Chemical Process Modelling, Optimization and Control

Students interested in pursuing one of these specializations must take four required technical elective courses from the corresponding list of approved technical electives. An average of at least 60% in the four specialization courses and a grade of at least 50% in each of the four courses is required.