Chemical Engineering

Chemical Engineering is the only engineering discipline that makes extensive use of chemical transformations (i.e. reactions) in addition to physical transformations (such as machining and molding) to achieve added value. Thus, chemical engineers are employed in virtually all manufacturing industries, from the basic chemical, materials, energy, food, pharmaceutical and microelectronics industries to the myriad consumer product industries, because all manufacturing involves chemical transformations in one way or another. This means that chemical engineers must be very broadly educated and trained as well as highly adaptable.

The USC Chemical Engineering Program grants Master of Science, Engineers and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. The general requirements are outlined in the University Catalogue and the School of Engineering Bulletin. The information in the links below is intended to summarize the information contained in the University Catalogue and the Engineering Bulletin for graduate studies in Chemical Engineering (Ch.E.). For students entering with a B.S. degree, it normally takes three semesters to obtain an M.S. degree and a total of about five years from the B.S. for the Ph.D. degree.  Data regarding time to graduation and job placement (fields) is available from the department office.

An overview of the three degree programs and the details for each are located in the Chemical Engineering Student Handbook.