Biochemical Engineering

Biochemical engineering applies the combination of knowledge of living systems with engineering principles to the large scale manufacture of valuable products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, enzymes and antibodies. This concentration will prepare students with a quantitative and mechanistic understanding of biological processes based on the core areas of chemical engineering; thermodynamics, kinetics, and transport phenomena. Topics that will be covered are enzyme kinetics coupled with mass transfer, bioreactor design and operation, genetic and metabolic engineering, animal cell culture and purification of bioproducts. Students and faculty in the School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue are researching the efficient conversion of raw materials such as sugars, woody biomass or CO2 by a wide array of processes into useful bioproducts. The design and operation of the production and separation systems for biomolecules is a significant focus of biochemical engineers. Career paths are primarily available in the food, pharmaceutical and biomedical industries.

Professional Master’s Program Degree Map

MSChE – Biochemical Engineering - 12-month Track

  • Students must earn a “C” or better in all graduate-level coursework
  • Students must complete at least 15 credits of coursework with a CHE prefix
  • Students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.7 or higher to graduate

Degree Requirements

30 credits required for graduation:

  • 6 Credits of Core ChE Course:
    • (3) CHE 69700 – Statistical Methods in Chemical Engineering OR CHE 53000 – Engineering Math
    • (3) CHE 54000 – Transport Phenomena
  • 9 Credits of Concentration Elective Courses
  • 9 Credits of Management/Business Courses from the following:
    • (3) CHE 59700 – Engineering Applications in Marketing Mgmt.
    • (3) CHE 59700 – Financial Analysis & Management of Projects
    • (3) MGMT 65000 – Strategic Management I
    • (3) MGMT 66000 – Intro to Operations Management
  • 6 Credits of ChE Capstone Project

Degree Map Example

Fall Semester (12 credits)

___ (3) CHE 53000 – Engineering Math

___ (3) CHE 59700 – Engineering Applications in Marketing Mgmt.

___ (3) Concentration Elective Course (chosen from the list below)

___ (3) Concentration Elective Course (chosen from the list below)

Spring Semester (12 credits)

___ (3) CHE 54000 – Transport Phenomena

___ (3) CHE 59700 – Financial Analysis & Management of Projects

___ (3) MGMT 65000 – Strategic Management I OR (3) MGMT 66000 – Intro to Operations Management

___ (3) Concentration Elective Course (chosen from the list below)

Summer Semester (6 Credits)

___ (6) CHE 59700 – Prof. MS Capstone Project

Potential Concentration Elective Courses:

___ (3) ABE 55500 – Bio & Food Processing Unit Ops
___ (3) ABE 55700 – Transport Ops in Food & Bio Systems I
___ (3) ABE 55800 – Process Design for Food & Bio Sys
___ (3) ABE 56000 – Biosensors
___ (3) ABE 58000 – Process Eng of Renewal Resources
___ (3) BCHM 56100 – General Biochemistry I
___ (3) BME 69500 – Polymers in Bio & Pharma Sys
___ (3) CHE 52100 – Principles of Tissue Engineering
___ (3) CHE 52300 – Engr Applications of Bio Molecules
___ (3) CHE 52500 – Biochemical Engineering
___ (3) CHE 55100 – Principles of Pharmaceutical Engr.
___ (3) CHE 55300 – Pharma Process, Dev and Design
___ (3) CHE 55800 – Rate Control Separation Processes
___ (3) CHE 59700 – Analytical Approach Healthcare Delivery
___ (3) CHE 59700 – Data Science in ChE
___ (3) CHE 59700 – Industrial Chem Technology
___ (3) CHE 59700 (50100) – Medical Devices Dev & App
___ (3) CHE 59700 – Pharma Process Dev & Design
___ (3) CHE 59700 – Stem Cell Engineering
___ (3) CHE 59700 – Process Safety
___ (3) CHE 62300 – Separation Processes
___ (3) CHE 69700 – Metabolic Engineering
___ (3) CHM 53300 – Introductory Biochemistry
___ (3) CHM 53400 – Introductory Biochem. (cont. from 53300)
___ (3) CHM 53800 – Molecular Biotechnology
___ (3) IPPH 58300 – Adv. Biopharmaceutics

Purdue Chemical Engineering - Professional Master’s Program Degree Map

MSChE – Biochemical Engineering – 16-month Track

  • Students must earn a “C” or better in all undergraduate and graduate-level coursework
  • Students must complete at least 15 credits of coursework with a CHE prefix
  • Students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.7 or higher to graduate

Degree Requirements

41 credits required for graduation

  • 11 credits of pre-requisite courses:
    • (4) CHE 20500 – Chemical Engineering Calculations
    • (3) CHE 30600 – Separations Processes
    • (4) CHE 34800 – Reaction Engineering
  • ​6 Credits of Core ChE Course:
    • (3) CHE 53000 – Engineering Math
    • (3) CHE 54000 – Transport Phenomena
  • ​9 Credits of Concentration Elective Courses
  • 9 Credits of Management/Business Courses from the following:
    • (3) CHE 59700 – Engineering Applications in Marketing Mgmt
    • (3) CHE 59700 – Financial Analysis & Management of Projects
    • (3) MGMT 65000 – Strategic Management I
    • (3) MGMT 66000 – Intro to Operations Management
  • 6 Credits of ChE Capstone Project

Degree Map Example

Fall Semester 1 (10 credits)

___ (4) CHE 20500 – Chemical Engineering Calculations

___ (3) CHE 53000 – Engineering Math

___ (3) Concentration Elective Course (from the list below)

Spring Semester 1 (13-16 credits)

___ (3) CHE 30600 – Separations Processes

___ (4) CHE 34800 – Reaction Engineering

___ (3) CHE 54000 – Transport Phenomena

___ (3) CHE 59700 – Financial Analysis & Management of Projects

___ (3) MGMT 65000 – Strategic Management I OR (3) MGMT 66000 – Intro to Operations Management

Summer Semester 1 (6 Credits)

___ (6) CHE 59700 – Prof. MS Capstone Project

Fall Semester 2 (9 Credits)

___ (3) CHE 59700 – Engineering Applications in Marketing Mgmt

___ (3) Concentration Elective Course (from the list below)

Potential Concentration Elective Courses:

___ (3) ABE 55500 – Bio & Food Processing Unit Ops
___ (3) ABE 55700 – Transport Ops in Food & Bio Systems I
___ (3) ABE 55800 – Process Design for Food & Bio Sys
___ (3) ABE 56000 – Biosensors
___ (3) ABE 58000 – Process Eng of Renewal Resources
___ (3) BCHM 56100 – General Biochemistry I
___ (3) BME 69500 – Polymers in Bio & Pharma Sys
___ (3) CHE 52100 – Principles of Tissue Engineering
___ (3) CHE 52300 – Engr Applications of Bio Molecules
___ (3) CHE 52500 – Biochemical Engineering
___ (3) CHE 55100 – Principles of Pharmaceutical Engr.
___ (3) CHE 55300 – Pharma Process, Dev and Design
___ (3) CHE 55800 – Rate Control Separation Processes
___ (3) CHE 59700 – Analytical Approach Healthcare Delivery
___ (3) CHE 59700 – Data Science in ChE
___ (3) CHE 59700 – Industrial Chem Technology
___ (3) CHE 59700 (50100) – Medical Devices Dev & App
___ (3) CHE 59700 – Pharma Process Dev & Design
___ (3) CHE 59700 – Stem Cell Engineering
___ (3) CHE 59700 – Process Safety
___ (3) CHE 62300 – Separation Processes
___ (3) CHE 69700 – Metabolic Engineering
___ (3) CHM 53300 – Introductory Biochemistry
___ (3) CHM 53400 – Introductory Biochem. (cont. from 53300)
___ (3) CHM 53800 – Molecular Biotechnology
___ (3) IPPH 58300 – Adv. Biopharmaceutics