Biomolecular Engineering Concentration

The Biomolecular Engineering Concentration offers unusually strong depth in biological sciences for a chemical engineering major. Students completing the concentration should satisfy all course requirements for admission to medical school.

This concentration should particularly appeal to chemical engineering majors who wish to pursue careers in the pharmaceutical and health related industries. Students hoping to pursue a medical degree or a graduate degree in biomedical engineering should also consider this concentration. It offers students an alternative path to a chemical engineering degree and a course plan with slightly less physical chemistry but more biology, biochemistry and biochemical engineering; however, students will still be able to follow the traditional chemical engineering degree program. The chief result of the concentration is that Clarkson chemical engineering majors will have a choice of course plans.

The point at which students select which curriculum plan they will follow is normally the spring semester of the sophomore year. Students pursuing the concentration will be able to participate in Clarkson's optional Co-op Program, although they may be limited to only fall semester co-op assignments.

In the sophomore spring semester, students pursuing the concentration will take BY153 , Cellular and Molecular Biology (3), and its laboratory BY155 (2); while students in the traditional curriculum will take CM372, Physical Chemistry II (3). In junior year, students pursuing the concentration will take MA383, Applied Statistics, in lieu of a math elective, and a technical elective selected from a list of courses relevant to biomolecular engineering in lieu of an unrestricted technical elective. As seniors, students within the concentration will take CM460, Biochemistry I, in lieu of a technical elective and CH465, Biochemical Engineering, in lieu of an undesignated elective.

Below is a sample curriculum:

First Year - Fall and Spring Semester
Course Title Credits Course Title Credits
CM103/05 General Chemistry I 5 CM104 General Chemistry II 4
MA131 Calculus I 3 MA132 Calculus II 3
UNIV190 Clarkson Seminar 3   Knowledge Area Ele. 3
PH131 Physics I 4 PH132 Physics II 4
FY100 First Year Seminar 1 ES100 Intro. to Computer 2
Semester Total 16 Semester Total 15
Second Year - Fall and Spring Semester
Course
Title
Credits
Course
Title
Credits
CH250 Chemical Process Calculations 3 CH272 Applied Phase & Chemical Equilibria 3
CH271 Thermodynamics 3 MA232 Differential Equations 3
CM371 Physical Chemistry I 3 BY160/162 Cellular & Molecular Biology 5
MA231 Calculus III 3 ES Elec. Engineering Science Elective 3
HUM/SOC Liberal Arts Elective 3 HUM/SOC Liberal Arts Elective 3
Semester Total 15 Semester Total 17
Third Year - Fall and Spring Semester
Course Title Credits Course Title Credits
CH301 Fluid Mechanics 3 CH310 Chemical Eng. Lab I 1
CH351 Mass Transfer 3 CH302 Heat Transfer 3
CM241 Organic Chemistry I 3 CH465 or ES*** Biochemical Engineering 5
***** Restricted Elective+ 3 CM242 Organic Chemistry II 3
EC350 Principles of Micro & Engineering Economics 3 CM244 Organic Chemistry Lab 3
  MA383 Applied Statistics 3
Semester Total 15 Semester Total 16
Fourth Year - Fall and Spring Semester
Course Title Credits Course Title Credits
CH345 Reactor Analysis I 3 CH481 Design II 3
CH480 Design I 3 CH485 Process Dynamics and Control 3
CH410 Chemical Engineering Lab II 2 ES*** or
CH 465		 ES Elective 3
CM460 Biochemistry I 3 HUM/SOC Liberal Arts Elective 3
CUSB Elective 3 Free Elec. Elective 1
Semester Total 14 Semester Total 13

+ Selected from: BY214 Genetics; BY312 Advanced Cell Biology; BY314 Bioinformatics; BY316 Immunobiology; BY320/2 Microbiology; BY360/2 Physiology; BY412 Molecular Biology Laboratory; CM413 Bioinorganic Chemistry; CM426 Introduction to Biophysics; CM453 Introduction to Biochemistry; CM464 Physical Biochemistry; ES365 Polymer Materials