Program Overview

Chemical engineers pioneer materials and technologies of the future; they design and develop the processes behind today’s most useful products. In studying at Master's-level, you will develop your knowledge in chemistry and engineering, along with management and leadership skills.

Our accredited Chemical Engineering programme recognises the broad field of the subject and as such starts with a common first year, which is shared among all our engineering subjects. This is in recognition that chemical engineers do not work in isolation and that modern engineering is just as much about effective teamwork and communication, as it is the underlying science.

You will explore core themes of design, materials, thermodynamics and heat transfer, along with appropriate mathematical study in the first year. Alongside these, you will develop your design, problem-solving, management and leadership skills.
Following the first year, where you will have developed a solid foundation of engineering knowledge and begun to explore a variety of different areas of the discipline, you will have the opportunity to consider and plan your academic progression. At this stage, you may choose to begin your chemical engineering study, or move onto any of our other specialist programmes.

Specialist modules in chemical engineering begin in the second year, when you will continue to develop your core skills as an engineer. You will also be encouraged to engage with and solve increasingly open-ended, real-world problems. Alongside the technical modules, you will develop your creativity, entrepreneurial and analytical skills, improving your employability.

A key element of year three is the group design project, where you will be asked to solve an open-ended design project over the course of the year. The projects typically involve conceptual design, as well as evaluation of economic, safety, legislative and ethical standards of assessment. Alongside this, you will practise and develop project management, team-working and technical writing skills.

In fourth year, you will undertake a year in industry, gaining valuable experience and enhancing your employability. We have extensive links built through our leadership in research and have students undergoing placements with multinational corporate companies through to smaller specialist SMEs. Once you have completed your placement, you will write an extended reflective piece about your time spent with the company.

The degree is professionally accredited by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) as meeting complete fulfilment of the educational requirements to become a chartered engineer, and is underpinned by the CDIO framework (Conceiving, Designing, Implementing and Operating). All your teaching is delivered by world-class academics and shaped by their outstanding research output. You will gain hands-on experience with access to cutting-edge facilities and an array of high-quality equipment in our state-of-the-art engineering building.