Degree Programs
Doctorate in Chemical Engineering
The goals of the Doctoral program are to develop the candidate's:
- expertise within a field of chemical engineering
- breadth in advanced engineering topics
- ability to conduct independent research
- aptitude for identifying significant research issues.
For satisfactory completion of the Doctoral program, the candidate must demonstrate that his or her work is creative, novel and innovative. The Doctoral candidate is not formally admitted to candidacy until after passing both a qualifying examination and a comprehensive exam. The first exam, usually taken after the first semester at NMSU, covers graduate-level understanding of the fundamentals of chemical engineering practice, including thermodynamics, transport phenomena, reaction kinetics and engineering mathematics. The comprehensive examination, usually taken 9 to 12 months after the qualifying exam, focuses on the candidate's proposed research: its scope, objectives and justification. During this time the required course work is also being completed with courses selected with the approval of the candidate's advisor.
Once the qualifying exam has been passed, the candidates focus on their research. The projects are tailored to the interests of the students such that the scope of the research satisfies both the requirements for the degree (specifically, originality and a combination of theoretical and experimental work) and the requirements of the funding source. Frequently the candidate is able to significantly influence the direction of the research based on knowledge gained while preparing for the comprehensive exam.
Comprehensive curriculum information about the Ph. D.. Ch E can be found in the Ch E Graduate Handbook.