The Department of Chemical Engineering and Biological Engineering has well
established programs at both undergraduate (B.S.) and graduate (M.S./Ph.D.)
levels. External research support totals about $1.5 million annually of which
about $1 million comes directly from industrial sources and from The University
of Maine Pulp and Paper Foundation. The remaining funds (about $500,000
annually) are from various government funding agencies including the National
Science Foundation, the Petroleum Research Fund, the Departments of Energy and
Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Research projects cover a wide area of chemical engineering and include both
fundamental and applied topics. The Department has established a close working
relationship with industry which, in addition to general funding provided from
the Pulp and Paper Foundation, supports sponsored research programs in Paper
Surface Science a consortia of participating companies. Other major research
areas include pulping technology (including collaborative projects with
Chemistry and Wood Science), advanced materials, polymer rheology, sensors and
adsorption.
The Department has well equipped laboratories including some specialized
facilities such as an environmental scanning electron microscope, and a fully
equipped pilot plant for paper making studies with both coating and recycle
facilities. The Department has developed a comprehensive internal computer
network which includes about 60 PCs and two work stations with links to the
University network and the internet.
For students who enter the program with a recognized B.S. degree in chemical
engineering the M.S. degree requires 30 semester hours of graduate work which
must include two seminars and six term courses in addition to the thesis.
Students holding a B.S. degree in science or other engineering disciplines are
also eligible for admission to the M.S. program, although additional make-up
courses may be required. The Ph.D. degree requires a minimum of 45 semester
hours, beyond the B.S. level, comprising four seminars and at least eight
graduate courses (24 credits) in addition to a research thesis. Ph.D. candidates
are also required to pass a qualifying examination on chemical engineering
fundamentals and to propose and successfully defend a thesis proposal. Students
who enter the program with a recognized Master’s degree may be allowed up to 30
course credits towards the Ph.D., subject to approval by the Graduate Committee
of the Department. Required core courses for the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees are CHE
510, CHE 540, CHE 561 and CHE 580.
Financial assistance is available in the form of graduate assistantships which
provide free tuition and annual stipends which range from $14,500 to
$18,500/year. Application for admission should be submitted as soon as possible
and at least three months in advance of the proposed starting date. Further
details of the program and current research projects can be obtained from the
Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, on request.
Douglas M. Ruthven, Ph.D., Sc.D. (University of Cambridge, 1966,
1988), Professor and Chair. Fundamentals of adsorption and adsorption processes.
Douglas W. Bousfield, Ph.D. (California at Berkeley, 1986), Professor.
Fluid mechanics, rheology, numerical methods, coating processes.
Albert Co, Ph.D. (Wisconsin, 1979), Associate Professor. Transport
phenomena, fluid mechanics, polymeric fluid dynamics, rheology, applied
numerical methods.
Barbara J. W. Cole, Ph.D. (Washington, 1986), Professor of Chemistry.
Wood chemistry.
William J. DeSisto, Ph.D., (Brown, 1989), Assistant Professor.
Advanced material, sensors.
Joseph M. Genco, Ph.D. (Ohio State, 1965), Professor. Process
engineering applied to pulp and paper technology and science. Director of The
University of Maine Pulp and Paper Pilot Plant.
Amyl Ghanem, Ph.D. (Cornell, 1998), Assistant Professor of Chemical
Engineering. Biochemical engineering, toxicology and environmental health.
Barry S. Goodell, Ph.D. (Oregon State, 1983). Professor of Wood
Science and Technology. Control of decay in wood, wood microbiology, wood
preservation, wood biotechnology.
John C. Hassler, Ph.D. (Kansas State, 1966), Professor. Process
control instrumentation and measurement, real-time computing and laboratory
instrumentation.
Marquita K. Hill, Ph.D. (California at Davis, 1966), Associate
Research Professor. Environmental protection and pollution control.
John J. Hwalek, Ph.D. (Illinois, 1982), Associate Professor. Process
information systems, heat transfer.
Stephen M. Shaler, Ph.D. (Penn State, 1986), Professor of Wood
Sciences. Composites, coating layer mechanical properties.
Adriaan Van Heiningen, Ph.D. (McGill, 1982), J. Larcom Ober Professor
of Chemical Engineering. Selectivity improvement during oxygen and ozone
bleaching, rate processes and modeling of char bed burning, surface chemistry of
paper wetting.
Nick Triantafillopollous, Ph.D. (IPST, 1988). Professor of Chemical
Engineering. Fluid mechanics of coating systems, printing sciences, film
formation.
Graduate School
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