The University of California Davis (UC Davis) has launched a new master’s of engineering in chemical engineering designed specifically for STEM students without an engineering background.
The program was designed to meet rising workforce needs in energy- and sustainability-focused fields, especially decarbonization, carbon capture, low-emission fuels, and other large-scale process technologies.
The 1-year degree trains students to shift from small-scale chemistry or biology to industrial-scale engineering. Through coursework, labs, and a capstone project, students learn practical process-engineering skills needed to design systems like reactors, fuel processes, or carbon-management technologies.
“Chemical engineering sits at the nexus of so many different modern fields, including biotechnology, energy, solar, petroleum engineering, and control systems, which is related to artificial intelligence. This graduate program enables chemists and other disciplines that are critical for the development of these important fields to use the very powerful tools of chemical engineering and apply them to those areas,” said chemical engineering alumnus John Bissell, CEO and cofounder of bioplastics company Origin Materials.