University and Department Summary
Founded in 1787, the University of Pittsburgh is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the United States. The Department of Chemical Engineering at Pittsburgh is thought to be a rising star. The strategy of engineering courses development at Pitt is closely linked to systematic changes in federal government policy. Compared to the sciences there are less rolling grants available for engineering and hence staff have to be more responsive to industry needs. The development of bioengineering programs is a direct consequence. The University has a strong medical school and there is ample scope and motivation to develop biomedical engineering (of a budget of $ 270M about $ 200M go to the medical school. In 1998 a department for bio-engineering was created through input from several departments (space, joint appointments etc.). A separate undergraduate program is being developed. Future undergraduate teaching may well include biology.
The performance increase of the department of chemical engineering is due to a chair who was particularly keen on research. Initially there were only 12 faculty of which only 1/2 could be called research active. Today everybody is research activeof all took
30 % of the research income of the chemical engineering department comes through projects in the medical school (primary investigators). 20 % of faculty have joint appointments with the medical school, this allows staff to be PhD advisors.
Core chemical engineering will not be sacrificed (see concern about process control). There is a trend towards more computer integration into teaching. This is culminating in the foundation of the ‘Frank Mosier Chemical Engineering Learning Centre’. Exam Questions, lecture notes and other tools can also be found on the departmental web pages. The curriculum is based on credit accumulation (133 credits). Fundamental courses include chemistry (6), physics (2), mathematics (3) and are likely to soon include biology. Chemical engineering courses such as thermodynamics, balances, labs. Four technical and six non-technical electives may be chosen. Major areas of concentration are bioengineering, environmental, polymer and petroleum.
The ‘COOP Experience’ will allow students to carry out a project in industry. 50 % of all students participate in the scheme. An undergraduate program, ‘Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)’ is funded by the NSF to introduce 15 undergraduates to research activities in chemical engineering, chemistry and biology. This experience can be used as a technical elective. A dual degree programme is in place to combine chemical engineering with medical education as well as teaching certification.
In order to enter the PhD program, a student must have completed a MS degree and passed the PhD preliminary oral examination. A grade point average of 3.5/4.0 or greater at the MS level is required for admission. During the second term as a graduate student must take the Doctoral Qualifying Examination. 2 questions will be given to the student in the morning of the test day at 9:00 a.m. An oral exam is conducted in the afternoon. The examination committee will dwell on each question and associated issues for ca. 20 minutes before moving on to the next question. Each examination committee consists of 3 faculty members who test 4 students on the same questions. At the end of the second year the student is required to defend his research proposal.
Faculty rotate classes which gives them more breadth in core chemical engineering. This is very important since most recent appointments are non-chemical engineering graduates. Graduates can choose electives from a wide range of subjects: bioengineering, polymers, catalysis, solids processing, thermodynamics, reaction engineering, petroleum engineering, environmental and mathematical applications. It is perceived that student quality in physics and mathematics is declining. This has led one faculty member to take only post docs (rare in the US)- mainly Russian and Asian. They have also had to institute a p.g. mathematics course. Because the ability to communicate ideas is so important at MS and PhD levels, all graduate students must fulfil a teaching requirement. The time required is approximately 15 hours per week, including class time, preparation, and advising. PhD students are encouraged to start publishing in their second year of research. Tuition rates are $ 19k per annum.
Apparently there are currently about 50 vacancies in chemical engineering departments in the USA but only roughly 30 good candidates. This forces prices up (start-up packages). Appointments are not made to support senior staff. However, there is concern to keep core chemical engineering areas up and running. A vacancy exists for a process control person who is particularly required for teaching purposes.
Typical start-up packages comprise of 3-6 months summer salary for two years, $ 50k to $ 300k for equipment and labs and the funds to support 2 PhD students for 4 years. The Dean of Engineering considered the rest of engineering would be half these figures.
No formal mentoring program is in place to help young faculty. New faculty are appointed for initially 3 years with a 3 year renewal leading to associate professorship and tenure.
Traditional chemical engineering is considered to be a mature discipline. The key area to the department appears to be bioengineering. There is no interaction between staff, they are expected to build up their own empire. There is an emphasis on building new areas One way to develop new areas is to observe the general trends and to latch onto these evolving disciplines (e.g. microelectronics, biomedical, polymer) using the toolbox as provided by core chemical engineering. Philosophy is to latch on new areas and force chemeng on them - microelectronic processing, biotech, biomedical, polymer
There is a unique medical – chem eng relationship working on tissue engineering and artificial organs, it is interdisciplinary by nature. There are Chemical Engineering Professors with appointments in Surgery.
Research groups usually comprise of 4-6 PhD students plus 1 PostDoc. An exception only employs Post-doctorates. If a person is particularly research active, he or she can buy out a course that is get course release time (i.e. pay for not teaching). This usually costs 2 months salary. However, there are limits and no teaching is not an option.
For most individuals 2/3 is federal funding and 1/3 comes from industry.
Some faculty are very active patenting their ideas and forming companies (staff get 1/3 of license fees and royalties paid to the university)
Gerald Holder (Dean), Alan Russell (Chair), Eric Beckman, Goodwin, Karl Johnson, John Tierney, Anna Balazc