Extended Major Overview
- Description
Chemical engineering is an exciting and dynamic field and an ever-changing discipline due to evolutionary and revolutionary changes in technology and society. Chemical Engineering at UWA is designed to produce graduates who are not only capable of finding successful and rewarding lifelong careers as chemical engineers in existing industries, but who can also apply their skills and knowledge to new and emerging technologies in areas such as renewable and alternative energies and energy storage; process intensification and zero emissions technologies; and water reuse, recycling, purification and desalination. The Chemical Engineering major provides a solid foundation in the underpinning sciences followed by a broad chemical engineering education, giving you the requisite knowledge and hands-on skills, both technical and personal, required by industry. In addition, you can choose specialisation units to pursue higher learning in areas of interest as diverse as hydrocarbon-based energy, renewable energy, waste management, minerals processing, water treatment, biomedical applications, and applied digital technology. The major contains a design spine through all four years where you apply the knowledge and skills gained to complex open-ended chemical engineering problems. Chemical and process safety is woven throughout the course, as is sustainability, to ensure you meet current and future demands and expectations of employers and society at large. This ensures that, upon graduation, you are equipped to successfully embark on your career as a Chemical Engineer with the confidence of knowing you are fully equipped to tackle future challenges and opportunities in chemical engineering.
Students should be aware that this major does not provide a pathway to an Honours.- Outcomes
Students are able to:
- demonstrate a strong foundation in both underpinning engineering science and core chemical engineering theory and practice
- apply chemical engineering principles, skills and knowledge to evaluate, analyse and design solutions to engineering problems for the betterment of society
- acquire, evaluate, and apply new and existing knowledge and practice to current and emerging areas of chemical engineering
- competently and effectively communicate at a high level through written, oral and visual means, allowing active participation in multi-disciplinary engineering discourse.
- Broadening guidelines
- All students studying towards a Bachelor's Degree at UWA are required to Broaden their studies. If you are enrolled in the Chemical Engineering major in the BE(Hons), then you are required to take two units (12 points) of study outside your degree-specific major. Broadening is your opportunity to explore other areas of interest, investigate new disciplines and shape your degree in line with your personal aspirations. Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Engineering are encouraged to take units or a minor from outside of engineering, to satisfy broadening. However, you may also select engineering units that are not listed in the unit sequence of your engineering major. Advice can be sought from your Allocated Student Advising Office.
The following broadening units are recommended by the Chemical Engineering Industry Advisory Panel for students in the Chemical Engineering major of the BE(Hons):
Allied Business Skills Focus: FINA1221; MGMT1135; INMT2232; LAWS1104; MGMT1136; MKTG1203; PACM1101.
Personal Development Focus: INDG1160; PHIL1002; GEND1901; IMED2200.
General Engineering Skills Focus: GENG1101; GENG1014; ENSC2003; MECH2002; STAT1400.
Suggested units to broaden your study area, are:
(1) FINA1221 Introduction to Finance
(2) MGMT1135 Organisational Behaviour
(3) INMT2232 Project Management
(4) LAWS1104 Introduction to Law
(5) MGMT1136 Management and Organisations
(6) MKTG1203 Introduction to Marketing
(7) PACM1101 Communication in Practice
(8) INDG1160 Boodjar Moort Katitjin: Introduction to Indigenous Heritage and Knowledge
(9) PHIL1002 Introduction to Critical Thinking
(10) GEND1901 Beyond 'Gender Wars'
(11) IMED2200 Mental Wellbeing for Today's World
(12) GENG1101 Engineering Drawings
(13) GENG1014 Earth Systems Engineering
(14) ENSC2003 Engineering Electrical Fundamentals
(15) MECH2002 Engineering Materials 2
(16) STAT1400 Statistics for Science - Incompatibilities
MJD-ENGSC Engineering Science
- Courses
Chemical Engineering can only be taken as a degree-specific major in the following degree courses:
- BH011 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
- CB004 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/ Bachelor of Science*
- CB006 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/ Bachelor of Commerce*
- CB014 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/ Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours)*
- CB034 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/ Bachelor of Arts*
- CB030 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Modern Languages*
*Students enrolling in this as part of a combined course must use the code MJDC-ECHEM when selecting this as their extended major.
Example Study Plans
- BE Chemical Engineering (with Bridging) SEM-1-2025 [docx]
- BE Chemical Engineering (with Bridging) SEM-2-2025 [docx]
- BE Chemical Engineering SEM-1-2025 [docx]
- BE Chemical Engineering SEM-2-2025 [docx]
See study plans for more information.
Units
Key to availability of units:
- S1
- Semester 1
- S2
- Semester 2
- NS
- non-standard teaching period
The list below includes the Bachelor of Engineering foundation units as well as the Chemical Engineering major units.
Level 1
Degree-specific major units
Take all units (48 points):
Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
---|---|---|---|
S1, S2 | CHEM1001 | Chemistry—Properties and Energetics |
|
S1, S2 | CHEM1002 | Chemistry—Structure and Reactivity |
|
S2 | CHPR1005 | Mass and Energy Balances |
|
S2 | ENSC1004 | Engineering Materials | |
NS | GENG1000 | Engineering Practice 1 |
|
S1, S2 | GENG1010 | Introduction to Engineering |
|
S1, S2 | MATH1011 | Multivariable Calculus |
|
S1, S2 | MATH1012 | Mathematical Theory and Methods |
|
S1, S2 | PHYS1001 | Physics for Scientists and Engineers |
Bridging units
Students can only take up to 12 points of bridging in the BE:
Students who have not achieved a scaled mark of at least 50 in Mathematics Specialist ATAR or equivalent are required to complete MATH1722. Students who have not achieved a scaled mark of at least 50 in Physics ATAR or equivalent are required to complete PHYS1030. Students who have not achieved a scaled mark of at least 50 in Chemistry ATAR or equivalent are required to complete CHEM1003.
Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
---|---|---|---|
S1, S2 | CHEM1003 | Introductory Chemistry |
|
S1, S2 | MATH1722 | Mathematics Foundations: Specialist |
|
S1, S2 | PHYS1030 | Physics Bridging Unit |
|
Level 2
Degree-specific major units
Take all units (30 points):
Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
---|---|---|---|
S1 | CHPR2006 | Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics |
|
S2 | CHPR2007 | Heat and Mass Transfer |
|
S2 | CHPR2018 | Process Synthesis and Design 1 | |
S1, S2 | CITS2401 | Computer Analysis and Visualisation | |
NS | GENG2000 | Engineering Practice 2 |
|
S1 | GENG2003 | Fluid Mechanics |
|
Level 3
Degree-specific major units
Take all units (42 points):
Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
---|---|---|---|
S2 | CHPR3018 | Process Synthesis and Design 2 | |
S2 | CHPR3019 | Unit Operations |
|
S1 | CHPR3404 | Advanced Thermodynamics and Mass Transfer Processes |
|
S1 | CHPR3405 | Particle Technology | |
S2 | CHPR3406 | Reaction Engineering | |
S2 | CHPR3407 | Transport Phenomena |
|
NS | GENG3000 | Engineering Practice 3 |
|
S2 | GENG3402 | Control Engineering |
|
S1, S2 | GENG5010 | Professional Engineering Portfolio |
|
Level 4
Degree-specific major units
Take all units (36 points):
Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
---|---|---|---|
S1 | CHPR4501 | Advanced Reaction Engineering and Catalysts |
|
S1 | CHPR5550 | Chemical Engineering Design Project |
|
S1, S2 | GENG4411 | Engineering Research Project Part 1 |
|
S1, S2 | GENG4412 | Engineering Research Project Part 2 |
|
S1, S2 | GENG5507 | Risk, Reliability and Safety |
Degree-specific major units
Group A—take unit(s) to a total value of 24 points from Group A and Group B, comprising a minimum of 12 points from Group A and the balance from Group B. Students must take at least one Level 5 option.
Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
---|---|---|---|
S1 | CHPR4408 | Chemical and Thermal Renewable Energies |
|
S1 | CHPR4409 | Mineral Processing: Current and Future Technologies | |
NS | CHPR5520 | Combustion Science and Technology |
|
S1 | CHPR5521 | Flow Assurance for Future Energy |
|
S2 | CHPR5522 | Gas Processing Technologies |
|
S2 | ENVE5502 | Water and Wastewater Engineering |
|
S1 | GENG5516 | Energy Storage Systems |
Degree-specific major units
Group B—take unit(s) to the value of 12 points:
Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
---|---|---|---|
S2 | CITS4009 | Computational Data Analysis |
|
S1 | ELEC5506 | Process Instrumentation and Control |
|
S2 | ENVE4401 | Contaminant Fate and Transport |
|
S1 | GENG4403 | Extractive Metallurgy |
|
S2 | GENG4410 | Fossil to Future – The Transition |
|
S2 | GENG5504 | Petroleum Engineering |
|
S2 | GENG5506 | Renewable Energy |
|