The first Chemical Engineering curriculum at NMSU was announced in the Round-Up on April 8, 1922 to provide the West with “technically trained men in the manufacture of petroleum, clay, and metallurgical products, and in the cement, fertilizer, sugar, and oil-shale industries. Today, NMSU CHME grads continue to enter these industries.
The undergraduate curriculum in Chemical Engineering undergoes annual revision to reflect the needs of the profession relative to graduate preparation. These changes are driven by the continuous improvement plan established by the faculty in response to the desire to maintain program accreditation through ABET.
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BSCHE requirements defined by the Undergraduate Catalog
Students are admitted to that degree program that appears in the catalog the academic year of their admission; however, students may elect to follow any of the degree programs that appear after the program to which they were admitted. Students may not elect a degree program that was published before their date of admission. A degree program that appears in an NMSU Undergraduate Catalog remains valid for seven years.
CHME Curriculum flow diagrams
- The primary BSCHE track provides a traditional rigorous program of study in chemical engineering fundamentals and applications. It provides some degree of flexibility, permitting students to select three technical electives.
- CHME curriculum Flow Diagrams going back a number of years are available on this site.
CHME education activities beyond the classroom
Chemical Process Simulation
The BSCHE at NMSU puts emphasis on the science of process simulation. NMSU CHMEs first use process simulation in their material and energy balance classes. Upperclassmen spend three consecutive semesters in the simulation lab, learning to use simulation software in the Aspen Plus® family of products. NMSU CHME was a 2014 beta test site for the Aspen License Deployment Assistant® software.
For fall 2017, CHME added a minor of study in Computational Engineering to the catalog that builds on the BSCHE education around simulation science both using the process simulator and through writing code to solve complex numerical problems.
Minors of Study in CHME
Specialized minors are also available through CHME.
Advising
Graduation – validation of degree completion
When the deadline has passed to apply for graduation in the College of Engineering Dean’s office, the CHME Department Head (DH) will be asked to confirm that you have completed a curriculum consistent with the requirements of the BSCHE, as well as confirm completion of any minors-of-study that will be awarded by CHME. At this time, the DH will (1) run your degree audit using the catalog year of your choice, (2) apply any exceptions that were made during your program of study, and (3) confirm to the dean’s office that your degree is complete. You may be asked by the DH to furnish evidence of exceptions to help with validating your degree. As such, you should save any emails or documents that validate exceptions until graduation.
