BEng Chemical Engineering

Chemical engineering is concerned with designing and managing processes to carry out molecular transformations at large scale, in order to provide the products and materials we all need. Chemical engineers take raw materials and turn them into useful products via chemical or biological reactions.

As part of the BEng Chemical Engineering degree you'll study a range of core material incorporating the fundamentals of chemical engineering. The technical aspects of chemical engineering revolve around managing the behaviour of materials and chemical reactions. This means predicting and manipulating compositions, flows, temperatures and pressures of solids, liquids and gases. You will discover how to understand and describe chemical, physical and biological processes using mathematical equations, as well as learning about and getting hands-on experience of using the equipment and techniques applied in industry for large-scale manufacturing.

The third year Design Project is a key component of our courses. Working in teams students undertake an open ended project to design a complete production process. Sustainability is embedded within the design project, with examples including the sustainable production of chemicals such as propylene oxide and ethylene glycol and succinic acid production from waste.

Our student design project groups have won the IChemE's Macnab-Lacey Prize three times since its introduction in 2011. The prize is awarded to the student design project which best demonstrates how engineering can contribute to a more sustainable world.

At Manchester process safety and sustainability are also studied in depth. You will develop skills that will be of great use to you in your future career, such as team-working, problem-solving, communication and the use of information technology.

All of our degree programmes are fully accredited by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), the global professional body for chemical engineers.