ChE department ChE at... The University of Houston MICHAEL P. HAROLD AND RAMANAN KRISHNAMOORTI hemical engineering at the Uni- versity of Houston has reflected the growth and diversification of Cthe field: from traditional petrochemicals to advanced materials to energy and sus- tainability to the use of bioengineering principles for the betterment of human health. The University of Houston is a young university, founded in 1927 about 3 miles south of downtown Houston. Starting as a junior college, it became a univer- sity in 1934, changing hands in 1945 to become a private university and finally becoming a part of the State of Texas system in 1963. In 1953 UH gained na- tional recognition when it established KUHT, the world’s leadership of Dan Luss from the mid ’70s, through the ’80s, first educational television station. Today, the University of UH Chemical Engineering became one of the top departments Houston is the flagship of the University of Houston System in the United States (ranked 8th by the National Research and is considered one of the most ethnically diverse campuses Council in 1982). The leadership was passed to Jim Rich- among U.S. universities. ardson, who chaired the department from 1996-1998. After a The Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering challenging period of budget pressures in the mid 1990s, UH (ChBE) at the University of Houston started as a program attracted one of its former faculty members, Ray Flumerfelt, during the late 1940s and by the 1952/’53 academic year, a to serve as dean of the Cullen College of Engineering. One full-time faculty of chemical engineering was formed. During of Flumerfelt’s primary goals was to invest in the Chemi- the next three years, under the leadership of Joseph Crump, cal Engineering Department to re-establish its prominence. a vision emerged with three short-term In 2000 Flumerfelt hired one of UH’s own, Mike Harold goals: (i) establishment of a graduate (Ph.D., 1985) who chaired the department from 2000 to 2008 program comprising M.S. and Ph.D. when it underwent the name change to include Biomolecular. degrees supported by an internationally The injection of resources has led to a new period of growth recognized research program, (ii) estab- and resurgence of the department, now under the leadership lishment of an accredited undergraduate of Ramanan Krishnamoorti—transforming itself from its program with strong industrial ties, and unit operations and transport focus to sustained excellence (iii) growth of a department supported in reaction engineering, and new strengths in materials and by university administration. During biomolecular engineering. The full-time faculty is now ap- Joseph Crump the next 15 years, under the leadership proaching 20 in number while enhancing its reputation and of Frank Tiller (Dean of Engineering, impact. The most recent 2010 NRC review has the department 1955 to 1963) and Abe Dukler (Chair), UH Chemical Engi- ranked 18th (based on the more objective “S” ranking). neering emerged as the young upstart department. Under the © Copyright ChE Division of ASEE 2011 150 Chemical Engineering Education MISSION AND DEGREE PROGRAMS It is this strong foundation and standard that the UH Chemi- cal & Biomolecular Engineering Department strives to sustain and build upon. The mission of the department is to produce graduates of the highest scholarship and with skills that will enable them to prosper in their careers and to adapt to a field that continually evolves and transforms. The department has three specific aims: 1. To provide a high-quality education for undergraduate and graduate students in chemical engineering through a comprehensive curriculum that emphasizes basic sci- ence, mathematics, engineering science, and engineer- ing design. UH ChBE faculty members are expected to maintain their reputation as superior teachers and to provide a stimulating educational environment. 2. To engage in research programs that train graduate stu- dents, procure support for this research on a continuous basis, and contribute to the development of fundamental Areas of graduate employment. knowledge in the field of chemical engineering. The department’s varied and aggressively pursued research ensures that our faculty members remain at the technolog- dents (African-American, Hispanic, Asian) making up about ical forefront of their respective areas of specialization. 60% of the total. Moreover, the department does very well 3. To be of service to the community at large and, in in attracting female students and provides a flexible program particular, to the City of Houston and the State of Texas, for working part-time students. Currently there are about 400 and to provide the local engineering community oppor- students in the program with recent graduation rates of about tunities for advanced and continuing education. 35-45 per calendar year. The graduate program numbers ap- proximately 100 students, about 25 of whom are part-time The department currently confers the following degrees: students (most have full-time employment and are MChE • Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering (B.S. students). Current enrollment in the Petroleum Engineering ChE) program numbers about 130 students, equally divided among • Master of Chemical Engineering (non-thesis; MChE) undergraduate and Master’s students, the majority of whom • Master of Science in Chemical Engineering (thesis and are part-time working professionals. non-thesis M.S. ChE) • Doctorate in Chemical Engineering (Ph.D. ChE). At the undergraduate level, the department has been ef- In addition, the department has administrative responsi- fective in educating students for productive careers in the bility for a Petroleum Engineering program that confers the chemical process industry, process design firms, and the en- following degrees: ergy industry, particularly the upstream sector in recent years. Feedback obtained from local employers reveals that the UH • Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering (B.S. PE) ChBE students are top-performing, typically more mature • Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering (M.S. PE) students from the start. This is testimony to the fundamental • Master of Petroleum Engineering (non-thesis, MPE). focus of the curriculum, the standards of the instructors, and The department has traditionally attracted excellent under- the diversity—including age—of the student population. graduate students who are among the best at UH. Reflecting Undergraduate enrollments in the program generally follow the diversity of the UH student body as a whole, our under- national trends influenced by the hiring dynamics in the grads are a very diverse group, with under-represented stu- chemical and petrochemical industries. The strong reputation Left to right: Frank Tiller, William Prengle, Abe Dukler, Dan Luss, Jim Richardson, and Mike Harold. Vol. 45, No. 2, Spring 2011 151 of the department, however, has provided a steady stream and liquid in vertical pipes. Dukler was elected to the National of high-quality undergraduate students. Recent changes to Academy of Engineering in 1977 for his pioneering advances include biomolecular engineering principles and materials in high Reynolds number multiphase flow. science and engineering in the core undergraduate training The department hired Ernest Henley from Columbia Uni- along with development of minor options in petroleum engi- versity in 1961. Henley has distinguished himself for decades neering and nanomaterials engineering have diversified the as being an innovator in his research, teaching, and extramural education and training of the students. business pursuits. For a period of over two decades and end- ing a few years ago upon his retirement, Henley taught the THE EARLY YEARS two-course capstone design course to UH senior undergradu- The department was founded in the late 1940s when the ates. This was one of the main reasons why UH graduates University of Houston was at that time a small, private un- were coveted by industry: UH graduates knew chemical dergraduate university principally attended by white students engineering design and process economics. Henley’s book from more affluent families of the greater Houston area. with J.D. Seader and D. Keith Roper, Separations Process Crump, the first department chair, recruited several key fac- Principles, is in its third edition and has established itself ulty members who were, as Jim Richardson refers to them, as the text of choice for unit operations and separations at “the instigators.” These were William Prengle, Dukler, and chemical engineering departments in the United States and Frank Worley. Prengle and Dukler were hired from Shell internationally.[2] Oil Company and at first were part-time lecturers and became During this period, the strong industrial ties to the depart- full time faculty in 1952. ment’s research and educational activities were established. Dr. Larry Witte, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at As department chair from 1966-1974 and dean of the college UH, recalls the important impact that Crump, Dukler, and from 1976 to 1982, Dukler accelerated the department towards Prengle had on the department. “These three scholars were becoming an upstart among chemical engineering depart- role models for the rest of the college,” says Witte. “They ments in the United States. In 1968 Dukler landed a $600,000 showed us how to transform an undergraduate program into a “Center of Excellence Departmental Development Grant” successful graduate research program. In the 1960s