Study Abroad Information for B.S. ChE Majors

All UVa CHE students interested in studying at universities outside the USA should visit the SEAS student-created web site of http://www.seas.virginia.edu/studyabroad and the web site of the UVa International Studies Office (ISO) at http://www.studyabroad.virginia.edu/.

Current opportunities especially for Chemical Engineering students can be viewed at http://www.che.virginia.edu/studyabroad/current.html.

The SEAS site provides two study abroad tools: 1) a Curricular Design Tool to adjust a student's engineering curriculum to incorporate courses taken abroad, including those outside of engineering, and 2) an engineering-specific database for international courses and programs. It also has step-by-step guidelines, degree-specific and ISO advising resources, a suggested timeline and resources for preparations, and cultural and logistical resources for passport and visa information.

The ISO site contains the most authoritative and complete information about study opportunities and guidance for all types of arrangements.

CHE undergraduates who wish to spend one semester studying abroad often do so during their 4th, 5th, or 6th semesters. With careful planning, SEAS students in the B.S. ChE major may spend one of these semesters abroad and still graduate on-schedule, but careful planning is required.

If at all possible, the courses taken at a foreign university should count towards the B.S. ChE degree, serve as prerequisites to later courses, and fit within the course schedule. Seek equivalents to

• CHE 202: Thermodynamics
• CHE 216: Computer Modeling and Simulation in Chemical Engineering
• CHE 316: Chemical Thermodynamics
• CHE 318: Chemical Reaction Engineering
• CHE 321: Transport Operations I.
  (Fluid Mechanics, Momentum Transfer, Heat Transfer)
• CHE 322: Transport Operations II.
  (Mass Transfer, Staged and Differential Unit Operations)
• CHE 438: Process Instrument Control
• CHE electives, such as CHE 347: Biochemical Engineering; CHE 449: Polymer Chemistry and Engineering; CHE 442: Applied Surface Chemistry
  

Important: The student's CHE Advisor must approve all courses for credit taken in other universities. The form for transfer credit, available in the Office of the SEAS Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs, should be used. The advisor, or the CHE advisor for international studies, can help obtaining the necessary information if it is not readily available on-line, and assist in determining equivalencies.

If it is not possible to take approved CHE courses at a chosen foreign university, the length of a student's program may be extended unless arrangements can be made to take equivalents to the courses missed in another US university during a summer. CHE departments at Virginia Tech, University of Maryland, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, and elsewhere often teach such courses in summer.

The following kinds of courses can also usefully be studied abroad:

• SEAS HSS electives
• SEAS Unrestricted Electives
• B.S. ChE Technical Electives
• APMA courses that match APMA 213, 308, 310, or 312

Important aspects for various semesters to study abroad

The normal suggested schedule for Semester 4 is:

• APMA 311 Probability & Statistics
• CHEM 212 Organic Chemistry for Chemical Engineers
• CHEM 212L Organic Chemistry Lab for Chemical Engineers
• CHE 216 Computer Model & Simulation in Chemical Engineering
• CHE 202 Thermodynamics
• STS 2xx/3xx
  

Equivalents for all of these courses except CHE 216 and STS 2xx/3xx are likely to be offered abroad. Both of these can be taken at UVa in Semester 6. Note that many foreign courses are part of a full-year course rather than given in a single semester.

The normal suggested schedule for Semester 5 is:

• CHE 316 Chemical Thermodynamics
• CHE 321 Transport Processes I
• CHEM 351 Physical Chemistry
• CHEM 371 Physical Chemistry Lab
• Unrestricted Elective
  

Equivalents for all of these courses except CHEM 371 are likely to be offered abroad. It can be taken at UVa in Semester 7. Note that many foreign courses are part of a full-year course rather than given in a single semester and so the final examination may not be given until the end of spring, requiring a student to return to the foreign university.

The normal suggested schedule for Semester 6 is:

• CHE 318 Chemical Reaction Engineering
• CHE 322 Transport Processes II
• CHE 398L Chemical Engineering Lab I
• Tech Elective
• HSS Elective
  

Equivalents for all of these courses are likely to be offered abroad, though the arrangements for the laboratory course may be difficult to meet. All of the CHE courses must be completed before taking the UVa CHE courses in Semesters 7 and 8. Note that many foreign courses are part of a full-year course rather than given in a single semester.

The current CHE advisor for International Studies who will work individually with students to facilitate such experiences is John O'Connell.