The chemical engineering option is designed to prepare its students for either graduate study or research and development work in industry. This is accomplished by providing broad and rigorous training in the fundamentals of chemical engineering while maintaining a balance between classroom lectures and laboratory experience. The program also strives to develop in each student self-reliance, creativity, professional ethics, an appreciation of the societal impact of chemical engineering, and an understanding of the importance of continuing intellectual growth.

Chemical engineering involves applications of chemistry, physics, mathematics, and, increasingly, biology and biochemistry. In addition to these disciplines, the chemical engineering curriculum includes the study of applied and computational mathematics, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, thermodynamics, chemical kinetics and chemical reactor design, and process control. Because of this broad-based foundation that emphasizes basic and engineering sciences, chemical engineering is perhaps the broadest of the engineering disciplines.