Chemical Engineering Program Structure at ICT Prague Frantisek Stepanek

Prague Czech Republic

1803 Emperor Francis II. founded the Chemistry Department of the Royal Czech Polytechnical Institute in Prague 1806 First courses in the Departments of Mathematics and Chemistry Chemistry Department provided instruction in general and practical chemistry with a focus on the major industries: glass, iron and textile 1920 transformation into the School of Chemical Technology, one of the seven faculties of the Czech Technical University 1952 independent Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague History

Notable Alumni Professor Otto Wichterle ( ) macromolecular chemist the inventor of soft hydro-gel contact lenses or polyamide thread Silon (Nylon) Professor Vlado Prelog ( ) organic chemist awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1975 as professor at the ETH Zürich (contribution to the stereochemistry of organic molecules and their reactions)

Organisational Structure RECTOR Central LibraryCentral Labs.Computer Centre Faculty of Chemical Technology Faculty of Environmental Technology Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology Faculty of Chemical Engineering Academic Departments External Relations Studies Research Facilities and Building Vice-Rectors

Sources of Financial Income

Faculty members Professors 59 Assoc. Professors 96 Assistants 215 Scientists148 Students and Academic Staff Bc. & MSc. students3184 International students373 Bc. & MSc. graduates (2007/8)798 PhD students877 PhD graduates (2007/08)102

Organisation of Studies “Bologna scheme” – applied at Czech universities since 2004/5 Bachelor degree, 3 years Master degree, 2 years PhDdegree, 4 years

Faculty of Chemical Engineering Master’s degree programs: 1. Process Engineering and Informatics (= Chemical Engineering) 2. Technical Physical and Analytical Chemistry 3. Economics and Management in the Process Industries

Study Plan - Overview Years 1-3 (Bc level) Common Fundamental Subjects: e.g. organic chemistry, mathematics, physics, etc. Electives: - advanced versions of fundamental courses (aimed at students continuing to MSc) - more practically oriented technical electives (aimed at students intending to stop at Bc) - business electives Bc Project: - also called “mini diploma thesis”

Study Plan - Year 1 of Bachelor’s program Course Name Hours per week Credits General & Inorganic Chemistry3/2/08 Mathematics I3/3/09 Toxicology & Ecology2/0/03 Computing0/3/03 Mass Balance Calculations0/2/02 Business Economics2/1/04 Organic chemistry I3/2/07 Physics I3/2/07 Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory I0/0/43 * Mathematics II3/3/08 * Algorithmisation and Programming0/2/02 * Fundamentals of Law2/0/03 * Introduction to Chemical Technologies2/1/04 * Fundamentals of Mechanical Engineering2/1/04 Autumn Spring * 2 electives must be chosen

Study Plan - Year 2 of Bachelor’s program Course Name Hours per week Credits Physical Chemistry I3/2/07 Biochemistry I3/0/05 Organic Chemistry Laboratory I0/0/43 Physics Laboratory0/0/32 Chemical Informatics0/2/02 * Information and Database Systems2/2/05 * Numerical Analysis3/2/07 * Physics II2/2/05 * Microeconomics2/0/02 Chemical Engineering I2/3/06 Analytical Chemistry I2/1/04 Applied Statistics1/2/04 Physical Chemistry Laboratory I0/0/43 Autumn Spring * 1 elective must be chosen

Study Plan - Year 2 of Bachelor’s program …continued * Physical Chemistry II3/2/07 * Engineering Thermodynamics1/2/04 * Accounting2/2/05 * Fundamentals of Electronics2/2/05 * Advanced Engineering Mathematics3/2/07 Spring * 1 elective must be chosen

Study Plan - Year 3 of Bachelor’s program Course Name Hours per week Credits Chemical Engineering Laboratory0/0/32 Analytical Chemistry Laboratory I0/0/64 Chemical Engineering Project0/1/01 * Chemical Engineering II2/3/06 * Analytical Chemistry II2/1/04 * Physical Chemistry Laboratory II0/0/32 * Biological Process Engineering2/1/04 * Fundamentals of Marketing2/2/07 Bc Project0/0/810 Enterprise Process Control2/1/04 Sensors and Measurement Technology2/0/03 Sensors and Measurement Laboratory0/0/21 Autumn Spring * 2 electives must be chosen

Study Plan - Year 3 of Bachelor’s program …continued * Analytical Chemistry Laboratory II0/0/43 * Fundamentals of Mathematical Optimisation2/2/05 * Differential Equations2/2/05 * Physical Chemistry III2/1/04 * Chemical Industry and the Environment2/1/04 * Human Resources Management2/1/04 * Fundamentals of Logistics3/2/07 * Technical Writing and Presentation2/1/03 * Complex Functions and Functional Transformations2/2/04 Spring * 2 electives must be chosen

Study Plan - Overview Years 4-5 (MSc level) Common subjects specific to Chem Eng: e.g. reaction engineering, heat transfer, separation processes, safety, etc. Electives: - mainly technical electives - allowing students to specialise MSc project (“diploma work”): - individual project, formal conclusion of studies

Study Plan - Year 4 (Year 1 of MSc level) Course Name Hours per week Credits Chemical Engineering III2/2/05 Process Systems Engineering2/2/05 Fluid Mechanics2/1/04 Process Dynamics2/2/05 Semestral Project0/3/03 * Engineering Thermodynamics2/2/05 * Process Modelling and Simulation2/2/05 * Process Optimisation2/2/05 * Chemical and Biochemical Microsystems2/0/03 Diffusion Separation Processes2/1/04 Heat Transfer2/1/04 Fundamentals of Bioengineering2/1/04 Semestral Project0/4/04 Autumn Spring * 2 electives must be chosen

Study Plan - Year 4 (Year 1 of MSc level) …continued * Product Engineering and Design2/1/04 * Advanced Mathematical Methods2/1/04 * Process Design2/1/04 * Chemical Technologies2/1/04 * Chemical Process Equipment2/1/04 * Local Balances and Transfer Phenomena2/2/05 * Nonlinear Dynamic Systems2/2/05 * Sensors and Sensor Systems2/0/24 Spring * 3 electives must be chosen

Study Plan - Year 5 (Year 2 of MSc level) Course Name Hours per week Credits Safety Engineering2/1/04 Reactor and Bioreactor Engineering3/1/06 Pre-Diploma Laboratory0/0/85 Process Design Project0/4/04 Industrial Placement0/0/02 * Information and Database Systems2/2/05 * Multiphase Mass Transfer2/2/05 * Advanced Computer Programming2/2/04 * Bio-separation Processes2/1/04 Diploma Project0/0/3030 Autumn Spring * 2 electives must be chosen

Experience with Bologna-style structure 1)Students like the flexibility offered by early electives 2)In engineering disciplines, the vast majority of students continue for a full 5-year MSc (finishing at Bc level is regarded as a “drop out” by both employers and students) 3)In spite of this, many students tend to choose the “easy” practical electives in years 1-3 and then can miss the deeper understanding provided by the “advanced versions” of common fundamental courses 4)The Bc project is a welcome element in the curriculum which greatly enhances the quality of the subsequent MSc project in year 5

Comparison with the UK system (based on experience at Imperial College London) Much more chemistry at ICT, including lab work Studies are completed by an individual research project Design project is present but has a less prominent role Electives are present in the curriculum from Year 1 Supervised tutorials form part of most courses in all 5 years and contribute significantly to the students’ assessment Starting from the Bc project in year 3, MSc students tend to be closely integrated into the supervisor’s research group through semestral projects and pre-diploma laboratory

Conclusions and Recommendations (my personal views) Give students choice Keep the underlying science fundamentals strong Include project-based work early on Integrate students into on-going research and industrial consultancy projects Don’t assume ‘typical’ career paths or specific industry sectors for graduates, they end up everywhere Thank You!