School of Engineering and Digital Sciences
School of Engineering and Digital Sciences
School of Engineering and Digital Sciences
The Master of Science in Chemical and Materials Engineering (MSc-ChME) degree program is a specialized degree program offered by the School of Engineering (SEng) at Nazarbayev University (NU). Students are required to complete 120 ECTS credits, in 4 semesters, which satisfies the requirements stipulated by the Bologna Process and the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) for Master’s Degrees. The program is research oriented and it is designed to provide the skills required to
solve advanced technical problems in chemical and materials engineering through a combination of Thesis Research and advanced coursework.
All students in the MSc-ChME program are required to complete five advanced core courses (30 ECTS) in key fundamental chemical and materials engineering areas such as Applied Mathematics, Transport Phenomena, Materials Processing, Materials Characterization and Chemical Reaction Engineering. Three additional core courses, Research Methods and Ethics, Research Seminar and Technical Communication (18 ECTS), will be offered to provide students with the general knowledge that is necessary for them to design or present their research in an effective way. Students will also be able to select four elective courses (24 ECTS), from a list of possible options, based on their research interests. Students will be enrolled in MSc Thesis I (24 ECTS) and MSc Thesis II (24 ECTS) courses in the third and fourth semesters to carry out an independent research. A wide variety of research topics will be offered by the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering in areas as diverse as energy generation, conversion and storage; environmental protection, remediation and resource efficiency; process design and simulation; composite functional materials etc. Through its research-intensive nature, the program aims at providing its graduates with the skills required for innovative engineering, to translate research into production, and to foster the future technological development in the country and abroad.
Aims and Objectives
The mission of the School of Engineering at Nazarbayev University is to contribute to the development of Kazakhstan in terms of:
- Educating students with engineering expertise to lead organizations and provide innovative solutions for complex technical issues of enterprises.
- Conducting innovative and pioneering basics of applied research that evolve the body of knowledge in Engineering through interdisciplinary collaboration with other schools and research centers at Nazarbayev University and leading universities worldwide.
- Advancing the professional development in engineering through our service to the professional community and providing lifelong learning opportunities for practitioners.
The MSc-ChME program aims to reflect the mission of the School of Engineering and accomplishes this by pursuing the following objectives:
1. Educate graduate students with the advanced knowledge and skills required to solve research oriented technical problems in chemical and materials engineering;
2. Provide graduate students with an advanced grasp of theories and the insight required for successful professional careers and/or in order to pursue further higher education and lifelong learning;
3. Develop the ability to contribute towards the improvement of the nation’s technological level and to provide the necessary base for future technological developments in the country;
4. Promote a sense of leadership with emphasis on scholarship and professional ethics.Total Number of Credits: 120 ECTS
Year 1: Fall Semester (Semester 1)
Year 1: Spring Semester (Semester 2)
Year 2: Fall Semester (Semester 3)
Year 2: Spring Semester (Semester 4)
*Student can choose an elective course from other Departments in SEDS or Schools per approval of the advisor and the Head of Department. At least two electives should be taken from the MSc-ChME Program.
Program Core Courses
This course addresses the primary need for graduate students to undertake formal training that will help them in understanding how to conduct their research. The course will develop student’s understanding of research plan and engender skills enhancement for reading, interpreting, writing, and presenting key ideas. The course will also instill an understanding of a variety of research methods and ethics and implement appropriate strategies in lecture and workshop settings.
This graduate level course combines the application of rhetorical analysis to stylistic conventions of writing in engineering, with a focus on clarity, conciseness, and coherence. Students will employ process writing to produce genre specific writing familiar to Engineers, including research reports scientific papers designed for specific audiences. This course also trains students to deliver effective and appealing professional and scientific presentations, with attention to best practices in the use of technical English and oral communication.
This course reviews and deepens the advanced analytical and numerical methods to solve ODEs and PDEs. The whole course will be supported by a mathematical software package capable to perform symbolical calculations.
The module is designed for graduate students to cover their research needs concerning mathematical modeling via analytical, semi-analytical or numerical techniques.
This course enables students to gain and apply basic research knowledge and skills to select their research projects in Chemical and Materials Engineering. The course aims to develop the following knowledge and skills:
1. Identifying the area of research interest;
2. Surveying of state of the art for the area of interest;
3. Identifying the research topic and associated issues;
4. Understanding of the social, cultural, global and environmental issues associated with chosen re-
search topic;
5. Writing a research paper based on the literature survey under the supervision of a faculty member;
6. Presentation of a seminar and being assessed by a panel.
This course intends to give students the opportunity to develop their Master Thesis research proposal and to develop a thorough literature review on their research topic. The course aims to develop the following knowledge and skills:
1. Preparation of a thorough and comprehensive literature review to support the research proposal;
2. Formulation of the research hypothesis;
3. Developing and justifying the methods to conduct the research.
4. Writing a thorough and robust research proposal.
5. Conducting research work.
This course intends to give students the opportunity to develop their Master Thesis and presentation on their research topic. The course develops the following knowledge and skills:
1. Demonstration of the research hypothesis;
2. Integration and logical arrangement of the results obtained on their research;
3. Developing logical discussion on their research;
4. Writing Master Thesis;
5. Presentation of their research.
This course provides comprehensive coverage of the main technologies for the production of high-value materials from polymers and ceramics and the theory which underlies materials processing operations. Design and manufacturing of polymeric composites, ceramic matrix composites and ceramic thin films will also be discussed. The conventional and modern manufacturing technologies such as extrusion, molding, sintering, 3D printing, chemical vapor deposition, tape casting and chemical vapor infiltration will be covered in this course.
This course provides an introduction to the latest developments and breakthroughs in the area of advanced characterization techniques available to examine common types of materials, for example, electron microscopy, diffraction, spectroscopy, thermal analysis. Also, the course explains the principles that control each technique and how they operate.
The course is addressed to graduate students and aims at reinforcing and enhancing the knowledge they have on chemical reaction engineering, focusing on problem solving techniques and on connecting the principles presented with relevant applications, especially in the production of materials. At the introductory part of the course, the fundamentals of reaction kinetics and isothermal ideal reactor design are reviewed. Then, the main cases of heterogeneous reacting systems are analyzed including both non-catalytic and catalytic reactions. Advanced topics will be covered, like chemical vapor deposition reactors and applications, providing students with a broader appreciation of the applications of reaction engineering principles and methods in materials production. Finally, students have to present a project on a chemical process emphasizing on the reactor used.
This course will employ the application of the general conservation equations (conservation of momentum, energy and mass) for studying the heat and mass transfer processes related to different types of systems and geometries. Modeling of heat and mass transfer processes for engineering systems, exposed to variety of initial and boundary conditions, is an integral part of this course. Basic classic techniques to solve the simplified version of the modeled equations will be introduced. Numerical techniques will be applied to solve 3-dimensional complex problems. Applications of heat and mass transfer analyses to different fields of chemical and materials engineering will be considered. Step by step techniques will be shown to model and analyze problems selected from specified application areas.
Program Elective Courses
Computational fluid dynamics or CFD is the analysis of systems involving fluid flow, heat transfer and associated phenomena such as chemical reactions by means of computer-based simulation. The technique is very powerful and spans a wide range of industrial and non-industrial application areas. Some examples are: (1) chemical process engineering: mixing and separation, polymer molding; (2) simulation of flow pattern in gas-liquid systems; (3) simulation of air bearing materials; (4) environment engineering: distribution of pollutants and effluents; (5) biomedical engineering: blood flows through arteries and veins, etc. Prior to setting up and running a CFD simulation there is an important stage of identification and formulation of the flow and (or) transport process problem in terms of the physical and chemical phenomena that need to be considered.
The course covers the laws of thermodynamics and their applications to equilibrium and the properties of materials, including phase equilibrium modeling, the concepts of chemical and electrochemical potential and fugacity, surface thermodynamics, interpretation of experimental data and evaluating different thermodynamic models for multiple phases and chemical reaction equilibrium. Furthermore, this course shows application of chemical engineering thermodynamics to real world problems using process simulation software.
This course will introduce the students to Biofilm Science and Engineering and outline the current antimicrobial strategies for biofilm control and mitigation in industrial and health settings.
Part 1: Biofilm life cycle, methods for determination of biofilm structure and activity; biofilm matrix and mechanism of quorum sensing; microbial ecology of industrial biofilms.
Part 2: Biofilms in wastewater treatment and industrial process; Biofilms in heat exchangers (Biofouling), metal structures (microbially influenced corrosion) and food processing (biocontamination).
Part 3: Design of antibiofilm surfaces and coatings for biofilm control and mitigation
Part 4: Case studies on biofilm control and mitigation of specific biocontaminants (e.g., Pseudomonas
aeruginosa and Listeria monocytogenes)
The course will include four guest lectures by industrial biofilm specialists.
Project: The students will write a short group project on biofilms in industrial processes.
Part 1: Biofilm life cycle, methods for determination of biofilm structure and activity; biofilm matrix and mechanism of quorum sensing; microbial ecology of industrial biofilms.
Part 2: Biofilms in wastewater treatment and industrial process; Biofilms in heat exchangers (Biofouling), metal structures (microbially influenced corrosion) and food processing (biocontamination).
Part 3: Design of antibiofilm surfaces and coatings for biofilm control and mitigation
Part 4: Case studies on biofilm control and mitigation of specific biocontaminants (e.g., Pseudomonas
aeruginosa and Listeria monocytogenes)
The course will include four guest lectures by industrial biofilm specialists.
Project: The students will write a short group project on biofilms in industrial processes.
This course will present an overview of the modern, integrated crude oil refinery, its feedstocks, product, and the processes employed to convert crude oil and intermediate streams into finished products. Each refining process will be presented, covering operating description, feedstock and catalyst selection, unit performance, and product output and properties. This course provides major insights into processes like atmospheric distillation, vacuum distillation, desalting, cracking, hydrocracking, catalytic reforming, isomerization and polymerization, coking, visbreaking, and sulfur removal in a typical refinery.
The course aims to provide a detailed understanding of advanced safety concepts, risk assessment and management approaches, accident models, and more recent advancement in the field of risk and reliability engineering. Uncertainty analysis and modeling approaches will also be discussed. This course presents: overview of safety issues in oil and gas industries, definition of various terms used in risk and safety studies, accident modeling, risk assessment methodologies, methods of hazard identification and assessments, probabilistic hazard assessment, and lessons from past accidents.
Emerging pollutants are released into the environment from various anthropogenic sources and are distributed throughout environmental matrices. Most of them escape common detection techniques or conventional treatment facilities. In this course, the most important emerging pollutants like heavy metals, criteria pollutants, endocrine disruptors, pesticides etc. will be presented and discussed along with their main sources, dispersion and transport routes in the environment, monitoring instruments and the most modern abatement technologies. Issues like health effects on humans and impact on ecosystems will be also addressed. Students will get hands on experience through dedicated experimental labs, and will have to work in small groups to deliver a report and presentation of a research topic in the field.
Human exposure analysis is an emerging science concerned with how humans come into contact with chemicals in the environment via inhalation, ingestion, and dermal contact. This course examines individual and population exposure particularly workers of chemical industries to toxic pollutants, the levels of exposure, why exposures occur, and how to quantify exposure events. The course focuses on scientific and engineering issues, including direct measurement and model constructs. Students gain an understanding of the complexities, uncertainties, and physical, chemical and biological issues relevant to human exposure resulting from the use and release of toxic compounds. Topics include human exposure analysis terminology, pollutant fate and transport, human activity patterns, occupational exposure, indoor air quality, dosimetry, statistical tools, and assessment tools for inhalation, ingestion and dermal exposure. For the final project, the students design and perform a small-scale human exposure study using monitoring instruments and/or exposure models.
This course will cover the use of fluid mechanics in the analysis of several key processing operations for polymeric materials, namely extrusion, injection molding and calendering. Initially we present the topic of the viscosity of polymeric melts and models used for its description, such as Power-law, Carreau and Ellis. Next we present the equations of conservation of mass, energy and momentum and their use in the case of non-Newtonian fluids. Finally we present a theoretical analysis of the typical flows used for the derivation of the flow curve of polymer melts (simple shear, cone-and-plate, parallel plate, Couette, Poiseuille, slit flow), derive the models on which rheometry is based and illustrate the limitations of each technique. In the last part of the course we present the application of the lubrication approximation to derive workable models for polymer processing operations. Simplified models are typically one-dimensional models; these will be derived and their relevance to actual processing operations discussed. More advanced models include use of Hele-Shaw and other lubrication flows. During the last segment of the course, the students undertake an individual research project of computational (simulation and analysis of some polymer processing operation, possibly outside those covered in the class), experimental (measurement of an important property of a polymer system, such as viscosity or glass transition temperature) or bibliographical (critical review and exposition of a novel polymeric product or processing technology) nature. The final grade is the result of a final exam, a project and eight homework assignments.
The course covers the preparation, characterization and processing of powder for functional applications. Synthesis of particles by sol-gel and CVD methods. Preparation of fine particles by milling. Characterization of particle size, morphology, shear and mechanical properties. Agglomeration, coating, spray drying, extrusion and 3D printing of particles for production of functional materials. Mathematical modeling of powder processing.
The food industry is commonly the largest industrial sector of most economies. Food engineering involves the conception, design, and operation of food processes, equipment, and plants for efficient and safe food production. Core chemical engineering principles, such as heat and mass transfer and fluid mechanics, are applied, and are expected to be mastered by interested graduate students. However, the average food is substantially more complex than the normal compounds presented in a ChE degree: they present complex rheology, composition, microstructure, etc. In this course, it will be presented the principles of food processing, such as drying, food formulation and characterization, and some relevant chemical and biochemical reactions to the food industry.
This course aims to provide a general understanding of the principles of instrumental analysis with focus on porous materials and powders characterization including pore size distribution, surface area, pore volume, particle density and particle size and shape. It covers the theory, measurement principles and modern analytical techniques and equipment and is complemented by lab sessions. The course focuses on porosimetry (gas and mercury) and particle size distribution (light scattering, sedimentation and mechanical sieves) techniques.
Resource efficiency means using the Earth’s limited resources in a sustainable manner. The first part of the course is related to clean air, water and soil. Sustainable development, related research findings, and the relevant international environmental policies will be recurring topics throughout. The relation between the quality of environment and human health will be discussed, and emphasis will be given on both current and future challenges. The second part of the course will be dedicated to the solutions that advanced materials can offer in environmental and biomedical applications. Research will be integrated to teaching by presenting the latest findings on a variety of topics: natural and synthetic zeolites, cryogels, thermo ablation and nanomaterials, and photocatalysis and nanocatalysts for environmental protection and cancer treatment.
The purpose of the course is to give an understanding of principles energy material science. This course includes lectures on the fundamentals, characterizations, preparation and evaluation methods of advanced and currently used materials for energy applications. Energy generation, conversion and storage in solar cells, fuel cells and particularly Li-ion batteries are going to be presented. Additionally, some unique properties of materials will be considered for designing of batteries for particular applications.
Other advanced energy related technologies as fuel cell and photovoltaics will be introduced and the mainly applied materials will be discussed. Students will be engaged in the experimental works involving preparation of electrodes and electrolytes, and also assembly of coin cells and performance testing. Fabrication and studying of nanomaterials will be also taken into account in the laboratory works, as well as their physical properties characterization through the techniques of XRD, BET, spectroscopy etc. Finally, assembled batteries will undergo evaluation by its electrochemical measurement. Students will carry our individual and group projects, therefore be trained to design the experimental work, characterization/evaluation of the physical/electrochemical properties and interpret the overall obtained results.
Computational Materials Science and Engineering (CMSE) is the computer-based employment of modeling and simulation to understand/predict materials behavior and to design next generation material systems. While the complexity of the physics and multi-scale nature of materials makes computational modeling challenging, modern methods of CMSE are beginning to produce widespread impact in the design and development of new materials. A number of computational methods and tools targeted to different spatio-temporal scales have been well established, ranging from electronic structure calculations based on density functional theory, atomic molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo techniques, mesoscale dynamics, phase-field method, to continuum-level macroscopic approaches. The basic theoretical background and applications of these computational methods in chemical and materials research will be introduced, but the course will also emphasize hands-on training through computational exercises.
This course will discuss the chemistry of the chromium in airborne particles; tropospheric gas-phase chemistry; tropospheric heterogeneous chemistry; stratospheric chemistry; and characterization of the atmospheric aerosol and its role in heterogeneous reactions and materials transport. The course includes indoor air chemistry as well. The course will detail the chemistry and physics of current atmospheric pollution issues, including urban smog, acid rain, global warming, stratospheric ozone depletion, visibility, and indoor air quality. Additionally, the course discusses the health impact and toxicity of airborne and engineered nanoparticles that enter the human body via inhalation. A particular attention will be given to indoor air quality and the existing aerosol sources. Human exposure analysis is an emerging science concerned with how humans come into contact with chemicals in the environment via inhalation, ingestion, and dermal contact. Human exposure analysis examines individual and population exposure to pollutants, the levels of exposure, why exposures occur, and how to quantify exposure events. The course focuses on scientific and engineering issues, including direct measurement and model constructs. Students gain an understanding of the complexities, uncertainties, and physical, chemical and biological issues relevant to human exposures resulting from the use and release of toxic compounds. Topics include human exposure analysis terminology, pollutant fate and transport, human activity patterns, occupational exposure, indoor air quality, dosimetry, statistical tools. The course strongly incorporates research into teaching and is tied with its laboratory and field measurements.
The laboratory and field measurements help the students to learn about gas and aerosol instrumentations and their applications on indoor/outdoor air monitoring and conduct research in this field. The MSc. students will do computer and modeling research and present their findings in the form of a project report.
The laboratory and field measurements help the students to learn about gas and aerosol instrumentations and their applications on indoor/outdoor air monitoring and conduct research in this field. The MSc. students will do computer and modeling research and present their findings in the form of a project report.