Process Engineering
Process Engineering is the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science’s newest discipline, designed to satisfy the needs of various processing industries, including oil and gas, and mineral processing.
Process Engineering is a diversified program, which encompasses new development, design, safety and environment, optimization, and operation of sustainable processes for human needs. A process engineer uses biological, chemical, and physical processing of substances to modify their nature, their properties, and/or the composition of mixtures to produce useful products, such as petrochemicals, gasoline, diesel, metals and alloys. This requires a thorough knowledge of materials, chemical and physical sciences, and mathematics, as well as an ability to apply this knowledge in an economical and sustainable way to engineering development.
Memorial’s Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science is the only school in to offer this unique program. While other Canadian universities offer a chemical engineering program, which focuses on the processing of chemicals, process engineering places emphasis on the processing rather than the chemicals. It focuses on the processing of petrochemical, oil, gas, minerals, food and any other material used to obtain valuable products.
The bachelor of engineering major in process engineering will be taught by a multidisciplinary team of faculty members with expertise in metallurgical processes, geological engineering, electro-mechanical engineering, environmental engineering, safety and risk engineering, and oil and gas engineering. It is designed to provide students with a specialization in the areas of minerals and metals processing and downstream oil and gas processing. Throughout the program, and within each area of specialization, emphasis will be placed on green and clean processes that are environmentally-benign and inherently-safe. Graduates of the program will be safety- and environmentally-conscious engineers, who will be able to contribute to large-scale industrial development in a sustainable manner - a priority for the process and allied industries.
The possibilities for a dynamic career as a process engineer are endless. It is the program of the 21st century based on sustainability of engineering development. Graduates from the program will have the knowledge and technical competence to support the economic and technological development of our province including new initiatives such as the Hebron development, petroleum refinery, and metal processing. This program will also attract national and international students. Furthermore, researchers in process engineering will help to solve some of the unique challenges faced by these industries, such as operation in harsh climatic conditions, asset integrity, safety and environment management, as well as day-to-day operational issues such as process scheduling and maintenance.
As you move through the process engineering program, you will take a variety of courses that will help you prepare for a career as a process engineer. You will complete processing courses in engineering thermodynamics, mathematical methods, engineering calculations, modeling and analysis, equipment design, dynamics and control, simulation, and plant design and economics. Other courses include an introduction to process engineering, mass transfer, chemical reaction engineering, sustainable engineering in processing industries, and industrial pollution control/pollution prevention. Elective courses will be available in minerals and metals processing, and downstream oil and gas processing.
Engineering Program Organizational Chart
| Fall | Winter | Spring | |
| Year 1 | Engineering One * | ||
| Year 2 | Term 3 | Work Term | Term 4 |
| Year 3 | Work Term | Term 5 | Work Term |
| Year 4 | Term 6 | Work Term | Term 7 |
| Year 5 | Work Term | Term 8 | - |
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Students who complete the Engineering One requirements during the first two semesters of Year One may undertake their first work term during the spring semester of that year.
This new major will be offered for the first time in Academic Term 3 in September 2009, to the Class of 2013.
Career Opportunities
Graduates from the Process Engineering program will be qualified to work anywhere in the world, in processing operations, as:
Process Engineers
Oil and Gas Engineers
Chemical Engineers
Plant Engineers
Reliability/Safety Engineers
Mill and Plant Superintendents
Engineering Consultants
Operations Managers
Research Engineers in Research and Development facilities associated with process or product development.