Illinois launches groundbreaking chemical engineering plus data science degree program

The Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has launched an innovative bachelor’s degree program that combines the principles of chemical engineering with rigorous training in data science. The Chemical Engineering + Data Science (ChemE+DS) degree will uniquely prepare graduates to leverage big data in the chemical engineering field to guide informed decision-making and design choices.

Data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence are becoming ubiquitous in many scientific fields – including chemical engineering – and this digital transformation is resulting in massive data sets being collected during all stages of research and industrial processes. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates a 36% increase in data science jobs between 2021 and 2031, fueled by the rising need for professionals skilled in managing big data. The Illinois ChemE+DS program aims to help meet that demand.

Students enrolled in the ChemE+DS program will complete the core chemical engineering curriculum, including courses like mass and energy balances, thermo-fluid mechanics, kinetics, separations and more. Additionally, they will take a collection of data science classes – such as data analytics, probability and statistics, computational methods, data curation and ethics – from the departments of Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics and the School of Information Sciences. In a practicum course their senior year, students will apply their training during internships or research experiences.

“This program is not just a chemical engineering degree with a collection of courses taught by people detached from chemical engineering in the data science field,” said Baron G. Peters, William H. and Janet G. Lycan Professor and director of undergraduate studies in chemical and biomolecular engineering. “This has courses that really integrate these two elements of their training so that students, once they graduate, have practiced using data science tools in the context of chemical engineering problems.”

According to Peters, this is the only program of its kind at the undergraduate level. While other programs may offer a data science master’s degree after undergraduate work is completed, the Illinois program is incorporated into the undergraduate experience and can be completed in four years.

This program – one of several “X + Data Science” degrees offered by the U. of I. that combines data science with other disciplines – is designed to meet the industry’s evolving needs and ensure graduates are well-prepared for the modern workplace.

“People in industry are grappling with the question of how to implement data science,” Peters said. “There are a lot of chemical engineers who have taught themselves some basic data science routines, but probably don’t have a holistic view of the whole field and which tools are best for which kinds of problems. I think that people in industry are going to find the combination – the ability to be fully trained in chemical engineering fundamentals while also having a high degree of literacy and broad training in data science tools – will really make our students valuable on teams that are using both.”

More information about the Chemical Engineering + Data Science program is available on the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering website. More information about the suite of X+DS programs offered at Illinois is available at datascience.illinois.edu