Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Honors Program
Bob Powell, chair of chemical engineering and materials science
The youngest member of the University Honors Program is the honors program for chemical and biochemical engineering majors. Debuting this year, the program is available only to students studying chemical and biochemical engineering. The inaugural class consists of 11 students. The program has been highly anticipated.
"The faculty like to teach bright students," said Bob Powell, the chemical engineering and materials science department chair who helped bring about the program, "and this should help us recruit and train more of them."
Unlike other departmental honors programs that consist of just a senior thesis, the chemical and biochemical engineering program is designed to be a four-year experience. During their first quarter, students in the program take an honors seminar that introduces them to current topics in their field. In subsequent quarters, they take honors sections to enrich regular chemical engineering classes, similar to Davis Honors Challenge honors sections. Students also must complete an honors project over three quarters. The project must be team-based and likely will involve collaboration with local industry.
‘The top students can go to Berkeley or Stanford or a small school on the East Coast, but if they want to stay in California and they want another UC-quality program that offers special opportunities, we should provide it.’
Bob Powell, chair of chemical engineering and materials science
Powell had spent time reviewing Davis Honors Challenge in the past and is in the same department as Integrated Studies Director Jim Shackelford. As a result, his program shares some characteristics with its campus-wide counterparts.
"The student will get a similar experience," Powell said, comparing his program to the honors challenge, "but with subject matter specific to their field and with a lot more contact with faculty along the way."
Like Integrated Studies, the chemical and biochemical engineering program is by invitation only. Spots this year were offered to the top 25 percent of incoming freshmen accepted into the two majors. And like the two other honors programs, the departmental program will offer its participants the same benefits and require the same academic standards.
Already, this new program shows signs of being successful. Of 142 students this year who have been given Regents' scholarships, the university's most prestigious scholarship, 11 are within chemical engineering and material science– a surprisingly high number, given the small size of the department. The figure indicates that the honors program is drawing top students to chemical and biochemical engineering, Powell says.
Powell anticipates his program will continue to lure high-achieving students to campus.
"I'm hoping it will give us an advantage," he said. "The top students can go to Berkeley or Stanford or a small school on the East Coast, but if they want to stay in California and they want another UC-quality program that offers special opportunities, we should provide it."