UNIVERSIDAD PONTIFICIA BOLIVARIANA - UPB SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

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1 UNIVERSIDAD PONTIFICIA BOLIVARIANA - UPB SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT The School of Chemical Engineering is a high quality academic institution where both teaching and research are developed, and knowledge is transferred to society. Table 1. Academic degrees offered by the department. Bachelor Specialist Master Ph.D. Environmental Chemical Engineering Engineering Chemical Engineering Environmental Management Biotechnology Biotechnology (In partnership with Universidad Católica de Oriente) Biotechnology (In partnership with Universidad de Antioquia, Universidad Católica de Oriente, Universidad de Pamplona) 1. BACHELOR DEGREE The undergraduate program was launched in 1938, under the name of School of Industrial Chemistry. Currently, named as Chemical Engineering, the department has 29 faculty members and 250 students, and has graduated about 1500 professionals. Table 2. Academic degrees of the faculty members Academic Degree Faculty members PhD 11 MSc 9 Specialists 3 Bc 6 Our undergraduate program received high quality accreditation, certification provided by the national government to those programs that voluntarily request an external review by the government and external academic peers. The formation of the UPB s chemical engineer is aimed to educate students committed to the technological development of industry of physic-chemical transformations of matter, capable of working in interdisciplinary teams on projects of opening, integration as well as business,

2 industrial, commercial and service development. Ethical professionals aware of the productive, rational and efficient use of natural resources, of the conservation of the environment and its social function as a person, as an engineer and as an agent of development and change of society in which he/she lives. The principles guiding the curriculum are: integrity, flexibility, interdisciplinary, intercultural, context-internationalization. It favors active student position in building their own knowledge and decision-making in relation to their academic and professional interests, for example, 18% of academic activities including the curriculum may be chosen by the student according to their interests, needs and abilities. The internationalization of the program has been promoted especially in recent years: more than 10 undergraduate students have done academic periods or practical training in foreign institutions (universities and companies), and more than 30 have shown their projects in academic and research abroad. In 2009 an agreement of double degree was signed with the University of Applied Sciences in Münster (Germany), 2 foreign students have come to study different academic periods in the program. It is important to note that the academic activities of the undergraduate curriculum in chemical engineering are organized into four training cycles: University Basic Cycle: strengthens the ethical and humanistic as well as entrepreneurship. Basic Discipline Cycle: includes basic engineering sciences. Professional Cycle: Allows recognize the context of the profession to perform with success in the workplace. Cycle Integration: Facilitates integration into graduate school. The undergraduate curriculum in chemical engineering consists of 191 credits, distributed in 60 academic activities. In Colombia, 1 credit corresponds to 48 total hours of student's academic work, carried out in an individual way or advised by the professor. Thus, the undergraduate program in chemical engineering requires about 9200 hours of dedication by the student. A student takes about 5.5 years to complete the total of credits. The frequency of admission to the program is every six months, at the start and half of the year. The academic activities are carried out in four periods: January to May, May-June, July to November and November-December. It is important to indicate that currently the department is changing its curriculum, with the aim of reducing the total number of credits, to renew the teaching and learning methods and to achieve a more flexible curriculum, which will also facilitate the process of internationalization. It has considered internal and external sources, for example, it was conducted a prospective study of chemical engineering and education in the profession, and was consulted the recommendations of the following sources: Association of Chemical Engineers AIChE American Society for Engineering Education ASEE European Federation of Chemical Engineering EFCE - Acuerdo de Bolonia Asociación Iberoamericana de Educación en Ingeniería ASIBEI

3 Asociación Colombiana de Facultades de Ingeniería ACOFI Consejo Intergremial de la Ingeniería, la Arquitectura, la Construcción y la Economía CIDE Conferencia Mundial del Sector de Productos Químicos y Farmacéuticos ICEM National Academy of Engineering NAE 2. INVESTIGATION The Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana has declared to be a university with emphasis on research and innovation, which also marks the vocation of the Chemical Engineering Department. The department has three established research groups. The relevance of the research is reflected in the recognition that COLCIENCIAS, the administrative department of science, technology and innovation in Colombia, has given to their groups: two of them are in category B, where were ranked only 18% of the Colombian groups, and the other in category C, which comprises 23% of the national groups. Table 3. Research groups and research topics. Research group Members Research topics Pulp and paper 5 Utilization of lignocellulosic wastes Biotechnology in the paper industry Paper Chemistry Simulation of industrial processes Environmental research group (GIA) 6 Atmospheric Studies Efficient use of water and quality Environmental Management Management and Waste Recovery Environmental Laboratory Biotechnology research group (CIBIOT) 7 Environmental Biotechnology Plant Biotechnology Fermentations Industrial Fermentations industrial and environmental microbiology Formative research is also encouraged at the undergraduate level, through activities such as laboratories, among others. About 30% of students belong to the seed program of research groups. In the past 6 years, teachers and researchers of the program have generated a good level of research results: more than 80 journal papers, over 200 papers at national and international events, 5 prototypes, 10 electronic resources (specialized software), 2 books and 3 labs manuals, among others. These products have increased the knowledge base of academic and scientific community nationally and internationally, have boosted productivity applications and supported the training of students in the program.

4 3. SOCIAL PROJECTION Be connected with the environment and offer solutions to the problems of society, is important for the department. There have been about 40 research projects in collaboration with government entities (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development, National Service for Training SENA, Interamerican Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture IICA, Governor of Antioquia) and several companies. External support has been received by more than 3.9 million dollars (84% of the total). Among these projects are: CIBIOT: Supports the national fique community, of which 70,000 families are dependent economically speaking, working in over workshops about this product. We have studied the multiple use of fique juice and its derivatives, and the development of a management model of productivity and competitiveness for different associations: for instance, it has trained more than 300 fique growers in several skills, tools and production techniques. Pulp and Paper: Participate in projects of the Center for Energy Research and Innovation CIIEN, an initiative by EPM. Has developed 10 software packages to support the simulation of industrial processes (solving systems of equations by homotopic methods, programs that calculate thermodynamic properties of mixtures of substances). These packages are currently used extensively in different courses and have been supplied to students free of charge since GIA: A project that deals about the production of lightweight waste aggregates ALER, with applications in the construction of prefabricated panels, received second place in 2009 in Corona National Award Pro Habitat. The group has conducted research for various government agencies such as the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development, Government of Antioquia, Metropolitan Area of Aburra Valley, the Municipality of Medellín, EPM, Corporation for the Sustainable Development of Uraba, Universidad Nacional, Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca and Quindío, and other companies. In relation to the provision of advisory and consulting services: CIBIOT: provides consulting services through the microbiology laboratory (water, soil and finished product). GIA: performs activities in its 5 lines of action, one of which is the environmental laboratory capable of analyzing 154 parameters in the fields of air, water and waste. It has quality certification under ISO 9001:2000, is recognized by the Metropolitan Area of the Aburra Valley as the only laboratory authorized to perform the Sampling and Analysis of Hazardous Waste; it is accredited by the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies NTC-ISO/IEC IDEAM under standard 17025:2005. It is recognized extensively by public environmental agencies Medellin and Antioquia, and environmental departments of companies and various institutions.

5 4. GRADUATE DEGREE As expected, the graduate programs offered by the department of chemical engineering are supported by the research groups mentioned above, and other groups pertaining to the School of Engineering of the UPB. Specializations include about 25 credits, about 50 for Masters, and PhD approximately 100. Specialization and Master in Biotechnology are supported by CIBIOT. Both graduate programs seek to strengthen the skills of professionals and scientists with greater academic and creative abilities, with the availability to generate inclusive and multidisciplinary development, and with the virtue of selecting areas where evidencing advantages and strategic opportunities in biotechnology. Additionally, it aims to create a suitable environment that allows an approach between the University and the Company to achieve a desirable technological development for the benefit of society and in relation to its surroundings. The specific action areas of the program are on bioprocesses and plant biotechnology, covering applications in industry, health and environmental conservation, among others. Specializations in Environmental Engineering and Environmental Management have the support of GIA. Focus their academic formation on strengthening the skills of the professional profile for the creation of alternatives in the management of human activities that lead to improvement in quality of life. Convoke professional, interdisciplinary perspective to study the prevention, diagnosis, control and mitigation of environmental impacts at different levels: organizational, sectoral, regional and national levels, seeking to improve organizational competitiveness and sustainable development. The Master of Engineering - Chemical Engineering, is supported by research groups in different areas of knowledge such as the GIA, the CIBIOT and Pulp and Paper, by the Department of Chemical Engineering, and other School Engineering s groups of the UPB, as GINUMA New Materials Group, the Agribusiness Research Group GRAIN, Energy and Thermodynamics Group GET, among others. The master program promotes both argumentative and interpretive skills to expand the overview of the application of chemical engineering. It aims at the generation of attitudes to research and criticism around new technologies and advanced topics applicable to the field of engineering and management techniques for the formulation, planning, design, implementation, operation, optimization, and evaluation research focused on solving problems related to the chemical industry. His specific areas of action include the assessment, analysis and solution of problems having to do with the operations and physical-chemical processing, modeling, control, and process optimization, the use of lignocellulosic materials and / or waste from the chemical industry and agribusiness, fermentation management, the implementation of biofactories and the production and chemical separation. The PhD in Biotechnology, which is offered in partnership with the University of Antioquia, the Eastern Catholic University and the University of Pamplona, in operation since Its objectives are to train researchers with extensive knowledge of advanced technologies in biotechnology, promoting the necessary leadership for interdisciplinary research, promote awareness of sustainable use of biodiversity, and encourage the use of biotechnology in the national environment in order to generate social and economic options for the country.

6 In addition, the School of Engineering of the UPB offers other graduate programs of interest to chemical engineers: 6 Majors, 10 Masters and Ph.D. in Engineering, Energy research lines, thermodynamics and the environment and materials.