Chemical engineering preparation

Welcome

This page contains some exercises, video links and background reading to help you prepare for the upcoming semester. You should also revise your notes from A-level chemistry, maths (and physics if you took it) to make sure you are up to date with everything you should know already.

It would also be useful for you to look at the material supplied by the Library on general skills such as referencing and technical writing, as these will be invaluable to you throughout your degree and in future careers.

Year 1 overview

In each academic year at Surrey, you will study eight modules – four per semester. We have listed links to the module catalogue which contain key information on the module including:

• Module overview and indicative module content
• Student workload and its breakdown
• Assessment pattern
• Modules aims and learning outcomes
• Teaching and learning methods
• Reading list.

So that you can get an understanding of what and how you will study as a chemical engineering student.

Semester 1 modules

• Engineering Materials and Sustainability
• Science Principles for Engineers
• Mass and Energy Balances
• Mathematics 1.

Semester 2 modules

• Transferable and Laboratory Skills
• Mathematics 2
• Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics
• Petroleum Fundamentals and Chemistry (Chemical and Petroleum Engineering courses) OR
• Industrial Chemistry (Chemical Engineering courses).

Reading lists

Many chemical engineering textbooks are not available as an individual, and copyright restrictions prevent us from sharing the texts with you. However, once you start at the University of Surrey you will have access to a wealth of information through the Library. Many textbooks are online and there is also a digital textbook scheme through BibliU where you will be able to read and download your own personal copy of key textbooks. Get more information on the digital textbook scheme.

In the meantime, we have put together a chemical engineering document (PDF) which contains some links to background reading and videos on chemical engineering, along with a couple of exercises for you to have a go at.

Revision

It’s important you are familiar with the mathematical concepts you studied at A-level (or equivalent) and there are two modules in Year 1 focusing on mathematics for this reason.

To get yourself prepared for these modules and the mathematics present in other modules, we have compiled some revision questions for you to work through over the summer:

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING MATHS REVISION (PDF)

We’ve also put together some general revision questions on background knowledge for chemical engineering:

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING GENERAL REVISION (PDF)