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Bioprocessing Engineering Concentration

Collage showing bioprocess engineering students working in the lab with different types of equipment.

Welcome to the Undergraduate Bioprocessing Engineering Concentration of the Biological Engineering Degree Program (BE).

This program earns a Bachelor of Science Degree from NC State University. The concentration is about using biological materials to develop new process, products and by-products. Please read the Bioprocessing Engineering General Overview to learn what Bioprocess Engineering is all about and to find additional bioprocess program information.

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COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Button link to biological agricultural engineering curriculum.

Over a petri dish blue gloved hands use sergical scissors and tweezer to place a film like substance in a dish.Bioprocess engineering students gain lab experience. Above, a student carefully cuts and places a sample into a petri dish.

A faculty member and bioprocess engineering student are stripping sweet sorghum stems for biofuel conversion.Sweet sorghum is being processed as a first step in the conversion of crops to biofuel.

A bioprocess engineering student inspects a conversion vat and take a sample of processed cider. Many kinds of crops are being explored to create biofuels. This senior design project converts apple cider into biofuel.

A student works at an analyzer. Computer applications are increasingly important to bioprocess development.

A bioprocess engineerig student is preparing peppers for compound extraction. This Bioprocessing student is preparing Habañero peppers for sampling. They have prominent pharmaceutical and antioxidant properties useful in value added products such as topical creams.

Bioprocess students garbed in white jump suits and plastic caps pose for a group photo before entering a clean room.Students wear clean room suits on a tour of the Novozymes North America Inc. bioprocessing plant.

Someone will be engineering bioprocesses so why not you!

What Students Learn ...

Students studying in the bioprocess engineering concentration at NC State University enhance classroom learning with hands-on laboratory experiences. Through numerous laboratory opportunities, students actively work with the concepts being taught. 

Safety in the lab is important this students wears a lab coat and safety glasses.

Some areas of bioprocess studies:

  • Bioenergy
  • Biocatalysis
  • Bioinstrumentation
  • Bioproducts
  • Feedstock & development
  • Extraction technologies
  • Product separation and fermentation processes

Concentration electives allow the student to focus on topics of interest to them. Engineering curriculums can be challenging and the department helps each student to succeed. Students can promote their own success by embracing some of these "Tips for Student Success" .

About the Bioprocess Lab

Students will be spending plenty of time in the Bioprocess Lab. The Bioproducts development laboratory is a unique workspace for researchers in the bioprocessing area. Faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, summer interns and high school students interested in bioprocess engineering can take advantage of this approximately 1000 sq. ft. wet lab which is fully equipped with standard lab equipment including a biological safety hood, fume hood, stand alone sterilizer (a larger autoclave connected to building steam is available in the department), ultra and micro centrifuges, and refrigerators/freezers.

The laboratory is well equipped to perform aerobic and anaerobic culture studies at flask level as well as in 5, 7 and 14L New Brunswick bioreactors. The lab has a UV-Vis spectrophotometer for absorbance measurements and Shimadzu (300 series) High Pressure Liquid Chromatograph with 3 detectors including the UV-Vis detector (VDM-2), autosampler (ASM-2), and gradient pump (AGP-2), required for sample component quantification. A Shimadzu GC with FID and TCD detectors and autosampler is available for analysis of gaseous and liquid samples if needed.

The Capstone Senior Design Course

Photo: A group photo of a past Senior Design engineering group.
Students pose for a photo after their presentations.

In the last year of study, students work on a Senior Design team project. Senior Design is the two semester capstone engineering course where students are involved with a real-world design project of their own choosing. Projects are sponsored by faculty members or private industry with engineering problems to solve. Upon completion of the course students are expected to present the outcomes to sponsors.

empty Student Projects

Examples of past projects

System Design for the Conversion of Fruit Processing Waste to Renewable Resources

Fermentation of Sweet potatoes for Glutamic Acid Production

Refining Vegetable Oil and Waste Grease for Biodiesel

Solar Powered Water Heater

Semi-Automated Reactor for Enzymatic Production of Biodiesel

An example of an undergraduate independent research project presented at the Annual NCSU Undergraduate Symposium.

Enzymatic Conversion of a Paper-Based Cellulosic Substrate to Fermentable Sugars

Learn more about Senior Design

Pre-Professional Development

College organizations provide pre-professional development skills. See BAE Student Clubs. Many professional organizations offer students reduced fee memberships.

Bioprocess engineers belong to these professional organizations:

  • American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASABE)
  • Institute of Biological Engineering (IBE)
  • International Society for Bioprocess Technology (ISBioTech)
  • International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE)

empty Bioprocess Engineering Students in Action...

A student in the bioprocess lab. A bioprocess engineering student using a centrifuge A bioprocess engineering student working with a culture under a fume hood
Bioprocess engineering students are exposed to equipment and processes used in today's modern laboratories. Weaver labs' main bioprocess lab has been recently upgraded.

image: graduation cap When you Graduate...

Graduates are often hired as:

  • Process engineers / Process development and biomanufacturing operations managers
  • Bioprocess engineers and associate engineers
  • Bioprocess, Bio materials R&D scientists and laboratory engineers
  • Agri-chemical bioprocess engineer
  • Pharmaceutical or nutraceutical research, process development and management, lab manager and sales reps.
  • Agricultural commodity processors and inspectors
  • Bio Lab Test Consultant
  • Green industry - Bio-energy researcher, process developer and technologist
  • Food Processing engineering and management
  • Learn more about Job Opportunities & Salaries

Many students go on to graduate school to prepare for higher-level positions or research careers. Others have found positions in North Carolina's many labs and numerous pharmaceutical and agricultural product companies located in Research Triangle Park and the surrounding Triad region.

Graphic: drawing of a hand holding a book Getting started

Do you have a questions or want to apply? Contact us.