Chemical Engineering with Foundation Year

Please check the Sheffield Hallam University website for the latest information

Course summary

• Become a professional chemical engineer from day one.

• Learn by completing applied and industry-led projects from the very start.

• Explore mass and energy balances, thermodynamics, process safety and reaction engineering.

• Engage in sustainability-related projects such as hydrogen and carbon capture.

• Gain hands-on practical and lab skills to support your technical understanding.

• Prepare for the full degree with an extra foundation year at the start.

On this course you’ll build your knowledge of key chemical engineering topics through practical and project-based learning – with an emphasis on solving industrial challenges. You’ll gain the skills and experience to design safe, sustainable and economically viable industrial plants and processes, becoming a chemical engineer with essential skills in our society.

This foundation year course is for those who don't meet the entry requirements for our BEng Hon Chemical Engineering course or would like extra preparation before starting degree-level study.

How you learn
All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing you with a supportive environment in which you can thrive.

This course is designed for you to gain experience as a professional engineer by developing technical and professional skills from the start. You’ll have opportunities to apply your skills and knowledge at every level, through real-world project-based learning set and supported by industrial partners. Could this be changed to - Previous projects have been supported by British Oxygen Company (BOC), ITM Power and E.ON.

Through practical laboratory sessions, you’ll learn how fundamental concepts work in practice. As part of projects you complete on the course, you’ll visit chemical and process plants to help you understand how chemical engineers design plants, plus the wider implications and impact on society.

You learn through:

• Diverse lectures emphasising peer collaboration.

• Tutorials to practise and apply your knowledge ahead of assessments.

• Hands-on lab experience including computational modelling and simulation.

• Q&A and discussions for self-assessment and understanding.

• Support sessions for receiving feedback and preparing for assessments.

• Teamwork activities for collaboration in an innovative environment.

• Project-based learning to apply knowledge, creativity, design, critical analysis and professional skills to real-world projects.

Course topics
Core modules on this course cover key chemical engineering topics, such as mass and energy balances, thermodynamics and reaction engineering.

You’ll be presented with chemical engineering concepts for you to critically evaluate and take ownership of your learning. Projects defined in-partnership with research colleagues in The Materials and Engineering Research Institute (MERI) and National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering (NCEFE) will allow you to understand the wide range of projects and job roles available to chemical engineers.

Assessments will be varied with an emphasis on developing communication skills required by professional engineers. You’ll produce portfolios and project reports, deliver engaging presentations and test your understanding in exams.

Live projects
At every level of the course, you’ll work on applied projects set by industrial partners and research centres. We have developed strong links with UK and multinational companies, from corrosion consultants to biomass power stations.