BSE Academic Requirements

Note: This is a record of the academic requirements for the BSE major, which is no longer admitting students. The BSE major has been superseded by the SBSE major as of Autumn 2025

BSE Schedule

A PDF of the course requirements and a sample 4-year degree plan is available at this document. Students must complete the BSE-prefixed courses in the quarter and year indicated.

BSE Major

To earn a B.S in Bioresource Science and Engineering, undergraduate students complete the following courses.

Key

+ = Admission Requirements – to be completed prior to application
% =ENGRUD Placement requirement or recommended
$ = Enrollment or satisfactory progress requirements – to be completed before Fall quarter of Junior year

Math and Statistics (18-26 credits)

+ % MATH 124, 125, 126- Calculus with Analytical Geometry I, II, III (15cr) or honors equivalent (MATH 134, 135, 136)

$ MATH 207 (or AMATH 351) – Introduction to Differential Equations (3cr) [pr: MATH 125] (not required if MATH 134-136 completed)

$ MATH 208 (or AMATH 352) – Matrix Algebra with Applications (3cr) [pr: MATH 126] (not required if MATH 134-136 completed)

One Statistics course from the following (3-5 credits): QSCI 381, IND E 315, or STAT 390

Sciences (39-42 Credits)

+ % CHEM 142 – General Chemistry (5 cr) or CHEM 143/CHEM 145

+ % CHEM 152 – General Chemistry (5 cr) or CHEM 153/155

+ CHEM 162 – General Chemistry (5 cr) or CHEM 165 (162/165 not required if CHEM 153 completed)

$ CHEM 237 – Organic Chemistry (4 cr)

$ CHEM 238 – Organic Chemistry (4 cr)

+ % PHYS 121 – Mechanics (5cr) (or PHYS 141 – honors)

$ PHYS 122 – Electromagnetism (5 cr) (or PHYS 142 – honors)

$ PHYS 123 – Waves (5 cr) (or PHYS 143 – honors)

$ AA 260 – Thermodynamics (4 cr) [must be completed before Fall Junior year]

Additional Math/Statistics/Sciences courses: 0-11 NSc credit if needed to reach 68 NSc credits (formerly NW)

General Education Requirements

Basic Skills (8-11 cr):

+ % English Composition – ENGL 131 or similar (5cr)

ENGR 231 – Introduction to Technical Communication (3cr)

Diversity-DIV (3cr) – choose a course that also meets A&H/SSc for it to double-count

Areas of Inquiry (25 cr):

Arts & Humanities (A&H) – formerly VLPA (10cr)

Social Science (SSc) – formerly I&S (10cr) (other than ECON 200)

ECON 200: Microeconomics

Engineering Elective Credit (12 credits)

12 credits chosen from the courses on this list:

Bioresource Science and Engineering: Engineering Electives

Course	Title	Cr	Description	Prerequisites
Aeronautics and Astronautics
A A 210	Engineering Statics	4	Applies vector analysis to equilibrium of rigid body systems and subsystems. Includes force and moment resultants, free body diagrams, internal forces, and friction. Analyzes basic structural and machine systems and components.	2.0+ in both MATH 126/136 and PHYS 121/141
Bioresource Science and Engineering
BSE 475	Life Cycle Assessment: Fundamentals and Bio-Based Applications	5	Overview of life cycle thinking, the fundamental theory of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework, and practical applications in supporting real-world decision-making. Presents state-of-the-art LCA tools, industrial case studies, and advanced LCA methodologies using the framework of bio-based materials and bioenergy solutions. Emphasizes systems thinking.
Chemical Engineering
CHEM E 326	Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics	4	Phase equilibria and chemical equilibria in multicomponent systems; theories of solution; chemical reaction analysis.	CHEM E 325
CHEM E 341	Energy & Environment	3	Energy use. Fossil energy conversion. Oil, gas, coal resources. Air impacts. Nuclear energy principles, reactors, fuel cycle.	MATH 112, MATH 124, MATH 134, or Q SCI 291; and either CHEM 120, CHEM 142, CHEM 143, CHEM 145, PHYS 114, PHYS 121, or PHYS 141
CHEM E 355	Biological Frameworks for Engineers	3	For engineers with no prior experience in the biological sciences. Hands-on, project-based course covers fundamental concepts and language of biology, from an engineering perspective. Topics include functions of life, information processing, proteins, DNA, genetic variability, control loops, energetics, tissues, organisms, ecosystems.	either CHEM 142/145; and either MATH 124/134
CHEM E 375	Chemical Engineering Computer Skills	2	Use Excel, Matlab, and AspenPlus to solve typical chemical engineering problems. Solve realistic problems and explore alternatives that would be inaccessible for hand calculations. Includes equations of state, chemical equilibrium of simultaneous reactions, phase equilibria, plug flow reactors, heat transfer in 1-D, and time-dependent heat transfer.
CHEM E 436	Chemical Engineering Lab I	3	Lectures on statistics, experimental design, instrumentation, laboratory safety, and report writing; laboratory experiments on fluid mechanics and heat transfer. Emphasis on teaming, experimental planning, procedures, report writing, and oral presentations.	CHEM E 326; CHEM E 340 which may be taken concurrently; HCDE/ENGR 231
CHEM E 455	Surface & Colloid Science Lab	3	Laboratory techniques, equipment, and underlying fundamentals in surface and colloid science. Experiments in the measurement of surface tension, adsorption, wetting and spreading, colloid properties, emulsion preparation and stability, electrophoresis, and interfacial hydrodynamics.
CHEM E 480	Process Dynamics & Control	4	Dynamics of process units and systems; instrumentation and control system design and analysis. Includes weekly laboratory.	CHEM E 435; CHEM E 465
CHEM E 481	Process Optimization	3	Concepts and techniques of optimizing chemical engineering processes and systems, including classical and direct methods of search, linear and nonlinear programming, dynamic programming, statistical experimental design, and evolutionary operation.
Civil and Environmental Engineering
CEE 220	Introduction to Mechanics of Materials	4	Introduction to the concepts of stress, deformation, and strain in solid materials. Development of basic relationships among loads, stresses, and deflections of structural and machine elements such as rods, shafts, and beams. Load-carrying capacity of these elements under tension, compression, torsion, bending, and shear forces.	Minimum grade of 2.0 in A A 210
CEE 291	Introduction to AutoCAD for Civil Engineers	2	Provides an introduction to engineering drafting and graphical communication. Includes application of drafting standards and structure as well as creating and modifying basic drawings in 2D and 3D drafting in AutoCAD. Introduces reading plan sets and creating portions of plan sets applied to civil and environmental engineering fields.	MATH 124 or MATH 112.
CEE 354	Introduction to Chemical Principles in Environmental Engineering	5	Introduction to chemical processes occurring within soil, water, and air in natural and engineered environmental systems. Includes identification of inorganic and organic chemicals; fundamental thermodynamics and kinetics of chemical processes; examination of chemical processes in environmental and engineered systems; and impacts of chemicals and chemical processes on ecological and human health.	either CHEM 153, CHEM 162, or CHEM 165
CEE 357	Environmental Engineering	5	Describes water and air resources, parameters that characterize their quality, and how their use alters their properties. Elements of hydrology. Mass and energy balances as applied to environmental systems. Global environmental change. Basics of aquatic chemistry and microbiology applied to municipal water and wastewater treatment operation. Groundwater contamination and treatment.	CHEM 142, CHEM 143, or CHEM 145
CEE 480	Air-Quality Modeling	3	Evaluation of air-quality models relating air pollution emissions to environmental concentrations. Emphasis on models used for air pollution permits. Emphasizes current problems.	MATH 125
CEE 482	Wastewater Reuse and Resource Recovery	3	Introduces wastewater treatment and systems, emphasizing fundamental biological, chemical, and physical processes related to protection of public health environmental quality and water reuse. Process analysis of the configuration and sizing of major types of treatment processes for various sizes of plants and effluent requirements.	CEE 350 or CEE 357
CEE 490	Air-Pollution Control	4	Fundamental concepts of air pollution Control including emission sources, atmospheric dispersion, ambient concentrations, and emission standards, with emphasis on processes and equipment for controlling emissions
CEE 497	Engineering Jordan: Water in an Arid Land Study Abroad	5	Examines impacts of a hot dry climate on water engineering systems by studying the engineered water cycle in Jordan including: water cycles and sources in Jordan; drinking water treatment and desalination; wastewater treatment and reuse; decentralized and on-site treatment; and ancient water engineering.
Computer Science and Engineering
CSE 121	Introduction to Computer Programming I [supersedes CSE 142, 143]	4	Introduction to computer programming for students without previous programming experience. Students write programs to express algorithmic thinking and solve computational problems motivated by modern societal and scientific needs. Includes procedural programming constructs (methods), control structures (loops, conditionals), and standard data types, including arrays.	Recommended: completion of guided self-placement test at https://placement.cs.washington.edu/
CSE 122	Introduction to Computer Programming II [supersedes CSE 142, 143]	4	Computer programming for students with some previous programming experience. Emphasizes program design, style, and decomposition. Uses data structures (e.g., lists, dictionaries, sets) to solve computational problems motivated by modern societal and scientific needs. Introduces data abstraction and interface versus implementation.	Recommended: CSE 121 or completion of guided self-placement test at https://placement.cs.washington.edu/
CSE 123	Introduction to Computer Programming III [supersedes CSE 142, 143]	4	Computer programming for students with significant previous programming experience. Emphasizes implementation and run-time analysis of data structures and algorithms using techniques including linked references, recursion, and object-oriented inheritance to solve computational problems motivated by modern societal and scientific needs.	Recommended: CSE 122, or completion of guided self-placement test at https://placement.cs.washington.edu/
CSE 142	Computer Programming I [This course is being replaced by CSE 121, 122, 123]	4
CSE 143	Computer Programming II [This course is being replaced by CSE 121, 122, 123]	5		CSE 142
CSE 160	Data Programming	4	Introduction to computer programming. Assignments solve real data manipulation tasks from science, engineering, business, and the humanities. Concepts of computational thinking, problem-solving, data analysis, Python programming, control and data abstraction, file processing, and data visualization. Intended for students without prior programming experience. Cannot be taken for credit if credit received for either CSE 123 or CSE 143
Electrical and Computer Engineering
E E 215	Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering	4	Introduction to electrical engineering. Basic circuit and systems concepts. Mathematical models of components. Kirchhoff’s laws. Resistors, sources, capacitors, inductors, and operational amplifiers. Solution of first and second order linear differential equations associated with basic circuit forms.	either MATH 136; or MATH 126 and either MATH 207, MATH 307, or AMATH 351, any of which may be taken concurrently; and either PHYS 122 or PHYS 142
Engineering
ENGR 101	Engineering Exploration	1	Required Autumn quarter first year course for ENGRUD students.
ENGR 401	Leadership Development to Promote Equity in Engineering Relationships	3	Engages engineering students’ energy, creativity, social conscience, and on-the-ground perspectives in advancing diversity and inclusion in engineering. Students explore topics such as diversity in science and engineering, impact of unconscious bias, the role of allies, community engagement, and leadership in supporting all current and potential engineers. Credit/no-credit only
Industrial and Systems Engineering
IND E 337	Introduction to Manufacturing Systems	4	Description of manufacturing systems. Includes discussion of current trends in manufacturing. Introduces process flow analysis, manufacturing organizations including job-shop, assembly lines, and group technology, manufacturing inventory philosophies (just-in-time, MRP, OPT), work environment, and work simplification.

Materials Science and Engineering
MSE 170	Fundamentals of Materials Science	4	Fundamental principles of structure and properties of materials utilized in the practice of engineering. Properties of materials as related to atomic, molecular, and crystalline structures. Metals, ceramics, multiphase systems, and polymeric materials. Relationships between structure and electrical, mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties.	Either CHEM 142, CHEM 143, or CHEM 145
MSE 298	Introduction to Modern Materials	1	Materials and advances in materials are at the core of a large number of significant technological advances. Seminar format highlights processing, properties, and uses of a broad class of materials for a variety of applications, each introduced by a faculty member from the department.
MSE 362	Mechanical Behavior of Materials I	3	Influence of structure on the mechanical properties materials. Definition of different mechanical properties and experimental techniques to measure them. Elastic, viscoelastic, and plastic deformation. Introduction to fracture.	MSE 170
MSE 463	Corrosion and Wear of Materials	4	Mechanisms of corrosion, thermodynamics, kinetics of corrosion. Passivity; Pourbaix diagrams; corrosion rate testing and measurements; forms of corrosion; effects of alloy and environmental variables; corrosion testing. Wear mechanisms: adhesive, abrasive, erosive. Fretting; surface roughness, wear testing. Coatings for corrosion and wear protection.
MSE 471	Intro to Polymer Science & Engineering	3	Introduction of preparative methods of polymers; physical chemistry of polymeric molecules in solution, liquid and solid phase; thermodynamics of polymers; methods of characterization; mechanical properties; fabrication techniques; properties of commercial polymers.
MSE 475	Intro to Composite Materials	3	Microstructural design and processing of composite materials; polymeric, metallic, and ceramic matrices; fibers and fiber-reinforced composites, thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties.
MSE 477	Data Science and Materials Informatics	3	Introduction to data science approaches and their applications to materials science research. Basic skills in data mining, data processing, and machine learning for materials research topics using Python taught through case studies and other methodologies.	Recommended: prior programming experience; some experience with Python helpful.
MSE 490	Composite Materials in Manufacturing	3	Manufacturing processes for composite materials, with a focus on thermosets. Composite manufacturing process from raw materials manufacturing to shipping final products. Controlling parameters leading to defects. Balance between design and quality system manufacturing controls, relationship of process development to engineering design, and procedures for materials and process changes. Identification and repair of manufacturing anomalies.
Mechanical Engineering
ME 123	Introduction to Visualization and Computer-Aided Design	4	Methods of depicting three-dimensional objects and communicating design information. Development of three-dimensional skills through freehand sketching and computer-aided design using parametric solid modeling.
ME 124	Visualization and Computer-Aided Design Laboratory	2	Methods of depicting three-dimensional objects and communicating design information. Development of three-dimensional visualization skills through computer-aided design using parametric solid modeling.
M E 230	Kinematics & Dynamics	4	Kinematics of particles, systems of particles, and rigid bodies; moving reference frames; kinetics of particles, systems of particles, and rigid bodies; equilibrium, energy, linear momentum, angular momentum.	A A 210

Department Requirements (62 Credits)

$ BSE 210: Concepts in Bioproduct Sustainability (4 cr) (Junior transfers can take this Junior year)

$ BSE 248: Paper Properties (4cr) (Junior transfers can take this Junior year)

BSE 391 Engineering Principles of Biorefineries (5 cr)

BSE 392 Bioresource Transport Phenomena (5 cr)

BSE 406 Natural Products Chemistry (5 cr)

BSE 410 Industrial Wastewater Treatment and Reduction (4 cr)

BSE 420 Bioresource Engineering 1 (4 cr)

BSE 421 Bioresource Engineering 2 (4 cr)

BSE 422 Bioresource Engineering 3 (4 cr)

BSE 426 Bioresource Laboratory (4 cr)

BSE 430 Papermaking Processes (5 cr)

BSE 436 Pulp and Paper Laboratory II (4 cr)

BSE 480 Bioresource Design I (4 cr) (first Capstone course)

BSE 481 Bioresource Design II (5 cr) (second Capstone course)

BSE 497 Internship (1 cr)

Free Electives

Free elective credits to bring the credit total to 180.

BSE Major: Business Option

To complete the BSE degree with a transcripted option in Business, all the above courses plus an additional 12 credits minimum must be completed:

ESRM 320: Marketing and Management from a Sustainability Perspective (5 cr)

ESRM 321: Finance and Accounting from a Sustainability Perspective (5 cr)

One course from the following elective list:

Bioresource Science and Engineering - Business Option: Engineering Electives

Course	Title	Cr	Description	Prerequisites
ESRM 320	Marketing and Management from a Sustainability Perspective	5
ESRM 321	Finance and Accounting from a Sustainability Perspective	5
Choose one of the following:
I BUS 300	Global Business Perspectives	4		ECON 200
MKTG 301	Marketing Concepts	4		ECON 200
MKTG 335	Principles of Selling	4		MKTG 301
MKTG 450	Consumer Behavior	4		MKTG 301
ESRM 400	Natural Resource Conflict Management	3
MGMT 300	Leadership and Organizational Behavior	4
MGMT 401	Leadership, Critical Thinking, and Decision Making	4
MGMT 403	Motivating High Performance	4
ACCTG 215	Introduction to Accounting and Financial Reporting	5
ACCTG 225	Fundamentals of Managerial Accounting	5		ACCTG 215; ECON 200
SEFS 519	Conducting Financial, Environmental, and Social Responsibility Performance Research	3, max 12
OPMGT 301	Principles of Operations Management	4		ACCTG 225; ECON 200; either MATH 112, MATH 124, MATH 125, MATH 134, or MATH 145; either ECON 311, IND E 315, QMETH 201, Q SCI 381, PSYCH 315, PSYCH 318, STAT 220, STAT 301, STAT 221, STAT 311, or STAT 390.

School ofEnvironmental and Forest Sciences