Approved Technical Electives
Students should consult the Academic Calendar for course availability and pre-requisites. Electives may be cancelled if enrolment is low or if a suitable instructor is not available.
Students must take a minimum of 6 technical elective credits from CHBE courses.
Syllabi are uploaded as available at the time and are subject to change.
Departmental
| Course | Title | Program | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHBE 373 Syllabus | Water and Wastewater Technology and Engineering | CHML/CHBE | 4 |
| CHBE 381 Syllabus | Biological Engineering and Bio-Manufacturing I | CHML | 4 |
| CHBE 402 Syllabus | Biomass Fractionation Technology | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 410 Syllabus | NOT OFFERED IN 2026W Systems Biology and Metabolic Engineering | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 411 Syllabus | Process Development and Scale-up: Bench to Full Scale | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 412 Syllabus | NEW Project Management in the Process Engineering Industries *Will not count as a TE for students who have already taken MECH 495/496 | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 431 Syllabus | NEW Molecular Cloning Laboratory *For CHBE (Bio stream) students only | CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 451 Syllabus | Engineering Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 471 Syllabus | Chemical Process Engineering | CHBE | 4 |
| CHBE 472 Syllabus | Technologies for Human and Environmental Heath | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 473 Syllabus | NOT OFFERED IN 2026W Environmental Engineering and Sustainability Leadership | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 474 Syllabus | Process Control Engineering | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 476 Syllabus | Advanced Process Engineering and Simulation | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 477 Syllabus | Fuel Cell and Electrochemical Engineering | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 478 Syllabus | Polymer Science and Processing | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 481 Syllabus | Biological Engineering and Bio-Manufacturing II | CHML | 4 |
| CHBE 482 Syllabus | Energy Systems Modelling, Simulation and Optimization | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 483 Syllabus | Energy Engineering for Climate Change and Sustainability | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 484 Syllabus coming soon | NEW Green Engineering for Cyclic Economy | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 485 Syllabus | Air Pollution Prevention and Air Quality Engineering | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 486 Syllabus | Waste Mitigation and Processing for Resource Recovery | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 487 | Interfacial Phenomena | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 488 Syllabus | Carbon Capture, Conversion and Sequestration Technologies | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
| CHBE 4911 Syllabus | Thesis Proposal | CHML/CHBE | 1 |
| CHBE 4921 Syllabus | Thesis (following CHBE 491) | CHML/CHBE | 5 |
| CHBE 4952 | Thesis Proposal-Biotechnology Topic | CHML/CHBE | 1 |
| CHBE 4962 | Thesis-Biotechnology Topic (following CHBE 495) | CHML/CHBE | 5 |
| CHBE 497E Syllabus | NEW Engineering Applications of AI and Machine Learning | CHML/CHBE | 3 |
Notes:
1CHBE 491 and CHBE 492 must be taken together.
2CHBE 495 and CHBE 496 must be taken together.
3Students completing the Minor in Science Program may use one 3-credit course that is used to fulfill the minor requirement (300/400 level Science) as technical elective credit, subject to approval by a Program Advisor. Please contact undergrad@chbe.ubc.ca for further information.
Non-Departmental
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| APSC 278 | Engineering Materials | TE for Bio stream students only | Non-departmental as of 26W | 3 |
| APSC 486 | New Venture Design | 6 |
| BMEG 372 | Biomedical Materials and Drug Delivery | 3 |
| BMEG 373 | Microfluidics | 3 |
| BIOC 202 | Introductory Medicinal Biochemistry | 3 |
| BIOC 302 | General Biochemistry | 3 |
| BIOL 200 | Fundamentals of Cell Biology | 3 |
| BIOL 201 | Intro to Biochemistry | 3 |
| CAPS 391 | Introduction to Gross Human Anatomy | 3 |
| CHEM 302 | Atmospheric Environmental Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 405 | Biophysical Chemistry | 3 |
| FNH 301 | Food Chemistry | 3 |
| FNH 309 | Food Processing | 3 |
| FNH 313 | Food Microbiology | 3 |
| MINE 486 | Mining and the Environment | 3 |
| MTRL 358 | Hydrometallurgy I | 3 |
| MTRL 458 | Hydrometallurgy II | 3 |
| MTRL 495 | Biomaterials | 3 |
| PHYS 305 | Introduction to Biophysics | 3 |
| Students can only take a maximum of 3 credits from the following courses: | ||
| APSC 440 | Management Fundamentals for Technology-Based Product Marketing and Development | 3 |
| COMR 329 * | Principles of Organizational Behaviour | 3 |
| COMR 398 * | Introduction to Business Processes and Operations | 3 |
| COMR 457 * | Fundamentals of Financial Accounting | 3 |
| COMR 458 * | Fundamentals of Managerial Accounting | 3 |
| COMR 465 * | Marketing Management | 3 |
| COMR 473 * | Business Finance | 3 |
| ENVR 410 | Energy, Environment, and Society | 3 |
| MECH 495 | Industrial Engineering – Taken in 2025W and prior ONLY | 3 |
| MECH 496 | Engineering Management – Taken in 2025W and prior ONLY | 3 |
| MINE 405 | Introduction to Risk Management for Mining and Large Industrial Projects | 3 |
Notes:
*Only for students with 3 or more TE’s. For students with 2 TE’s, COMR 457 is permitted for students with a COMM minor.
Non-approved Technical Electives
To receive credit towards the technical elective program requirement for courses not found on the Approved Technical Elective list, students must seek permission from an undergraduate program advisor before the student takes the course.
To request permission, email undergrad@chbe.ubc.ca. Permission to take a technical elective is at the instructor’s discretion should any pre-requisites be incomplete.
Specializations
Students may choose to take electives in categories that align with their interests within various areas of study. These specializations are a guideline for course selection and will not appear in the diploma.
Fundamentals
Environmental
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| CHBE 373 | Water and Wastewater Technology and Engineering | 4 |
| CHBE 473 | Environmental Engineering and Sustainability Leadership | 3 |
| CHBE 483 | Energy Engineering for Climate Change and Sustainability | 3 |
| CHBE 484 | Green Engineering for Cyclic Economy | 3 |
| CHBE 485 | Air Pollution Prevention and Air Quality Engineering | 3 |
| CHBE 486 | Waste Mitigation and Processing for Resource Recovery | 3 |