2 Disclaimer The views and advice given in this presentation
are solely those of the officers of AChEGS and not those of the
faculty of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular
Engineering.
Slide 3
3 Outline Present test format Discuss test content Provide old
qualifying exams Answer questions and calm fears (somewhat)
Slide 4
4 Format Written exam Oral exam
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5 Written exam format Three hours Eight questions 22.5
min/question No notes, textbooks, or any other such materials You
need to be able to remember or derive important equations
Calculators are permitted but cannot have equations or information
saved in them TI-83, TI-89, similar are acceptable, but cannot have
stored equations, printing, etc.
Slide 6
6 Written exam content Exam question breakdown: Two
thermodynamics questions Two kinetics/reactor design questions Two
transport questions One additional question from the three above
topics One miscellaneous question This is not set in stone
Slide 7
7 Recurring themes of written exam Mass and energy balances
(thermo, kinetics) Raoults law and simple deviations from Raoults
law (thermo) CSTRs, PFRs, batch reactors (kinetics) Non-isothermal
reactor design (kinetics) Shell balances (mass and heat transfer)
Navier-Stokes equations (momentum transfer) Dimensionless numbers
(This list is by no means exhaustive)
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8 Written exam: How to pass Study early and often Memorize
fundamental equations and dimensionless numbers (i.e. Re, Bi, Pe,
Pr, St, Sc, Nu, etc.) Start from fundamental equations mass/mole
balances, transport analogies, etc. T AKE ADVANTAGE OF PARTIAL
CREDIT ! A TTEMPT EVERY QUESTION ! YYou will be clueless for about
1.5 of the problems NNo penalty for wrong answers write something!
OOne professor grades all answers to one problem Need at least 4/8
to pass, to guarantee passing you need ~5.5/8 (my estimate) Passing
rate on January exam is around 65-70%
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9 Study from textbooks Fogler (kinetics); Smith, van Ness, and
Abbott (thermo); Bird, Stewart, and Lightfoot (transport)
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10 Written exam: How to pass Study from old exams Log onto AD
domain on ChBE computer (computer lab)
\\chbefiles\Public\Past_Qualifying_Exams\Qualifiers Do not cut or
transfer files out of the folder!
http://achegs.chbe.gatech.edu/http://achegs.chbe.gatech.edu/
Central printing
http://faq.oit.gatech.edu/content/how-do-i-use-oit-
mobile-printinghttp://faq.oit.gatech.edu/content/how-do-i-use-oit-
mobile-printing
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11 Oral exam format After written exam, you have one week to
critique a journal article from the literature Faculty panel of
three professors (you will not know who until you show up to your
exam) Usually one easy, one medium, and one hard prof. 15-20 minute
PowerPoint presentation followed by 40-45 minute question and
answer session
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12 Oral exam content Journal article from any discipline of
chemical and biomolecular engineering as well as related
disciplines Thermodynamics, transport, kinetics, and reactor design
Biology, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, mathematics,
modeling, etc. Most papers will have both experimental results and
mathematical modeling You MUST work ALONE You must present both a
summary AND critique of the paper Fail to critique and you will not
pass
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13 Oral exam: How to pass Practice with old journal articles
from oral exams Within your research group Within your study group
Practice answering questions under pressure Practice using the
whiteboard Practice timing Practice your English Need 2 out of 3
professors to pass you Pass rate 65-70%
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14 Oral exam: Tips Divide your presentation appropriately Bring
your own supplies Laser pointer/clicker, dry-erase marker Do not
bring any presentation aids or handouts Clarify questions before
answering them Use white board Limit supplementary material Do not
answer a question with a slide Be confident Questions are intended
to trip you up
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15 Overall performance 60-65% pass both written and oral exam
on 1 st attempt 25-30% pass either written or oral exam on 1 st
attempt 10-15% pass neither written nor oral exam on 1 st attempt
Between January and May exams, pass rate on both exams is 90-95%
(overall pass rate 91% from 2005-2012) Pass/fail is based solely on
performance, not on class size or any other factor BOTTOM LINE:
Work hard and you will pass (eventually)!