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Bachelor of Science in Chemistry

The chemistry laboratories at Lawrence Tech are housed third floors near the offices of chemistry faculty members. The university supports five major teaching laboratories:

• General Chemistry, Science 319
• Analytical Chemistry, Science 313
• Organic Chemistry, Science 309
• Advanced Synthesis, Science 305
• Physical/Instrumental Chemistry, Science 303

In addition, an Advanced Instrumentation Room (Science 325) has recently been established to house the departmental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer and Scanning Electron Microscope.

The award winning Lawrence Tech student chapter of the American Chemical Society occupies Science 327. This room serves as a study room and lounge for our majors. All majors are welcome to use it.

Computer Use

All undergraduates at Lawrence Tech are provided with their own laptops, packed with the specialized software they will need in their education. Introductory chemistry laboratories are fully computerized, as are many of those in more advanced courses. Many of the instruments listed below include dedicated computers that drive them and analyze the output. Others interface directly with student laptops.

Instrumentation

The department is fully equipped with all the instrumentation needed for thorough training in Chemistry. A partial list of major equipment includes:

• X-ray diffraction apparatus
• Digitizing, computer-compatible oscilloscopes
• Temperature-jump fast kinetics facilities
• Computer-controlled automatic bomb calorimeter
• Several visible-ultraviolet spectrometers
• Several infrared spectrometers, including fourier transform devices
• Multiple gas chromatographs, some with automatic sampling and mass spectrometer detection
• High Pressure Liquid Chromatography facilities
• Fourier Transform Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometer
• Atomic Adsorption Spectrophotometer

The department policy is to introduce advanced instrumentation at the earliest opportunity in a student’s education.

The hallmark of the Lawrence Technological University Bachelor of Science in Chemistry program is laboratory training that greatly exceeds the minimum standards of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and is far more extensive than that offered at many of the most prestigious institutions in the country. Introducing advanced instrumentation at the earliest opportunity in your education is another important facet of the program.

Lawrence Tech offers you access to state-of-the-art instrumentation in fully computerized laboratories, providing real-world, hands-on experience. A partial list of major equipment includes:

• digitizing, computer-compatible oscilloscopes
• temperature-jump fast kinetics facilities
• computer-controlled automatic bomb calorimeter
• visible-ultraviolet spectrometers
• infrared spectrometers, including Fourier-Transform Infrared devices
• multiple gas chromatographs, some with automatic sampling and mass spectrometer detection
• high pressure liquid chromatography facilities
• nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer
• atomic absorption spectrophotometer

As a chemistry student, you can select from three ACS-certified options: chemistry, chemical biology, and environmental chemistry.

In addition, you may choose engineering chemistry as an option. All offer excellent preparation for a variety of career opportunities or advanced study. The standard program, which requires 125 credit hours, and the 123-credit-hour environmental chemistry option both prepare you for work in laboratories, research, industry, government, medicine, and education. The engineering chemistry option, which requires 130 credit hours, allows you to pursue positions in traditional chemistry fields as well as many of those normally filled by chemical engineers. The 126-credit-hour chemical biology degree prepares you for careers in pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries, and satisfies the requirements for most medical, dental, or veterinary schools. Whatever your choice, you will receive personal attention and rigorous training that can make your education pay dividends for the rest of your life.