ChEPS Curriculum

The ChEPS curriculum consists of two academic years and one summer. Admitted students start with basic training in the summer in April right after the Songkran holidays. The timeline of the curriculum is depicted in the diagram below.

Problem-based learning (PBL) in the form of industrial design problems are also introduced in every semester during the first year. The students work in teams using simulation tools to solve real-life engineering problems. These exercises enhance the students' problem-solving skills, and can be viewed as mini-site projects, which prepare the students for the real thing in the second year.

In addition, the program exposes the students to new ideas and broaden their horizons with regular seminars and plant trips. Outside speakers from academic institutions and the industrial sector are invited to speak on topics of interest. Students will enjoy the chance to learn about a wide range of engineering fields as well as improving their English listening skills.

Detailed coursework and the description of each course in the first year can be viewed here.

ChEPS Admission

Each year, ChEPS admits 18 - 25 qualified students from virtually every university across the country. Typically, ChEPS applicants have a GPA of 2.7 or above. Students interested in applying to ChEPS are advised to follow the four simple steps below:

1. Fill out a one-page application form available from the ChEPS Office or download it here, and include a 1-inch or 2-inch photo. Application forms may be photocopied, and they are free. In addition, there is no application fee. Please note that letters of references are no longer required.

2. Submit a copy of the official transcript. The application forms and the transcripts should arrive in the ChEPS Office by the deadline, typically in December.

3. Take an English Test and a SAT Math Test at KMUTT to be administered by the ChEPS Office. The English Test is simulated paper-based TOEFL which consists of three sections - Listening, Grammar, and Reading Comprehension. The test is slightly over two hours long. The SAT Math Test (in Thai) is slightly over one hour long (be sure to bring a scientific calculator on the test day).

4. Come for an on-campus interview (15-20 minutes). The interview will be conducted in both Thai and English.

A map to KMUTT is available for download here.

Scholarships and Tuition Fees

The tuition fees are 200,000 baht per year. ChEPS offers scholarships to qualified students who are enrolled in our program. Three kinds of scholarships are available, namely Full, Half, and Soft-Loan as follows:

1. Full Scholarships - The full tuition fee is waived.

2. Half Scholarship - Half the tuition fee is waived, while the remaining 100,000 baht per year is the Soft-Loan scheme.

3. Soft-Loan - Students are required to pay back the 400,000 baht (two-year) upon graduation in monthly installments amounting to 10% of their salaries with free interest.

Please note that nobody has to pay while studying in ChEPS and that a 5,000 baht monthly stipend can be borrowed from the program upon request.

Food Engineering Practice School (FEPS)

The FEPS program was established in 2001 following the success of the ChEPS program. Like ChEPS, FEPS is also a two-year international curriculum and leads to a Master's degree in Food Engineering. As Thailand derives a substantial amount of revenues from the exports of agricultural and food products each year, more food engineers are needed in the workforce. FEPS was established precisely to meet that demand and adopt the Thai government's initiative to become the “kitchen of the world”. The program aims to revolutionize the traditional graduate study and train a new breed of food engineers, who are well-equipped with fundamental knowledge and hands-on experience in the food industry.

While ChEPS students' background is exclusively chemical engineering, FEPS students have more varied backgrounds, including food science and technology, food engineering, and chemical engineering. FEPS admits 15 – 20 students every year into its program.

Water Engineering Practice School (WEPS)

The WEPS program, formerly known as SEPO (Starch Engineering and Process Optimization), was established in 2001 to develop human resources for the agro-industry, which is an important industrial sector in Thailand . WEPS is not a degree-granting curriculum, and as such must rely on ChEPS and FEPS for students. Students enrolled in WEPS are actually admitted into KMUTT first as ChEPS or FEPS students. These WEPS students then follow the standard curriculum of ChEPS/FEPS, except for six months in the second year in which they will be interned at a tapioca starch company. Their PBL (problem-based learning) projects also come from the starch industry. Site projects involve improving unit operations such as drying and hydro-cyclones and process optimization in the production of tapioca starch. In its first year, five students from FEPS are enrolled in WEPS.

Bioinformatics (BIF)

The BIF program is a multi-disciplinary curriculum that combines the technical elements of computer science, biology, and biochemistry. BIF is the first and the only one such program to date in Thailand . This relatively new scientific program focuses on the study of biological information, ranging from the vast genetic information being rapidly accumulated, to patterns of protein expression and their links to disease states. Bioinformatics is the scientific and technical foundation of the human genome project, and promises to play a central role in life science of the coming century.

BIF was established in 2003 as a joint program between the School of Bioresources and Technology and the School of Information Technology . Courses are taught jointly between the faculties of the two schools. Students in the program receive comprehensive training in genomics, algorithms for sequence analysis, database design and management, and software engineering and programming, including web-based development. Since inception, 10 students were admitted into BIF each year. Enrolled students have a background either in computer science or in biology with a few exceptions in engineering.

On Technical Writing

Technical writing is a skill that can be learned through proper coaching and practice. This book shows you how to write a technical manuscript and avoid common mistakes made by most writers. It's a must-have companion for all practice school students. Download this booklet (in pdf format) written by Dr. Hong-ming Ku for free.

Prof. Peter Douglas' Lectures on Optimization (Voice Recordings)

The following is a series of lecture recordings made by Prof. Peter Douglas of the University of Waterloo on optimization (part of System Engineering course) during the month of December 2005 to ChEPS Class-9:

1. Day 1

2. Day 2 - Part I

3. Day 2 - Part II

4. Day 3

5. Day 4

6. Day 5

ChEPS Practice Stations

Two long-standing industrial sponsors whose plants serve as practice stations for ChEPS students are Thai Oil Public Co., Ltd, located in the Sri-racha Province, and The Siam Cement Group (SCG) , located in the Maptaput Industrial Estate in the Rayong Pronvince.

Past and Present ChEPS pracitce stations include:

• Thai Oil Public Co., Ltd. (ThaiOil)
• Rayong Olefins Co., Ltd. (ROC) , a subsidiary of SCG
• Thai Polyethylene Co., Ltd. (TPE), also a subsidiary of SCG
• Siam Mitsui PTA Co., Ltd. (SMPC), an associated company of SCG
• The Aromatics (Thailand) Public, Co., Ltd., (ATC), now called PTT Aromatics and Refining Public Co., Ltd. (PTT-AR)
• Bangkok Synthetics Co., Ltd. (BST)
• ExxonMobil Limited
• PTT Gas Unit in collaboration with PTT Research and Technology Institute, Wangnoi
• PTT Chemical Public Co., Ltd. (PTTCH)

For the year 2009, ChEPS operates three practice stations, namely at ThaiOil, SCG Chemical (ROC), and PTT-Chem, where 15 Class-12 students will be interned.

About ThaiOil

ThaiOil is the leading independent petroleum refiner and supplier of refined petroleum products in Thailand. The company currently owns and operates the largest single-site refinery in Thailand and one of the most complex refineries in the Asia-Pacific region, with a refining capacity of approximately 220,000 barrels per day of crude oil and other feedstocks, representing approximately 21% of the total refining capacity in Thailand. ThaiOil has been ChEPS's sponsor since the program's inception, and has provided its refinery plant as the practice site every year.

About ROC, TPE, and SMPC

Rayong Olefins Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of The Siam Cement Group and is a major producer of upstream petrochemicals mainly used as feedstock for Polyethylene (PE) and Polypropylene (PP) resins. Production was commenced in 1999. This upstream manufacturing has turned Siam Cement Group into one of the leading petrochemical players in Thailand and in Asia - Pacific.

Thai Polyethylene Co., Ltd., Thai Polyethylene (1993) Co., Ltd., Thai Polypropylene Co., Ltd. and Thai Polypropylene (1994) Co., Ltd., a Group of polyolefins manufacturers wholly owned by Cementhai Chemicals Co., Ltd., produce several categories of high quality polyethylene and polypropylene resins, raw materials widely used in plastic industry.

Siam Mitsui PTA Co., Ltd. was established upon cooperation of Cementhai Chemicals Co., Ltd. and Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. of Japan for producing Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) which is used as raw material supplying the pet bottle and polyester industry. Because the Company utilizes state-of-the-art and highly efficient technology of Mitsui Chemical Inc. of Japan as the production process of PTA. The process is widely accepted by most polyester producers in Asia as consitent and high quality products. Siam Mitsui PTA thus offers products of which quality complies with customers requirements, which can be consequently used to produce crystal clear PET bottles and non-flaw polyester fiber.

About ATT-AR

The Aromatics (Thailand) Public Co., Ltd. was  established , with  government  support  as  part  of  the  National  Petrochemical  Complex  2 , on  December  25,1989  with  the  objective  of producing  and  selling  aromatics  products  as   import  substitute  and  maximizing  value  of  natural  resources.  The  Company  has  utilized  condensate  from  the  gas  deposits  in  the  gulf  of  Thailand  as  the  main  raw  material.  The  aromatics  products  which  include  Benzene ,  Paraxylene, Orthoxylene  and  Mixed  Xylenes  are  used  as  feedstocks  for  intermediate  and  downstream  industries  for  the  manufacture  of  a  multitude  of  essential  products  for  everyday  uses.

About BST

Bangkok Synthetics Co., Ltd. was established in 1991 as part of the National Petrochemical Complex 2 (NPC-II) with the mission to be the first manufacturer of C4 products in Thailand. BST's commercial operation has commenced in 1995 upon the completion of its first production facilities for MTBE and Butene-1. With an aim to be the regional major player in C4 products business, BST has made a big step in the second stage of investment by expanding its overall production capacity together with entering the new product business so called butadiene business, which was due to complete in 1998 -1999.

About ExxonMobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation is the largest publicly owned oil and gas exploration, development and production company in the world, as well as the world's largest fuel refiner and manufacturer of lubricant basestocks used for making motor oils. ExxonMobil's affiliates have refining operations in 26 countries, 42,000 retail service stations in more than 100 countries and lubricants marketing in almost 200 countries. Consumers know ExxonMobil best by brand names: Exxon, Mobil and Esso. ExxonMobil Limited started operation of its Bangkok Business Support Center (BK BSC) in February 2003. It is part of a network of Business Support Centers around the world that support ExxonMobil global operations and customers; providing a wide variety of transactional, financial, technical support, information services, and customer service activities.

About PTT Gas Unit

PTT Public Co., Ltd. was incorporated as a public company on October 1, 2001. Today, the Gas Unit within PTT and PTT Group engages in fully integrated natural gas business covering the full spectrum of natural gas businesses i.e. exploration and production from both domestic and oversea sources, transportation of natural gas via pipeline system, gas separation as well as marketing of natural gas. By operating pipeline system both onshore and offshore, PTT fulfills its mission in strengthening energy security for the nation. PTT maximizes value of natural gas through its five units of gas separation plants which extract raw material and gas products for petrochemical plants.

About PTT Chemical

PTT Chemical Public Company Limited is a new company formed from the merger of two of the major players in Thailand’s petrochemical and chemical industry sectors – the National Petrochemical Public Company Limited (NPC) and Thai Olefins Public Company Limited (TOC). In line with the policy of principal shareholder, PTT, the merger puts PTT Chemical in an excellent position to take full advantage of opportunities for future growth in the olefins industry. The new company, registered on December 7, 2005, will strengthen Thailand petrochemical industry and further enhance its reputation in the
global arena. As a result of the merger, PTT Chemical is now Thailand’s largest producer of olefins and related downstream products, with the third largest production capacity in all of Asia. With combined potential output of 1,523,000 tons per year, PTT Chemical has the resources it needs to compete successfully in the world market.

ChEPS PhD Program

Research and development (R&D) is essential in ensuring the long-term survival and business competitiveness of many petrochemical and chemical companies. In the last few years, these companies in Thailand have begun to invest heavily in in-house R&D. While research equipment and infrastructure can be bought, human resources needed to carry out R&D remains an obstacle in Thailand. For example, although qualified researchers and PhDs in chemical engineering abound, most of them are "locked" up at various universities. In addition, often times research carried out in labs at the academic level have little relevance or real applications to the industry. As a result, companies must also invest in its internal human resource development by either sending their engineers back to school to do PhDs or sponsoring students who are interested in pursuing PhD degrees and subsequently working for the sponsoring companies.

ChEPS is in the unique position to help the industry fulfill this need. Each year ChEPS graduates 20+ students who have extensive experiences solving industrial problems and conducting research. These students represent a vast pool of talents from which companies can draw by sponsoring them to pursue PhD with dissertation topics from the industry. Since the initiation of ChEPS PhD three years ago, four students have been admitted into the program. Two of the students are sponsored by SCG who also work as engineers at one of its subsidiaries. The other two students are jointly sponsored by Thailand Research Fund (TRF) and PTT Research and Technology Institute in Wangnoi.

ChEPS is currently talking to SCG's newly established Research & Technology Olefins (SCG Chems) to enter an agreement that will allow ChEPS newly recruited students each year (with undergraduate ChE degrees) to pursue PhD. SCG will provide both the financial support and research topics. The envisioned model will let qualified students to spend two years in ChEPS and another three years in the ChEPS PhD. Students who are interested in this unique program are encouraged to contact ChEPS for more information.

Training-ChEPS (T-ChEPS)

As chemical process technologies become more sophisticated, there is an increasing need for chemical engineers to master the use of process simulation tools, such as ASPEN Plus, HYSYS, PRO/II, and ControlStation. The Training-ChEPS (T-ChEPS) program was launched in October 2008 to address this need and train engineers on the use of simulation programs for the chemical and petrochemical industries. The inaugural training course of T-ChEPS was a two-day workshop on “Modeling Chemical Processes Using Process Simulator” on October 16-17, 2008 at KMUTT (click here for the training agenda and more information).

ChEPS plans to organize two to three T-ChEPS courses every year. Topics offered include process simulation, optimization, process control, and pinch analysis using HX-Net. The format of all courses will be a combination of lecture and hands-on workshops. We will also be more than happy to organize in-house training at company sites if there is enough critical mass, say 10 or more engineers. Please contact chadaporn_d@yahoo.com if you are interested in an in-house training course at your company.

Basic-ChEPS (B-ChEPS)

B-ChEPS stands for Basic-ChEPS and is a collaborative South-Vietname Project between KMUTT and SCG Chemicals. The project is a training program designed to train Vietnamese and Thai engineers recruited by SCG Chemicals to work at a new olefins plant in South Vietnam. The training involves five departments at KMUTT, namely Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Instrumentations, and Civil Engineering. The objective is to teach and review the fundamentals of these five disciplines to the SCG Chemicals' engineers who come from diverse backgrounds and different engineering fields. The training of the first batch of engineers took place between August 25 and September 19 at TPE in the Mataphut Industrial Estate in Rayong. A total of 20 faculty members from the five departments at KMUTT were involved in the training. ChEPS was the organizer and coordinator of this project and worked closely with its counterpart at SCG Chemicals, which has added another layer of collaboration between KMUTT and the industrial sector.

PI-ChEPS (Productivity-Improvement-ChEPS)

PI-ChEPS stands for Productivity-Improvement-ChEPS and is a collaborative project among Petroleum Institute of Thailand (PTIT), KMUTT, and PTT-Chem. The project is modeled after KMUTT's C-ChEPS program (Constructionism-ChEPS) whose objective is to train and upgrade operators and technicians of petrochemical companies. The training of C-ChEPS takes place at SCG while that of PI-ChEPS takes place at PTT-Chem. The hallmark of C-ChEPS and PI-ChEPS is the emphasis on project-based learning and the use of "facilitators" to help teach, guide, and advise the trainees. PI-ChEPS was launched in 2007. In the case of PI-ChEPS, the Department of Chemical Engineering at KMUTT runs the program while ChEPS initially played the role of an initiator.

A Message from Director In today's global economy, one of the biggest challenges facing Thailand's competitiveness is human resources and development. The domestic chemical, petrochemical, and refinery industries are no exceptions, and also face a shortage of quality chemical engineers who possess strong problem-solving skills and a good command of English. The mission of the Chemical Engineering Practice School at KMUTT is to train and produce top chemical engineers to fill the gap in these vital industrial sectors. The key to our success is a combination of the dedication of our faculty and staff, the support of our industrial partners, and the well-rounded curriculum that stresses hands-on learning. The old adage: "practice makes perfect" is true and particuarly apt in ChEPS. Our students learn more and learn quicker by practicing what they have been taught, be it solving real industrial problems or giving numerous oral presentations.

As we approach the 10th anniversary of ChEPS, I am pleased that our program is stronger than ever. Despite tough competitions from other curricula as well as a tight job market, there is no discernible drop in the number of applications we have received in the last few years. We continue to see a strong interest in our program each year. Our alumni base, now 148-people strong and soon to increase to 166, is our best alliance, as they make a significant impact on Thailand's chemical/petrochemical industries and continue to spread the good words about ChEPS. Needless to say, our industrial partners have also been instrumental in promoting our program. Moreover, we owe much of what we are today to the visions of ChEPS' founders, Dr. Harit Sutabutr, Vice Chairman of KMUTT Council and former President, and Dr. Sakarindr Bhumiratana, former Vice President of KMUTT, and the legacy they left behind.

There is, of course, room for improvements, and I personally look forward to hearing more ideas and implementing more initiatives to make ChEPS a better academic program. Finally, I thank our alumni, students, and sponsors for their continued support.

Dr. Hong-ming Ku