Process Control is what connects the degree to a working plant. Every other course assumes steady state; this one asks what happens when the feed composition changes at three in the morning. The statewide description: the analysis and automatic control of simple process systems in chemical engineering.
⚠⚠ It is the course that most resembles electrical engineering, and that surprises people: Laplace transforms, transfer functions, block diagrams, Bode plots and stability criteria are the working vocabulary. Students who disliked differential equations find this the least chemical course in the major; students who enjoy it often end up in control and automation careers.
Carried by four Florida public institutions.
Named on the Chemical Engineer career path. Control and automation is one of the most reliable employment routes out of the degree and one of the least sensitive to the commodity cycle — every plant needs its controls maintained and improved whatever the market is doing. In Florida it carries into power generation, water treatment, phosphate processing, food and beverage, and pharmaceutical manufacturing, where validated control systems are a regulatory requirement.
It depends where you are. FAMU, Florida State and UF carry a separate 1-credit ECH4323L process control laboratory; USF does not. ⚠ If your programme runs the laboratory as its own course, register for both — they are usually corequisites, and missing one can mean repeating the other.
FAMU and Florida State call it Process Control, UF Process Control Theory, USF Process Dynamics and Control. ⚠ USF’s is the most descriptive — roughly the first third of every version of this course is process dynamics with no controller in sight, and students who expect to start with controllers find that disorienting. UF’s “Theory” is a fair warning in the other direction.
This course uses them from the first week and does not teach them. Most students last met them in differential equations, possibly two years earlier. A few hours spent on transforms, partial fractions and inversion before the term is the highest-return preparation available for any course in this major.
Chemical engineering is awarded by four Florida public institutions in three cities: the University of Florida (110 bachelor’s degrees a year), the University of South Florida (73), Florida State (27) and Florida A&M (4). Florida State and Florida A&M share the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, a single joint college in Tallahassee, which is why their records for this prefix are identical down to the title.
⚠⚠ So a carrier count in this prefix overstates how many independent programmes exist. A course carried by “FAMU and FSU” is one programme’s course, not two institutions agreeing. Read the hedging on this page accordingly, and treat anything stated about content as a description of a small number of specific curricula rather than a Florida-wide norm.
⚠ Neither UCF nor FIU awards a chemical engineering degree — the two largest universities in the state by enrolment. See the Chemical Engineer career path for what that means if you live in Orlando or Miami.
All four Florida programmes are accredited by ABET’s Engineering Accreditation Commission, which is what employers screen on and what carries the four-year route to Professional Engineer licensure under s. 471.013(1)(a), Florida Statutes. ⚠ Accreditation attaches to a named programme at a named institution, not to a course list — verify the specific programme in ABET’s own search.
Most chemical engineers never license: process plants fall under the industrial exemption. ⚠ The Florida exceptions are environmental and water engineering consulting, where work is sealed for public clients. Sit the FE examination in your final year regardless — the chemical FE is written for the curriculum you have just finished and will never be easier.
Generated September 18, 2026 · Updated September 18, 2026