Biochemical engineering applies the combination of knowledge of living systems with engineering principles to the large scale manufacture of valuable products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, enzymes and antibodies. This concentration will prepare students with a quantitative and mechanistic understanding of biological processes based on the core areas of chemical engineering, thermodynamics, kinetics, and transport phenomena. Topics that will be covered are enzyme kinetics coupled with mass transfer, bioreactor design and operation, genetic and metabolic engineering, animal cell culture and purification of bioproducts. Students and faculty in the School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue are researching the efficient conversion of raw materials such as sugars, woody biomass or CO2 by a wide array of processes into useful bioproducts. The design and operation of the production and separation systems for biomolecules is a significant focus of biochemical engineers. Career paths are primarily available in the food, pharmaceutical and biomedical industries.