Spring 2027

Biochemical Engineering

Biochemical Engineering covers properties of biological molecules, enzyme kinetics, metabolic engineering, microbial growth, bioreactor design, and bioseparations.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Sean Palecek3.9/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Quentin Dudley

Lectures were 75-minute, slide-heavy presentations that some found disengaging, requiring students to actively manage their attention during the long sessions.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Apply principles of chemical engineering in the analysis and design of industrial biochemical processes

  • Describe the role chemistry plays in understanding how bio-molecules and bio-molecular systems work

  • Extract, communicate and critique key idea(s) from any work of the current technical literature

  • Identify opportunities for biochemical engineering to address societal needs (e.g., energy, health, materials, food, and the environment)

  • Demonstrate how chemical engineering principles can be applied to alter the molecular properties of a biological system

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Junior standing and (ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY 101 and 102,ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY/​BOTANY 151,ZOOLOGY 153, or BIOCORE 383), graduate/professional standing, or member of Engineering Guest Students

BME/CBE 560

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

Sean Palecek

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.31/5 from 13 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2013: 3.58 GPA, 69.2% A/AB (n=13 letter grades); Fall 2013: 3.57 GPA, 78.6% A/AB (n=14 letter grades); Spring 2023: 3.77 GPA, 83.3% A/AB (n=30 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

BRIAN PFLEGER is recorded teaching in Fall 2008, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2019, Fall 2021. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

QUENTIN DUDLEY is recorded teaching in Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SEAN PALECEK is recorded teaching in Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 300
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 300

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Quentin Dudley

Students described the class as covering a significant amount of material, with instructors sometimes leaving unclear boundaries on what content was essential for exams.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.54 GPA, 70.8% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.47 GPA, 69.0% A/AB (n=29 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.45 GPA, 76.2% A/AB (n=21 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Quentin Dudley

Lectures were 75-minute, slide-heavy presentations that some found disengaging, requiring students to actively manage their attention during the long sessions.

Past student reviews · Quentin Dudley

Instructors provided one-on-one support outside of class, offering constructive feedback and helping students work through homework problems and exam preparation.

Topics

  • Biological molecule properties and enzyme systems
  • Metabolic engineering and microbial growth kinetics
  • Bioreactor design and bioseparations

Skills

  • Analysis and design of industrial biochemical processes using chemical engineering principles
  • Enzyme kinetics, reactor design, metabolic engineering, and bioseparations

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
BME/CBE 560 · Spring 2027

Biochemical Engineering

Recorded 2026-10-14
BME/CBE 560 · Spring 2027

Biochemical Engineering

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
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    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
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    "offering_id": "1274:207:002700",
    "course_id": "BME/CBE 560",
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    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "002700",
    "source_subject_id": "207",
    "title": "Biochemical Engineering",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  },
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    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:220:002700",
    "course_id": "BME/CBE 560",
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    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "002700",
    "source_subject_id": "220",
    "title": "Biochemical Engineering",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "c139f32b98c6937ff0387dab8caccfa18422766ffa04b5570b82f0605a9bc6af",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}