Spring 2027

Process Synthesis

Process Synthesis introduces inventing processes for large-scale, low-cost processing of materials like water, chemicals, petroleum products, food, drugs, and wastes.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Sean Palecek3.9/5Katelyn Dahlke2.9/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Sean Palecek

The course was described as extremely homework-heavy, with assignments sometimes taking up an entire day to complete.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Create and interpret simplified chemical process flowsheets

  • Apply mass and energy balances to chemical processes and unit operations

  • Use phase equilibrium data and equations to calculate performance of simple separation processes

  • Use reaction equilibrium concepts to calculate the performance of simple chemical reactors

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

CHEM 116, 329, or concurrent enrollment

CBE 250 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. 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.

For this course: 4.3/5 raw quality · 3.8/5 difficulty · 12 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Sean Palecek

Sean Palecek was a clear explainer who was accessible outside of class and willing to help students with difficult topics. Students described the homework as long and tedious, often taking up an entire day, but noted that the effort helped concepts stick. One student found the grading quite generous.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2020: 3.50 GPA, 70.5% A/AB (n=44 letter grades); Fall 2020: 3.03 GPA, 43.5% A/AB (n=62 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.15 GPA, 50.0% A/AB (n=70 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Katelyn Dahlke

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.45/5 from 29 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.

For this course: 2.0/5 raw quality · 4.8/5 difficulty · 4 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Katelyn Dahlke

Students described Katelyn Dahlke's course as difficult, with lengthy weekly homeworks and exams that often felt too long for the allotted time. Lectures focused on definitions rather than problem-solving, and reviews noted that messy notes and a lack of recorded lectures made it hard to catch up if a class was missed. While Dahlke replied quickly to emails, several students found her responses lackluster and reported she exercised her power to remove students from class.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 2.88 GPA, 30.6% A/AB (n=36 letter grades); Fall 2024: 2.86 GPA, 31.7% A/AB (n=60 letter grades); Spring 2025: 2.59 GPA, 31.2% A/AB (n=48 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Regina Murphy, Brian Pfleger

Past students found Regina Murphy’s homework long, though exams weighed less than in-class work. Brian Pfleger’s homework was challenging; one student found his tests reflected taught material, while another found online lectures and homework unhelpful.

BRIAN PFLEGER is recorded teaching in Fall 2009, Spring 2013, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

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

REGINA MURPHY is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Fall 2016, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SEAN PALECEK is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Fall 2008, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Spring 2017, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

THATCHER W ROOT is recorded teaching in Fall 2007, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2014, Fall 2017, Fall 2019, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Spring 2026. 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 / 640
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 700

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

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Sean Palecek

Students described Sean Palecek as a clear and accessible instructor, noting that paying attention in class and using office hours helped them succeed in the course.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 2.59 GPA, 31.2% A/AB (n=48 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.15 GPA, 50.0% A/AB (n=70 letter grades); Spring 2026: 2.95 GPA, 42.6% A/AB (n=47 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Sean Palecek

The course was described as extremely homework-heavy, with assignments sometimes taking up an entire day to complete.

Past student reviews · Katelyn Dahlke

Katelyn Dahlke assigned lengthy weekly homeworks and administered hard exams that often felt too long for the allotted time.

Topics

  • Invention of processes for large-scale, low-cost material processing.
  • Processing of water, chemicals, petroleum products, food, drugs, and wastes.
  • Simplified chemical process flowsheets.
  • Mass and energy balances in chemical processes and unit operations.
  • Phase equilibrium and simple separation processes.
  • Reaction equilibrium and simple chemical reactors.

Skills

  • Creating and interpreting simplified chemical process flowsheets.
  • Applying mass and energy balances to chemical processes and unit operations.
  • Using phase equilibrium data and equations to calculate performance of simple separation processes.
  • Using reaction equilibrium concepts to calculate the performance of simple chemical reactors.

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.20 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

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.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
CBE 250 · Spring 2027

Process Synthesis

Recorded 2026-10-29
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261029T213040-0fa85c20",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-29 21:30:40.248904+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:220:002675",
    "course_id": "CBE 250",
    "course_uid": "course_615ffa9f09a63710d1f4a9cb",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "002675",
    "source_subject_id": "220",
    "title": "Process Synthesis",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
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 2026-10-29

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 1Download part 2Download part 3
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "0b8d8268e65de6af0768cacca4fc42075108a0d52f95c06c075316302dabcf0d",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "c9cd06eaa45f9ddf7e69faa38b89ff3d3dd995dd",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-29 21:30:40.248904+00:00"
}