Spring 2027

Introduction to Chemical Process Modeling

Introduction to chemical process modeling and using modern computational tools to analyze these models.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Brendan Blackwell4.3/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Katelyn Dahlke

Past students noted that the course involved long homework assignments and projects, requiring significant time investment to complete.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Use modern computational software for numerical problem solving

  • Explain concepts for numerical problem-solving strategies including logic statements and DO loops

  • Use programming tools to solve systems of equations relevant to chemical engineering

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

(CBE 250 or concurrent enrollment) and (MATH 319, 320, 376, or concurrent enrollment)

CBE 255 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

Brendan Blackwell

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.75/5 from 28 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 — Fall 2023: 2.95 GPA, 44.7% A/AB (n=47 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.02 GPA, 46.3% A/AB (n=54 letter grades); Fall 2025: 2.83 GPA, 45.8% A/AB (n=48 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

BRENDAN BLACKWELL is recorded teaching in Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JENNIFER REED is recorded teaching in Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Spring 2014, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2018, Spring 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

KATELYN DAHLKE is recorded teaching in Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ROSS SWANEY is recorded teaching in Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2013. 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 / 670
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 180
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 180
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 180
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 180

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 · Katelyn Dahlke

Students described the course as a MATLAB bootcamp that provided a strong foundational understanding of the software for future engineering classes.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 2.94 GPA, 33.3% A/AB (n=63 letter grades); Fall 2025: 2.83 GPA, 45.8% A/AB (n=48 letter grades); Spring 2026: 2.95 GPA, 34.8% A/AB (n=66 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Katelyn Dahlke

Past students noted that the course involved long homework assignments and projects, requiring significant time investment to complete.

Past student reviews · Katelyn Dahlke

One student found the project rubrics vague and the grading strict, noting that quizzes felt pointless and too fast for the material covered.

Topics

  • Modeling of chemical processes
  • Modern computational tools for model analysis

Skills

  • Using modern computational software for numerical problem solving
  • Explaining numerical problem-solving strategies including logic statements and DO loops
  • Solving systems of equations relevant to chemical engineering using programming tools

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 · 0.15 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 255 · Spring 2027

Introduction to Chemical Process Modeling

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:220:023133",
    "course_id": "CBE 255",
    "course_uid": "course_9a8e10f977a1af3ad895a6ba",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "023133",
    "source_subject_id": "220",
    "title": "Introduction to Chemical Process Modeling",
    "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 2026-10-14

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 1Download part 2
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "d77a0da798a6d72f30b6946152e33ee26da03d4e66464e0cb935e2a5aa2589b4",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}