Current instructor

Ross Swaney

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.32/5 from 34 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.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

CBE 310
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Swaney is a grizzled vet of the chemical industry. Listen in and you will tap into the knowledge of decades of real experience. His lectures can get a little long winded and may lack examples, but this is made up for by his underlying passion. Get ready for a tough old fashioned chemical engineering course if he's teaching it.
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CBE 450
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
450 Swaney is very different from other classes; he's vert helpful in guiding the projects during office hours and has a lot of knowledge to share. However, old habits prevail: unorganized class, consistently behind schedule, doesn't know when his own exams are, and project info is scattered throughout 5-6 different PDFs. Overall, not bad.
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CBE 310
Quality 1/5Difficulty 1/5
Lectures are useless, no regard for other people's time, never provides direct answers.
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CBE 326
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Swaney can be very helpful. Study the homework and discussion problems for the exams.
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CBE 326
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
No confidence that swaney can solve his own problems without the answerkey. Rambles on in lecture. Is not helpful in office hours. Homework's are inconsiderately long
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CBE 326
Quality 2/5Difficulty 4/5
Prof. Swaney is an example of an intelligent/experienced engineer failing to teach well. Lectures weren't organized, consistently showed up 5-10 minutes late, long-winded, and only covered homework-relevant content on the class period before it was due. However, generous curve. I recommend heavily utilizing the textbook and TA office hours.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Ross Swaney

Analysis of chemical engineering operations involving fluid flow and heat transfer, covering flow through ducts/porous media, particulate motion, and conductive/convective/radiative heat exchange with/without phase change.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Ross Swaney

Ross Swaney’s lectures were often described as unorganized, late, or lacking in worked examples, with students finding it difficult to complete homework using class material alone. Exams were heavily lecture-based and fair, though some students found grading harsh on incorrect answers despite correct processes. Swaney was generally available for questions, but many recommended relying on the textbook and TA office hours for better problem-solving strategies.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Systematic introduction to dynamic behavior and automatic control of industrial processes. Labs use conventional hardware and real-time digital computers for instrumentation and control.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Ross Swaney

Ross Swaney taught CBE 470 with a heavy emphasis on theory and few examples. Students found his instruction difficult to follow, with one noting it was easier to sleep than understand the material, while another mentioned he was helpful if students sought him out for assistance.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Special Problems in Chemical Engineering involves research or independent study where students conduct and report on independent chemical engineering research.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026 · limited sample

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2027CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Spring 2027CBE 470Process Dynamics and Control
Spring 2027CBE 599Special Problems
Spring 2027CBE 790Master's Research or Thesis
Spring 2027CBE 890Pre-dissertator's Research
Spring 2027CBE 990Thesis-research
Fall 2026CBE 489Honors in Research
Fall 2026CBE 599Special Problems
Fall 2026CBE 790Master's Research or Thesis
Fall 2026CBE 890Pre-dissertator's Research
Fall 2026CBE 990Thesis-research

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance
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