Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
We pursue integrative research and offer graduate training at the frontiers of chemical engineering in these main areas:
- nanoscale science and engineering
- computational science and engineering
- biochemical and biomedical engineering
We added “biological” to our name in 2004 to better describe our commitment to this branch of engineering. We expect that a quantitative, mathematical, chemical-engineering approach will prove most effective for the modeling and manipulation of complex biological systems from individual cells, to tissues, to organs.
Ranking
- The National Research Council ranks the department in the top 20 percent of the 161 departments of chemical engineering in the United States that it rated.
- When the periodical Chemical Engineering Education recomputed the NRC rankings on a per-faculty-member (rather than per-department) basis, they ranked the department 13th in the US .
- Studies conducted by the University of Pittsburgh , based on frequency of faculty citations in the literature, ranked the department in the top 10 chemical engineering departments worldwide.
Research
Our department encourages and supports research in:
- core chemical engineering disciplines—molecular transformations, multiscale processes, and chemical systems engineering
- emerging areas—biochemical, biomedical and metabolic engineering, nanotechnology, and advanced polymeric, electronic and optical materials
We maintain vigorous research programs in the variety of areas. See research areas.
Our research projects are generously supported by federal and state funding agencies and by industry.
Faculty
Our faculty includes a National Medal of Science awardee and member of the National Academy of Engineering, three former National Science Foundation presidential young investigators, and several recipients of national, international, and regional research and teaching awards from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Chemical Society, the Electrochemical Society, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the American Society for Engineering Education, Tau Beta Pi, and the State University of New York system, among others. See faculty.
Students
Within the past year, students in the department have won:
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3rd place nationally in the AIChE Environmental Design Competition
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1st and 2nd places in the regional Chem. E. Car Competition, qualifying for the national competition
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3rd place nationally in the AIChE Materials Science and Engineering Poster Competition
