Chemical engineering is addressing pressing challenges to advance society such as biomedicine, energy, security, and sustainability. Join an R1 research institution and work alongside accomplished faculty in the heart of Boston - a hub for biotech, medical institutions, high tech, and academia.
Innovative Education and Research
Offering rigorous yet flexible academics and top-ranked experience-powered learning to develop the next-generation of chemical engineering leaders.
Academic Offerings
Chemical engineering encompasses a broad range of cutting-edge research allowing them to work at the intersection of a variety of different fields, including biology, chemistry, energy, physics, materials science, and other engineering disciplines.
Hub of Innovation
From being in the heart of the city of Boston with industry and the world's top hospitals, to a range of active student organizations and a network of faculty, alumni, and industry professionals, the Department of Chemical Engineering offers a welcoming and exciting community.
Engaged Student GroupsSpotlight Stories
ARPA-E IGNIITE Award for Biofuel Innovation
ChE Assistant Professor Benjamin Woolston was selected as one of 18 awardees to receive $500K for his project “Combining aerobic and anaerobic metabolism in a single bioreactor for transformative biofuel production metrics from C1 feedstocks” as part of ARPA-E 2025 Inspiring Generations of New Innovators to Impact Technologies in Energy (IGNIITE) program.
Engineering in Action
Chemical Engineering Research Co-op in Switzerland
Chemical Engineering student Hannah Boyce shares her unique experience conducting research abroad at ETH Zurich, one of Europe’s leading biotech institutions.
PhD Research for Impact
With a dream of curing breast cancer, Chinedu Okorafor, PhD in chemical engineering, took full advantage of her Northeastern University curriculum and surrounding biotech centers in Boston. Northeastern’s interdisciplinary approach—sparking collaborations among the sciences—helped her chart her own course toward a degree with many possible rewarding applications.
Reaching Career Goals
For Haroon Bukhari, MS in chemical engineering, the Northeastern experience culminated in a co-op at Rogers Corporation, an innovator in engineered materials. Focusing on applications including electric vehicles, he’s already building a career toward making green technologies safer, more efficient, and more cost-effective.
World-Renowned Cooperative Education
Bradley Priem, BS in chemical engineering, had two co-ops that gave him the ability to delve into a particular industry. At Synlogic he was a bioanalytical chemist and bacterial engineer creating e-coli strains, and at bluebird bio he was an upstream process development engineer for gene production. He now knows he wants to go into the biotech industry and is interested in graduate school too.
Recent News
2026 COE Outstanding Graduate Student Awards
The COE Outstanding Graduate Student Awards for 2026 were awarded to more than 50 graduate students across the Northeastern global campus for their exceptional achievements in research, teaching, leadership, and service.
New Research Develops Method to Repair Nerves from Nasal Stem Cells
Two ChE Associate Professors, Abigail Koppes and Ryan Koppes, recently patented a technique that can turn nasal stem cells into Schwann cells, which are used to repair damaged nerves. While doctors often damaging existing nerves to create Schwann cells, this method only involves an outpatient procedure from the patient’s own nose, also reducing the risk of rejection.
2026 Udall Scholarship Nominees
Melissa Bernardin, E’27, chemical engineering and environmental engineering, and Caleb Hagner, E’27, environmental engineering and chemical engineering, are two of four students nominated for the Udall Scholarship by Northeastern University.
Auguste Elected AAAS Fellow
ChE Professor Debra Auguste was elected as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2025 Fellow in the Engineering section for seminal contributions to the field of biomaterials, particularly in the study of chemical and mechanical methods to enhance targeted delivery.