Addressing Global Challenges
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
Experiential Learning
Offering rigorous yet flexible academics and top-ranked experience-powered learning to develop the next-generation of chemical engineering leaders.
Academic Offerings
Interdisciplinary Research
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
Vibrant Community
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
Celebrating Four Engineering Innovators Named in Women Who Empower Awards
Four Northeastern University College of Engineering alumnae and students were recognized in the 2026 Women Who Empower Innovator Awards, celebrating bold leadership, creative problem-solving, and entrepreneurial impact across medical technology, health, and wellness.
ChE Research Featured on Cover of ACS ES&T Engineering
Research conducted by chemical engineering students Sana Heydarian, PhD, and Lawrence Ajayi, PhD ’27, on “Electrochemical Nutrient Recovery for the Food–Energy–Water Nexus at Municipal Wastewater Facilities: Multivariate Analyses of Seasonal Sampling and Reactor Performance” was featured on the cover of ACS ES&T Engineering.
Studying the Formation of Socially Responsible Chemical Engineers
ChE Teaching Professor Courtney Pfluger, in collaboration with Kirsten Davis from Purdue University, was awarded a $159,103 grant for “Exploring Learning Pathways in the Formation of Socially Responsible Chemical Engineers” from the National Science Foundation’s Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (RIEF) program.
Zhao’s Research Featured on Cover of Nanoscale
ChE Assistant Professor Qing Zhao’s research on “Computational progress of designing single-atom alloy catalysts for methane activation” was featured on the back cover of Nanoscale.