Chemical engineering is addressing pressing challenges to advance society such as biomedicine, energy, security, and sustainability. Conduct cutting-edge research in areas such as Biomolecular and Biomedical Systems; Complex and Computational Systems; Energy and Sustainability; Engineering Education and Pedagogy; and Materials and Nanotechnology. Through our flexible programs and focus on experiential learning, including our top-ranked co-op program, our students are prepared as next-generation engineering leaders.
Spotlight Stories
NSF CAREER Award to Understand How the Nervous System Regulates Gut Inflammation
Assistant Professor Abigail Koppes, chemical engineering, recently received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award. There’s a growing awareness of the connection between the human brain and the intestinal tract, but many questions remain.
NSF CAREER Award for Advancing Battery Materials
DiPietro Assistant Professor Joshua Gallaway, chemical engineering, recently received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award. The project will conduct research on advanced battery materials that have the potential for greater energy density and cycle life, while operating in non-flammable water-based electrolytes.
Engineering in Action
World-Renowned Cooperative Education
Bradley Priem, BS, 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.
Global Research Co-op
Taylor Wilde, BS chemical engineering student, worked in a research lab at École Normale Supérieure, a university in Paris. Wilde collaborated with a postdoctoral researcher to create nanomaterials using a chemical vapor deposition, or CVD, furnace. It helped him land his third co-op at GVD Corporation in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where worked again with a CVD furnace. Ultimately, Wilde wants to work in renewable energy and contribute to the efforts across the globe to lower society’s carbon footprint.
Recent News
Bencherif’s Research Featured on Cover of Advanced Functional Materials
ChE Assistant Professor Sidi A. Bencherif’s research on “Oxygen-Generating Cryogels Restore T-Cell Mediated Cytotoxicity in Hypoxic Tumors” is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Advanced Functional Materials.
Creating Stable Non-Critical Element Magnets
Distinguished University and Cabot Professor Laura Lewis, ChE/MIE, is leading a $2.1M Department of Energy grant, in collaboration with the University of Delaware, the Northeastern University Physics department, and the University of Warwick, UK, for “Designing Strong Stability in Non-Critical and Rare-Earth-Lean Magnetic Materials.”
New Faculty Spotlight: Hannah Sayre
Hannah Sayre joins the Chemical Engineering department in August 2021 as an Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in Chemistry and Chemical Biology.
Developing Biomaterial-based Vaccines for Cancer Immunotherapy
ChE Assistant Professor Sidi A. Bencherif received a $2M R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health for “Overcoming vaccine-associated hypoxia with advanced biomaterials to enhance cancer immunotherapy.“