From the Chair

Welcome to the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado!

We are a world-class department with 28 faculty (including 2 joint with chemistry), 39 postdoctoral fellows and research technicians, 117 graduate students, and more than 500 undergraduate students. Our research program is extremely active, including research centers in biorefining and biofuels, membranes, pharmaceutical biotechnology, and photopolymerization. Within the last five years one department faculty member was elected into the National Academy of Engineering and Institute of Medicine, and our department faculty have received national and international awards including the NSF Waterman Award, the AIChE R. H. Wilhelm Award, the AIChE Professional Progress Award, the AIChE Allan P. Colburn Award, the ASEE Curtis W. McGraw Award, and the ASEE Dow Lectureship Award.

Our strong graduate program emphasizes the PhD degree and attracts outstanding national and international students. We have strong ABET accredited undergraduate programs, where the emphasis is on interactive learning, computer applications, and undergraduate research.

Our undergraduate program is characterized by a high degree of faculty-student interaction, both inside and outside the classroom, and interdisciplinary options in bioengineering, computer engineering, environmental engineering, materials engineering, and microelectronics processing. We also have a cooperative education program, in which undergraduates work in industry during some semesters and summers while earning their degree.

The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering moved to the new Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology (JSCB) Building in Spring 2012. This collaborative environment will enable us to continue supporting cutting edge research and teaching that will help us recruit the best students and faculty, and maintain our status as a top Chemical and Biological Engineering program. I encourage you to visit our webpages to learn more about the continued success of our faculty, graduate and undergraduate students.