Research Centers
Research centers are an important part of the graduate and undergraduate research carried out in the department, and significantly increase the interaction between students and industry.
Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels (C2B2)
C2B2 is a cooperative research and educational partnership with the federal National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Colorado School of Mines, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Colorado State University.
The center provides private industry with one-stop access to researchers, laboratories, students, and educators from four innovative institutions, each having unique strengths in biofuel and biorefining application areas.
C2B2 currently has 22 industrial sponsors including: Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Ecopetrol, Genencor/Danisco, General Motors, Shell Global Solutions and Valero, in addition to small businesses, and start-up companies.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI)
RASEI reflects a three pronged approach through discovery, transformation, and entrepreneurship in linking the University's research in renewable and sustainable energy with climate and environmental science, behavioral science, and policy analysis, to name a few.
RASEI was developed to solve the energy crisis through research, education and technology. The Institue was launched in 2006 by co-directors Carl Koval of the Chemistry and Biochemistry department at the University of Colorado at Boulder and Ray Stutts of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology (CIMB)
The CIMB is an initiative at CU first proposed in 2001 and formally started in 2003. Its mission is to foster new research, teaching, and technology development at the interface of life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, computational sciences, and engineering. The focus of this initiative is to understand and manipulate living cells and control cellular behavior through a global analysis of molecular events using methods that span a continuum from basic to applied research. The area referred to as "molecular biotechnology" includes new methods in genomics, proteomics, molecular and cellular imaging, biophysics, mathematical analysis, materials engineering and chemical synthesis, which are leading the way towards fundamental changes in experimental sciences.
Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
The Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology is jointly run by the Department of Chemical Engineering and the School of Pharmacy and is funded by industrial sponsors. The Center is divided into three research cores: (i) pharmaceutics, covering drug stability and drug delivery research, (ii) molecular biology, where recombinant DNA technology is employed to identify new drug targets, synthesize macromolecular therapeutics, and understand the molecular basis of disease, and (iii) analytical chemistry, where new methods are developed to characterize macromolecular structure, in vivo drug concentrations, and drug purity.
Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Fundamentals and Application of Photopolymerization
The Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Fundamentals and Application of Photopolymerization is operated jointly with the University of Iowa. It is currently funded by six companies and NSF. The center strives to increase the understanding of kinetics and mechanics of photopolymerizations and their applications. In addition, the center strives to create an interface between industrial scientists and the academics. For more information, visit the Photopolymerization Center website.
Center for Membrane Applied Science and Technology
The Mechanical Engineering and Chemical and Biological Engineering Departments currently have a National Science Foundation Center for Membrane Applied Science and Technology (MAST) that is funded by NSF, Industrial Sponsors , the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, and the University of Colorado. In addition to Chemical and Biological Engineering, faculty from Chemistry and Mechanical Engineering and faculty from other Colorado schools have projects with the Center.
