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Departmental Overview

Our Chair, John Falconer Welcome to the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado! We are a world-class department with 22 faculty (including 2 joint with chemistry) , 20 postdoctoral fellows and research technicians, 90 graduate students, and more than 360 undergraduate students. Within the last five years the department faculty have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine and have received 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 PhD program has been designated as a program of excellence by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. Our graduate program emphasizes the PhD degree and attracts outstanding national and international students. Our research programs are extremely active, including research centers in biorefining and biofuels, membranes, pharmaceutical biotechnology, and photopolymerization. This research has led to 26 patents (within the past two years), companies and organizations.
To explore some of these organizations - visit our Companies and Organizations page.

We also have a strong undergraduate program, where the emphasis is on interactive learning, computer applications, undergraduate research and options. 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.

We are currently planning a new building which 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.

Sincerely,
John L. Falconer, PhD
Department Chair

Department Objectives and Outcomes

Faculty Excellence in Research

  • ACS Fellow of Industrial Engineering (2006)

  • ACS PROGRESS/Dreyfus Lectureship Award (2006)

  • Alan T. Waterman Award, National Science Foundation (2004)

  • American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Professional Progress Award (2005)

  • American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) R. H. Wilhelm Award (2006)

  • New Inventor of the Year - University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (2004)

  • University of Colorado (Boulder) Inventor of the Year Award (2004)

  • 2 AIChE Allan P. Colburn Awards (2001, 2003)

  • 2 ASEE Curtis W. McGraw Research Awards (2001, 2003)

  • ASEE Dow Lectureship Award (2002, 2007)

  • Howard Hughes Medical Investigator (2000-2010)

  • Clemson University Award for Contributions to the Literature (2005)

  • Elizabeth Gee Award (2005)

  • R & D Magazine Inventor of the Year Award (2004)

  • National Science Foundation Special Creativity Award (2003)

  • Technology Review TR35 Award (2005), Technology Review 100 Award (1999)

  • 29 Awards including: NSF Presidential Faculty Fellowships, NSF Presidential Young Investigator Awards, NSF CAREER Awards, MRS Young Investigator Awards, ACS Unilever Awards, NIH Career Transition Award, NIH FIRST Awards, ONR Outstanding Young Investigator Awards, Packard Fellowships, ASEE Outstanding New Faculty Awards, Alfred P. Sloan Fellows, Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards, Dreyfus New Faculty Awards

Faculty Excellence in Teaching

  • 4 ASEE Teaching Awards

  • Research Corporation Cottrell Teacher/Scholar Award

  • Chemical Manufacturers Association Natural Catalyst Teaching Award

  • 5 Alfred P. Sloan Fellow and Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards

  • University of Colorado President’s Teaching Scholar

  • 4 University of Colorado Graduate Advising Awards

  • 2 Boulder Faculty Assembly Teaching Awards

  • College of Engineering and Applied Sciences:
        •  2 Peebles Teaching Innovation Awards
        •  5 Hutchinson Teaching Awards
        •  Sullivan-Carlson Innovation in Teaching Award
        •  Dean's Award for Outstanding Teaching