Overview

Welcome to the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado! We are a world-class department with 20 faculty, 20 postdoctoral fellows and research technicians, 90 graduate students, and more than 360 undergraduate students. Our department has been recognized nationally and internationally. Within the last five years the department faculty ave 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.  Each of these awards is given nationally to a single person each year.

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. We are currently engaged in planning for a new building, which will enable us to continue as a premier chemical and biological engineering department for the next century.  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 being filed or granted in the last two years.

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.

Sincerely,

John L. Falconer, PhD

Department Chair