Department Overview

Overview | History | ABET Educational Objectives

For 90 years Rensselaer has maintained a leading program in Chemical Engineering. Today, the Department has one of the nation's premier programs in chemical and biological engineering.

These are extremely exciting times for our department and we have experienced dramatic and important changes in the past few years. These include:

• the hiring of a large number of truly outstanding junior and senior faculty members,
• the renaming of our department to the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering,
• a large number of prestigious awards to both our faculty and students,
• the election of one of our faculty to the National Academy of Engineering, and the
• move of our biologically oriented faculty into the new state of the art Biotechnology Center Building. This move opens up dramatic new opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborative research for our students and faculty.

Chemical engineering has been undergoing an important paradigm shift in the past few years with the increasing focus on biological systems and molecular engineering. We at Rensselaer are at the forefront of this paradigm shift. A large number of our faculty are carrying out cutting edge research in these important new areas. We firmly believe that as Chemical Engineering redefines itself, our Department is uniquely well positioned—rapidly becoming one of the top programs in the country.

Award-Winning Faculty

The strength of the department lies in its faculty, which includes 12 professors, 5 active emeriti, and several professors with dual appointments. Among the numerous awards each and every faculty has earned, Georges Belfort recently earned a place among the nation's finest in the National Academy of Engineering and Ravi Kane was recently selected as one of the TR 100 (the top 100 young innovators in the world) by MIT’s Technology Review.

Award-Winning Students

Our graduate students have also received a large number of national awards. For example, Kaushal Rege a recent graduate from our department has been awarded both the Peterson award from the Division of Biochemical Technology (BIOT) of the American Chemical Society as well as the Separations award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

Publishing Standards

In the past few years our faculty have authored over 300 separate publications, mostly coauthored with students, as well as five textbooks (a rate unmatched by departments around the country). Of particular significance is the appearance in 2004 of the 7th edition of Introduction to Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics (shown left), coauthored (with J.M. Smith) by H.C. Van Ness and M.M. Abbott. The three previous editions have sold over 350,000 copies, a record unequaled by any other Ch.E. text.

Student Involvement

Many undergraduates are active members of The Rensselaer Student Chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). The vibrant and active Chapter offers students the chance to participate in philanthropic, social, and professional events throughout the school year. Recently the Chapter placed in an international "Chem-E-Car" competition with their winning car made of Legos and powered by a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell.

Graduate Student Association

All graduate students are members of the Graduate Student Association, a formal organization within the department that elects officers, arranges social activities, addresses issues of importance to graduate students, and in general promotes camaraderie among the department’s graduate student body.