Research
Research activities in the department vary widely, covering most pressing areas in the chemical engineering field today.
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RESEARCH AREAS
Research efforts are concentrated in biotechnology; computational; polymers and soft materials; electronic materials and devices; and energy and the environment.
- “Green” Chemistry
- 3‐D Printing
- Advanced Materials
- Advanced Polymers and Materials
- Algae Cultivation and Algal Biomass Utilization
- Antibody-Drug Conjugates
- Assembly of Nanomaterials
- Bio/Nanosensors
- Biochemical Engineering for Production of Chemicals
- Biocompatibility and toxicology of nanoparticles
- Bioengineering
- Biomaterials
- Block Copolymers
- Catalysis
- Cell‐Material Interactions
- CO2 Capture Processes
- Computational Screening of CO2 Solvents
- Conjugated Polymers
- Controlled Synthesis
- Drug Delivery
- Drug Discovery
- Drug Resistance
- Electrochemical Engineering
- Electrochemical Engineering for Nanomaterials
- Environmental Catalysis Modeling
- Environmental Remediation
- Fuels
- Functional Material Interfaces for Soft Robotics
- Functionalized Materials for Separation and Catalysis
- Functionalized Membranes for Water Purification
- Green Cosmetics
- High Temperature Coatings
- In‐situ IR Spectroscopy of Thin Film Deposition
- Infrared Spectroscopy
- Interfacial Phenomena
- Intravaginal Rings for (Trans)mucosal Delivery of Drugs
- Ionic Liquids
- Magnetic Hyperthermia
- Manufacturing Cost Modeling
- Materials Characterization
- Mechanical Behavior
- Medical and Health Properties of Berries and Berry Extracts
- Membrane Fouling
- Metabolic Engineering
- Metals
- Microbicides
- Microchannel Devices
- Molecular Sieves
- Mucoadhesive Gels
- Nanodevices
- Nanofibers
- Nanomaterials
- Nanostructures
- Nanotherapeutics
- Natural Products
- Oncology
- Oxidation
- Pharmaceuticals
- Photobioreactor Design
- Polymer Templating
- Polymers
- Process Control
- Process Intensification
- Reaction Engineering
- Sensing
- Simulations of Nanomaterials
- Single-use Bioprocessing Films
- Soil Remediation
- Stretchable Electronics
- Surface Chemistry
- Surface Engineering
- Surface Science
- Surface/Interfacial Engineering
- Synthesis and Characterization of Inorganic Solids
- Synthetic Biology
- Thermodynamics
- Thin-Films
- Tissue Engineering
- Toxicological Evaluation of Novel Materials
- Translational Medicine
- Transport Phenomena in Polymeric Systems
- Tumor Microenvironment
- Vaccines
- Vibrational Spectroscopy
- Water
- Water Treatment
- Wearable Electronics
Laboratories
One of the biggest assets to the department is the 25-foot-tall distillation column, located in the high-bay area of Bevill.
One of only a few of its kind, this $105,000 glass tower was donated by alumnus Ralph Lewis, vice president of sales of Texaco, and the Texaco Corp. Students gain first-hand experience with its controls, design and operation. In the 1,200-square-foot high-bay area, students work with a gas chromatograph, reaction vessels, a computer-controlled batch still interfaced to a Camile data acquisition and control system, and a steady-state glass still. Students spend a good portion of their summer Operations Laboratory performing experiments with the distillation column.
SEMINARS
Spring 2025 Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Seminar Series
Time: 11:00 AM to 11:50 AM, Thursdays, Central Time
Location: SERC 1013
Contact: Zhongyang Wang; zhongyang.wang@ua.edu ChBE office: (205) 348-6619
| Date | Speaker | University/Institute |
|---|---|---|
| January 16, 2025 | Dr. Yuping Bao Graduate Program Overview |
UA |
| January 23, 2025 | Dr. Shrihari Sankarasubramanian Electrochemical Engineering at the Space Frontier – In-situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Systems for Missions to Mars Seminar |
The University of Texas at San Antonio |
| January 30, 2025 | Dr. Karthish Manthiram Electrification and Decarbonization of Chemical Synthesis |
California Institute of Technology |
| February 6, 2025 | Dr. Goli Jalilvand, Toward Sustainable Energy Storage with Cellulose-based Separators for Lithium-Ion Batteries and Beyond |
University of South Carolina |
| February 13, 2025 | Dr. Cassandra Porter, Brush Active-Layer Membranes: Growing Membranes Bottom-Up |
Auburn |
| February 20, 2025 | ||
| February 27, 2025 | Dr. Bradley Harris Catalyzing Careers: Inspiring Engineering Students for a Sustainable Future |
University of Tennessee Chattanooga |
| March 6, 2025 | Dr. Adam Weber Importance of Transport in Electrochemical Energy-Conversion Technologies |
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
| March 13, 2025 | UA Spring Break (no Class) | |
| March 20, 2025 | Dr. Jeffrey McCutcheon The Materials We Leave Behind: How Manufacturing Research can Expand Material Options for Membranes for Water, Gas, and Ion Separations |
University of Connecticut |
| March 27, 2025 | Dr. Bruce Locke Design and Development of Gas-Liquid Nonthermal Plasma Reactors for Chemical Processing |
FAMU-FSU |
| April 3, 2025 | ChBE Advisory Board Meeting | |
| April 10, 2025 | Dr. Shannon Boettcher The Chemistry and Physics of Bipolar Membranes with Applications in Water, Energy, and Decarbonization |
University of California, Berkeley |
| April 17, 2025 | Dr. Andrea Hodge Accelerated Discovery of the Processing Genome for Nickel Superalloys |
University of Southern California |
| April 24, 2025 | Dr. Kenneth K. S. Lau Interfacial Engineering of Electrochemical Conversion Systems using Chemical Vapor Deposition of Polymers |
Rowan University |