Research
Research activities in the department vary widely, covering most pressing areas in the chemical engineering field today.
News
Engineering Faculty Awarded $3.07 Million by Department of Defense for Hybridization of Powertrain
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Researchers from The University of Alabama’s Center for Advanced Vehicle Technologies in the College of Engineering received $3.07 million from the U.S. Department of Defense in...
NASA Launches LunaRecycle Challenge; UA Serves as Allied Organization
NASA announced the launch of the LunaRecycle Challenge on Monday, Sept. 30, offering $3 million in prizes for innovations in recycling material waste on deep space missions with The University...
NSF-funded Summer Program Grants Research Experience to Local Students and Educators
This summer, Dr. Steven Weinman hosted a six-week summer program for undergraduate and graduate students from Stillman College, Shelton State Community College, The University of Alabama at Birmingham and Lawson...
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 |