Chemical Engineering at Caltech has a long tradition. Started as applied chemistry by Arthur Amos Noyes, the department led the famous Project 37 of the American Petroleum Institute that provided much of the basic knowledge on thermodynamics and phase equilibria in hydrocarbon systems. Subsequent developments, under the able guidance of a series of distinguished educators and scientists, have led the department to the forefront of research and teaching in chemical engineering. At the present time, the chemical engineering faculty at Caltech is one of the most distinguished and innovative in the world, actively leading chemical engineering research into new areas of application and involvement.

Job Openings

David A. Tirrell the Ross McCollum-William H. Corcoran Professor and professor of chemistry and chemical engineering at Caltech, has been appointed director of the Beckman Institute. He succeeds biologist Barbara Wold, who has returned to full-time professorial duties after a decade at the institute's helm.

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We are pleased to announce that Prof. Rustem Ismagilov from the University of Chicago will be joining the CCE faculty beginning this summer as John W. and Herberta M. Miles Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.

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Frances Arnold, Dick and Barbara Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry, has been named co-recipient of the Charles Stark Draper Prize by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Arnold was awarded the $500,000 prize—the engineering profession's highest honor—for a method called directed evolution, used worldwide to guide the creation of certain properties in proteins and cells, allowing the engineering of novel enzymes and biocatalytic processes for pharmaceutical and chemical products.

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CCE alum Eric Kaler has been named president of the University of Minnesota.

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Zhen-Gang Wang, Professor of ChemicallEngineering, was awarded the 2008 Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Caltech'smost prestigious award for teaching, it is awarded annually to honor a professor who demonstrates unusual ability, creativity, and innovation in undergraduate and graduate classroom or lab teaching. A committee of previous Feynman prizewinners, students, and faculty select each year's winner. To read more, see the press release.

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Frances Arnold, the Dick and Barbara Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry, has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for "pioneering the use of directed evolution as an engineering tool to create useful biological systems. " Prof. Arnold is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. She is one of only 8 persons elected to all three branches of the National Academies, and the only woman awarded this distinction.

Our 2011-12 named lectures:

Our 2012 Vaughan Lecturer is Rachel A. Segalman of Chemical Engineering Department, University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories. Her topic: "Morphology Control in Conjugated Polymers through Molecular Design." Go here for more information.

The 45th annual Lacey Lecturer is James A. Dumesic Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at University of Wisconsin, Madison. Prof. Dumesic will give his technical lecture on Tuesday Feb 14, 2012, on "Catalytic Conversion of Hemi-cellulose and Cellulose to Fuels and Chemicals." His second lecture on Thursday Feb 16, 2012, is geared toward a more general audience: "Strategies for Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Hydrogen and Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels." See the Lacey Lectureship page for more.

The 2011 Economou Prize winner will be announced soon. For more details, click here.

For more on all of our upcoming Chemical Engineering seminars, see our Seminars page.

The Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Division has launched a newsletter. Here's the link to the current issue: Fall/Winter 2010-11

Archived issues are here:Summer 2010; Spring 2010; Winter 2010; Fall 2009; Summer 2009

Chemical Engineering's Arvind Kannan received a Churchill Scholarship for 2012-13. Kannan, a chemical engineering major and English minor, was one of only 14 students selected to receive the award this year.

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Kevin Gu, ChE Junior, 1st Place Winner of the Doris S. Perpall SURF Speaking Competition. He was one of seven finalists, named the best speakers out of 290 who presented their research on SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships) Seminar Day in October, and competed in the third and final round of the Doris S. Perpall SURF Speaking Competition on January 19, 2012. His mentors were Sossina M. Haile and WooChul Jung for his research on Metal-Decorated, Nanostructured Sm_0.2Ce_0.8O_2-δ Thin Films by PLD as High-Performance Anodes. Abstract: The primary long-term goal for solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) in general is to reduce operating temperatures to intermediate ranges (600–700°C) for reasons of material stability, cost, and wider applicability. Preliminary results involving platinum catalysis on vertically-aligned columns of Sm_0.2Ce_0.8O_2-δ(SDC) have shown significantly reduced electrode impedance when compared with other morphologies such as Pt on dense SDC for intermediate temperatures. The two primary goals of this project are to explore the suitability of Ni, Ti, or Cu as an inexpensive replacement for Pt, and investigate the dependence of performance on electrode morphology. Columnar thin film electrodes of SDC are grown on Y_0.16Zr_0.84O_1.92 (YSZ) single crystals by pulsed-laser deposition. Metal catalyst particles are then deposited by means of sputtering. Results of electrochemical and morphological analyses carried out via AC impedance spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy are presented.

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Chemical Engineering's Vivek Narsimhan received a Churchill Scholarship for 2008-09. He is studying Advanced Mathematics (Maths Part III) at Churchill College, University of Cambridge. This award covers all university and college tuition & fees, plus allowances for his cost of living and travel. Only 13 were awarded this year.

Vivek's work at Caltech included modeling the behavior of soft biomaterials, with an eye to developing shape-changing replacement lenses to be used for cataract patients. Professor Julie Kornfield was his advisor.

Vivek has also received the Robert Byrd Scholarship for outstanding academic achievement and the Caltech Upperclass Merit Award. He has served as the vice president of Caltech's AIChE chapter.

David A. Tirrell has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, (2008) for his "pioneering contributions to bioengineered materials and the synthesis of novel artificial proteins." Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.

Professor Tirrell was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2006. He received the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society in 2007.

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John F. Brady, Chevron Professor of Chemical Engineering, was named the 2007 recipient of the Society of Rheology Bingham Medal for his outstanding contributions to the field of rheology. The award was presented at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Society of Rheology in Salt Lake City, October 2007.

Mark E. Davis was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2006. He is the Warren and Katharine Schlinger Professor of Chemical Engineering.