We are a medium-size department with close student/faculty contact and individual attention. We currently have sixteen faculty members. Our student to faculty ration is around four to one.

The School offers two graduate degrees, the Master of Science in Chemical Engineering and the Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering. There is a special Master of Science curriculum in Chemical Engineering available for students with an undergraduate degree in an area other than Chemical Engineering, such as chemistry, physics, biology or a similar area. Students who want to do research in Bioengineering can either study in Chemical Engineering with a bioengineering research field or can apply for our affiliated program through the OU Bioengineering Center.

Research interests cover a wide range of areas such as advanced energy systems, biochemical and biomedical engineering, catalysis, process optimization, environmental engineering, nanotechnology, novel separation methods, polymers, reaction kinetics, surface science, and thin films. More about our research areas and faculty are found on their individual web pages.

Our research work is on the leading edge of innovation and creativity and is both fundamental and directed towards real-world problems. Funding comes from foundation grants, government contracts and company contracts. As part of their research experience, students may have the opportunity to interact with representatives from major national and international companies. These contact offer very good job opportunities for our graduates. Two such opportunities come through the industrial/academic consortiums of the Institute for Applied Surfactant Research (IASR) and The Center for Polymer and Fiber Research (CPFR).

CBME faculty are active in publishing the results of their research in peer-reviewed archival journals (approximately 50 such publications each of the last three years), in presenting their work at national and international meetings (over 300 such presentations in the last five years), and in supporting the research infrastructure of the country. Most of our graduate students have the opportunity to make presentations at regional or national meetings, and most have co-authored refereed journal articles. Over the last 10 years, external grant and contract expenditures have averaged over $1.2 million/year, with 2000 expenditures at $1.47 million.

Our graduates are highly sought after by industry and academia. Large, multinational companies that have hired our graduates include 3M, ADM, BASF, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, DuPont, Kerr-McGee, Procter and Gamble, Samsung, and Unilever.

Our graduate students have gone on to medical school, law school, business school and other graduate programs. Numerous students have obtained faculty positions at universities both in this country and abroad. This includes Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, Feng Chia University in Taiwan, Harvey Mudd College, University of Kansas, King Mohammed V University in Morocco, University of Florida, University of Kuwait, King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, Louisiana Technical University, University of Mississippi, National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan, University of Nevada – Reno, New Mexico State University, Ohio State University, Oxford University in England, Rowan University, Texas A & M University, University of Toronto in Canada University of Washington and Washington State University.

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