The University of Oklahoma School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering, along with Case Western Reserve University, and the University of Michigan, piloted the development of a graduate degree program in Chemical Engineering in the Petroleum and Petrochemical College at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.

This program of development has was funded during its first five years beginning in 1992, by the United States Agency for International Development and managed by the University of Oklahoma. While this program has prepared a large number of Thai chemical engineers for research and development, managerial, and academic teaching positions in the chemical engineering industry in Thailand, it has benefited the American participating universities significantly as well.

Research in OU CBME now spans two continents through a wide variety of joint research programs conducted both in Thailand with Chulalongkorn research assistants, and in the US with Thai research assistants working alongside OU research assistants. Regular exchange of faculty and research personnel has brought a global perspective to the educational and research programs of all participants.