Chemical Engineering and Materials Sciences are the twin engines of technological innovation, and hence an ideal starting point to launch a successful engineering career. At UCI, our department provides personalized educational experience, high-level training, and a strong support network for achieving career goals. The department benefits from the surrounding high-tech industry, which offers opportunities for joint industry/university collaborations, undergraduate and graduate internships, and job placement. I invite you to review the descriptions of our undergraduate and graduate programs, and contact us directly if you have any questions.
In order to meet the engineering and research needs of industry, the ChEMS department has identified two thrust areas for future growth and development.
The biotechnology industry requires engineers with solid foundations in both chemical engineering and the life sciences. Engineers with training in the biological sciences are in high demand. The biotechnology thrust encompasses activities within Biochemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Biology, Medicine, and Computer Engineering. The current program in Biochemical Engineering introduces students to achievements made in biotechnology and stimulates them to analyze basic scientific and engineering principles through organized and individualized curricula and research. UCI now has a unique opportunity to partner with local biomedical engineering companies to provide a unique educational program aimed at training scientists and engineers who can support the local economy. The emerging Biomedical Engineering (BME) Department will coordinate with the biotechnology thrust to explore critical intellectual areas such as tissue engineering and bio-compatible materials.
Since its inception in 1987, the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science has established itself as a leader in the field of Chemical Engineering and Material Science. Our faculty have received National Young Investigator, CAREER, and PECASE Awards from the National Science Foundation and ONR. Research funding exceeds $2.1 million annually, and comes from federal sources (NIH, NSF, ONR, ARO, DOE, NASA, EPA), state government sources (BioSTAR , Regional Water Quality Control Board), local government sources (Orange County, Cities of Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Newport Beach), private foundations (Whitaker Foundation, National Water Research Institute, Water Environment Research Foundation, American Water Works Research Foundation), and private companies (Alcoa, Boeing, EPRI, Fluor Daniel, Ford, Hewlett Foundation, Hitachi, Corp., Metrolaser, Praxair, Rockwell, Sandia, Toshiba, Toyota).
Faculty conduct research in four main areas:
The cross-disciplinary nature of the department fosters a creative and highly stimulating environment for graduate study. Many of our students have gone on to become faculty at other institutions, and leaders in their respective fields.
Nanotechnology involves the creation and utilization of materials, devices and systems through the manipulation of matter at the nanometer (10-9 m) length scale. The ChEMS department's existing strengths in biomedical engineering, biochemical engineering and materials science mean that the potential of nanotechnology can be realized. Cutting edge technology has become increasingly interdisciplinary as research issues in materials have become broad in scope and complex in approach. The ChEMS department's interdisciplinary Materials Program provides graduate students with a strong background in chemistry, physics, mathematics and engineering. The Materials Program prepares students for a wide range of engineering applications, including the design and development of optoelectric devices, diagnostic devices, semiconductors and composites.
Stanley B. Grant
Chair, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
University of California, Irvine
Welcome
Welcome to the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Department undergraduate programs. Chemical engineering adds chemistry as a full partner to the traditional engineering sciences of mathematics and physics. Chemical engineers typically focus on chemical processes that turn raw materials into valuable products. Students choose this program to gain the broadest scientific and technical skills to apply to chemical, biological, and environmental problems. Chemical engineers have contributed to advances as wide-ranging as nuclear medicine, pharmaceuticals, plastics and other synthetic materials, pollution controls, and improvements to food production.
The Materials Science Engineering program is designed to provide education and training areas related to the impact of materials on the environment and biotechnology. Its distinctive features include a multi- and interdisciplinary curriculum which develops students’ communication and computer skills, and draws from the physical sciences as well as other engineering disciplines such as chemical, civil, and mechanical engineering. Students gain a fundamental understanding of structures, properties, processing, and performance with an emphasis in engineering aspects of materials and the selection of materials to meet design goals.
[Link to the General Catalogue
A chemical engineer is an engineer with a deep understanding of chemistry, physics, and mathematics.
Related Websites:
American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AiCHE) main site
What does a Chemical Engineer do?
Because the talent set of a chemical engineer is very broad, our graduates find employment in a wide variety of fields, ranging from the chemical industry, to the biomedical industry, to the electronics industry, to the petroleum industry, to law and beyond.
Why come to UCI?
Our classes are small in size, taught by experts in their fields, and our students have many opportunities to work on cutting edge research projects with excellent faculty.
What is unique about the undergraduate program at UCI?
The undergraduate degree offers technical electives that cover a broad spectrum of topics (environmental, materials, biochemical, biomedical, electronic processing), and students can specialize in one of three areas:
What if I want a more biological focus?
Because many of the courses required for the degree are foundation courses for biological science (e.g., general and organic chemistry, physical chemistry, biochemistry), undergraduate majors in Chemical Engineering can easily take additional classes in Biological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering.
What if I want to go into a Health Profession?
By adding just a few additional classes to the standard Chemical Engineering curriculum, students can satisfy all requirements for entry into Medical School, Pharmacy School, and Dental School.
Materials engineers perform the following tasks:
The role of materials engineer in treating materials is similar to that of a doctor (Physician, Dentist, Psychiatrist) in treating people. This similarity is illustrated in this diagram.
Why should you consider seriously becoming a materials engineer?There is an increased level of sophistication required of engineering materials in a rapidly changing technological society and the selection of materials has increasingly become an integral part of almost every modern engineering design.
As anUndergraduate student in the MSE program at UCI, you will have the unique opportunity of working on exciting research projects that distinguished faculty members oversee and that are funded by federal agencies.
Your participation in research will:
Historically, the field of chemical engineering has had a long and rich tradition as one of the core engineering disciplines, built on a solid foundation in chemistry, physics, and mathematics. However, with the maturity of the chemical process industry, chemical engineering is no longer concerned only with flow in pipes, solution chemistry, chemical reactions, and unit operations. Instead, the past decade has seen a revolution in the field, characterized primarily by an increased interest in applying chemical engineering tools and analytical skills to study highly-interdisciplinary problems involving complex systems (e.g., in biotechnology and biological systems) and molecular-level phenomena (e.g., in microtechnology and nanotechnology). Since its inception in 1987, UC Irvine's Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science has directed its attention on cutting-edge problems beyond the scope of traditional chemical engineering, a trend now mirrored in most major academic institutions around the world.
Our department's historic strength in bioprocessing and biotechnology has evolved in the past few years to include complementary research activities in chemical and biochemical engineering that encompass four main thrust areas. These highly-interdisciplinary thrust areas, along with the faculty who conduct research in each of these categories, are listed below.
Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
Faculty: DaSilva, Grant, George, Hong, Lim, Putnam, Venugopalan, Wang
Tissue Engineering
Faculty: George, Putnam
Bio-Transport Phenomena
Faculty: Grant, George, Venugopalan
Biomolecular, Biomaterial, and Interfacial Engineering
Faculty: DaSilva, Earthman, Putnam, Wang
Smart and Multifunctional Materials
Faculty: Liu, Mecartney, Mumm, Wang, Yee
Electronic and Optical Materials
Faculty:Lu, Shi
Fuel Cell and Energy System Materials
Faculty: Mecartney, Mumm
Nanostructured Materials
Faculty: Earthman, Liu, Mohammed, Ragan, Yee
The cross-disciplinary nature of the department and the faculty's research interests fosters a creative and highly stimulating environment for graduate study. Many of our students have gone on to become faculty at other institutions, and leaders in their respective fields. We invite you to visit the links to each of the above thrust areas, as well as the links to individual faculty, to read more detailed descriptions of the specific research activities within the department.
For general information about graduate programs in The Henry Samueli School of Engineering, please visit student affairs.
The overall goal of our graduate programs is to provide students an outstanding educational experience that combines in-depth study in classic chemical engineering areas (e.g., transport phenomena, thermodynamics, reaction kinetics, and separations) with sufficient breadth in a range of relevant topical areas that will prepare students to tackle the highly-interdisciplinary problems that are characteristic of the rapidly-evolving field of chemical engineering today.
Two different degree-granting options are available for students admitted into our graduate program. We urge you to consider your educational goals and apply to the appropriate degree-granting program.
Students holding a B.S. degree with a strong commitment to earning a doctorate should apply directly to the Ph.D. program. These students will typically earn an M.S. along the path to the Ph.D. by completing the coursework requirements for the M.S. degree. Students possessing an M.S. degree already may also enter the Ph.D. program directly.
Please note that admission to, and successful completion of, the terminal M.S. program does not guarantee admission to the Ph.D. program nor does it guarantee financial support for your education. Some faculty prefer to reserve financial support for Ph.D. students, but prospective students should contact individual faculty about the availability of funded positions in their respective research laboratories.
MSE is concerned with the generation and application of knowledge relating the composition, structure and synthesis of materials. Since the beginning of history, materials have played a crucial role in the growth, prosperity, security, and quality of human life. Over the next decade, the services of engineering students graduating with a degree in MSE are needed to:
The Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (ChEMS) at UCI offers an MSE undergraduate major that provides students with a thorough knowledge of basic engineering and scientific principles of materials. This knowledge leads to fundamental understanding of the synergism between the four basic elements of the field (structure, properties, processing, and performance of all materials). The curriculum is interdisciplinary in nature, allowing qualified students to combine the engineering major (AE, BME, CEE, ChE, EECS, EnvE, and MAE) with the MSE major. Students may specialize in one of the following three areas: biomedical engineering, environmental engineering or electronic materials. By judiciously selecting courses in biology and biomedical engineering as electives in the MSE curriculum, students can develop a pre-med program. Students are also given the opportunity to conduct independent work and participate in research projects.
The ChEMS Department offers a degree program that leads to Ph.D. or M.S. degree in MSE. The MSE graduate degree program is fundamental in scope, focuses more on the understanding and modification of structural material properties, and explores ways of tailoring materials to meet specified design goals. Our research is supported by federal funding agencies and industry.
The HSSoE also administers an interdisciplinary MSE concentration that leads to a M.S. or Ph.D., Engineering, with a materials specialization. The interdisciplinary concentration draws on faculty from several engineering departments (ChEMS, CEE, EECS, and MAE). Interdisciplinary research includes:
The materials faculty have special interests and expertise in the processing, behavior and characterization of structural materials, including novel alloys, composite materials, ceramics, polymers, electronic materials, nanostructured materials and biomaterials.
The MSE program has received national and international recognition. The materials research activity at UCI is ranked sixth in the world for citation impact, according to Science Watch. Materials faculty in the ChEMS Department also were ranked fourth and fifth nationally on the basis of citations published in 1993-97 and 1995-99, respectively.
Finally, we take pride in the fact that MSE is a growing academic program in the HSSoE at UCI, which is a world-class research institution that was recently ranked one of the nation's top ten public universities by U.S. News and World Report.
Our department's historic strength in bioprocessing and biotechnology has evolved in the past few years to include complementary research activities in chemical and biochemical engineering that encompass four main thrust areas.
Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering
Faculty: DaSilva, Grant, George, Hong, Lim, Putnam, Venugopalan, Wang
Tissue Engineering
Faculty: George, Putnam
Bio-Transport Phenomena
Faculty: Grant, George, Venugopalan
Biomolecular, Biomaterial, and Interfacial Engineering
Faculty: DaSilva, Earthman, Putnam, Wang
Smart and Multifunctional Materials
Faculty: Liu, Mecartney, Mumm, Wang, Yee
Electronic and Optical Materials
Faculty: Shi, Lu
Fuel Cell and Energy System Materials
Faculty: Mecartney, Mumm
Nanostructured Materials
Faculty: Liu, Mohammed, Earthman, Ragan, Yee
The cross-disciplinary nature of the department and the faculty's research interests fosters a creative and highly stimulating environment for graduate study. Many of our students have gone on to become faculty at other institutions, and leaders in their respective fields. We invite you to visit the links to each of the above thrust areas, as well as the links to individual faculty, to read more detailed descriptions of the specific research activities within the department.