Welcome to
the McKetta Department of
Chemical Engineering
#5
Undergraduate Chemical Engineering Program
$2.5M
Awarded in Scholarships
#7
Graduate Chemical Engineering Program
Spotlights
Explore more at the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering
Home
Versatile ‘Nanocrystal Gel’ Could Enable Advances in Energy, Defense and Telecommunications
New applications in energy, defense and telecommunications could receive a boost after a team at The University of Texas at Austin created a new type of “nanocrystal gel” — a gel composed of tiny nanocrystals each 10,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair that are linked together into an organized network.
Professor Joan Brennecke Honored Among Top Inventors
Joan Brennecke, professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, has been selected as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, a prestigious distinction awarded to a select group of 164 academic innovators around the world for 2021.
New Way to Pull Lithium from Water Could Increase Supply, Efficiency
Anyone using a cellphone, laptop or electric vehicle depends on lithium. The element is in tremendous demand. And although the supply of lithium around the world is plentiful, getting access to it and extracting it remains a challenging and inefficient process.
An interdisciplinary team of engineers and scientists is developing a way to extract lithium from contaminated water. New research, published this week in Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, could simplify the process of extracting lithium from aqueous brines, potentially create a much larger supply and reduce costs of the element for batteries to power electric vehicles, electronics and a wide range of other devices.
Like Father, Like Daughter: Texas ChE Alumni Share Unique Legacy
Corrinne and her father, Craig, now share a unique experience that few father-daughter duos can tout: they are both graduates of the Cockrell School’s McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering.
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Research Areas
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Advanced Materials, Polymers & Nanoengineering
Design and synthesis of inorganic and polymeric materials at the molecular level to achieve desirable properties for a wide range of applications
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Bioengineering
Applying chemical engineering principles for the development of biochemical processes and biomedical applications
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Energy
The development of photovoltaics, catalysts for fuels from sunlight, and electrical energy generation and storage systems engineering for energy efficiency
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Environmental Engineering
Programs to understand the fundamental science and engineering of air and water pollution, and to develop data for informed policy decisions. Process development for CO2 capture and sequestration
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Process Engineering
Design, modeling, optimization, and control of petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and microelectronic processes
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Theory & Simulation
The development and application of multiscale models and high performance computational simulations spanning atomic to continuum time and length scales
Events
Thursday, March 27Seminar Series - Pirkey Centennial Lecture: Systems Thinking for Renewable Energy 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM |
Thursday, April 103:30 PM - 4:30 PM |
Thursday, April 24External Advisory Council Meeting All Day |
News
Green Fund Grant Energizes Texas ChE Labs
Engineering practices promoting sustainable development–widely defined as development that meets present-day needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs–are gaining traction.
Emerson Partnership Bolsters UT Expertise in Semiconductors and AI
A new partnership between industrial technology leader Emerson and The University of Texas at Austin will support advanced research into artificial intelligence, automation, energy, semiconductors and more.
Biomanufacturing Blasts Off: Collaborative Effort Sends Radiation-Resistant Samples to International Space Station
Engineers from The University of Texas, in collaboration with Rhodium Scientific, America’s first space biotechnology company, launched microorganisms into space.
Texas Engineers Take Home Hill Prizes
Chemical engineers Joan Brennecke, Benny Freeman and James Chelikowsky are among the recipients of the TAMEST (Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology) and Lyda Hill Philanthropies 2025 Hill Prizes.
