Facts & Rankings

In the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, we lead pioneering research in vital areas such as energy and the environment, human health, materials and manufacturing. We educate students who go on to transform industries, benefit society and improve quality of life.

Academic Areas

• Advanced Materials, Polymers and Nanoengineering
• Bioengineering
• Energy
• Environmental Engineering
• Theory and Simulation
• Process Engineering

Recent Department Highlights

• Chair and Professor Jennifer Maynard and Research Asst. Professor Annie Nguyen, along with Department of Molecular Biosciences, are generating safer recombinant acellular pertussis vaccines through mRNA technology and cryoelectron microscopy research.

• Asst. Professor Joaquin Resasco is advancing next-gen sustainable technologies by researching how electric fields influence the reactivity of thermochemical and electrochemical catalysts.

• Professor Lea Hildebrandt-Ruiz is working to understand the health impacts of wildfires by conducting research for the Los Angeles Fire Human Exposure and Long-Term Health Study (L.A. Fire HEALTH).

• Asst. Professor Brian Belardi and his group of interdisciplinary researchers are better diagnosing and treating disease by probing, perturbing and re-programing biological barriers across length scales.

Undergraduate Students

• 682 Enrolled
• 42% Women
• 22.4% Underrepresented minorities
• $1.3M Awarded in scholarships

Graduate Students

• 153 Enrolled
• 41% Women
• 32% International 
• 41 NSF Fellows

Faculty

• 24 Tenure/tenure-track faculty
• 11 Members of the National Academy of Engineering (7 active faculty, 4 living Emeritus)
• 2 National Medal of Technology and Innovation Recipients
• More than 400 issued US patents
• 100% of our faculty have been recognized with prestigious or coveted national or international awards in research, teaching, career accomplishments, or all three
• 84% of faculty work in two or more research areas
• 1/3 of faculty hold dual appointments in UT departments including chemistry, physics, pharmacy, mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering
• More than 30% of faculty have founded or co-founded startups in the last decade in fields that include biotechnology, medical therapy, diagnostics and water treatment

Degrees Awarded 2025

• 143 Bachelor’s degrees
• 23 Doctoral degrees

After Graduation

• Average starting salary, B.S. graduates – $89,616
• 90% of undergraduate students have jobs or admission to graduate school upon graduation
• The department has a vast network of more than 8,000 alumni located around the world

Preparing Students for Success

• The department has partnered with Shell to deliver an updated process safety course, taught by Dr. Thomas Edison with guest lectures from seasoned industry safety specialists. The course prepares students with safety skills typically learned on the job.

• The department’s safety mentor program brings industry representatives to campus to perform research lab walkthroughs and educate students about recognizing hazards and planning safe experiments.

• Entrepreneurship in Chemical Engineering is a unique, practical course that prepares students to succeed in taking an idea to market as entrepreneurs.

• Courses throughout the chemical engineering curriculum include leadership development modules that teach students about integrity, collaboration, scholarship and service.