Dear colleagues, alumni, and friends,

As we navigate through the uncertainties that this year has brought us, we are happy to share another edition of our newsletter and celebrate the hard-fought departmental wins. 

We are astounded at the resilience and innovation of our faculty, students and staff. They have risen to the challenge of providing the highest quality chemical engineering education to our students and committed to solving the world’s most challenging problems. 

Over the past several months, our faculty came together to create mobile experiential learning kits for our students in the Unit Operations Lab. We’ve miniaturized the experience our students would receive in the lab, for them to perform at home. This innovation will open the door for so many more experiential learning opportunities throughout these students’ educational trajectory.

In addition, some of our faculty and graduate students have pivoted to work helping combat the global pandemic. Piyush Jain, Ph.D., is using CRISPR technology to make COVID-19 home-based saliva tests. His research was recently featured in Nature Communications.  

Our faculty continue to receive awards and recognitions, and our students continue to make us proud, winning awards and competitions. 

We remain committed to providing the best possible chemical engineering education to our students and to solving society’s problems. I am proud to share some recent good news and highlights in this newsletter.

Warmest wishes,
Carlos M. Rinaldi-Ramos, Ph.D.
ChE Department Chair and Dean’s Leadership Professor