Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Grabow heading UH portion of team for $2M NSF Distributed Chemical Manufacturing Project

Posted on September 29, 2020
Dr. Lars C. Grabow, Dan Luss Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Cullen College of Engineering, received a NSF grant to continue studies on small-scale reactors and catalysts.

A partnership between researchers at the University of Virginia and the University of Houston has continued to flourish, and expanded to another professor at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, after the National Science Foundation chose their Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) proposal – the development of dynamically operated, smaller scale reactors that can process distributed feedstock – for a $2 million award.

UH chemical engineering grad offering ‘Idea Lab’ for kids

Posted on September 4, 2020
Shiv Bhakta, a 2017 magna cum laude UH alumnus with degrees in chemical engineering and economics, has opened an Idea Lab Kids franchise in Cypress with fellow graduate Gurjinder Toor.

Like many others, Cullen College of Engineering alumnus Shiv Bhakta had his plans for 2020 changed by the coronavirus pandemic, but he has attempted to make the best of the situation with a new, philanthropic educational endeavor that uses his passion for STEM.

UH Announces Funding for Carbon Management Projects

Posted on September 3, 2020
Projects funded by the Center for Carbon Management in Energy will tackle new ways to reduce carbon emissions. Photo: Getty Images.

Projects Focus on Ways to Speed Transition to Low-Carbon Future

The Center for Carbon Management in Energy at the University of Houston has awarded $275,000 in research funding for projects focused on carbon management and the energy transition.

The projects cover a range of projects, from converting carbon to fuel and other useful products to a proposed new wireless monitoring system for carbon capture storage.

Breaking Molecular Traffic Jams with Finned Nanoporous Materials

Posted on August 10, 2020
3D finned zeolite catalysts enhance molecule access to the interior of the particle (graphic created by J.C. Palmer).

Thousands of chemical processes used by the energy industry and for other applications rely on the high speed of catalytic reactions, but molecules frequently are hindered by molecular traffic jams that slow them down. Now an entirely new class of porous catalysts has been invented, using unique fins to speed up the chemistry by allowing molecules to skip the lines that limit the reaction. 

College honors 17 with yearly Faculty and Student Excellence Awards

Posted on June 18, 2020
Dr. David Shattuck of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Dr. Joseph W. Tedesco, Elizabeth D. Rockwell Dean of the UH Cullen College of Engineering, announced that 17 students and faculty members had been selected as recipients in the 2019-2020 Faculty and Student Excellence Awards, which recognize teaching and research achievements.

Showing Promise: UH Researchers Explore Care Options for COVID-19

Posted on June 11, 2020
UH engineering professor Navin Varadarajan (L) and pharmaceutics professor Xinli Liu (R) are collaborating on development and testing of a COVID-19 inhalation vaccine.

Not since the middle of the 20th century, amid the polio epidemic, have vaccines or drug treatment been so widely anticipated as those for COVID-19. In 1955 when the polio vaccine was licensed, the health outlook for millions of children improved and normal life resumed. Still, not all pandemics have found such resolution.

Rimer receives NSF grant for zeolite work

Posted on June 8, 2020
Dr. Jeffrey Rimer, the Abraham E. Dukler Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has received a $446,364 grant from the NSF to study zeolites.

The complexity and mystery of zeolites – porous aluminosilicate crystals – was what first attracted Dr. Jeffrey Rimer, the Abraham E. Dukler Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, to his current field of research.

Cullen College of Engineering posts new 6-Year graduation high mark

Posted on June 3, 2020
The six-year graduation rate for the Cullen College of Engineering is 71.2 percent for students that began in Fall 2014, the fourth year in a row it has increased.

The Cullen College of Engineering has set a new record for its six-year graduation rate, hitting a mark of 71.2 percent for students that began in Fall 2014, according to new information released by the department's Division of Undergraduate Programs and Student Success.

Researchers Take a Cue from Nature to Create Bulletproof Coatings

Posted on May 27, 2020
Alamgir Karim, Dow Chair Professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, says the chitin project could lead to more environmentally friendly plastics and other polymers.

Shrimp, lobsters and mushrooms may not seem like great tools for the battlefield, but three engineers from the University of Houston are using chitin – a derivative of glucose found in the cellular walls of arthropods and fungi – and 3D printing techniques to produce high-impact multilayered coatings that can protect soldiers against bullets, lasers, toxic gas and other dangers.

Class of 2020 honored with virtual graduation celebration

Posted on May 22, 2020
Michelle Gale.

The fortitude of the Cullen College of Engineering's Class of 2020 was proudly celebrated by the university community on May 7, with a 90-minute virtual graduation celebration, featuring remarks from University of Houston leadership, a commencement speaker and most importantly, the graduating students.

Rodrigues, Palmer honored with UH Awards for Excellence

Posted on May 11, 2020
Dr. Debora F. Rodrigues, of Civil & Environmental Engineering, was recognized in the Associate Professor category.

Two faculty members of the Cullen College of Engineering have been recognized as recipients of the University of Houston's Awards for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity for the 2019-20 academic year.

Alum Poling-Skutvik tapped for tenure-track position at URI

Posted on April 16, 2020
Ryan Poling-Skutvik, a 2018 graduate of the Chemical Engineering doctoral program, has been tabbed for a tenure-track position at the University of Rhode Island.

When Ryan Poling-Skutvik enrolled at the University of Houston in 2013 to pursue a doctorate in Chemical Engineering, he did so because of the school's proximity to industry, not realizing that the experience would open him up to another interest – research.

Photos: UH Chemical Engineering Student Studies Abroad in Costa Rica

Posted on March 11, 2020

Studying abroad changes you and influences your life more than you’d expect. Being away from your familiar surroundings isn’t easy and can bring a steep learning curve that be a burst of personal development and growth.

In 2019 Amy Wang, a UH chemical engineering student, was awarded a SOL scholarship to study abroad in Costa Rica. The SOL education program offers an experience of interactive Spanish language, travel excursions and daily cultural activities.

Targeting Chronic Infections and Deadly Bacteria

Posted on February 3, 2020

A University of Houston engineering professor is examining the life cycle of stubborn, drug-resistant persister cells in recurrent infections to find a way to destroy them. Persister cells are non-growing cell subpopulations observed in many pathogenic bacteria and they certainly live up to their name – they persist, and are not fazed by current medications.

Photos: Spring 2020 Rockwell Lecture Series Presents “Liquid Nanofabrication of Functional Multiphasic Soft Matter by Capillary Binding and Interfacial Templating”

Posted on January 31, 2020

UH Engineering kicked off the spring 2020 Distinguished Rockwell Lecture Series on Friday, January 24 featuring a lecture by Dr. Orlin Velev.

Orlin Velev is a S. Frank and Doris Culberson Distinguished Professor in the chemical and biomolecular engineering department at North Carolina State University. He is best known for his work on soft matter, colloid science and nanoscience.

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News Contacts

riward [at] uh [dot] edu (Rachel Knudsen)
UH Cullen College of Engineering
713-743-4379

Radio Program

Engines of Our Ingenuity, written and hosted by engineering prof. John Lienhard, airs in Houston on KUHF-FM 88.7 M-F 7:35am and 3:55pm. The series is broadcasted by over 30 NPR affiliates nation-wide.