The spirit of Waterloo's Chemical Engineering research is both collaborative and interdisciplinary. Many of our faculty members hold cross appointments in Biology, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Earth Sciences, Environmental Studies and Physics.
Our department has a history of excellence in a diverse range of research areas. The Department of Chemical Engineering is currently home to nine Research Chairs.
With more than 250 graduate students and 35+ faculty members, our research covers all the major areas of chemical engineering - from core areas, such as polymers, reaction engineering and process systems engineering, to emerging areas, such as fuel cell research, tissue engineering and nanotechnology.
We have an extensive network of industrial connections. The Institute for Polymer Research, for example, has the highest density of polymer reaction engineering researchers internationally in a single group - a distinction that helped earn the institute a global reputation for research initiatives in a wide variety of companies.
The Cell Factory Bioprocessing Research Network is a multi-university research network funded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and industrial partners. CellNet's research aims to develop biological cells as miniature factories for new and improved bio-manufacturing strategies.
Our recently updated departmental laboratories, including a shared analytical instrumentation laboratory, provide the latest equipment. Dedicated facilities and software for computational work, including access to Canada's largest supercomputing cluster, support research as well.
