The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE) at Iowa State University is an academia of faculty, staff and students immersed in nationally and internationally recognized chemical and biological research. It was formed in 1913 as one of the first chemical engineering departments in the country. The department holds more than 44,000 square feet of modern laboratory and office space where 31 faculty teach and work in both traditional and emerging areas of chemical engineering. Undergraduate enrollment has increased more than 50 percent since 2008. In fall 2012, more females were enrolled in chemical engineering than in any other engineering discipline at Iowa State.
The CBE Department spends about $12 million in research per year in areas like biocatalyst and separation engineering, reaction engineering and catalysis, crystallization, transport phenomena and thermodynamics. Through the CBE Department, Iowa State University is nationally recognized for its initiatives in bioinformatics, biomaterials, bioproducts, metabolic/tissue engineering, multiphase computational fluid dynamics, advanced polymeric materials and nanostructured materials.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded the CBE Department six NSF Young Investigator Awards. And, about 70 Iowa State CBE alumni hold faculty positions in chemical engineering or related fields nationally or internationally.
Chemical and Biological Engineering Department governance document
