College of Engineering

  • G. Paul Wilhite
    CBE alumnus, Hall of Fame member G. Paul Wilhite passes away

    Paul Wilhite, a 1959 B.S. graduate of Iowa State’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and a member of the department’s Hall of Fame, has passed away. Read More

  • BioMaP student conducting research in lab
    Apply now for CBE’s 2023 BioMaP undergrad research program

    The application period for the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering’s 2023 BioMaP REU program is now open. The program will be held from May 30 – August 4. Read More

  • Zhuoyi Zhao, INFORMS Iowa State Student Chapter President and members at the Student Award Ceremony.
    Award-winning INFORMS chapter celebrates diversity through food

    When Zhuoyi Zhao, a graduate student in industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, and The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Student Chapter realized that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) set out to celebrate STEM - they decided food was a great way to highlight diversity. Read More

  • Worries behind him, Rodríguez-Ocasio smiles brightly in front of a mural of Iowa crops.
    Efraín Rodríguez-Ocasio is growing a research career in the “corn place”

    Growing up, Efraín Rodríguez-Ocasio did not foresee himself pursuing a Ph.D. in chemical engineering in a state he thought of as the “corn place.”   But after discovering the opportunity to work with Laura Jarboe, Cargill Professor of Chemical Engineering, Rodríguez-Ocasio has found Iowa State fertile ground to grow a career in bioplastics research. Read More

  • Student chapter president Hailey Bates and faculty mentor Stephanie Loveland display Outstanding Student Chapter of the Year award with AIChE president Christine Grant
    CBE’s AIChE student chapter proudly represents ISU at national conference in Phoenix

    The Department of Chemical Engineering’s American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) student chapter recently returned from the organization’s Annual Student Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Twenty ISU student members took part in the event. Read More

  • Jean-Philippe Tessonnier
    Tessonnier-led research bridges gap for more efficient conversions of lignin for cleaner and greener chemicals

    Effective conversion of lignin to increase the production of bio-oil and reduce a solid by-product called “char” has been addressed in Iowa State University engineering research and published in Energy & Environmental Science. Read More

  • Brent Shanks
    CBE’s Shanks named Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Fellow

    Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering faculty member Brent Shanks has been named an American Chemical Society (ACS) Industrial & Engineering Chemistry (I&EC) Fellow for the Class of 2023. Read More

  • Student observing ice accretion in Department of Aerospace Engineering Icing Research Tunnel.
    Hui Hu icing research study receives AIAA best paper honors

    A paper published by Department of Aerospace Engineering Martin C. Jischke Professor Hui Hu and three of his students has been selected to receive national recognition by the American Institute of Aeronautics and  Astronautics’ (AIAA) Gas Turbine Engines Technical Committee. Read More

  • MRC fosters cutting-edge research and provides state-of-the-art equipment

    Liang Dong, Vikram Dalal Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering was named the director of the Microelectronics Research Center (MRC) in 2022. The MRC is a multi-disciplinary center focusing on the study of semiconductor materials, devices, and applications. The research conducted at the MRC includes microelectronics, photonics, compound semiconductors, nanomaterials, sensors, and microelectromechanical systems. The Center is utilized by research groups across the campus, industry specialists, and students. “The Center provides our students with ampler opportunities for fabricating micro- and nanodevices. Our researchers have full access to a range of tools. The fabrication and characterization capacity we have is the foundation that our academic and industry communities need to innovate and scale in the micro- and nano-world,” Dong said, “The Center also provides an environment that fosters innovation and collaboration between researchers. We are working towards integrating expertise and strengths to initiate and develop new research activities and to succeed.” One of Dong’s core research areas is in sensors. He has developed a suite of agricultural sensors to detect plant diseases, monitor their health status, and quantify water and fertilizer use efficiencies of crops. These devices are just some examples of research that utilizes the MRC, which houses a lot of state-of-the-art equipment to use. This includes a 3D-nano-printer. This printer, worth more than half a million dollars, can print fine structures of less than one hundredth the size of human hair. This piece of equipment has a wide array of applications in low-cost sensors, micro-optics, and smart nanomaterials and devices. Read More

  • Members of AIChE student chapter pose for group photo at 2022 AIChE Annual Student Conference in Phoenix, AZ
    Help uphold AIChE student chapter’s tradition of excellence! FundISU page is now available

    Twenty Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering undergraduates have made the trip to Phoenix for the AIChE Annual Student Conference. While the experience is definitely worth the trip, it is costly. Prior to departing, the chapter’s faculty advisor Dr. Stephanie Loveland estimated more than $10,000 had been spent on air and hotel reservations and conference registration fees alone. The chapter has established a FundISU page through the Iowa State University Foundation to allow contributions that will help defray some of these costs. Contributions can be made through December 9. Read More

  • CBE chair Andy Hillier presents the Hall of Fame plaque to Mark Lashier
    Phillips 66 CEO, alumnus Mark Lashier to CBE Hall of Fame

    Mark Lashier earned a B.S. in chemical engineering at Iowa State University in 1985 and a Ph.D. in 1989. In the years since he has earned respect and recognition as an engineer, business professional and industry leader. The President and Chief Executive Officer of Phillips Petroleum Co. joined the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE) Honors and Awards Banquet where he was inducted into the department’s alumni Hall of Fame. Read More

  • Helping law enforcement hunt evil

    Guan serves as the Cyber Forensic Coordinator for the Center for Statistic and Applications in Forensic Evidence (CSAFE). It was through CSAFE that Guan and his team developed EviHunter. This software can analyze a smart phone’s apps for evidence relating to a crime, and it is automatic and can speed up the investigation process by shortening the time to only 20-30 minutes per device. Read More

  • Earthquake generic graphic
    “Groundbreaking” research in earthquake mechanisms sees publication in Nature Communications for AerE’s Levitas

    Hypotheses and theory regarding what occurs during deep-focus earthquakes have been taken on by Department of Aerospace Engineering Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering and Vance Coffman Faculty Chair Valery Levitas, in his first work on geophysical problems. Read More

  • Perfect Pitch top vote-getters Elizabeth Grego, Peter Meyer, Thivani Senathiraja, Dhananjay Dileep
    Four graduate students top CBE’s Perfect Pitch research competition

    The comment, “So, tell me about your research!” will be easier to field for CBE’s graduate students who took part in this year’s Perfect Pitch competition. The students once again faced a 90-second time limit (with the aid of one PowerPoint slide) in presenting an “elevator speech” of what their research is all about. Read More

  • MSE student spends summer researching in Japan

    This past summer Adam Eichhorn, who just started his senior year in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), was able to visit Japan as a part of a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) where he was able to gain valuable research experience before he moves on to graduate school. Read More