Chemical Engineering (Graduate Program)

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For information regarding the UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM, click here.  

Program Overview

The Cain Department of Chemical Engineering (ChE) is recognized as a strong educational and research unit, both regionally and nationally. The department is consistently ranked among the top chemical engineering departments in the nation in sponsored research, graduate enrollment, and degrees conferred. At a more personal level, many graduates and faculty have attained distinction in the profession, as exemplified by the more than 50 LSU graduates in faculty positions around the world, the four who have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, the five graduates who were recently recognized by AIChE as preeminent chemical engineers, and the five current faculty who are Fellows of AIChE.

During the past five years, the department has averaged seven PhD graduates and ten MS graduates per year. Enrollment averages 60 students with 80% of those being PhD candidates. Research activity currently involves over 30 externally funded research projects. Major research areas include energy, environmental engineering, biochemical engineering, advanced computations, process systems engineering, catalysis, and materials.

Administration

Admission

Applications and supporting materials for all graduate study must be submitted through the online application site for the LSU Graduate School. Official transcripts (along with an English translation version for non-English speaking universities) from each and every institution attended, official GRE scores (sent directly from ETS to the LSU Graduate School code 6373), official TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE scores (for international students whose native language is not English), and other materials that come from third-party sources must be mailed to: Graduate Admissions, 114 West David Boyd Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803. These paper documents are stored electronically and departments have access to all materials submitted by and/or on behalf of a student applying to graduate study.

In addition to the documents and scores required by the Graduate School, the Department of Chemical Engineering requires applicants to submit the following items: a statement of purpose, a current resumé/CV, and a minimum of three letters of recommendation (no form required). A writing sample is not required by our department but may be submitted if the applicant so desires. All of these additional items should be submitted electronically through the Graduate School admission system. Direct mailing of these items is discouraged.

Applicants must adhere to the application deadlines established by the Graduate School and the department. Applications for the summer term are strongly discouraged. International students are strongly encouraged to apply earlier than established deadlines to allow sufficient time for application review and processing of I-20 paperwork. Complete applications received by January 1 will be given first consideration.

Meeting the minimum admission requirements established by the Graduate School does not necessarily ensure acceptance into the department’s graduate program. Applications for admission are evaluated by the department graduate admissions committee on a competitive basis. Each applicant is assessed for success at the graduate level, taking into consideration academic credentials, undergraduate preparation, research skills, industry experience, recommendations, GRE scores, TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE scores (for international applicants), and any other information that can contribute to the review. Program admission is also dependent on the availability of department funding, office/laboratory space, and faculty interest.

Financial Assistance

Financial assistance is available to well-qualified students through the department or other units in the form of research or teaching assistantships and/or fellowships and is awarded at the discretion of the department graduate admissions committee following the complete evaluation of the student’s application record. To ensure consideration for financial aid, all application materials should be submitted in accordance with deadlines established by the LSU Graduate School and the department. Students desiring financial support should apply early, have all requested documents sent to the department, and fully communicate their own status and needs.

Graduate Faculty

(check current listings by department by clicking this link)

Michael G. Benton (M) • Genomics, biochemical engineering, metabolic engineering, biosensors
Armando B. Corripio (EM) • Process control, mathematical modeling, simulation, optimization, computer-aided process design
Kerry M. Dooley (M) • Heterogeneous catalysis, high-pressure separations
John C. Flake (M) • Electrochemical processing and materials, energy conversion and storage, microelectronic device fabrication
Gregory L. Griffin (M) • Electrochemical processing and materials, heterogeneous catalysis, surface chemistry, Chemical Vapor Deposition
Douglas P. Harrison (EM) • Reaction engineering, kinetics of gas-solid reactions
Martin A. Hjortsø (M) • Biochemical reaction engineering, applied mathematics
Francisco R. Hung (M) • Nanoporous materials, confined fluids, liquid crystals, computational modeling, simulation
F. Carl Knopf (M) • Supercritical fluid extraction, ultrafast kinetics
Edward McLaughlin (EM) • Thermodynamic and transport properties, high pressure gas solubilities, statistical mechanics, properties of synfuels
Adam T. Melvin (6A) • Biochemical engineering, biosensors, microfluidics, kinetics, environmental chemodynamics 
K. Nandakumar (M) • Computational Fluid Dynamics, modeling of multiphase flows
Ralph Pike (EM) • Fluid dynamics, reaction engineering with chemical reactions, optimization
Geoffrey L. Price (EM) • Heterogeneous catalysis, surface chemistry, solid state spectroscopy, zeolites
Danny D. Reible (EM) • Transport phenomena in the environment and in polymers, fluid mechanics
Richard G. Rice (EM) • Mass and heat transfer, novel separation methods, applied mathematics
Jose A. Romagnoli (M) • Process Systems Engineering, optimization
William A. Shelton (M) • Catalysis, chemical dynamics, surface chemistry, alloy theory
James J. Spivey (M) • Catalysis
Arthur M. Sterling (EM) • Fluid dynamics and heat transfer, combustion, laser diagnostics, hazardous waste incineration
Louis J. Thibodeaux (M) • Chemodynamics, hazardous waste transport and management
Karsten E. Thompson (M) • Pore-scale and multiscale modeling of transport in porous media, computational methods
Kalliat T. Valsaraj (M) • Environmental chemical engineering, applied surface chemistry, environmental transport, mass transfer separation processes
Mary Julia Wornat (M) • Fuels, pyrolysis, combustion
Ye Xu (6A) • Computational heterogeneous catalysis and electrocatalysis, surface chemistry, energy conversion and storage

Programs

• Chemical Engineering, Ph.D.

• Chemical Engineering, M.S.CHE

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