Chemical Engineering (Graduate Program)

For information regarding the UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM, click here. 

Program Overview

The Cain Department of Chemical Engineering has received national recognition for its contributions to chemical engineering, science, and education. During the past five years, an average of six (6) PhD degrees and six (6) MS degrees have been awarded per year. More than 50 LSU chemical engineering graduates teach or have taught in universities across the nation and throughout the world, and many hold prestigious positions in government and industry. Four are  members of the National Academy of Engineering. The LSU Department of Chemical Engineering is consistently ranked among the top 30 in the nation in external research funding, according to Chemical and Engineering News.

Nearly 60 students are currently enrolled in chemical engineering MS and PhD programs. Major research areas include reaction engineering, environmental engineering and waste treatment, transport phenomena and separations,  polymer processing, process control, catalysis, materials processing, biochemical engineering, and thermodynamics.

Administration

Admission

Applications and supporting materials for all graduate study must be submitted through the online application site for the LSU Graduate School: www.lsu.edu/gradapply. Official transcripts, official test scores, 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.

Applications for admission are received and evaluated by the department beginning February 1. Applicants must adhere to the application deadlines established by The Graduate School. Complete applications received by February 1 will be given first consideration and applications may not be accepted after April 15.

Students seeking admission must submit, through the online application systems, satisfactory credentials from previous study, acceptable GRE scores on the verbal and quantitative portions of the test, a current resume/CV, and a minimum of three letters of recommendation. International students whose native language is not English must also submit an acceptable TOEFL or IELTS score.

Meeting the minimum admission requirements established by The Graduate School does not necessarily ensure acceptance into the department’s graduate program. The department reviews the record of each applicant to assess promise for success at the graduate level, taking into consideration grade-point average, undergraduate preparation, recommendations, GRE scores, TOEFL or IELTS scores (for International applicants), and any other information that can contribute to the review. In rare instances, a student who does not meet all requirements may be admitted provisionally. Provisional admission is granted on a case-by-case basis and includes, but is not limited to, the following scenarios:

• A student has not yet taken the GRE but plans to do so prior to the start of classes for the semester he/she plans to enter. In this case, student generally would hold at least a 3.5 cumulative undergraduate GPA and would have very high recommendations and/or other above satisfactory credentials.
• A student has a cumulative undergraduate GPA of at least 2.85 but below a 3.0 and has achieved an exceptionally high score on the GRE, received very high recommendations and other above satisfactory credentials.

Financial Assistance

Financial assistance is available to well-qualified students, and is awarded at the discretion of the department graduate admissions committee following the complete evaluation of the student’s application record. Support may be available through the student’s home department or other units in the form of research or teaching assistantships and/or fellowships. A student should contact his or her home department for more information on available assistantship positions. 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 (6A) • Genomics, bioengineering, metabolic engineering, biosensors
Armando B. Corripio (EM)
Kerry Dooley (M) • Heterogeneous catalysis, high-pressure separations
John C. Flake (7M) • Semiconductor Processing, Microelectronic Device Fabrication
Gregory Griffin (M) • Electronic materials, surface chemistry, CVD
Douglas P Harrison (EM)
Martin Hjortso (M) • Biochemical reaction engineering, applied math
Francisco R. Hung (6A) • Nanoporous materials, confined fluids, liquid crystals
F. Carl Knopf (M) • Supercritical fluid extraction, ultrafast kinetics
Edward McLaughlin (EM)
K. Nandakumar (7M) • Computation fluid dynamics, modeling of multiphase flows
Ralph Pike (M) • Fluid dynamics, reaction engineering, optimization
Geoffrey L. Price (EM)
Danny D. Reible (EM)
Richard G. Rice (EM)
Jose A. Romagnoli (7M) • Process control
James J. Spivey (7M) • Catalysis
Arthur M. Sterling (EM)
Louis Thibodeaux (M) • Chemodynamics, hazardous waste transport
Karsten Thompson (M) • Transport and reaction in porous media
Kalliat Valsaraj (M) • Environmental transport, separations
Mary J. Wornat (7M) • Fuels, Pyrolysis, and Combustion

Degree Programs

Programs

• Chemical Engineering, Ph.D.

• Chemical Engineering, M.S.CHE