What is the province of chemical engineering research? Examine molecular transport in living tissue, the rapid chemical reactions in a flame, the flow of a complex fluid in a tortuous geometry. Predict the effects of molecular structure on material behavior and properties, the effects of fuel consumption on the climate, the effects of combustion products on human health. Produce a sequence of delicate chemical transformations, a detailed molecular pattern on a solid surface, a stable dispersion of phases with uniform particle sizes. Design a chemical process, a device to deliver measured doses of pharmaceutical substances, a microscopic reactor to produce hazardous compounds. Design your plant to include environmental performance among its key objectives, to operate at optimal batch scheduling, to avoid hazardous conditions during processing.

What is the province of chemical engineering research? Draw upon mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology. Cope with non-linear field equations, discrete and continuous domains, analytic and numerical solutions. Combine microwaves and heat transfer, magnetism and molecular separation, quantum mechanics and catalytic activity. Study chemical reactions in the upper atmosphere, in the deep ocean, in mobile and stationary reactors at extremes of temperature and pressure. Explore the structure of protein molecules, the functioning of a cell, the growth and regeneration of tissue.

What is the province of chemical engineering research? Work in time scales that include the fastest molecular rearrangements and the pace of climate change. Work in length scales that include molecular dimensions and planetary diameters. Work on fundamental phenomena and among more applications than you could cover in a lifetime.

MIT fosters a culture of collaboration across disciplines and encourages research over a multitude of boundaries. As chemical engineers, our interests converge with those of many other fields. At MIT, we interact with some of the finest departments of science and engineering in the world. Besides, we have alliances, arrangements, and connections with institutions and industries worldwide.

MIT research is wide-ranging, including the fundamental and the eminently practical. A Bank Boston study has revealed that MIT graduates are responsible for founding over 4,000 companies, creating 1.1 million jobs worldwide, and generating annual sales of $232 billion.