Research activities of the faculty provide many opportunities for students to select projects applicable to a Master's Thesis (CHE 699) or a Master's Project (CHE 698). Research areas include reaction engineering, process modeling and control, tribology and surface phenomena, biochemical and biomedical engineering, material synthesis and processing, combustion, adsorption and diffusion in zeolites, transport phenomena, fluid mechanics, separation processes, statistical mechanics, glass forming, thermodynamics, and management of technology. The department is particularly strong in applications involving materials and biomedical engineering.

The Chemical Engineering program prepares students for careers in design, operation, research, or management. While graduates of this program traditionally find employment in the chemical industry, more chemical engineering graduates are becoming employed in the areas of general manufacturing and computer engineering, including polymer and composite processing and materials engineering. Many companies seek graduate-level chemical engineers to work in the areas of bioengineering, energy management, and environmental engineering.