In particular, departmental research continues to strengthen and expand in its two broad areas of concentration: 

Biotechnology Engineering –  biotechnology at the micro- and nano-scale, food processing, food safety and security, bio-energy, developing new products from biomaterials, biotransformation to synthesize industrial and pharmaceutical products, bioinstrumentation, bio-nano interfacing and molecular self-assembly, bio-nano plasmonics, and bio-nano sensing.

Ecological Engineering – Integrates ecological principles into the design of sustainable systems to treat, remediate, and prevent pollution to the environment. Applications include mathematical modeling of watershed process, stream restoration, watershed management, water and wastewater treatment design, ecological services management, urban greenway design and enclosed ecosystem design.