Chemical Engineering

Chemical engineers discover new products and implement new production processes that are useful and economical. The profession has evolved from petroleum refining at the beginning of the last century to today’s biotechnology, biomedical developments, and nanotechnology.

Chemical engineers are employed in such industries as pharmaceuticals, paints, petroleum, food, and plastics. They may be involved in all phases of an industrial process, from initial research and development, through design and production, to marketing and sales. Although chemical engineers remain actively engaged in the synthesis of chemical reactions into large scale processes, traditionally referred to as “scale-up,” the new revolution in nanotechnology is leading to creation of new technologies at increasingly shrinking dimensions, “scaling down.”

At Lafayette, course concentrations are available in chemical, biochemical, environmental, and materials engineering. The main laboratories are equipped for work on bench scale and pilot plant scale equipment in the areas of fluid flow, heat transfer, mass transfer, separation processes, and chemical reactor design.

Polly Piergiovanni
Associate Professor and Head of Chemical Engineering
(610) 330-5431
piergiop@lafayette.edu