university of utah phd chemical engineering

Materials Science & Engineering Ph.D. Program

The Doctoral (PhD) degree offered through the Materials Science and Engineering Department is an intensive research and doctoral dissertation degree. Students may directly pursue a PhD degree without first earning a MS degree.

MSE Graduate Handbook Year 2020-2021

MSE Graduate Handbook Year 2018-2019

MSE Graduate Handbook Year 2017-2018

Academic Advising

Office: CME 304

Complete a minimum of 54 credit hours in courses level 6000 or above

• 30 hours of course work (that include 3 hours of MSE Graduate Seminar MSE 7800 / 7801 , and 15 out of the 30 hours must be MSE/MET E courses). Exceptions to this rule are at the discretion of the student’s Supervisory Committee
• A minimum of 24 hours of Thesis Research ( MSE 7970 )

All coursework must be completed at a cumulative 3.0 GPA (B grade average). All courses must be passed with a B- or better.

Students will also be required to complete the following requirements during the course of the program:

• Qualifying Examination
• Supervisory Committee
• Program of Study
• Dissertation Proposal
• Dissertation

Required Courses

All entering PhD students are required to take the following MSE core courses within their first two semesters, regardless of where they received their Mater’s degree.* These courses will count towards the 25 hours of MSE coursework hours.

• MSE 6032  – Advanced Thermodynamics (3 credits)
• MSE 6001  – Engineering Materials (3 credits)
• MSE 6034  – Kinetics (3 credits)
• MSE 6011  – Advanced Materials Techniques: Experiment, Theory, and Characterization (3 credits)

*EXCEPTION: Students who received a B.S. or M.S. degree from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Utah, and received a B or better in MSE 5034 and MSE 3001 will not be required to take MSE 6034, 6011 and 6001. These students are allowed to substitute these three required courses with any other 6000/7000 level MSE or MET E course.

Graduate Seminar

Students are required to take 6 semesters (0.5 credit hours each semester) of MSE Graduate Seminar.

• MSE 7800  – Graduate Seminar I (0.5 credits) Fall Semesters
• MSE 7801  – Graduate Seminar II (0.5 credits) Spring Semesters

Two oral presentations are required.  Graduate Seminar credit hours cannot be used to satisfy the 25 credit hours of MSE coursework.

MSE Graduate Seminar Independent Study

If students are unable to attend the Graduate Seminar in a given semester due to an academic or work related conflict, they will be required to make up the credit through an independent study. Students will still be required to register for MSE 7800/7801, as the credit hours are required for the graduate program. However, it will be the student’s responsibility to attend at least 10 seminars or lecture during the duration of the semester.

The seminars or lectures must be related to the field of Materials Science & Engineering. The seminars or lectures can be on or off campus. They could also be pre-recorded and viewed from various media platforms (example YouTube).

Students must write a one page (typed, single spaced, 12 pt. font) paper addressing the following topics: • How the topics relates to your research • One full paragraph should discuss the research style and communication skills of the speaker. • Students should give advice on how the presentation could have been better

The 10 one-page papers are due the last day of classes in the given semester. Thesis Hours

Students must complete at least 14 hours of Thesis Research ( MSE 7970 , Thesis Research: Ph.D.). The candidate must also be regularly enrolled at the University and registered for at least one course during the semester in which the final oral examination (dissertation defense) is taken.

After the residency requirement has been met (two consecutive semesters of nine hours or more), graduate students who are registered for three credit hours in any one of the following classes are considered full-time status:

• Classes within the range of 6970-6989, 7970-7989

This does not fulfill state residency requirements.

Registration Restrictions

Credit hour requirements for full time and part time status at the University of Utah:

• Graduate credit may be transferred from other regionally-accredited institutions with department and advisor approval. Credits transferred from another institution may be used for only one degree. Up to six semester hours of transfer credit may be applied toward fulfillment of graduate degree requirements if they are of high letter grade (B or higher; ‘credit only’ grades are unacceptable), are recommended by the student’s supervisory committee, and were taken within four years of semester of admission to the University of Utah for master’s students and within seven years of semester of admission to the University of Utah for doctoral students.
• Only nine semester hours of nonmatriculated credit, taken no more than three year prior to approval, can be applied toward a graduate degree.
• No candidate for a graduate degree is permitted to register for more than 16 credit hours in any single semester. A schedule of nine credit hours is considered a full load for doctoral degree candidates.
• Only 3 hours of MSE 6980 / 7980 – Faculty Consultations can be counted towards the PhD degree provided there is proper documentation. This can take the place of 3 MSE coursework hours on the Program of Study.
• Only 1 hour of MSE 6950  – Independent Study can be used towards the PhD degree.

English Proficiency

The University of Utah Admissions Department sets the requirements for English Proficiency, not the department. This requirement cannot be waived. Applications will not be processed without official test results dated within two years. For more information, please see the admissions page on English Proficiency found here .

Candidate will write a report and prepare an oral presentation for a topic of scientific area which is NOT directly related to his/her ongoing Ph.D. research. The presentation and report shall cover:

•  Current state of the art of the area,
• Key challenges related to materials design,
• Ideas for future research directions in this field (students are encouraged to propose their own ideas and discuss possible plan and feasibility of proposed research).

Students will be expected to do a deep dive into the topic and be prepared to apply/discuss the basic MSE principles (covered by the core courses) to the selected topic.

Topic selection: The topics will be suggested/assigned by the MSE graduate committee.

Deliverables:

• Report (written portion) should be concise and not exceeding 10 pages (single spaced).
• Oral presentation will be a 20minute power point presentation with additional 20-30 minutes for questions from the committee.
• Topic selection/assignment will occur earlier May (after the Spring semester).
• Reports will be due first week of June.
• Presentations will be scheduled in the second/third weeks of June depending on examination committee schedule availability.

Examination committee will consist of at least three MSE faculty, excluding student’s primary advisor.

After successfully passing the Candidacy Evaluation, PhD students must make an appointment with the MSE Academic Advisor to start building a supervisory committee.

Each supervisory committee consists of five faculty members . In compliance with The Graduate School’s policy, the majority of the committee members (3) must be tenure line faculty in the MSE department. The supervisory committee chair must be a regular tenure line faculty at the University of Utah. The dean of The Graduate School may approve requests to appoint a committee member from another university where appropriate justification and supporting documentation is provided. The supervisory committee is responsible for approving the student’s academic program, preparing and judging the qualifying examinations, approving the dissertation subject and final dissertation, and administering and judging the final oral examination (dissertation defense).

Supervisory Committee Form

• PhD Supervisory Committee form

During the third year of graduate study, PhD students are required to complete a Program of Study. This form is not a selection of courses that satisfies the minimum requirements but will be a list of all course work and research hours proposed for the PhD degree that will be approved by the Supervisory Committee. It is important that students understand that the Supervisory Committee makes the final decision for the courses that will appear on the Program of Study for the PhD. Procedure to Complete

The procedure to complete the Program of Study form is as follows:

• Students must arrange a meeting with their Supervisory Committee Chair to present the proposed course for the Program of Study form.
• At the meeting, the Supervisory Committee Chair will review and approve the student’s courses for their degree.
• In some cases, the Supervisory Committee Chair may require extra course work that exceeds the minimum requirements for a PhD degree based on the dissertation topic.
• As stated in the Graduate School’s requirements: coursework used to complete requirements for one graduate program may not be used to meet the requirement of another.
• All course work must be completed in the first two years of graduate study.

Program of Study Form

• PhD Program of Study, MSE

After advancing to candidacy, but before the end of the third year (6th semester) in the program, students must complete the written and oral portions of the Dissertation Proposal Exam. An exception can be granted by a student’s Supervisory Committee Chair for extenuating circumstances.

The Dissertation Proposal must occur before the Dissertation Defense and the two many not be completed within the same semester. The Dissertation Proposal Exam (written, oral, or both parts) may be repeated once if a “Fail” or “Conditional Pass” is received the first time. Written Proposal

Students must independently prepare a written proposal for the research they will complete for their dissertation. It must be given to their Supervisory Committee at least two weeks prior to the date of the oral exam. Students must propose their own original research which will form the basis of their publications and PhD dissertation. The proposal should detail the prior work in the field, detail any results already obtained by the student, and lay out the research objectives and plan for meeting those objectives before completing the dissertation. A copy of the Dissertation Proposal will be provided to the Academic Advisor to be retained in the student’s file.

The proposal should follow the NSF proposal format (or other federal agency if approved by the committee). For more information on the format, student should refer to the MSE Dissertation Written Proposal Template here .

For additional resources and information on NSF formatting, students should refer to the University of Utah Office of Sponsored Projects website by clicking here.

Oral Proposal

Students must arrange with their Supervisory Committee to present and defend their proposal. A common format is to prepare a talk lasting 40 minutes if uninterrupted based on the same ideas and research plan contained in the Written Proposal.

The committee will ask questions, evaluate the proposal, and give feedback and suggestions to the student on the proposed research. The committee will sign the Dissertation Proposal from, which has separate “Pass,” “Conditional Pass” and “Fail” marks. Again, the committee may require remedial actions for “Conditional Pass” or “Fail” marks.

Dissertation Proposal Form

• MSE Dissertation Written Proposal Template
• PhD Dissertation Proposal form

  Dissertation

Students must submit a dissertation embodying the results of scientific or scholarly research. The dissertation must provide evidence of originality and the ability to do independent investigation and it must contribute to knowledge. The dissertation must show a mastery of the relevant literature and be presented in an acceptable style. The style and format are determined by departmental policy and registered with the thesis and dissertation editor, who approves individual dissertations in accordance with departmental and Graduate School policy. The approved style guides can be found here .

At least three weeks before the final dissertation defense, students should submit an acceptable draft of the dissertation to the chair of the Supervisory Committee; committee members should receive copies at least two weeks before the examination date.

The doctoral dissertation is expected to be available to other scholars and to the general public. It is the responsibility of all doctoral candidates to arrange for the publication of their dissertations. The University accepts two alternatives for complying with the publication requirements:

The entire dissertation is submitted to UMI Dissertation Publishing, ProQuest Information and Learning, and copies are made available for public sale. The abstract only is published if the entire dissertation has been previously published and distributed, exclusive of vanity publishing. The doctoral candidate may elect to microfilm the entire previously published work. Regardless of the option used for meeting the publication requirement, an abstract of each dissertation is published in UMI Dissertation Publishing, ProQuest Information and Learning, Dissertation Abstracts International.

Detailed policies and procedures concerning publication requirements, use of restricted data, and other matters pertaining to the preparation and acceptance of the dissertation are contained in A Handbook for Theses and Dissertations, published by The Graduate School and available on The Graduate School website .

Please be sure to check the Thesis Office manuscript tracking system to see if your dissertation has been uploaded to  ProQuest . Defense

PhD students must orally defend the significant contents, results, and conclusions associated with their doctoral research before the entire Supervisory Committee at an open and public defense. At the conclusion of the public participation, the committee will excuse the public and conduct further questioning on the thesis and related topics. The outcome of the defense is reported on the PhD Defense Form.

The draft or final dissertation document will serve as the written basis for the presentation and should be submitted to the Supervisory Committee four weeks prior to the oral defense. The Supervisory Committee will examine in detail the contents, results, conclusions and contribution made by the student’s research and written dissertation.

“The Supervisory Committee Approval” and “Final Reading Approval” forms must be filled out by the student and the appropriate signatures obtained before final dissertation can be submitted to the Thesis Editor for final approval and release. These forms are the responsibility of the student and can be found on The Graduate School’s website .

When should you defend in order to graduate in a specific semester?

The earlier you defend in a given semester, the more likely you are to be able to graduate that same semester. Check the  Thesis Calendar  to see when the submission deadline is. You need to defend far enough ahead of that deadline that you can make any changes to the text required by your committee and ensure that the manuscript adheres to your chosen style guide and Thesis Office requirements by the deadline. Be aware that if you submit your manuscript on the deadline and there are any formatting errors you will not graduate that semester. The sooner you turn your manuscript in the more likely you are to graduate in that semester.   As a general rule of thumb, plan to defend in the first 2 months of the semester if you want to graduate that semester. Registration

Student must be registered for 3 credit hours of MSE 7970 during the semester they defend. Once student defends and the dissertation has been accepted by the Supervisory Committee, the student is not required to register for another semester. International Students should check with the International Center once they have defended to make sure that they do not go out of status while completing requested rewrites.

Defense and Dissertation Forms

Materials Science and Engineering Department form:

• PhD Dissertation Defense form – Must be completed at the time of defense.

Graduate School Forms

• Dissertation forms  – Forms that must be turned in with completed dissertation to the Thesis Office.
• Preliminary Review Dissertation form  – Form for those seeking a preliminary dissertation review by the Thesis Office.
• For information on admission to the PhD program  click here.
• For information about housing options at the University of Utah, click here.

Full Time Student Status

Part time student status.

• Appeal to the Department Chair (in writing) within 40 working days; chairs must notify student of a decision with 15 days. If the faculty member or student disagrees with decision then,
• Appeal to Academic Committee, see II Section D, Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities for details on Academic Appeal Committee hearings.
• Dismiss the student from the program immediately.
• Place the student on academic probation for 1 semester. In this case, the student’s committee will provide a list of specific milestones which the student must accomplish in order to be reinstated to good standing. If these milestone are not accomplished within 1 semester, the student will be dismissed from the program.
• Maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0
• Passing all required examinations within specified times limits (e.g. for PhD students the candidacy exam, dissertation proposal, and thesis defense).
• Continuously maintain an official advisor and supervisory committee from the 3rd semester through completion of the program.
• Continually make acceptable progress toward the degree as determined by the supervisory committee + thesis advisor.
• PhD Program of Study form, MSE
• PhD Dissertation Defense form
• Milestone Master Application
• Recommendation for Change of Graduate Classification
• Dissertation Forms
• Preliminary Review Dissertation Form
• Non-Matriculated Credit Hours Form 
• Graduate Transfer Credit Authorization
• Insurance Declaration Form

Thesis Office

Preliminary formatting.

• During the semester before your graduation date, students should check their Electronic Graduate Record File in CIS. For more information on how to access the Electronic Graduate Record File  click here .
• If students have questions or issues surrounding graduation, they should make an appointment with the MSE Academic Advisor. It is important that you communicate with the Academic Advisor about your intended graduation date and progress.

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Department of Chemistry

College of science, main navigation, graduate program.

The world-class research and teaching in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Utah provides you with the ideal environment to pursue an impactful and rewarding doctoral degree. Here, your research will be enabled by robust external funding, world-class facilities, and an interdisciplinary and collegial environment where our students' creativity thrives.

Currently, students and faculty in our Ph.D. program are tackling problems ranging from the design of new medicines, to addressing current and future water and energy needs, to devising novel quantitative approaches to characterize matter at the molecular scale. These complex and challenging problems are being met by a talented, motivated, and diverse group of scientists – we encourage you to join us !

APPLICATION INFORMATION

Details regarding the application process, requirements, and contact information.

LIVING IN UTAH

The U is located in Salt Lake City, an energetic metropolitan city where the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains provides a stunning backdrop and endless recreational opportunities.

GRADUATE STUDENT RESOURCES

Degree requirements, important deadlines, and general information about the graduate program.

Academic Advising Center

Undergraduate studies, main navigation, chemical engineering, program description.

If you want to explore the world around you and help make the world a better place, consider becoming a chemical engineer. Chemical engineers take chemistry out of the laboratory and into the real world by applying scientific knowledge, technical expertise, innovation, and creativity to make useful materials; without chemical engineering, things like fertilizers, vaccines, and antibiotics wouldn't exist in the quantities that we need them. With their skills and abilities, chemical engineers can be involved in research, development (taking a process from bench scale to full scale), design and evaluation (deciding how a process should work), plant design (deciding how a chemical plant should be built), plant operation, sales, management, and academics. The University of Utah’s Department of Chemical Engineering is nationally recognized for its research and teaching. In this program, you will complete courses in math, physics, chemistry, and engineering. You can also complete an optional emphasis in Energy Engineering . By the time of graduation, about 50 percent of our graduates have found employment or been admitted to post-graduate programs that include law, medicine, and graduate school in a variety of fields. 

The Student Experience

In addition to your academic pursuits, be sure to get involved in the many organizations and extracurricular activities offered by the Department of Chemical Engineering. The WAChE (Women and Allies in Chemical Engineering) student group provides opportunities for professional development, networking, and peer support to undergraduate woman chemical engineering majors. You can also join the AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) to network, find jobs in industry, and participate in the ChemE Car Team. The ChemE Car Team participates in national and global competitions, challenging students to build a working compact car that runs only on chemical reactions.

Career Opportunities

A chemical engineer may find work in a number of different fields, such as environmental protection, pollution prevention, biotechnology, electronics, chemistry, petroleum, medicine, and law. Some graduates are consultants, computer system designers, lawyers focusing on patent or environmental law, or brewers of specialty beers. If you decide to further your education, you will be prepared to enter graduate study in medicine, law, business administration, or chemical engineering.

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Geoscience educates students to apply the principles of chemistry, physics, math, and biology to understand the composition, structure, and history of the Earth, and the processes that govern them.

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Best Chemical Engineering Programs

Ranked in 2023, part of Best Engineering Schools

Chemical engineering involves chemistry, biology,

Chemical engineering involves chemistry, biology, math and physics. Graduates may become designers and inventors, potentially working with everything from nanotechnology to new energy. These are the top graduate chemical engineering programs. Each school's score reflects its average rating on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding), based on a survey of academics at peer institutions. Read the methodology »

For full rankings, GRE scores and student debt data, sign up for the U.S. News Engineering School Compass .

Here are the Best Chemical Engineering Programs

Brigham young university (fulton), university of utah.

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• in Chemical Engineering
• # 127 in Best Engineering Schools  (tie)

$7,932 per year (LDS member, full-time) TUITION AND FEES (MASTER'S)

$15,864 per year (Non-LDS member, full-time) TUITION AND FEES (MASTER'S)

424 ENROLLMENT (FULL-TIME)

The application fee is $50 for U.S. residents and $50 for international students. Its tuition is full-time: $7,932 per... Read More »

Engineering school

Tuition and fees (master's).

$7,932 per year (LDS member, full-time)

$15,864 per year (Non-LDS member, full-time)

ENROLLMENT (FULL-TIME)

Average quantitative gre.

Salt Lake City , UT

• # 55 in Best Engineering Schools  (tie)

$9,006 per year (in-state, full-time) TUITION AND FEES (MASTER'S)

$27,614 per year (out-of-state, full-time) TUITION AND FEES (MASTER'S)

1,413 ENROLLMENT (FULL-TIME)

The application fee is $0 for U.S. residents and $65 for international students. Its tuition is full-time: $9,006 per... Read More »

$9,006 per year (in-state, full-time)

$27,614 per year (out-of-state, full-time)

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University of Utah PhD in Chemical Engineering

Chemical Engineering is a concentration offered under the chemical engineering major at University of Utah. We’ve gathered data and other essential information about the doctor’s degree program in chem eng, such as diversity of students, how many students graduated in recent times, and more.

You can jump to any section of this page using the links below:

• Graduate Cost
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How Much Does a Doctorate in Chem Eng from U of U Cost?

U of u graduate tuition and fees.

In 2019-2020, the average part-time graduate tuition at U of U was $959 per credit hour for out-of-state students. The average for in-state students was $273 per credit hour. The average full-time tuition and fees for graduate students are shown in the table below.

Does U of U Offer an Online PhD in Chem Eng?

U of U does not offer an online option for its chem eng doctor’s degree program at this time. To see if the school offers distance learning options in other areas, visit the U of U Online Learning page.

U of U Doctorate Student Diversity for Chem Eng

Male-to-female ratio.

Of the students who received their doctor’s degree in chem eng in 2019-2020, 10.0% of them were women. This is less than the nationwide number of 30.4%.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

Around 10.0% of chem eng doctor’s degree recipients at U of U in 2019-2020 were awarded to racial-ethnic minorities*. This is lower than the nationwide number of 15%.

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

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The Graduate School

University information technology (uit), main navigation, ph.d. degree requirements.

Ph.D. Degree   •   Supervisory Committee   •  Program of Study   •  Residency Enrollment   •  Approval of Program of Study   •  Qualifying Examination   •  Registration   •  Language Requirements   •  Dissertation   •  Final Examination   •  Time Limit   •  Exceptions

• The Doctor of Philosophy degree is awarded for high achievement in an advanced specialized field of study. It requires competence in independent research and an understanding of related subjects.
• The degree is not awarded simply for the fulfillment of residence requirements and the accumulation of credits.
• The committee chair and the majority of the committee must be tenure-line faculty in the student’s department.
• The outside member is normally from another University of Utah department.
• The dean of The Graduate School may approve requests to appoint a committee member from another university where appropriate justification and supporting documentation is provided.
• approving the student’s academic program,
• preparing and judging the qualifying examinations (unless delegated to a departmental examination committee),
• approving the dissertation subject and final dissertation,
• and administering and judging the final oral examination (dissertation defense).
• Some departments require more, check department’s handbook.
• More time may be required.
• In truly exceptional cases, a shorter period of time in graduate work may be approved by the dean of The Graduate School. 
• If a supervisory committee finds a graduate student’s preliminary work deficient, the student may be required to register for and complete supplementary courses that do not carry graduate credit.
• This form, which lists course work and research hours, is due one semester before graduation in order for the graduate coordinator to enter that information online in a timely manner.
• Faculty Consultation, course number 7980, does not count toward dissertation hours or the fulfillment of degree requirements, and should not be listed on the program of study.
• Courses taken through alternative delivery methods (e.g., via EDNET or the Internet) are approved on a programmatic basis through the Graduate Council.
• When a student proceeds directly from a master’s degree to a Ph.D. degree with no break in the program of study (except for authorized leaves of absence), the residency requirement may be fulfilled at any time during the course of study.
• Three hours of Thesis Research: Ph.D. (course number 7970) is also considered a full load after the residency requirement is fulfilled.
• The Graduate Council may approve departmental or programmatic exceptions to the minimum residency requirements and proposals for new programs or academic offerings using distance-learning technologies and/or off-campus sites, as provided by Graduate School policy.
• *Does not refer to or fulfill State Residency Requirements
• One semester prior to graduation, graduate students are required to meet with their graduate advisor to check that they have met all the requirements for their degree.
• Once enrolled in all required coursework, the graduate advisor will move coursework from the graduate student's transcript to their program of study in the Graduate Student Summary .
• They verify the graduate student has met all degree requirements then approve the program of study with their electronic signature.  
• After all approvals have been submitted, the graduate student's program of study will show as complete in the Program Plan Audit page of the Graduate Student Summary .
• The nature and format of these examinations are established by individual departments subject to approval by the Graduate Council.
• An examination or parts of an examination may be repeated only once and only at the discretion of the student’s supervisory committee .
• A department has the option of appointing a departmental examination committee that administers the qualifying examinations and ensures that examinations are properly prepared and evaluated.
• Once a graduate student has passed their Ph.D. Qualifying Exam this advances them to candidacy.
• The candidate must complete at least 14 hours of Thesis Research (course number 7970, Thesis Research: Ph.D.).
• The candidate must also be regularly enrolled at the University and registered for at least one course during the semester in which the final oral examination (dissertation defense) is taken.
• For details, see Minimum Continuous Registration as well as departmental and program requirements.
• The degree of proficiency in foreign language(s) required of candidates is determined by the policy of the academic departments.
• In some instances, language proficiency may be verified by individual departments if appropriate procedures have been approved in advance by the dean of The Graduate School.
• In most cases, however, fulfillment of the language requirements must be verified by the Department of World Languages & Cultures.
• The Language Verification form for certification is available in the Department of World Languages & Cultures .
• The candidate must submit a dissertation embodying the results of scientific or scholarly research or artistic creativity.
• The dissertation must provide evidence of originality and the ability to do independent investigation and it must contribute to knowledge or the creative arts.
• The style and format are determined by departmental policy and registered with the thesis and dissertation editor, who approves individual dissertations in accordance with departmental and Graduate School policy.
• At least three weeks before the final oral examination (dissertation defense), the student should submit an acceptable draft of the dissertation to the chair of the supervisory committee ; committee members should receive copies at least two weeks before the examination date.
• The entire dissertation is submitted to UMI Dissertation Publishing, ProQuest Information and Learning, and copies are made available for public sale.
• The abstract only is published if the entire dissertation has been previously published and distributed, exclusive of vanity publishing. The doctoral candidate may elect to microfilm the entire previously published work.
• Regardless of the option used for meeting the publication requirement, an abstract of each dissertation is published in UMI Dissertation Publishing, ProQuest Information and Learning, Dissertation Abstracts International.
• Detailed policies and procedures concerning publication requirements, use of restricted data, and other matters pertaining to the preparation and acceptance of the dissertation are contained in A Handbook for Theses and Dissertations .
• The student must pass a final oral examination before graduation.
• The examination must follow the receipt of the dissertation by the supervisory committee .
• The committee schedules and announces a public oral examination at which the candidate must defend the dissertation.
• This final oral examination may be chaired by any member of the supervisory committee consistent with departmental policy.
• The time limit for completing a Ph.D. degree is determined by individual departmental policy approved by the Graduate Council.
• Requests to exceed established time limits must be recommended by a candidate’s supervisory committee and approved by the departmental director of graduate studies and the dean of the Graduate School.
• Students whose studies have been interrupted for long periods of time and who have been granted extended time to complete their degrees may be required to complete additional courses, to pass examinations, or otherwise to demonstrate that they are current in their field. (PPM 6-203 III.B).
• Most departments require a seven year time limit for their PhD students.
• Petition for an extension of a Graduate student career
• Individual student exceptions to these general requirements for the Ph.D. must be approved by the dean of The Graduate School upon the recommendation of the student’s supervisory committee and director of graduate studies or department chair.
• Each program requires a distinct, complete set of courses. Course work used to meet the requirements of one program may not be used to meet the requirements of another.

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Graduate Application Fee Waiver Request

The Department of Chemical Engineering may provide an application fee waiver for international students provided that applicant:

• Has an undergraduate degree or is seeking a degree in chemical engineering, chemistry, or other related engineering or scientific discipline.
• Intends to apply to the University of Utah Chemical Engineering PhD program. (We do not offer fee waivers for MS applicants.)
• Has an undergraduate GPA that exceeds 3.7/4, 4.6/5, 9.0/10, or equivalent.
• Has an approved English proficiency exam score that exceeds the minimum requirements for admission ( TOEFL > 80, IELTS > 6.5, Duolingo > 105). For more information and to check if you are eligible for a waiver, please visit this page .
•  Submits the required information and requested documents in this form.
• Submit both undergraduate and graduate transcripts as a single PDF file.

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Interests at the university of utah.

Zhang Lab | Chemical Engineering at the University of Utah Zhang Lab

Principal investigator, huanan zhang, ph.d., assistant professor department of chemical engineering university of utah.

• B.S. Chemical Engineering 2008   Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Ph.D. Chemical Engineering 2014 University of Michigan, with Nicholas A. Kotov
• Postdoctoral scientist Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 2014 to 2016 with Aleksandr Noy

University of Utah profile

Alexandra Boyadzhiev

Graduate student researcher department of chemical engineering university of utah.

• B.S. Chemical Engineering, Ohio State University

Seoyeon Won

• B.S. and M.S.  Chemical Engineering, Dongguk University
• B.S. Chemical Engineering, Beijing Forest University

Lesslie Moposita

• B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Maryland-College Park

Franky Curry, Ph.D.

Ph.d. 2021 department of chemical engineering university of utah.

• Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, University of Utah
• B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of  California, Riverside

Tasmia Tasmin, Ph.D.

• B.S. Chemical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology

Taehwan lim ph.d

• M.S. Polymer Engineering, Hanyang University
• B.S. Molecular System Engineering, Hanyang University

Positions Available

Openings are available for dedicated undergraduate and Ph.D. students interested in using developing quantitative tools for applications in cancer and stem cell biology, basic biology, and therapeutics. See the research section for project areas.

Interested parties should send an email to Professor Zangle and include their CV and research interests.

Michael Hoepfner | Chemical Engineering at the University of Utah

Michael P. Hoepfner

Associate Professor Principal Investigator

Education: University of Michigan, PhD Chemical Engineering University of Utah, B.S. Chemical Engineering

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Graduate Students

PhD Candidate (2013-Present)

Multi-scale structure and behavior investigation of petroleum asphaltenes

Siddarth Agrawal

PhD Candidate (2016 - Present)

Self-assembled photocatalysts for waste-water treatment and confined fluid property measurement

BS Chemistry, Idaho St. University

Hometown: Lahan, Nepal

Linked-in Profile

The effect of inorganic solids on petroleum asphaltene precipitation

BS Engineering (Anhui University of Science and Technology)

Hometown: Huainan, Anhui, China

Rizwanur Rahman Abeer

PhD Candidate (2018 - Present)

Self-assembly of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in organic mixtures

BS Chemical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET)

Hometown: Dhaka, Bangladesh

Google Scholar ResearchGate Linked-In

Mahmoud Elmehlawy

Static and dynamic properties of confined fluids

Abdur Shazed

PhD Candidate (2019 - Present)

Molecular simulation development as informed by experimental diffraction measurements of structure

BS Chemical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) MS Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University

Brennon L. Shanks

Statistical and quantum mechanics characterization of fluid phase phenomena

BS Chemical Engineering and Mathematics, Ohio State University

Hometown: Cincinnati, OH

Ayodeji Ajani

Properties of inorganic, organic, and aqueous interfaces in bitumen froth extraction

MS Sustainable Chemical Engineering, University of Bath BS Chemical Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University

Hometown: Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Dr. Wattana Chaisoontornyotin

Dissertation: Reversibility and Kinetic Precipitation of Asphaltenes (2017)

Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Wyoming

Manaf Ismail

MS Project Thesis: The Effect of Chemical Inhibitors on Asphaltene Precipitation and Morphology Using Ultra-Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering (2018)

Position: SciTec

JeffrEy Job

MS Project Thesis: Nanofiltration Apparatus Design for Physical Separation of Insoluble Asphaltenes in a Diluted Bitumen Mixture (2018)

Joshua Martineau (BS ChE 2020) – BYU Law School Ryan Mysko (BS ChE 2020) Jingzhou Zhang (BS ChE 2019) – University of Utah, PhD Student Sikuang Wang (BS ChE 2018) Derek Hussein (BS ChE 2018) Amanda Chew-Stebbins (BS ChE 2017) – Proctor & Gamble Austin Bingham (BS ChE 2016) – University of Michigan, PhD Student Jason McHann (BS ChE 2015)

Group Bowling @ Utah Union - Fall 2019

Group Ski Trip to Solitude Mountain Resort - January 2019

Successful MS Project defense! Congrats to Mr. Ismail! - May 1st, 2018

Successful MS Project defense! Congrats to Mr. Job! - February 1st, 2018

Successful defense! Congrats to Dr. Chaisoontornyotin! - July 20th, 2017

Group Ski Day @ Snowbird - January, 2017

Group BBQ - September, 2016

University of Utah Profiles

• Assistant Professor , Chemical Engineering

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• BS, Mechanical Engineering , Tsinghua University
• MS, Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University
• PhD, Chemical Engineering, University of Maryland College Park
• Postdoc, Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Electrochemistry, energy storage, Li-ion batteries, Mg-ion batteries, flow batteries, etc.

My research focuses on electrochemical energy storage technologies, which include Li-ion batteries, flow batteries, CO2 reduction and etc.  My lab tackles the challenges in energy storage technologies with a multi-scale approach: we not only design new materials for better performance, we also study the mass transport and reaction inside batteries, and combine machine learning methods with physical modeling to optimize the usage of batteries.

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Chemical Engineering PhD Program

Doctoral Program

UTSA’s PhD in Chemical Engineering is designed to prepare graduates to solve current engineering grand challenges and become leaders in chemical engineering industries.

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Why Pursue a PhD in Chemical Engineering

UTSA offers state-of-the-art facilities and excellent program faculty, giving students the opportunity to pursue high-level multidisciplinary research projects in the broad fields of health, energy, materials, and the environment.

Graduates of this research-intensive program apply their cutting-edge research to solve problems across traditional scientific boundaries and lead careers in industry, academia, or governmental research laboratories.

Flexible Degree Plan

This degree offers a flexibility not typically found in similar programs to adapt to individualized student interests. Additional courses in leadership and engineering education are offered to complement a variety of future career goals.

Additionally, students in this program are highly encouraged to pursue a semester-long internship in a non-academic setting such as industry, private research institutes, or national laboratories.

Chemical Engineering Research Areas

Chemical Engineering faculty at UTSA are interested in solving grand challenges of energy production, from traditional such as fossil-fuel sources and natural gas, to alternative fuels and battery development.

Click to learn more about UTSA faculty performing Energy research:

• Gary Jacobs, PhD
• Additional Profile
• Esteban Urena-Benavides, PhD

Environmental

Chemical Engineering faculty at UTSA conduct environmental research in the areas of water purification technologies, electrochemistry processes, bioremediation, carbon sequestration, oil recovery and renewable energy.

Click to learn more about UTSA faculty performing Environmental research:

• Nehal Abu-Lail, PhD
• Camilah Powell, PhD
• Gongchen Sun, PhD

Chemical Engineering faculty at UTSA are interested in investigating materials for applications in catalysis, computing and simulation, electrochemistry, batteries, nanotechnology, and microfabrication.

Click to learn more about UTSA faculty performing Materials research:

• Maria Gonzalez Porras, PhD
• Teja Guda, PhD
• Abelardo Ramirez-Hernandez, PhD

Bioengineering

Chemical Engineering faculty at UTSA perform bioengineering research for applications in drug delivery, tissue engineering, neuroengineering, sensing, microfluidics and artificial intelligence.

Click to learn more about UTSA faculty performing Bioengineering research:

• Eric Brey, PhD
• Amina Qutub, PhD

Chemical Engineering Education

Chemical Engineering faculty at UTSA are also interested in investigating innovative and inclusive methods for teaching and learning chemical engineering.

Click to learn more about UTSA faculty performing Chemical Engineering Education research:

• Admission Requirements

Application Deadlines

Funding opportunities, career options, admission & application requirements.

Applications are submitted through the UTSA Graduate Application . Please upload all required documents (listed below) on your UTSA Graduate Application. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure completion and submission of the application, a nonrefundable application fee, and all required supporting documents are on file with UTSA by the appropriate application deadline.

Applicants are encouraged to have their admission file completed as early as possible. All applications, required documents and letters of recommendation, if applicable, must be submitted by 5:00 PM U.S. Central Time on the day of the deadline. Deadlines are subject to change.

PhD students may qualify for research or teaching positions, for which the Klesse College offers funding related to tuition, medical insurance, and an annual stipend of $26,000.

UTSA prepares you for future careers that are in demand. The possible careers below is data pulled by a third-party tool called Emsi, which pulls information from sources like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, online job postings, other government databases and more to give you regional and national career outlook related to this academic program.

Course Offerings & Schedule

This is a research-intensive program. All courses are offered during the day at UTSA main campus. Most courses are offered through face-to-face instruction, but some online course options may be available.

Graduate Advisor of Record

Gabriela Romero Uribe, PhD

210-458-7982

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The ECE Department offers a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Your research, dissertation, and defense are a major part of this degree certification.

The PhD Program requires advanced coursework and research in preparation of a thesis defense in our modern areas of interdisciplinary research.

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Utah Air Quality Summit Takes a Multifaceted Look at Pollution Issues  

Each year, a consortium of researcher at the University of Utah gather to discuss problems — and potential solutions — to the region and state’s unique air quality challenges.  

With its complex terrain of mountains and valleys, a shrinking Great Salt Lake that increasingly exposes particulates in its lakebed to the air, and in a corridor of particularly wildfire-prone areas, Utah is in particular need of highly localized and timely air quality monitoring. 

Spearheaded by Kerry Kelly, associate professor of chemical engineering in the John and Marcia Price College of Engineering, efforts to bring such systems online have kicked into high gear this year. 

One of Kelly’s projects, called “Community Resilience through Engaging, Actionable, Timely, high-rEsolution Air Quality Information, or CREATE-AQI, is funded through NSF’s CIVIC Innovation Challenge program. Her collaborators at the U include Heather Holmes , associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Ross Whitaker , professor in the Kahlert School of Computing, Derek Mallia , research assistant professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and Sara Yeo , associate professor in the Department of Communication. Several state agencies are also participating, including the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, the Utah Athletic Trainers’ Association, the Utah High School Activities Association, the Utah Division of Air Quality and the Utah State Board of Education.

At the summit, several of the projects’ researchers presented their findings about the interplay between outdoor and indoor air quality. Mallia’s work on wildfire smoke, for example, shows that those events can elevate indoor ozone levels more than particulate-trapping wintertime inversions, or even dust events.  

Tristalee Mangin, a graduate student in Kelly’s lab, discussed the CIVIC project’s use of indoor air quality sensors to measure this phenomenon, with an eye toward how the data could be used to improve building ventilation and air conditioning systems. 

Read and watch more coverage of the Air Quality Summit on KSLTV . 

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