UCSB Chemical Engineering

04/08/2025

For the 24th straight year, the UCSB chemical engineering graduate programs has been ranked in the top 10 among public universities by U.S. News and World Report!

The 2025 rankings were released today, and five UCSB College of Engineering programs rank among the top 15 in the fields, including top ranked materials.

Read more: https://www.chemengr.ucsb.edu/news/2025-US-News-Rankings

06/11/2024

Meet Phineas Lehan, he’s days from receiving his bachelor’s degree in ChemE. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to student activities and the community, he is UCSB College of Engineering's 2024 Hynes-Wood Award recipient. He’s headed to the materials science PhD program at Caltech in the fall. Read his inspirational story and why staying busy during school helped in more ways than one. https://www.chemengr.ucsb.edu/news/Recognition-Outstanding-Contributions

06/30/2023

ICYMI: The Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) received its seventh consecutive major grant to operate as an NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. The latest renewal establishes two interdisciplinary research groups that include several chemical engineering faculty to investigate electrostatically mediated polymer processing and bioinspired plasticity National Science Foundation (NSF)
https://www.chemengr.ucsb.edu/news/seven-seven

06/30/2023

Congrats to PhD student Evan Pretti, who has received a prestigious fellowship from the Molecular Sciences Software Institute (MolSSI)in support of research that could provide insight into neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. The Molecular Sciences Software Institute https://www.chemengr.ucsb.edu/news/che-phd-student-evan-pretti-awarded-prestigious-molssi-fellowship

05/03/2023

It's no surprise to his students, who've voted him the department's Outstanding Faculty the last several years, but Joe Chada has received the Distinguished Teaching Award from UCSB's Academic Senate for excellence in teaching and striving to enhance student success. https://www.chemengr.ucsb.edu/news/excellence-teaching

04/13/2023

As alumni and friends of UC Santa Barbara and UCSB College of Engineering, please consider participating in Give Day 2023 and support the students and faculty of the Chemical Engineering Department, who are pursuing pioneering research and focused on solving society's grand challenges! https://giveday.ucsb.edu/giving-day/65293/donate?des=295648&dept=65297

03/14/2023

Remembering Orville Sandall, UCSB ChE Professor.

Orville was one of Bob Rinker's very first hires for a brand new UCSB ChE department, where he taught for over 40 years. He also served as Ph.D. supervisor to Bob Rinker's son Ed. We remember his gentle humor and humble nature, and are grateful to have had him in our lives.

Orville Cecil Sandall, or “Joe” as he was affectionally called by friends and family, was born in Cupar, Saskatchewan, Canada.

03/14/2023

Remembering Bob Rinker, Founding Professor of UCSB ChE

Bob Rinker left the Caltech faculty to found UCSB ChE in 1965, where he worked tirelessly until his “retirement” in 1992, after which he continued as Professor Emeritus and Associate Dean until he really retired in 2005. His high standards, devotion to teaching and mentoring, and intense care shaped and inspired generations of UCSB ChE students, many of whom inspired and raised an endowment to support the Robert G Rinker ChemE Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory, as well as the Robert G. Rinker Chair in ChemE to support the Undergraduate Vice Chair. Bob passed away peacefully at home in Santa Barbara on February 12, 2023.

1929 – 2023 Robert (Bob)G. Rinker, PhD, peacefully passed away at home in Santa Barbara on February 12, 2023. He is

03/14/2023

Poignant news for the UCSB Chemical Engineering. On Saturday, March 11, two of our department’s original faculty members -- Robert G “Bob” Rinker and Orville “Joe” Sandall — were laid to rest. Their memorial services -- and subsequent stories and conversations with friends, family and students -- reinforced the remarkable and dedicated service to which each devoted their lives, and their quiet humility in that pursuit. We are fortunate to have had them.

10/18/2022

We are proud to congratulate Sho Takatori, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, for being named one of David and Lucile Packard Foundation's 2022 Fellows. support exceptional early-career scientists and engineers at the leading edge of discovery. He will receive $875K in funding to develop novel multifunctional surfaces by advancing new fluid mechanics models.
https://www.chemengr.ucsb.edu/news/magic-active-matter

09/26/2022

UCSB chemical engineering assistant professor Arnab Mukherjee and his collaborator at Penn have received a Scialog award for their project that aims to improve the sensitivity of MRI-based cellular imaging. Using Mukherjee's expertise in reporter-gene technology, they hope to increase the sensitivity from thousands of cells per voxel (3-D pixel) down to single-digits. It's work that could shed light on disease-relevant processes at the molecular and cellular levels. https://www.chemengr.ucsb.edu/news/imagining-future-imaging

09/22/2022

We are proud of our department chair, Rachel Segalman, who was elected a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE ChEnected, the highest grade of membership awarded in recognition of significant professional accomplishments and contributions to engineering. Congratulations! https://www.chemengr.ucsb.edu/news/peer-reviewed-distinction