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Chemical & Biological Engineering About

Welcome!

We are a thriving, top-ranked chemical engineering program in Madison, Wisconsin—teaching the leaders of tomorrow. We uphold a responsibility to innovate for the public good, employing a creative and collaborative mindset to make groundbreaking discoveries.


Exceptional education

Building on more than 120 years of impact, we educate students on the fundamentals to prepare them for successful careers. At Wisconsin, you have the opportunity to explore international programs, get hands on in service and outreach activities, and engage in cutting-edge research that improves lives and provides the foundation for a positive future. Whether they pursue industry, academia or research, our students become leaders across the world.

Senior capstone

Since 1920, we've been teaching our summer capstone course in one form or another. The course consists of five full weeks of full-time lab work, replicating a standard work day, and preparing you for after graduation. Alumni surveys consistently rank summer lab as one of the most useful courses taken at Wisconsin.

Nicknamed “Summer Lab,” you will perform a variety of experimental work followed by technical reports that align with industry standards. Work with our distillation column and reactor, and design four of your own experiments, with creative license to solve a chosen chemical engineering problem.

Two summer lab sessions are offered in Wisconsin. We also offer two overseas labs: One at Universidad de Oviedo in northern Spain, another to University of Limerick, Ireland.

Learn more about our undergraduate and graduate programs, and what awaits you at Madison.

Engineering community

We recognize the immense role that climate and inclusion play in creating a community where all students and employees feel valued and supported. An inclusive environment empowers every member of the department to participate fully in learning, teaching, mentoring, and research—enabling both individual and collective success. The department also strengthens it’s ability to advance creative, innovative research and develop effective solutions to complex challenges.

We are committed to fostering an inclusive and collegial environment, supporting informal dialogue among our department and maintaining lines of communication with leadership. We strive to recruit and retain faculty, staff and students from a wide range of backgrounds, and support our thriving community with formal and informal education and training initiatives.


Thinking differently to change the future.

Our faculty are dedicated to tackling the most pressing challenges facing society, working on solutions for sustainable fuel and chemical production, the plastic pollution crisis, energy infrastructure, life-changing therapeutics, new material requirements, biofuels, and more.

Industry

Entrepreneurship is another key aspect of our research activities, supported by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Fund and campus resources such as Discovery to Product, the WARF Accelerator program, the Morgridge Entrepreneurial Bootcamp, and gBETA Madison. Our faculty and students have also launched successful start-up companies:


Student involvement with AIChE

The UW-Madison chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) connects chemical engineering students, provides professional connections and development, outreach opportunities, as well as much more!

Outreach and engagement

We believe in the Wisconsin Idea and the importance of sharing the university and its work beyond campus boundaries. Our work does not stop in the laboratory. We advocate for faculty, staff and students to engage our communities and share our passion for engineering.

Named Lectures

The department honors faculty and alumni through educational lecture programs.