Hands-on, practical education is the hallmark of engineering education at Michigan Tech. So when Samantha Cooper ’27 saw the opportunity to conduct research with Assistant Professor Maria Gencoglu in a part of the chemical engineering field unfamiliar to her, she jumped at the chance.
The Department of Chemical Engineering is thrilled to celebrate the achievements of Taravat Sarvari and Idris Tohidian, who are presenting their research at the ACS Spring 2026 Conference, being held March 21-26 in Atlanta, Georgia.
We are pleased to recognize Vincent Bailey Arohunmolase and Kwabena Boafo on the acceptance of their abstracts for presentation at the 2026 SME Minnesota Conference. Both students are advised by Dr. Timothy Eisele.
The Graduate School announced Michigan Tech’s Summer 2025 Finishing Fellows. Please congratulate Chemical Engineering student Grace Dykstra on this amazing accomplishment!
The Vice President for Research Office announced the Spring 2025 Research Excellence Fund (REF) award recipients. Congratulations to Daniel Kulas, Research Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering, the principal investigator for a project that won a Research Seed Grant!
The Graduate School announced Michigan Tech’s Summer 2025 Finishing Fellows. Please congratulate Chemical Engineering student Palas Kamlakar Borkar on this accomplishment.
Michigan Tech research crosses disciplines — and crosses the globe. “International partnerships are really key to expanding your research network, research ideas, and to be able to have your research out into industry and be applied,” said Professor Caryn Heldt (ChE), who directs the University’s Health Research Institute.
In the Heldt Bioseparations Laboratory, research team members are collaborating to apply their work in ways that can be adapted for best use in countries throughout the world. Bellicia Kamwanya, a research biologist in the Democratic Republic of Congo, teamed up with award-winning MTU researcher Vaishali Sharma in Heldt’s lab as part of the U.S.-Africa Frontiers fellowship program.
Hear from Kamwanya in a video on the College of Engineering Blog.
Lei Pan (ChE) and Tinuade Ololade Folayan ’20 ’23 (M.S. Ph.D. Chemical Engineering) were mentioned by Argonne National Laboratory in a release announcing a new froth flotation method of separating individual cathode materials from spent lithium-ion batteries.
Robert Handler (ChE/GLRC), the principal investigator on a project, received a $262,537 research and development co-op joint agreement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service.
The project is titled “Evaluating the Sustainable Production of Engineered BioCarbon for Coal Combustion Residual (CCR) Remediation from Fuel Reduction Treatments in the Superior National Forest (SNF).”
This is a potential three-year project.
Chemical Engineering faculty member Lei Pan’s research on battery recycling and improving the sustainability of mining through the recovery of critical minerals continues to draw regional and national interest.
Pan was recently quoted in a Bridge Michigan article, “Michigan’s electric energy future could be wasting away in a junk drawer,” which focused on the impact that recycling old electronic devices could have on the critical mineral shortage. The article described critical mineral shortage as a “looming choke point” affecting the nation’s energy transition and Michigan’s electric vehicle industry.
The article also noted that Pan’s lab will expand its research through the opening of a testing facility in summer 2025 through $8.1 million awarded to Michigan Tech through the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.