Department of Chemical Engineering

Department of Chemical Engineering is among the five departments established at the inception of IIT Kanpur in 1959. Along with other pioneer departments, it ushered in a new paradigm in undergraduate engineering education that fosters the creative thinking process in a very open and vibrant academic environment. From an early emphasis on developing and perfecting the undergraduate curriculum to nurturing a fledgling post-graduate research program to significantly contributing to applied and fundamental ChE research, we have grown from strength-to-strength over the past several decades.

Ranked among the nation's top schools in Chemical Engineering, the department at IIT Kanpur is now endowed with state-of-art facilities and distinguished faculty members with both national and international recognitions. The 28 current faculty members with expertise in traditional as well as emerging areas of chemical engineering are at the forefront of nurturing the vibrant academic ambience of the department through their research and pedagogical endeavours. They are ably supported by 24 technical and secretarial staff members. The department has also hired several postdoctoral fellows, as a part of an Institute-wide initiative for supporting research activities. Several of our faculty members are Fellows of all the Indian Academies of Sciences and Engineering, and many serve on the editorial boards of national and international journals. They have also been recognized by prestigious awards such as the Infosys Prize, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, Herdillia and Amar Dye Chem awards of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers.

A hallmark of our department is the emphasis on quality education as reflected in the over 50 “labor of love” textbooks written by our faculty, many receiving international acceptance. This is complemented by a strong research ethos, carefully nurtured by the pioneers and effectively passed on from one generation to the next. The significant research funding has brought in a critical mass of young, talented and motivated faculty immersed in research in the frontier areas of complex fluids, micro-reactors, nano-technology, adhesion, molecular simulation, biocomputation. This is in addition to research in tradition areas of fluid dynamics, conventional/new separation processes, catalysis, polymer engineering and process design and control.