The chemical engineering industry is growing rapidly, with various breakthroughs popping up by the day. Just recently, researchers developed the ZMQ-1, a crystalline material that is said to significantly improve catalytic processes in the petrochemical industry by transforming heavy oil into high-value fuels.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), chemical engineers successfully created a new type of biodegradable material that could replace microplastics. This finding promises an end to a worrying stat by the World Wildlife Fund that every week, human beings ingest plastic waste in the air and water equivalent to the size of a credit card.
These discoveries are just the tip of the iceberg of where chemical engineering can make a difference in our world. If such findings excite you, consider joining the universities below. They are at the forefront of this ever-growing field.
The Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering attracts some of the best and brightest people from around the world. Source: University of Alberta
University of Alberta
For 74 years and counting, the University of Alberta‘s Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering (CME) has been a leading research-intensive department in North America. Here, over 50 professors and researchers are working with hundreds of research students to find innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges in chemical and materials engineering.
The department specialises in reaction engineering and catalysis, surface and interfacial science, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, process control and systems engineering and automation, safety & risk management, materials and mineral processing, nano and functional materials, and biochemical and biomedical engineering. Within various emerging and critical areas, some of the best minds in chemical and materials engineering are striving to take applications from the lab to the real world. They are finding sustainable energy solutions and energy transitions, developing nanomedicine and regenerative medicine, and looking into how to reduce corrosion and wear to make longer-lasting buildings and products, to name just three examples.
These discoveries take place at state-of-the-art research facilities like the Fabrication and Characterization Centre (nanoFab), Centre for Energy and Mineral Processing (CEMP), Canadian Centre for Welding and Joining (CCWJ), and Institute for Oil Sands Innovation (IOSI).
Joining CME means working on projects and in settings of such calibre. The department offers a Master of Engineering degree that lets you specialise in one of the following areas: Chemical Engineering, Process Control, Materials Engineering, and Welding Engineering. To earn the MEng, you must complete eight courses and one project and participate in professional development (PD). Following some of the Ivy League colleges in the US, the University of Alberta is the first Canadian university to implement the PD requirement. These MEng graduates have enjoyed great job placements in the energy, natural resources, and manufacturing sectors.
Apply to the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering now.

The Cockrell School of Engineering has served as a global leader in engineering education and technological advancements for over a century. Source: McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering/Facebook
University of Texas at Austin
The Cockrell School of Engineering has served as a global leader in engineering education and technological advancement for over a century. It’s no wonder many consider it a solid choice for comprehensive studies in chemical engineering. By combining areas of physics, chemistry, and mathematics, the school’s McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering students learn the technology of large-scale production and the manufacturing of products through chemical processes.
Here, students work with faculty members and researchers on various projects such as drug delivery systems, alternative fuel sources and process development. Ranked #7 best graduate chemical engineering programme, the department based its research in areas like advanced materials, polymers & nanoengineering, bioengineering, energy, environmental engineering, process engineering, and theory & simulation, producing findings that are impactful and the outcomes of their studies rewarding.
Take the department’s discovery of an antibody that can protect people against all COVID-19 variants, for example. Research assistant professor Jason Lavinder and his team discovered and successfully isolated a broadly neutralising plasma antibody called SC27 from a single patient, opening the possibility of manufacturing it on a larger scale for future treatments.
Other graduates from the department go on to work in the petrochemical, pharmaceutical, microelectronics, biomedical and environmental industries, in addition to pursuing careers in academia, national laboratories, medicine, business, and law.

The chemical engineering programme at Purdue University is consistently ranked as a top-tier programme. Source: Purdue University Chemical Engineering /Facebook
Purdue University
The Davidson School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University is no stranger to excellence. Home to the fourth-best engineering graduate programme in the US, the institution has gained a reputation for pushing the boundaries of knowledge in the field – making a real impact on the world in the process.
For graduates looking to elevate their potential in the industry, the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering offers a 12-month Professional Master’s Programme (PMP). It’s a unique, fast-paced programme that takes all your professional aspirations into account, giving you a solid foundation in the field and helping you chart out your career path with precision and confidence.
What sets the PMP apart is the opportunity to gain specialised knowledge and exposure in seven key concentrations: Biochemical Engineering; Data Science; Energy Systems Fundamentals and Processes; Gas and Petroleum Engineering; Kinetics, Catalysis and Reaction Engineering; Pharmaceutical Engineering; and Polymer Science and Engineering.
Enrolling in the PMP does not require an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering – students with non-chemical engineering backgrounds can pursue a 16-month tailored curriculum. “As a chemistry graduate, I had always learned about how things work in theory, but the PMP gave me exposure to the reasons why they work in the real-world industry of chemical engineering,” shares graduate Samuel Carew. It’s a strategy that works. PMP graduates see a 94% employment rate within six months of graduation.
*Some of the institutions featured in this article are commercial partners of Study International