ChE Virtual Graduate Recruitment
Thank you for your interest in the Cain Department of Chemical Engineering’s Graduate Program, and we appreciate you taking part in our Virtual Recruiting Event. As you will see, our department, college, and university have a lot to offer.
Our department employs some of the finest faculty in the nation who are collectively responsible for more than $3 million in annual research expenditures and produce more than 60 peer-reviewed publications each year. Five of our 19 faculty are recognized as fellows of professional societies, and four are current or former NSF CAREER Awardees. Their breadth of experience covers nearly every aspect of chemical engineering.
We also have outstanding facilities. The College of Engineering is housed in one of the largest free-standing educational engineering buildings in the United States. Students choosing LSU have access to a wide range of centers and institutes to aid them in their research endeavors, including the Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices (CAMD), High Performance Computing (HPC), and Virtual Lab (VLAB).
The atmosphere of LSU is second to none. The community is friendly and diverse. We are a short trip away from New Orleans, a mecca of history, tradition, and cultural significance. And the food is amazing!
By the end of our virtual event, we know you’ll see that LSU Chemical Engineering is the right program for you and the one to help prepare you for the next stage of your career.
Now, let’s get started!
Our faculty and current students—both graduate and undergraduate—have worked hard to prepare virtual lab tours and research presentations, giving you an inside look at what we do. You’ll also hear from current students about their experiences in our program and why they selected LSU Chemical Engineering. Click here to hear from our faculty and students.
Every Friday from 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. we will host drop-in Zoom sessions. These are designed to provide you with the opportunity to speak with our faculty and ask any questions you may have.
Meeting ID: 295 057 8125
If you can’t make the Friday sessions and have questions or would like to speak with us, we would be happy to meet you at another time that’s convenient. Contact Director of Graduate Studies and Professor Mike Benton, benton@lsu.edu
Degrees Offered
Master of Science in Chemical Engineering (MS in ChE)
The Master of Science in Chemical Engineering is available with either a thesis or non-thesis option.
- The thesis option is composed of 24 credit hours of formal coursework and a six-credit thesis. Students in this program must pass a final examination consisting of a comprehensive oral examination.
- The non-thesis option is composed of 36 credit hours of formal coursework and a comprehensive examination.
Regardless of their program option, all chemical engineering MS students must complete the chemical engineering graduate core program—ChE 7110 Mathematical Methods in ChE, ChE 7120 ChE Thermodynamics, ChE 7130 Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transport, ChE 7140 Chemical Reactor Design Methods, or equivalents.
Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering (PhD in ChE)
The Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering requires 24 hours of credit in dissertation research and a minimum of 30 hours of credit at the graduate level. A minimum of 18 hours of credit in chemical engineering courses at the 7000 level or above are required, exclusive of any type of independent studies credit, except for special project credit earned. The remaining 12 hours of coursework can include graduate-level courses in any department and may constitute a formal minor or an informal collection of courses of interest. Completion of the chemical engineering graduate core program—ChE 7110 Mathematical Methods in ChE, ChE 7120 ChE Thermodynamics, ChE 7130 Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transport, ChE 7140 Chemical Reactor Design Methods, or equivalents—is required.
NOTE: Full-time graduate students holding a research or teaching assistantship are expected to register and complete at least 12 credit hours of graduate coursework during the fall and spring semesters and nine credit hours of graduate coursework during the summer term.
Click to learn more about our degree requirements.
Apply
Fall 2021 Application Deadlines
- April 15 (Priority/Financial Aid)
- May 15 (General)
- Applications for 2021 are now open! After creating an account, please sign in and select Graduate School Application (Fall 2021) to begin the process.
- Returning user can access their application portal here.
- First-time users can register here.
Contact Us
For more information or general inquiries, contact Director of Graduate Studies Mike Benton, PhD at benton@lsu.edu.
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lsu.che
You may also contact chemical engineering faculty based on your area of interest. Click to expand list.
carges@lsu.edu—advanced materials for electrochemical processes used in the water-energy nexus, integration of electrochemical processes, water treatment and energy storage and conversion.
benton@lsu.edu—the role of DNA damage response in cancer prevention, biosensors for the enhanced detection of carcinogens, metabolic engineering of yeast for increased ethanol production.
bbharti@lsu.edu—energy, environmental, advanced computations, nanoscience, colloids and surface science, soft matter and complex fluids.
kunlunding@lsu.edu—catalysis, materials chemistry, spectroscopy.
dooley@lsu.edu—energy, supported acids and mixed metal oxides, synthesis/characterization, rare earth oxide catalysts and energetic material/catalyst composite materials, hydrogenation/dehydrogenation.
jamesdorman@lsu.edu—energy, environmental, catalysis, nanostructure synthesis, charge recombination kinetics (light-emitting diodes, photocatalysis), defect engineering in metal oxides (supercapacitors), semiconductor engineering (photovoltaics), hybrid solar cells.
johnflake@lsu.edu—energy, catalysis, electrochemical processes and materials, electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction and materials for lithium batteries.
griffin@lsu.edu—energy, catalysis, preparing improved electrodes for electrochemical conversion of CO2 into usable fuels and chemicals, colloidal and electrochemical methods for preparing nanoparticle electrodes.
jimmylawrence@lsu.edu—energy, environmental, advanced computations, functional polymers and nanomaterials, nano mesoscale assemblies, stimuli responsive-adaptive materials, continuous/scale-up preparation of high-performance and advanced materials.
kmcpeak@lsu.edu—environmental, catalysis, photocatalysis, plasmonic materials, nanoscale chirality.
melvin@lsu.edu—environmental biochemical, multidisciplinary approach in the development and implementation of new technologies and methods to assess biological phenomena using engineering principles-peptide biosensor development, microfluidics, single cell analysis and tracking, quantifications of ubiquitin-proteasome kinetics, algal growth and migration dynamics, environmental chemodynamics.
nandakumar@lsu.edu—focus on the development and use of advanced multiphase, multiscale, multiphysics computational models for application in energy, environmental, and chemical manufacturing processes; using DNS and DPM framework to study fundamental problems of spontaneous pattern formation and dynamics of fluid-particle suspensions, driven cavity problem of granular flows, suspension dynamics, and multiphase coalescers.
plaisance@lsu.edu—energy, advanced computations, catalysis, computational investigation of the potential for overcoming the challenges of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction by synergistically combining organocatalysts and catalytic transition metal sulfide surfaces.
jose@lsu.edu—advanced computations, process systems engineering, advanced multi-scale modeling architectures for complex processes, advanced multiresolution image analysis and characterization techniques, design and synthesis with economic-environmental-operability considerations, intelligent data processing, reconciliation, monitoring, advanced process control, enterprise-wide optimization.
wshelton@lsu.edu—energy, advanced computations, catalysis, alloy theory, chemistry-surface science.
jjspivey@lsu.edu—energy, catalytic conversion of syngas into clean fuels, fuel processing, C1 catalysis-methane conversion, biomass-derived syngas to higher hydrocarbons and oxygenates, fuel reforming.
xuntang@lsu.edu—biochemical, advanced computations, process systems engineering, materials
valsaraj@lsu.edu—transformations of pollutants on atmospheric aerosols (fog, ice, snow, rain), mercury sequestration in sediments, studies on chemical dispersant design for sub-sea oil/gas spill.
mjwornat@lsu.edu—energy; high-temperature fuel-conversion processes such as pyrolysis and combustion; formation of environmental pollutants such as polycydic aromatic hydrocarbons and soot; gas-phase, heterogeneous, and supercritical-phase reactions; analytical techniques for the compositional determination of complex organic mixtures.
yexu@lsu.edu—energy; advanced computations; theoretical and computational investigation of surface chemical thermodynamics, kinetics, and reaction mechanisms; computational heterogeneous catalysis and electrocatalysis; rational design of catalytic materials; energy conversion and storage.
Life at LSU
As a graduate student, there’s plenty to learn and enjoy about the department, the college, LSU, and even Baton Rouge itself. Below are some resources to help you get the most out of your time at LSU.