Research

Grad student in the lab

Research in the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering is remarkable for its quality and innovation, as well as its depth and breadth. Our award-winning faculty comprises more than 40 scholars whose interests span both traditional and emerging areas of research. The school boasts a diverse set of research projects, with each professor leading a group of students investigating a variety of interdisciplinary topics.

Our faculty focus on four strategic areas — energy & sustainability, biotechnology, materials & nanotechnology, and complex systems — while incorporating elements of classical engineering principles into their work, such as thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, kinetics and reaction engineering, separations, and transport phenomena. Not only is our research large in scope, it also has the potential to make a big impact on the world.

Current projects in the school address some of the largest global challenges of the 21st century, including developing new therapeutics for diseases, designing sustainable systems for improving the environment, and creating more efficient methods for producing new and better technologies.

Research: Microneedle patches for flu vaccination prove successful in first human clinical trial

Researchers, including ChBE's Dr. Mark Prausnitz, believe a new self-administered, painless vaccine skin patch containing microscopic needles could significantly increase the number of people who get vaccinated for the flu. Read Full Story

Research: Crab Shells and Trees Combine to Create New Food Packaging

Dr. Carson Meredith from Georgia Tech's School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering has developed a sustainable, flexible packaging wrap that is comprised of cellulose nanocrystals from wood pulp and chitin nanofibers which can be found in the discarded shells of crabs and shrimp. Read Full Story

Research: Continuous Manufacturing Could Lower Cost of Antibiotics

Georgia Tech researchers received a grant from the Food and Drug Administration to develop a way to continuously manufacture common antibiotics like amoxicillin. This process could help reduce costs and avoid shortages. Read Full Story

Research: How honey bee "glue" helps pollen stick togther

Researchers at Georgia Tech are looking at modeling new adhesives based off of how honey bees make pollen stick together. Read Full Story

Research: World's Fastest Creature May Also Be One of the Smallest

What is the fastest animal on the planet? Cheetah? Falcon? Sailfish? Georgia Tech assistant professor Saad Bhamla would like to add the Spirostomum ambiguum to the list. Spirostomum ambiguum a tiny single-celled protozoan that achieves blazing-fast acceleration while contracting its worm-like body. Read Full Story

Research: Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes Cut Energy Use in Hydrocarbon Separations

A research team from the Georgia Institute of Technology and ExxonMobil has demonstrated a new carbon-based molecular sieve membrane that could dramatically reduce the energy required to separate a class of hydrocarbon molecules known as alkyl aromatics. The new material is based on polymer hollow fibers treated to retain their structure – and pore sizes – as they are converted to carbon through pyrolysis. The carbon membranes are then used in a new “organic solvent reverse osmosis” (OSRO) process in which pressure is applied to effect the separation without requiring a phase change in the chemical mixture. Read Full Story