Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department

Chemical and biomolecular engineering programs at Clarkson are known for impactful hands-on experiences, research excellence and high salaries after graduation.

Our department helps develop students' strong technical skills and versatility. We will prepare you to have careers in multi-billion dollar companies and start-ups, or to be successful in government, or graduate school - the choice is yours. As thought leaders, you can change the world with new and more environmentally sound products and processes in a multitude of industries such as in microelectronics, fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and in the food and energy sectors. Chemical engineers are also uniquely positioned to solve climate change problems with the development and discovery of better ways to make chemical products that are needed for a sustainable and healthy planet.

Mission Statement: The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Clarkson University is committed to excellence in undergraduate and graduate education, in both teaching and research. Teaching and research are interrelated activities and the commitment to excellence in both is vital to the intellectual environment of the department and will attract highly talented and motivated students to the programs in the department. Recruitment of such students is an essential part of this mission.

Coulter School of Engineering

Our Programs

Undergraduate Programs

Graduate Programs

97% Placement in 1st Six Months

84%

of our students head straight into the workforce.

Learn how Career Services can help you

Clarkson University students are highly sought after and our placement rates and early career salaries (on average over $70K) prove it. Each year, our award-winning Career Center hosts two Career Fairs, bringing in top employers from across the country to Potsdam to recruit our students for internships, co-ops and full time employment.

According to PayScale, the average chemical engineer's salary is currently above $70,000 with the highest being $80,000. A bachelors degree in chemical engineering from Clarkson starts graduates out strong.

10%

of students decide to continue their education in various post secondary programs.

3%

of our graduates seek alternative positions like the military.

Professor Ross Taylor

Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Professor Elizabeth Podlaha-Murphy

Fellow of The Electrochemical Society

Professor Selma Mededovic Thagard, Bethany Almeida and Ian McCrum

New Research awards from the National Science Foundation in 2022-2023 to
investigate plasma engineering, examine stem cells to treat disease and
enhance electrocatalysis

Professor Simona Liguori and Taeyoung Kim

Department of Energy awards, one for the study of hydrogen membrane
separation to aid renewable hydrogen and the other for nutrient capture
from waste waters

Professor Jihoon Seo, Ross Taylor, Sita Krishnan and Elizabeth Podlaha-Murphy

Industrially supported research projects

Arash Bahrololoomi

Travel award by The Electrochemical Society to attend their annual meeting
(Advisor: E. Podlaha-Murphy)

Faith Isowamwen

Best Poster award, SPIE AL 23 Advanced Etch Technology and Process Integration for Nanopatterning XII conference
(Advisor: S. Mededovic Thagard)

Mohammad Hasibul Hasan

Kokes Travel Award to attend the North American Catalysis Society
(Advisor: Ian McCrum)

Research & Facilities

Our research and lab facilities are state-of-the art and unique. Our undergraduate education is supported by a 9-inch diameter glass-walled continuous distillation column, equipped with twelve stainless steel sieve trays, a steam-heated partial reboiler, and a vented total condenser, a 20-liter batch distillation column, a packed bed column, a forced circulator double effect evaporator system, a pilot-scale mixing unit, a reverse osmosis water desalination system, and a supercritical fluid extractor. In addition to research resources at the Clarkson Centers, the faculty maintain an x-ray fluorescence system, direct-in-liquid plasma reactors, reactors with specialized catalytic metallic membranes, an analytical differential electrochemical mass spectroscopy (DEMS), potentiostats/galvanostats, bioreactors, an atomic force microscope (AFM), a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) tool and more.

ABET (Accreditation)

ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission

Clarkson University's undergraduate aerospace, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental, mechanical, and software engineering programs and undergraduate engineering and management program are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org. Read more on Engineering Program Objectives.