The Faculty of the Department of Chemical Engineering
Susan Celia Roberts
Professor and Department Head
Department Head
Chem Eng
Email: scroberts@wpi.edu
Office: 100 Institute RD
To me there is nothing more exciting than watching a student learn and develop and there is no greater privilege than having the title of professor. My favorite part of my job is being able to mentor and teach students in a research context – be that in a biochemical engineering course or laboratory, through supervising undergraduate IQP/MQP projects or by advising doctoral students in their thesis work. There is no greater satisfaction than to watch a timid, insecure student gain confidence through knowledge and practice. ... View Profile
Laila Abu-Lail
Assistant Teaching Professor
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Email: laila@wpi.edu
Office: 100 Institute RD
Terri Anne Camesano
Prof & Dean of Grad Studies
Professor of Chemical Engineering
Email: terric@wpi.edu
Office: Office of the Provost
Phone: 508-831-5380
William M. Clark
Associate Professor
Associate Department Head
Email: wmclark@wpi.edu
Office: Goddard Hall 124
Phone: 508-831-5259
To me, there is nothing better than struggling with a problem and then finally understanding and solving it. I enjoy teaching the chemical engineering students at WPI, because most of them also like the thrill that occurs when seemingly complicated problems start to make sense. I particularly enjoy teaching our unit operations laboratory class, where students get hands-on experience with process equipment. For some students, a light switches on when theory and experiment are combined in the lab. ... View Profile
Ravindra Datta
Professor
Director, Fuel Cell Center
Email: rdatta@wpi.edu
Office: Goddard Hall 014 A
Phone: 508-831-6036
I happened upon teaching and research by accident. I had gone to the University of California, Santa Barbara, for a MS in chemical engineering, with the intention of returning to my engineering job at Larsen Toubro, Bombay. Research hooked me, however, and I stayed on for a PhD, and, in fact, never left academia after that. Indeed, my world has remained virtually unchanged over the last three decades, continuing to work on applying the principles of kinetics, catalysis, and reaction engineering to energy challenges, surrounded by bright young people eager to do the same. ... View Profile
N Aaron Deskins
Associate Professor
Email: nadeskins@wpi.edu
Office: Goddard Hall 119
Phone: 508-831-5445
Students here at Worcester Polytechnic Institute have a lot of enthusiasm and ambition, and it certainly is contagious. Teaching brings a lot of joy because of this, and I find myself often trying just to keep up with the students! WPI is also a place where you have a chance to collaborate with people of many different backgrounds and technical interests. This is exciting. For my research, I work in the area of molecular modeling: trying to understand and solve energy and environmental problems using high-powered computer simulations. ... View Profile
David DiBiasio
Associate Professor
Email: dibiasio@wpi.edu
Office: Goddard Hall 122
Phone: 508-831-5250, 508-831-5372
My research involves educational scholarship: investigating how students learn chemical engineering and how the curriculum can be modified to optimize learning. That includes understanding learning in hands-on labs compared to virtual or remotely operated labs; learning in international contexts; and how safety, ethics, and social responsibility can be effectively integrated into the chemical engineering curriculum. WPI is a great place to conduct this type of work because of our project-based program, our extensive Global Projects Program, and our philosophy of student-centered learning. View Profile
My research is in the general area of reaction engineering and energy, in particular steam reforming and hydrogen production. A strong component of this work is the use of scientific computing methods to investigate transport and reaction in chemical reactors and porous media. ... View Profile
Nikolaos K. Kazantzis
Professor
Chem Eng
Email: nikolas@wpi.edu
Office: Goddard Hall, 121
Phone: 508-831-5666
I believe strongly in the primacy of the quality of the student-teacher relationship, its mutually precious intellectual and emotional rewards, and its key role in the attainment of educational objectives such as the development of the student's critical thinking, the capacity for self-exploration, and independence of judgment. Furthermore, at WPI both undergraduate and graduate curricula are creatively designed to highlight the many nuanced forms and features of the inherently complex, value conflict-laden and contextually rich interaction between science, technology, culture, and society. ... View Profile
Stephen J. Kmiotek
Professor of Practice
Chem Eng
Email: sjkmiotek@wpi.edu
Office: Goddard Hall 120
Phone: 508-831-4870
As a Professor of Practice, my focus is to bring my 30 years of experience in the chemical and environmental industries to the undergraduate classes. My focus through most of my career has been on Chemical Process Safety, Environmental, Health and Safety, and, Air Pollution Engineering. These fields draw on virtually every part of chemical engineering, including transport phenomena, thermodynamics, and reaction kinetics. They also draw very heavily on legal documents, particularly governmental regulations and technical design standards, so I have often worked in multidisciplinary teams inv ... View Profile
Amy Peterson
Email: ampeterson@wpi.edu
Elizabeth J. Stewart
Assistant Professor
Email: ejstewart@wpi.edu
Office: GP4038, Life Sciences & Bioengineering Center, Gateway Park
My research utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to explore and exploit the physical properties of biological soft matter systems. Through investigating the biophysical properties of cells, multicellular communities and their microenvironments, my group seeks to reveal connections between the physical properties of living systems and their disease states and to utilize these findings to develop biological control strategies, therapeutics and diagnostics. We are particularly focused on using our soft matter approach to address bacterial infection prevention and control. ... View Profile
Andrew is a classically trained chemical engineering with with specialties in the fields of chemical reaction engineering and materials science. He received his B.S. from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2009, and continued to pursue his Ph.D. with Professor Dauenhauer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2014, before finally completing his postdoctoral studies with Professor Jensen at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2016 when he joined the department of chemical engineering here at WPI. ... View Profile
Michael T. Timko
Associate Professor
Chem Eng
Email: mttimko@wpi.edu
Office: Goddard Hall 123
Phone: 508-831-4101
Sharing that “ah hah” moment with a student struggling and suddenly mastering a difficult concept; helping expand the intellectual horizons of an aspiring engineer; tackling and solving problems that challenge the energy, economic, and environmental security with passionate students; sharing my passion for engineering science: these are the reasons that I am a professor of chemical engineering. WPI students understand the importance of translating their engineering talents into technologies and knowledge that benefit others. ... View Profile
Jennifer L Wilcox
James H. Manning Chaired Professor
Chem Eng
Email: jlwilcox@wpi.edu
Office: Goddard Hall 129
Phone: 508-831-5493
Jennifer Wilcox works on ways to test and measure methods of trace metal and carbon capture, to mitigate the effects of fossil fuels on our planet. Jennifer Wilcox is the James H. Manning Chaired Professor of Chemical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Having grown up in rural Maine, she has a profound respect and appreciation of nature, which permeates her work as she focuses on minimizing negative impacts of humankind on our natural environment. ... View Profile
Eric M. Young
Assistant Professor
Chem Eng
Email: emyoung@wpi.edu
Office: GP4037, Life Sciences & Bioengineering Center, Gateway Park
Phone: 508-831-6398
My research, in general, applies chemical engineering tenets to biotechnology, medicine, and biomaterials. In practice, we redesign and reprogram the DNA of yeasts, bacteria, and fungi so their metabolism produces interesting molecules. By treating these cells as "chemical factories," we can approach and solve problems in biofuel, biomaterial, and natural product synthesis from a chemical engineer's point of view. ... View Profile
Hong Susan Zhou
Associate Professor
Director, Shanghai Project Center
Chem Eng
Email: szhou@wpi.edu
Office: Gateway Park 4001
Phone: 508-831-5275
My research interests are in microfabrication and nanotechnology for biomedical, energy, and environmental applications. Our current research interests are Aptamer and Gold Nanoparticles (Au NPs)–based biosensors. Rapid development of microanalytical devices has provided convenience and capability for disease diagnosis, drug screening, or forensic applications. However, a sensitive and selective detection platform that can be integrated into portable devices is still a challenge. ... View Profile
Walter Peter Zurawsky
Associate Teaching Professor
Chem Eng
Email: wpzurawsky@wpi.edu
Office: 100 Institute RD