This page is for our previous students and those who have special feelings for Chemical Engineering at the University of Virginia. The faculty has always tried to provide an environment that encourages open exchange among students, faculty, employers, professional colleagues and supporters, so we feel that we can call you "friends".

The University of Virginia, like many other universities, has seen difficult financial times in recent years; yet, we feel that the future is bright and promising for our department. The undergraduate program includes more options and our graduate program is expanding in breadth and quality. Our students have become ever more active; see the AIChE Student Chapter site and the Grad Board site. Wilsdorf Hall that connects us to Materials Science and Engineering has now been completed and open between the Chemical Engineering and Chemistry buildings. ChE's space includes an undergraduate laboratory and dedicated study space as well as labs for research and computation. New furniture and equipment has been installed, with continued enhancements of the laboratory experience being implemented.

In order to keep up with these changes, our faculty is changing as well. Cato Laurencin, has appointments in Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Orthopaedic Surgery. Cato has a research group working in CHE to develop new materials for biomedical uses. David Green joined us in January 2005 after completing a postdoctoral research position in Europe while Steven McIntosh started in January 2006. We have faculty openings that candidates are now being interviewed for. Our existing areas of research continue to flourish and we are looking forward to new joint ventures both inside and outside of the department.

What is missing, however, are the resources to make the most of these opportunities. Most of our faculty have industrial and government grants to support their current research activities. However, there are few resources for exploring new directions, so innovative scholarly research can be difficult to establish. While such funds used to be available from local sources, these have now been eliminated. In fact, there is very little support to evolve our graduate and undergraduate curricula to meet the needs of tomorrow's students and practicing engineers.

To assist our current growth, we have established an endowment fund, "Friends of Chemical Engineering" to enhance faculty programs, implement new departmental initiatives and steadily advance the Department in our changing discipline. We believe our friends will help us build an even stronger UVA CHE Department.

All donations are tax-deductible and can be matched by employer contributions. Donations are processed through the offices of the University of Virginia Engineering Foundation and will be used specifically for our Department. Please contact me directly for details about contributing.

As always, we encourage you to drop in to see us during your next visit to Charlottesville. And in the meantime, browse to our site to learn more about UVa's CHE achievements and programs.

Robert J. Davis, Professor and Chair