News

Jan 26
2022
The local omicron surge has peaked, infections are on the downturn and campus pandemic protocols that have been in place since last summer have proven highly effective, prompting reasonable expectations for a return to in-person classes at UC Santa Barbara at the end of the month. “It’s probably the safest place in the county as far as COVID transmission goes,” said... read more »
Dec 14
2021
A new, state-of-the-art facility dedicated to the finest imaging of soft and biological materials is in the works at UC Santa Barbara. Aided by a $1.5 million grant from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, scientists will come closer to visualizing molecular-level structures, such as cellular components and polymer assemblies, in their native... read more »
Oct 28
2021
Nearly 240 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an Emergency Use Administration (EUA) in December 2020 to help curtail the pandemic. The vaccine, now called Comirnaty, became the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine for patients 16 years and older on August 23... read more »
Sep 29
2021
Two UC Santa Barbara faculty members, Mahdi Abu-Omar and Phillip Christopher, have been nationally recognized for their significant contributions to chemistry by the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Awards Program. Christopher, a professor of chemical engineering, received the 2022 Ipatieff Prize, a triennial award that recognizes... read more »
Sep 29
2021
UC Santa Barbara chemical engineering professor Michael Doherty, the Duncan and Suzanne Mellichamp Chair in Process Systems Engineering, delivered the prestigious P.V. Danckwerts Memorial Lecture during the annual joint meeting of the European Congress of Chemical Engineering (ECCE) and the European Congress of Applied Biotechnology (ECAB) in September... read more »
Sep 28
2021
Chemical engineering faculty have awarded Yaxin (Starry) Xu the department’s top honor for a rising third-year PhD student, the prestigious Dow Discovery Fellowship. The department awards one fellowship each year to a student who has made outstanding strides in research and presents a compelling plan for a creative new high-risk, high-reward project.  “I... read more »
Sep 16
2021
Researchers have developed a calcium sensor for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that they hope can one day track electrical activity in neurons deep in living brains. The tool potentially allows scientists an unprecedented view of brain activity in specific types of cells across the entire brain of a living organism (ACS Sensors 2021, DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.... read more »
Sep 8
2021
Anyone using a cellphone, laptop, or electric vehicle depends on lithium. The element is in tremendous demand. And although the supply of lithium around the world is plentiful, getting access to it and extracting it remains a challenging and inefficient process. An interdisciplinary team of engineers and scientists is developing a way to extract lithium from contaminated... read more »
Jul 8
2021
The UC Santa Barbara College of Engineering (CoE) extends warm congratulations to chemical engineering professor Michelle O’Malley for being named the recipient of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) 2021 Allan P. Colburn Award. The award, named for a legendary professor who founded the University of Delaware chemical engineering... read more »
Jun 24
2021
Two chemical engineering PhD students have been honored for the impact they have made on others in the campus and local communities. George Degen received a University Award of Distinction from UC Santa Barbara’s Academic Senate in recognition of his unselfish and dedicated service to the university and the community. Chelsea Edwards ... read more »
Jun 9
2021
Assistant teaching professor Joseph Chada, PhD student Mike Schmithorst, and graduating senior Kevin Mauge have received end-of-the-year awards from UC Santa Barbara’s College of Engineering. For the second straight year, graduating seniors selected Chada for the Outstanding Chemical Engineering Faculty Award. He joined... read more »
May 3
2021
Jordan Finzel, a third-year PhD student in the Chemical Engineering Department, has been awarded a prestigious fellowship from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). He was among seventy-eight graduate students from across the nation selected for the DOE’s Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program. Awardees receive supplemental funding and... read more »
Mar 24
2021
Three UC Santa Barbara chemical engineering graduate students, Daniel ArnoldKevin Modica, and Phong Nguyen, have received prestigious graduate research fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Fellows in NSF’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) receive three years of financial support, totaling $... read more »
Feb 9
2021
Two UC Santa Barbara engineers are among the 129 new members worldwide elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for 2021. Materials and chemistry professor Craig Hawker and Rachel Segalman, chair of the Chemical Engineering Department, join the 106 American and 23 foreign engineers honored this year. Election to the NAE is... read more »