About the Department

The mission of the Department of Chemical and Biosystems Engineering (DCBE) is to be a centre of excellence in teaching, learning, and research; promoting productive, safe, and sustainable process industries; better agricultural production, processing, preservation, and storage of food and non-food products; and environmental sustainability for the good of the society.

The department offers high quality and professional education through its teaching, research, and industry engagement and aims to produce highly motivated, civic-minded, entrepreneurial, and innovative graduates who can have successful careers in the local, regional and international arena.

The department offers diplomas, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in two disciplines: Chemical Engineering, and Biosystems and Environmental Engineering.

Chemical Engineering is a branch of engineering that applies principles of chemistry, physics, mathematics, and biology to design, develop, and operate plants and processes that convert raw materials into valuable products in an economical, safe, and sustainable manner. In other words, chemical engineers take scientific discoveries from the lab and turn them into large-scale production processes by scaling up chemical reactions and processes.

Chemical engineers produce both finished and intermediate products, some of which are used in other engineering fields. Nearly all materials we encounter in daily life are made possible by chemical engineering, making it one of the broadest engineering disciplines. Chemical engineers work in various industries, including petrochemicals, plastics, polymers, composites, textiles, fertilizers, construction materials, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and food production. They are also involved in the emerging fields of semiconductor chips, nanomaterials, artificial organs, environmental engineering, and renewable energy.

Biosystems and Environmental Engineering is an interdisciplinary field that integrates the principles of engineering science and design with the application of biological, agricultural, and environmental engineering systems. Students in this field receive training to develop sustainable and resilient solutions to pressing global challenges within the nexus of water, energy, food, health, and the environment. The program enhances critical and creative thinking abilities, thereby fostering the capacity to synthesize, analyze, design, and integrate a systems approach towards problem solving and decision-making. Students pursuing a degree in Biosystems and Environmental

Engineering have the opportunity to specialize in six distinct areas: Environmental Engineering; Irrigation and Water Resources Engineering; Power and Machinery Engineering; Food and Bio-process Engineering; Infrastructure and Facilities Engineering; and Fire and Safety Engineering.

Upon completion of the program, the trained engineers are equipped to pursue careers in a variety of industry sectors related to the aforementioned specializations.