Graduate and undergraduate students from the department participated in an outreach event at a local elementary school called "Groovy Science Night." UMBC students helped the elementary students learn about rheology, microscopy and polymer science... all while having fun! For more pictures see the UMBC GSN web site.

We are happy to announce that the former departments of "Chemical and Biochemical Engineering" and "Civil and Environmental Engineering" have joined forces to create new and exciting educational opportunities for our students. We are now the...

Department of Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering

The merger has created a significantly larger department with expanded research breadth. A few details about ongoing changes are included below. Please be patient while we work to merge our two websites into one and check back often to track the many new things that are happening!

What’s new as a result of the merger?

• We’ve hired two new faculty members as part of the merger. Dr. Lee Blaney is a new Assistant Professor and is building a research program focused on advanced treatment processes aimed at removing pharmaceuticals from water and wastewater matrices. Dr. Josh Enszer has joined us as a new Lecturer, conducting courses involving experimental and computational tools, mathematical modeling, and working with new learning technologies.


• We are currently searching for another new Assistant Professor.


• We are expanding the opportunities for our undergraduates by adding a new track in Environmental Engineering and Sustainability. The track leads to the B.S. degree in chemical engineering and is available to current freshmen and sophomores at UMBC as well as incoming students. Help us spread the word!

• We continue to offer all of the degree programs from each of the departments including the B.S. in Chemical Engineering, the M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering and the M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering that is focused exclusively in environmental engineering and water resources.


• The people! All faculty and staff from the two departments are still here.


• We continue to be a research focused department that is student-centered. Faculty and student success are still our highest priorities and we strive to provide a close-knit and inclusive environment for all.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) seeks to fill a new tenure-track position
at the assistant professor level as part of a strategic initiative to expand its research and
academic leadership in environmental sustainability.

For details see our Faculty Search Page.

Ph.D. student Barbara Beckingham won the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors/Wiley Publishers Best Student Poster award at the Biennial Conference of the organisation in Tampa earlier this week. Barbara's research involves assessment and control of toxic chemical bioavailability to benthic organisms. Shown in this picture, Barbara is getting ready to deploy caged organisms to assess pollutant biouptake at a pilot demonstration site in a contaminated river.

Bhargavi Kondragunta successfully defended her PhD today. Bhargavi preformed her research in the Moreira Lab. The title of her dissertation was "Bioprocess Convergence Using Sentinel Genes for Process Parameter Tuning."

Jose Vallejos Membreno successfully defended his PhD today. Jose preformed his research in the Rao Lab. The title of his dissertation was "Improving Upstream Bioprocessing by Enabling Process Scouting Devices with Low Cost, Disposable Oxygen and pH Sensors."

Graduate and undergraduate students from the department participated in an outreach event at a local elementary school called "Groovy Science Night." UMBC students helped the elementary students learn about rheology, microscopy and polymer science... all while having fun! For more pictures see the UMBC GSN web site.

Andreia Ribeiro successfully defended her PhD today. Andreia preformed her research in the Leach Lab. The title of her dissertation was "Translating Neuronal Responses From 2D to 3D Microenvironments to Improve the Design of Biomaterials."

Miguel Acosta successfully defended his PhD today. Miguel preformed his research in the Leach Lab. The title of his dissertation was "Miniaturized probes for cell microenvironment: development, characterization, and application of fluorescent oxygen-sensing microparticles."

At the recent UMBC Service Awards, our beloved Mary Anderson was honored for 30 years of faithful service to UMBC. We are grateful for the dedication and excellence that Mary shows in all that she does. Her commitment to the department and the students is clear to all who meet her and her contribution to the department is, quite literally, immeasurable. On behalf of all the students and faculty - THANK YOU!

For pictures from the event, please visit Photos from the UMBC Service Awards

To see an in depth interview with Mary Anderson look at this video on UMBC-Tube