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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

Water is perhaps Earth’s most critical natural resource. Given increasing demand and increasingly stretched water resources, scientists are pursuing more innovative ways to use and reuse existing water, as well as to design new materials to improve water purification methods. Synthetically created semi-permeable polymer membranes used for contaminant solute removal can... read more »