Department news

Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry (ChemE) news

Featured image with photo portraits of interviewees for a U of T Engineering Black History Month segment

Community Matters: Black experiences at U of T Engineering

University Professor Molly Shoichet (ChemE, BME, Donnelly) part of Mend the Gap, an international collaboration developing new ways to treat spinal cord injuries. (Photo: NSERC/CRSNG – Sylvie Li)

Mending the Gap: Professor Molly Shoichet joins multidisciplinary team working to develop new treatments for spinal cord injuries

International collaboration is supported by $24 million from Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund

Laura Burget (ChemE 1T6) is the co-founder of the vegan, natural skincare brand, Three Ships Beauty. (Photo courtesy: Laura Burget)

U of T Engineering alumna named to Forbes 30 Under 30

Laura Burget (ChemE 1T6) and her business partner Connie Lo started Three Ships Beauty in 2017

Sadegh Davoudi (left), a post-doctoral fellow, and Bella (Bin) Xu (right), a PhD student, both in the labs of Professor Alison McGuigan and Associate Professor Penney Gilbert, are lead authors on a new paper that details their work creating a regenerative micro-environment in a dish. (Photo: Ting Yin)

New method for testing muscle repair in a dish to impact development of stem cell-based therapies

Researchers from two labs at the University of Toronto have discovered a novel way to test self-repair of skeletal muscle, and this method has the potential to rapidly advance the development of treatments for diseases like muscular dystrophy (MD) and other degenerative muscle conditions. “If you would have told me before we started this project […]

Professor Chris Lawson (ChemE). (Photo: Daria Perevezentsev)

ChemE welcomes new faculty member Chris Lawson

This September, the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry welcomed new Assistant Professor Chris Lawson, an emerging leader in the field of environmental biotechnology and microbiome engineering. Lawson’s research focuses on harnessing the metabolic processes of anaerobic microbiomes for sustainable wastewater treatment and the production of renewable bioenergy and bioproducts from waste resources. He […]

Professor Jay Werber (ChemE). (Photo: Jen Hsu)

Meet new ChemE professor Jay Werber

Professor Jay Werber leads the Advanced Membranes lab at U of T’s Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry.

D’Andre Wilson-Ihejirika (ChemE/ISTEP PhD Candidate (Photo: Daria Perevezentsev)

IBET Momentum Fellow D’Andre Wilson-Ihejirika aims to re-frame engineering education

Wilson-Ihejirika is using data analytics to map successful career paths in STEM and re-imagine engineering education, especially for underrepresented groups

Michael Sefton, a U of T tissue engineer and executive director of Medicine by Design, is investigating whether dendritic skin cells can aid in the successful transplantation of insulin-producing islet cells in diabetes patients. (Photo: Neil Ta)

With a focus on skin cells, U of T’s Michael Sefton seeks ‘huge step forward’ in diabetes treatment

Sefton’s research will explore whether dendritic skin cells can aid in the successful transplantation of insulin-producing islet cells in diabetes patients

These prepared samples are used as references by Professors Elodie Passeport and Jennifer Drake and their teams, who study the prevalence of microplastics in the environment. They have shown that human-engineered structures known as bioretention cells can be effective at preventing microplastics from getting washed downstream in storm surges. (Photo: Ziting (Judy) Xia)

Q&A: Can green infrastructure keep microplastics out of the environment?

Professor Elodie Passeport (CivMin, ChemE) and her team study how urban green infrastructure such as bioretention cells can remove microplastics and other emerging contaminants from stormwater