We are a community of faculty, staff, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows working together to solve important, emerging challenges in medicine, energy, environmental science and more. And, we’re like a family here. We love our faculty and student get-togethers, from our summer student seminar series to happy hours and trivia nights, adventures to local attractions or our annual holiday dinner. We invite you to keep exploring this page to get to know us better!
Mark Your Calendars
Meet our faculty and students! Please join us at our final graduate student recruiting event of 2022:
Jan. 5 │7-8 a.m. EST │3-4 p.m. EST
CHE Virtual Information Sessions │ Register here
NOTE: The chemical engineering department does not require, accept or review GRE scores for graduate admissions.
You can also contact us any time at CHEADMIS@VIRGINIA.EDU with questions, or COMPLETE THIS FORM to receive information about our graduate program. We can’t wait to see you!
The Ph.D. Student Perspective
Erica Hui, fifth-year Ph.D. student from Lenexa, KS
Undergraduate institution: University of Kansas
UVA CHE faculty advisor/lab: Assistant Professor Steven Caliari
Favorite things about chemical engineering at UVA: Close-knit community, social events like department happy hours (with events like pumpkin-carving contests, department bake-off, tie-dying, and themed happy hour food), supportive advisor, open-door policy for many faculty, seminar food, recruitment weekends, ability to network via the Chemical Engineering Research Symposium (CHEERS) and meetings with the ChE Advisory Board
Favorite Charlottesville-area hangouts and things to do:
Wineries: King Family, Mount Ida, Glass House Breweries: Pro Re Nata, Blue Mountain, Devils Backbone Coffee shop: Mudhouse Restaurant: Al Carbon Entertainment venue: Jefferson Theater
Mark Bannon, second-year Ph.D. student from Woodcliff Lake, N.J.
Undergraduate institution: New Jersey Institute of Technology
UVA CHE faculty advisor/lab: Assstant Professor Rachel Letteri
Favorite things about chemical engineering at UVA: Really tight-knit department, you get to go to work with your friends every day; very collaborative environment, can learn something from everyone; really great seminars, excellent researchers are brought in to give useful and relevant information every week.
Favorite Charlottesville-area hangouts and things to do:
Cidery: Bold Rock at Carter Mountain, best view in Charlottesville Restaurant: Burger Bach Favorite things to do around Cville: UVA lacrosse games (when they’re playing) Entertainment: Listening to live music downtown. The Whiskey Jar always has amazing local bands, and even busking musicians are always very talented.
Sean Bannon, first-year Ph.D. student from Woodcliff Lake, N.J.
Undergraduate institution: New Jersey Institute of Technology
UVA CHE faculty advisor/lab: Associate Professor GeoffGeise
Favorite things about chemical engineering at UVA: Coming into a graduate program amidst a pandemic can be daunting, but between virtual happy hours, zoom homework meetings and socially distanced get-togethers, doing so in the UVA ChE department has still been a lot of fun!
Favorite things to do in Charlottesville: C’ville has great options for hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains, country roads for bike rides, and music/food downtown. Still, nothing I’ve seen in Charlottesville so far has managed to surpass Thursday night Pizza Hut karaoke.
Ashley Conley, fourth-year Ph.D. student from Columbus, Ohio
Undergraduate institution: The Ohio State University
UVA CHE faculty advisor/lab: Associate ProfessorJoshua Choi and Assistant Professor Gaurav Giri
Favorite things about chemical engineering at UVA: As it turns out, the people around you greatly influence your experience as you get your Ph.D. That’s why I came to UVA. Our department is highly collaborative and is a socially tight-knit community. The faculty and graduate students you get to work with are brilliant, bright and encouraging. From my visit up to now, Charlottesville is my home away from home.
Favorite Charlottesville-area hangouts and things to do: Basic City Brewing, Sedona Taphouse or Cava;- Shenandoah National Park with my doggo, Rutherford; hiking and finding new places to eat.
I recently went on a long hike with multiple beautiful waterfalls and swimming holes, complete with smushed sandwiches, grapes and chips. Plus, I got to break in my new fancy hiking boots! Then we visited a nearby brewery to have a beer next to a warm, cozy firepit with cows grazing in the open pastures nearby as the sun went down. Another noteworthy event, I just carved pumpkins with a few close ChE friends, which we do each year together. Pre-COVID, right about now I would be looking forward to the ChE grad student holiday events, such as our Friendsgiving potluck and Christmas parties with gift exchanges.
Jenna Sumey, third-year Ph.D. student from Uniontown, Pa.
Undergraduate institution: Virginia Tech
UVA CHE faculty advisor/lab: Assistant Professor Steven Caliari
Favorite things about chemical engineering at UVA: Close-knit community, supportive advisor, collaboration between labs, seminar food, monthly department happy hours and holiday parties
Favorite Charlottesville-area hangouts and things to do:
Coffee shop: Mudhouse (their house blend is my favorite!) Restaurant: Tavola Entertainment venue: Sprint Pavilion Winery: King Family
Some of my favorite memories include getting ice cream with my classmates (and faculty) after passing our qualifying exam; watching Kacey Musgraves perform from a rooftop in downtown Charlottesville and dressing up as the Belcher family (from Bob's Burgers) with friends for Halloween.
Tori Vigil, first-year Ph.D student from Nampa, Idaho
Undergraduate and master’s institutions: Pacific Lutheran University, B.S. in chemistry and biology; Johns Hopkins University, M.S.E. in chemical and biomolecular engineering
UVA CHE faculty advisor/lab: Associate Professor Bryan Berger
Favorite things about chemical engineering at UVA: I chose UVA because the professors are genuinely invested in helping students reach their goals!
Favorite Charlottesville-area hangouts and things to do: Shenandoah Joe has been my favorite coffee shop in Charlottesville, although it has been fun to try a new coffee shop each week — now I know who has the best lattes, the best atmosphere for studying and the best pie!
We often walk part of the Rivanna Trail to Moore’s Creek and our pup’s favorite swimming hole! There are lots of walkers, runners and cyclists who take the trail too. There are so many fun activities in Charlottesville — I know when I’m not studying there will always be something fun to do.
Brooke McGirr Brown, fourth-year Ph.D. student from Winston-Salem, N.C.
Undergraduate institution: North Carolina State University, chemical and biomolecular engineering
UVA CHE faculty advisor/lab: Associate Professor Matt Lazzara
What’s great about chemical engineering at UVA: The department has a very collaborative and encouraging environment. There are great resources to conduct your research.
Favorite Charlottesville-area hangouts and things to do:
Winery: Loving Cup Winery Cidery: Potter’s Hike: Spy Rock Entertainment: Live music! There are so many opportunities for concerts, such as local venues downtown, outdoor performances and big performers at the John Paul Jones Arena.
Tori Vigil, first-year Ph.D student from Nampa, Idaho
Undergraduate and master’s institutions: Pacific Lutheran University, B.S. in chemistry and biology; Johns Hopkins University, M.S.E. in chemical and biomolecular engineering
UVA CHE faculty advisor/lab: Associate Professor Bryan Berger
Favorite things about chemical engineering at UVA: I chose UVA because the professors are genuinely invested in helping students reach their goals!
Favorite Charlottesville-area hangouts and things to do: Shenandoah Joe has been my favorite coffee shop in Charlottesville, although it has been fun to try a new coffee shop each week — now I know who has the best lattes, the best atmosphere for studying and the best pie!
We often walk part of the Rivanna Trail to Moore’s Creek and our pup’s favorite swimming hole! There are lots of walkers, runners and cyclists who take the trail too. There are so many fun activities in Charlottesville — I know when I’m not studying there will always be something fun to do.
In 2018, a generous supporter of UVA chemical engineering created three fellowships to fund the first year of Ph.D. study for nine exceptional students. Here’s at look at this...
Workshops provide personal and professional tools to complement academic training
Mentorship is critical to graduate education, but how do faculty know if they're getting it right? Chemical engineering students and faculty looked for answers.
Nisha Sosale, a researcher in Associate Professor Matt Lazzara’s cell signaling lab, has received an individual postdoctoral fellowship from the National Cancer Institute.
