Institutes & Centers

CCNY Chemical Engineering faculty have key leadership roles in several research Institutes and grant-funded Centers.  These Institutes and Centers provide key resources for students and faculty to pursue cutting-edge research and collaborate within diverse interdisciplinary teams. 

Click on the headings or logos below to view the website of each Institute or Center. 

Institutes

The Benjamin Levich Institute for Physico-Chemical Hydrodynamics  
The Benjamin Levich Institute for Physico-Chemical Hydrodynamics is an interdisciplinary research center for the study of fundamental problems of flow and transport in complex fluids, fluid-like media, and interfaces, including polymer melts and solutions, liquid crystals, granular materials, suspensions, colloids, and amphiphiles. Located at the City College of New York (CCNY), one of the senior colleges of the City University of New York, the Institute's six full-time faculty members are currently associated with the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Physics. All Levich Institute faculty, Ph.D. students, and research fellows are housed together in laboratories and offices in Steinman Hall.  Dr. Jeff Morris, Professor of Chemical Engineering, directs the Levich Institute. 

The CUNY Energy Institute 
The CUNY Energy Institute produces cutting-edge research and develops innovative sustainable energy technologies that have practical and economical applications. Led by Dr. Sanjoy Banerjee, Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, the CUNY Energy Institute offers world-class opportunities to top-notch students: the chance to work side-by-side with a multidisciplinary faculty from CUNY's New York City campuses, and to be part of one of the nation's most ambitious and innovative energy research organizations.  Core Faculty within the Chemical Engineering Department includes Dr. Rob Messinger. 

Centers

CREST Center for Interface Design and Engineered Assembly of Low Dimensional Systems (IDEALS). 
IDEALS was established in 2016 with a $5M grant from the CREST Program of the National Science Foundation, designed to enhance the research capabilities of minority-serving institutions through the establishment of centers that effectively integrate education and research. Its aim is to address the national need for "accelerating the pace of discovery and deployment of advanced material systems" as stated in the Materials Genome Initiative. Scientists and engineers from the City College of New York (CCNY) and their partners at Lehman College, the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, and Virginia Tech employ experimental, analytical and numerical modeling tools to design and discover complex novel materials with new and enhanced functionalities and integrate education and research to enhance these enterprises.The overarching goal of IDEALS is to transform the doctoral and postdoctoral student experience in order to engender global and interdisciplinary Materials Science and Engineering leaders of the future, as delineated in the Strategic Plan of the Materials Genome Initiative, whose ranks will benefit fully from our society's diverse population.  Key Chemical Engineering faculty include Profs. Ilona Kretzschmar and Raymond Tu. 

Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) Project at the City College of New York.  
The Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) Project at the City College of New York, UNY, is one of a total of 14 projects in the U.S. and 1 of 3 Engineering projects that was awarded funding in 2017 by the National Science Foundation under the PIRE Program managed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of International Science and Engineering. The team investigates multiscale phenomena in complex, multiphase fluids vital to energy technologies, such as the production and processing of oil and gas, energy conversion and storage, refrigeration, heating and cooling. The PIRE Project is directed by Dr. Masahiro Kawaji, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, in collaboration with other CCNY faculty and 11 collaborating partners in France, Germany and Norway.  The leadership team includes CCNY Chemical Engineering faculty Profs. Jeff Morris, Sanjoy Banerjee, and Rob Messinger.

NASA-CCNY Center for Advanced Batteries for Space  
The NASA-CCNY Center for Advanced Batteries for Space (CABS) is a joint research and education center between The City College of New York (CCNY), NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), Northeastern University, and regional colleges, established to create a highly collaborative research network in electrochemical energy storage and train a diverse STEM workforce through a multifaceted student internship program.  The Center’s research efforts seek to develop novel batteries composed of high-energy-density metal anodes & ionic liquid electrolytes designed to operate under the extreme temperatures & radiation encountered by spacecraft during planetary science missions.  Our objectives are to design & build novel battery prototypes aimed at meeting NASA’s mission-specific energy storage targets & expand the scope and ambition of future missions, produce new scientific understanding of metal-ionic liquid electrochemical systems and devices, including under extreme conditions, & enable JPL’s Electrochemical Technologies Group to investigate emerging battery chemistries, engineering concepts, and characterization methods that would not otherwise be explored.  Dr. Rob Messinger, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, directs the Center.  The leadership team includes Profs. Elizabeth Biddinger, Alex Couzis, and Sanjoy Banerjee, all faculty within CCNY Chemical Engineering.