The Department of Chemical Engineering is responsible for both the construction of the first-level discipline of Chemical Engineering and Technology and the teaching of the undergraduate program in Chemical Engineering and Technology.

Chemical Engineering and Technology is an engineering discipline that uses the principles of natural science, such as chemistry, mathematics, physics, and biology, combined with mechanical and automation technologies to solve problems regarding chemical reaction processes and products. It includes five second-level disciplines: Chemical Engineering, Chemical Processes, Biochemistry, Applied Chemistry, and Industrial Catalysis. Taking the chemical industry, metallurgical industry, pharmaceutical industry and other process industries as the foundation and research objects, it studies the basic chemical theories, methods and experimental techniques of chemical engineering and technology and methods such as chemical product development, process development, process design, system simulation and optimization, and operation control. The basic courses include Principles of Chemical Engineering, Chemical Reaction Engineering, Chemical Thermodynamics and Chemical Design. Chemical Engineering and Technology has become a supporting discipline for petrochemical, new materials, new energy, biomedicine, iron and steel metallurgy and other pillar industries.

The Department of Chemical Engineering at SJTU was founded in 1946, with the first Chair being Professor Su Yuanfu, a prestigious scientist in chemical engineering. In 1952, due to the reform of the national university system, the department was spun off and integrated with other universities’ departments of chemical engineering into the East China Institute of Chemical Technology (nowadays East China University of Science and Technology). To meet the needs of national economic development and discipline building, in 1979, the Department of Applied Chemistry at SJTU was built, which included two majors: Applied Electrochemistry and Polymeric Materials. In 1981, it was authorized to grant master’s degrees in Applied Chemistry, and in 1984 in Environmental Chemical Engineering. In 1991, it was authorized to grant bachelor’s degrees in Fine Chemicals and master’s degrees in 1992. In July 1997, SJTU collaborated with the Shanghai Research Institute of Chemical Technology, a member of the Chemical Industry Ministry of China, to establish the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and concurrently rebuilt the Department of Chemical Engineering. Since then, the department has enjoyed rapid progress. We were authorized to grant master’s degrees in Biochemistry in 1998 and in Chemical Engineering in 2000, and Master of Engineering in Chemical Engineering Field in 2001. In 2003, we were authorized to grant doctor’s degrees in Applied Chemistry and in Material Chemical Engineering. In 2005, we were allowed to grant master’s degrees in the first-level discipline of Chemical Engineering and Technology, extending the coverage of our master’s degree programs to all disciplines of Chemical Engineering.

Now, we offer four kinds of degrees: Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, Master of Engineering and Doctor of Science.