Historically, the field of chemical engineering has had a long and rich tradition as one of the core engineering disciplines, built on a solid foundation in chemistry, physics, and mathematics. However, with the maturity of the chemical process industry, chemical engineering is no longer concerned only with flow in pipes, solution chemistry, chemical reactions, and unit operations. Instead, the past decade has seen a revolution in the field, characterized primarily by an increased interest in applying chemical engineering tools and analytical skills to study highly-interdisciplinary problems involving complex systems (e.g., in biotechnology and biological systems) and molecular-level phenomena (e.g., in microtechnology and nanotechnology). Since its inception in 1987, UC Irvine's Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science has directed its attention on cutting-edge problems beyond the scope of traditional chemical engineering, a trend now mirrored in most major academic institutions around the world.
