Driven by curiosity. Driving changeOur history
Discover the story of how our Department evolved, from interested academics coming together to conduct research in temporary buildings into the world leading, multidisciplinary teaching and research institution. Throughout our history, the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, affectionately known as CEB locally, has pursued scientific excellence with an emphasis on using advanced understanding of scientific principles to tackle big challenges.
Today’s Department is the result of a merger between two independent institutions in 2008, the Department of Chemical Engineering (founded in 1946) and the Institute of Biotechnology (founded in 1984). This merger created an innovative institution that unites engineering expertise and biological brilliance under one roof.
From humble beginnings to the present day, the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology has always been driven by curiosity. Scroll down to explore our history and meet a few of our most famous staff and students along the way.
Timeline
The Department moves into temporary facilities off Tennis Court Road. One academic compared their design to the codebreaking ‘huts’ of Bletchley Park.
Terence Fox is appointed as the first Shell Professor of Chemical Engineering and Head of Department.
The department’s first permanent home is designed by Scottish architect John Murray Easton and comprises 22,000 square feet across five floors. This building houses the Department for the next 57 years.
Peter Danckwerts, a decorated war hero, becomes the second Shell Professor of Chemical Engineering and Head of Department in 1959.
PhD graduate 1964
One of India’s foremost chemical engineers, Man Mohan Sharma, earned his PhD while studying under Peter Danckwerts in the Department. At just 27 he became Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai. In 1990, he became the first Indian engineer elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).
Researcher 1946 - 1969
A founding member of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Tom Bacon developed the hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell that would go on to power Apollo 11 to the Moon in July 1969.
Formed as The Biotechnology Centre under the directorship of Chris Lowe, the Institute of Biotechnology (as it was known from 1988 onwards) gets its start in a ‘hut’ on the Downing Site.
Lynn Gladden is appointed the first female lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering.
The Institute moves into purpose-built laboratory space, making space to recruit more academics and postgraduate students.
The move creates the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (CEB) and enables the new combined department to build upon the strengths of both its predecessors.
Professor Dame Lynn Gladden becomes the first Head of the new Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology.
The first digger begins excavations on the site of the Department’s current home in May 2013. Construction of the building would take the better part of three years to complete.
The specialised doctoral training programme admits its first cohort of students. The Centre is hosted by the Department under the direction of Professor Clemens Kaminski
The Department’s current home is formally opened by The Lord Sainsbury of Turville, Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, on 24 April 2018.
For the first time, the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology admits undergraduate students onto its own Tripos, independent of the Natural Sciences Tripos which had incorporated the Department’s undergraduate teaching up to that point.
TODAY
The Department works to solve big scientific challenges in the areas of sustainability and healthcare