Welcome to the Department of Chemical Engineering, situated within the Faculty of Engineering at Stellenbosch University. We take pride in doing cutting-edge research whilst delivering well rounded and highly skilled professional chemical engineers. Our team includes 20 full-time academic staff, 20 postdoctoral researchers, and 28 technical and support staff. Here you will find information about our research focus and academic programmes, as well as contact details of our staff.

Applications for our Bachelor’s Degree (BEng) in Chemical Engineering for the 2025 intake open 1 April and close 31 July. 

May your journey with our department, in whichever capacity, be positive and enriching. Please reach out to us and let us know how we can assist you.

A warm welcome from our
Chairman,
Prof Christie Dorfling

Contact me via email

In Pursuit of the Best
Study Chemical Engineering
at Stellenbosch University
Experience Chemical Engineering
Our facilities, current research projects, and students’ experiences

The Department of Chemical Engineering has excellent facilities for students studying chemical engineering. These videos give you a tour of our facilities, and showcases some of the research projects currently undertaken at the department. Students also share their student experiences studying chemical engineering at SU.

Research Categories
Within the Department, our research foci can be grouped in to six main research areas:
Bioresource Engineering
Extractive Metallurgy
Separations Technology
Waste Valorisation
Water Technology
Machine Learning
News & Media
We stay active on our social media platforms, so follow us to see what’s new and happing in our field of study.

Series on Sustainability: Biosurfactants and Biohydrogen

As part of its sustainability research efforts, the…


Series on Sustainability: The SARChI Chair in Green Hydrogen

The activities under the SARChI Chair in Green…


Series on Sustainability: The Seaweed project

This project started out as research into a…


Series on Sustainability: The Cannabis project

Extraction of active compounds from Cannabis for medicinal…


Series on Sustainability: The Black Soldier Fly project

The production of protein remains crucial for feeding…


Konnichiwa, Japan! ChemEng researchers attend IFAC World Congress

Last term, researchers from the Department of Chemical…


What Chemical Engineers Do