The department of Chemical Engineering offers its M.Tech. Program specifically designed to provide specialized knowledge and equip students to meet the ever-changing demands of industry and academia. The students go through an enriching curriculum that offers them a well-balanced mix of coursework and research. The program is spread over four semesters. The main emphasis in the first two semesters is on course work. The courses are classified as core/compulsory and electives. The core courses that present the basic and advanced concepts of Chemical Engineering in a holistic frame work include Chemical Reactor Theory, Transport Phenomena, Thermodynamics and Mathematical Methods in Chemical Engineering. The elective courses are decided by the student in consultation with his/her hesis supervisor. These are intended to provide expertise in the student’s research area of interest and equip him/her with the necessary tools and concepts for carrying out research project in the second half of the program. The student is free to choose these electives from a wide list of advanced elective courses offered by any department at IIT Madras. The research project constitutes a major part of the work in the second year. The student under the supervision of a faculty member carries out state-of-the-art research in the frontier areas of chemical engineering such as computational fluid dynamics, materials science, biochemical engineering, environmental engineering, process control, reaction engineering, transport phenomena, particle technology, semi-conductor processing, complex fluids and rheology, microfluidics, etc. The research involves solving problems of fundamental significance as well as of industrial relevance. The department offers the students an opportunity to work on research projects of fundamental nature sponsored by DST, DAE, ISRO, IGCAR, AICTE, MHRD, SERC, EIL among others. The department also attracts projects of industrial relevance sponsored by IOCL, HPCL, BPCL, HUL, JSW, ABB, BOC, BHEL, Carborundum, Saint-Gobain, Madras Refineries Limited, Tata Honeywell Limited, NMRL, Aditya Birla Group, CUMI-Murugappa Group, Renault-Nissan Technology Centre and General Motors among others. The program is designed so that the students are evaluated on a continual basis. Emphasis is also placed on developing the written and oral communication skills of students. The M.Tech. Program provides students with an experience that enhances their suitability in both industry and academia and empowers them to contribute to the development of chemical industry in India. The scope of each research area in the Chemical Engineering Department of IIT Madras is broadly classified as:

1. Fundamental studies

Mathematical modeling of physico-chemical phenomena, applied statistical mechanics, thermodynamic property estimation, phase equilibria, flow visualization, microwave   assisted thawing, drying, multi-component boiling and condensation, simultaneous heat and mass transfer processes, single and multiphase flow at micro-scales and tis stability.

2. Modeling of processes and equipment

Hydrodynamic and kinetic studies of turbulent bed contactors, trickle beds, slurry reactors, fast and inverse bed fluidized bed, CFD analysis of process equipment, advanced separation processes such as reactive and azeotropic distillation, membrane processes, modeling of rotary kilns, bio-process engineering and optimization, analysis of bio-reactors, microelectronic fabrication techniques, microreactor technology

3. Development, characterization and processing of materials

Development of polymer blends and composites, polymer based nano-composites, rheology of polymers and colloids, damping and vibration isolation using polymers. Applying physical concepts to problems in biology, metals, molecules and light.

4. Process design and control, systems engineering

Advanced control design such as adaptive control, intelligent control, non-linear control, fault diagnosis and fault tolerant control, synthesis and optimization of process systems, statistical data processing, simulation and optimization of crushing and grinding circuits.

5. Environmental engineering and waste reduction

Liquid and solid waste treatment, air pollution monitoring and control, toxic and hazardous waste management, environmental risk assessment, color removal from waste water, recycling of mixed plastic waste.