The College of Engineering has appointed Arijit Bose, professor of chemicalengineering, chair of the department of chemical engineering.
“We are pleased to have Dr. Bose serve as chair of the chemical engineering department,” said Bahram Nassersharif, dean of the College of Engineering. “He brings to the position an impressive background of research and teaching, and I expect the College to grow under his leadership.”
Dr. Bose, who has been at URI since 1982, is enthusiastic about the appointment. “I am excited because of many new opportunities in the field of chemical engineering, linked to key advances taking place in biology, materials science, nanotechnology and computing,” he said. “Each of these will have a major impact on the field, and will profoundly affect the way we educate our students and conduct research. In particular, we have an opportunity to respond in a substantial and unique way to major new developments in biology, and we have to seize this chance. The ability to help shape department activities to reflect these new realities is exciting.”
Dr. Bose has been presented twice with the College of Engineering’s Vincent and Estelle Murphy Award for outstanding research. He is an associate editor of the IEEE Transactions in Nanotechnology, and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Surface Science and Technology. He has been a visiting scientist at MIT (1989, 1995-96), and has just returned to URI after a two-year appointment in industry as a visiting senior scientist at Cabot Corporation (2002-2004). Dr. Bose has over 65 journal publications, holds three U.S. patents, and has lectured extensively at universities throughout the world, professional meetings and industry. His current research encompasses colloidal and interfacial engineering, with specific efforts in the areas of nanostructured materials synthesis and characterization, direct imaging of soft colloid aggregates and colloidal magnetic separations. Several of his former students now hold leadership positions in academia and industry.
Among his goals for the department is more emphasis on scholarship, research and industrial outreach. “I want to increase the quality of education given to our students by acknowledging good teaching and mentoring, and involving faculty and students in cutting-edge research. I also want to encourage more local and national industries to employ our fine undergraduate and graduate students, and have more of our undergraduates go to graduate school,” said Dr. Bose.
Dr. Bose concluded, “ Chemical engineering is at a crossroads today, which is both a challenge and an opportunity. I am confident that with the high quality of my colleagues, staff and students, we can enhance our program to deliver a nationally competitive and relevant education to our students while maintaining a collegial, forward-looking environment for our faculty to pursue their goals.”