Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering

a coin with the bitcoin symbol printed on it, in front of a stock-market-looking graph
Bitcoin — the world’s first digital currency to operate independent of any centralized institution — had a wild 2018 and enters an equally tumultuous 2019, experts predict. How will it fare? Pitt researchers weigh in.
Chris Wilmer headshot against a blue-gray background
Pitt’s Chris Wilmer and a team of researchers developed a computer model that shows how tiny spongelike structures could reduce emissions from coal-generated power plants.
Balazs in front of a tan background, wearing a purple sweater
Inspired by the inner workings of a mechanical pencil in grade school, Anna Balazs went on to launch a career that blurs the boundaries between the living and nonliving in engineering and biology.
polymer and water mixture in a tube; background is white lettering on a black field
A research team at the University of Pittsburgh has discovered a liquid polymer that raises water’s freezing point from 32 degrees Fahrenheit to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, much like the deadly ice-nine does in Kurt Vonnegut’s classic sci-fi novel “Cat’s Cradle.”