About Us

The Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering started in 2011 and is the only engineering school at the University of Chicago. It is focused on translating discovery to commercial application while creating deep knowledge on how to design materials from the molecular scale up. The University of Chicago has historically been very academic and so adding an engineering school was a major departure from past thinking. Because there are already several excellent traditional engineering schools in the area, it was important to differentiate this school. The perceived 'narrow' spectrum of 'molecular' and 'materials' was judged by world experts to be one of the most critical areas that can make a huge impact in the next generation of technologies. Our general approach is to not have traditional disciplinary boundaries (e.g. electrical, civil, mechanical, etc.) but to bring in experts from different areas for diverse perspectives and tools - and expose students to these cultural differences so that they can be better communicators among disciplines.

Let us help your company with your innovation efforts - there are many different and low cost - low commitment ways to work with us and get to know our students. These include leveraging student projects to mitigate bandwidth limitations, advanced instrumentation which can be used by the hour (with training of the instrument), using hack-a-thons to source new ideas and prototypes. We are open to other approaches and it would be helpful to talk. Please contact Felix Lu to help you navigate our resources: fplu@uchicago.edu