University of Chicago to launch nation’s 1st molecular engineering school

The University of Chicago is set to become the first educational institution in the nation to launch a school of molecular engineering.

The Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering will become the Hyde Park university’s seventh degree-granting school, UChicago officials announced Tuesday, saying the $100 million commitment from the Pritzker Foundation bolsters the city’s status as a national hub of scientific innovation.

“Molecular engineering has been critical to expanding the university’s capacity to contribute to science, engineering, and technology development, and to do so in a highly distinctive way,” University of Chicago President Robert Zimmer said in a statement. “The Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering will have a major impact on the city of Chicago, its capabilities in technology development, and the university’s outreach initiatives across the city.”

That’ll include a new partnership between the University of Chicago and the City Colleges of Chicago, with a pilot program helping students from Truman and Kennedy-King colleges transfer into four-year STEM degree programs.

The new school will have a focus on “pressing societal challenges” from the molecular level, including cancer research, energy storage and global water scarcity, the university said — “issues that require integrated, convergent approaches.”

It builds on the school’s existing Institute for Molecular Engineering, which has been delving into the burgeoning field in partnership with Argonne National Laboratory since 2011. It has 28 faculty members and about 300 undergraduates, PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and research staff.

The new Pritzker School will still serve as the home of the Chicago Quantum Exchange — one of the largest quantum research teams in the world — and work with University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation “to rapidly commercialize technologies,” the university said.

University of Chicago molecular scientists and engineers have already filed 69 invention disclosures and launched six companies while making several breakthroughs in recent years, the school said.

They’ve developed a polymer to fight antibiotic-resistant infections; created the basis for new, inexpensive solar cells; and laid the groundwork for an “un-hackable” quantum teleportation network.

The new school will build on programs in quantum engineering, biotechnology and immuno-engineering, advanced materials, energy storage and ensuring the clean water supply globally — and the school said they’re looking to incorporate researchers from other engineering disciplines.

“Molecular engineering could provide a disruptive approach to translational science, while supporting the continuing evolution of the University of Chicago and becoming a catalyst to make Chicago a center of excellence in scientific innovation,” Tom Pritzker said in the statement. “As molecular engineering at the University gained traction, we wanted to support the next exciting phase.”