Generally chemical engineering include fluid mechanics and rheology; reaction kinetics and catalysis; mass transfer and separation processes; heat transfer; thermodynamics, hydrocarbon and phase equilibrium studies; polymer reactor engineering; computer process control; dynamic simulation; mathematical modelling. Many research programs are oriented toward better utilization of natural resources, e.g., upgrading of bitumen and heavy oil feedstocks; processing of natural gas.

Active research areas in materials include mineral processing; coal preparation; modelling and simulation; intelligent processing of materials and solidification processing; hydrometallurgy; pyrometallurgy; high temperature electrochemistry; corrosion; physical and mechanical metallurgy; process metallurgy; welding metallurgy; powder metallurgy; ancient materials; ceramic materials. Active research areas in chemical process control include dynamic modeling, state and parameter estimation, model predictive control, fault monitoring and diagnosis and process optimization.