Chang Yul Cha, professor of chemical engineering at the University of Wyoming, is the 2003 UW Alumni Association/Wyoming Student Alumni Association Outstanding Faculty Award recipient.

The award recognizes the critical role Cha has played in the lives of his students. One of those students, senior Gregory L. Lamm of Laramie, nominated him for the honor.

"Dr. Cha has had the most beneficial impact upon my, and my classmates' education," Lamm said in his nomination. "Dr. Cha is genuinely concerned with the progress of his students as they develop professional engineering skills and attitudes. He is demanding of his students, and drives them hard to stay sharp and savvy, traits that are essential in the professional engineering world."

Lamm added that Cha’s efforts are directly responsible for the above average placement of UW chemical engineering graduates.

Cha is a specialist in the development of pollution-control technologies that use microwave energy. He has obtained several patents for microwave techniques for gas clean-up and chemical synthesis. While at UW, Cha expanded research activities in the field of microwave-induced chemical reactions.

In 1990, Cha founded the CHA Corporation in Laramie, which has offered part-time employment for undergraduate students.

"This work is an effective way to train students," Cha says. "They learn to design, build, apply and operate the process. They are doing real engineering."

Dr. Cha is the student adviser to and a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and received the student chapter’s Outstanding Teaching Award in 2001. He is an active member of and numerous other professional organizations and societies.

He has received numerous awards and honors, including the T.P. Hoar Prize for Outstanding Paper Published in "Corrosion Science," 1981, has appeared in Who's Who in Technology Today four times, and received the UW Mortar Board "Top Prof" Award in 1992. The Emir of the State of Bahrain gave him the Prize for Outstanding Energy Research, and in 1998 the United States Small Business Administration awarded Cha the Tibbetts Award, recognizing significant technological accomplishments and associated business success. He was elected in 2001 to be a member for the National Academy of Engineering of Korea.

Cha has published numerous papers, has registered 51 patents and served as a consultant with the United Nations and the Kingdom of Morocco. He has been with UW since 1990 and plans retirement this summer.

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