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Daniel H. Lepek

Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering

Professor Daniel Lepek received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Chemical Engineering from The Cooper Union and received his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).  During his studies at NJIT, Professor Lepek received an National Science Foundation IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship) Fellowship in Nano-Pharmaceutical Engineering, and an IREE (International Research and Education in Engineering) award.  In addition, he received the NJIT Newark College of Engineering Outstanding Graduate Student Award as well as the Schering-Plough [now Merck] Science and Innovation Award.  His research work was focused on enhancing the fluidization and flow properties of nanoparticles, including for future use in the pharmaceutical industry.  This work was performed in conjunction with the University of Seville, where he worked as a research scientist, and resulted in three major publications in top chemical engineering journals, including the cover image in the AIChE Journal. 

Professor Lepek joined the Department of Chemical Engineering in January 2009.  Since then, he has developed new courses in Particle Technology and Pharmaceutical Engineering and, along with Professor Richard Stock, has made significant revisions to the Chemical Engineering Laboratory course sequence.  Professor Lepek’s research interests include particle technology, fluidization and multiphase flow, pharmaceutical engineering, modeling of transport and biotransport phenomena, and engineering education.  In 2011, he received the Engineering Education Mentoring Grant from the Chemical Engineering Division of the American Society of Engineering Education to help further his work in developing innovations in engineering education and pedagogy. 

Professor Lepek currently teaches the Chemical Engineering Laboratory sequence, undergraduate and graduate courses in Transport Phenomena, and graduate elective courses in Particle Technology and Pharmaceutical Engineering.  He is an active member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engienering (ISPE), and the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE).

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.