This talk will present an overview of our work on nanoporous membranes, highlighting the role of chemical engineering principles in the fabrication, application, and understanding of such membranes for a range of applications that are based on the control of molecular and energy transport. Of particular interest is the integration of fabrication strategies and structural characterization techniques with methods for transport property measurement, prediction, and control; thus allowing faster progress towards optimization and eventual application of these membranes. This approach will be illustrated with three membrane paradigms. The first is that of zeolite membranes, which will be discussed in the context of mass transport (for separations) and heat transport (for electronic and heat-pumping applications). The second paradigm is that of nanocomposite membranes, containing either nanoporous zeolite particles or nanoporous layered materials dispersed in a polymeric matrix. These will be discussed in the context of applications in controlling mass and ion transport. The third paradigm consists of membranes in which each nanopore is an individually addressable nanodevice. These membranes will be discussed in the context of applications in ultra-rapid biomolecule analysis.