Conference Session

New Trends in CHE Education II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sundararajan Madihally, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

different topics that couldbe useful to graduate students, which potentially minimizes redundancy for resident graduatestudents. In summary, the seminar series can be used as a possibility of incorporating some ofthe soft skills into the graduate program.Key words: graduate program, soft skills, seminars, writing, cultureINTRODUCTION.Graduate programs in various institutions are developed to advance the technical competency ofthe graduate students. As a degree requirement, graduate students enroll in few mandatoryclasses dealing with advanced chemical engineering topics such as thermodynamics, transportphenomena and reaction engineering. In addition, they also enroll in elective courses relevant totheir research topic. PhD students are accepted as

Conference Session

Chemical Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Declan Thomas Mahaffey-Dowd, University of California, Berkeley; Shannon Ciston, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Negar Beheshti Pour, University of California, Berkeley

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

CarAbstract Teamwork is widely recognized as an important soft skill for engineers in theprofessional workplace. ABET includes teamwork skill development in their accreditationcriteria, and recent alumni report that teamwork is among the most important skills in theirprofessional lives. However, the typical undergraduate classroom consists of a lecture format,which does not help foster teamwork skill development. An alternate space in which teamworkskills can be fostered is in undergraduate technical clubs, such as those that compete in theAIChE annual ChemE Car regional competitions.  The present work-in-progress research studyattempts to provide a framework to continuously improve the development of teamwork as aprofessional skill in a

Conference Session

Chemical Engineering Education: Upperclass Years

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Bullard, North Carolina State University; David Ollis, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

Professional Development Buffet: From Banquet to À La CarteAbstractBoth ABET and industrial advisory boards encourage engineering departments to includeinstruction in “soft skills” that reflect the broader professional qualities necessary for studentsuccess in their careers. These include oral and written communication, ethics and professionalbehavior, resume and interviewing skills, electronic and professional etiquette, informationliteracy, and broader knowledge of engineering solutions in a global or societal context. Whilesome departments dedicate one or more instructional credits to accomplish this objective, othersmay integrate such topics into existing core courses. This paper presents a one-credit model fora junior-level course in professional

Conference Session

ChE: Departmental Issues and Integrating Freshmen into the ChE Program

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Pedro Arce, Tennessee Technological University; Donald Visco, Tennessee Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

wereprovided.Class 5: Soft-Skills DayTennessee Tech has a Freshman Experience course with a few faculty who teach this course. 7 Wedecided to use their expertise on the generic topic of soft skills to facilitate this session.Highlights were provided on time management skills and locus of control. Based on the contentcovered, future offerings of this section can be performed by chemical engineering faculty.Class 6: Hands-on Experiment #2: Ice Cream!Colligative properties are something that most people are familiar with and, of course, areimportant for chemical engineers. In this session, we decided to explore boiling point elevationand freezing point depression of water. For the former, we filled two, one-liter, beakers ofdistilled water and placed them on a

Conference Session

Novel Pedagogical Techniques II: Potpourri

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer Pascal, University of Connecticut; Tiffany Lauren Pascal, New Mexico State University-Carlsbad

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

text with imagery that (generally) references theimplied meaning of the words involves the reader as a participant rather than as merely anobservant.visual literacy and creativity in engineering It is now widely recognized that it is necessary for engineers to not only have a solidfoundation in technical skills, but also “soft” skills, such as communication (written and oral)and teamwork. Thus, it is important for current engineering students to be trained tocommunicate complex scientific concepts to various audiences, including those withoutscientific backgrounds [6]. An effective way to do this is through interesting/creative visuals thatcan be generated through software, for example. Therefore, engineers must now be able totranslate

Conference Session

Innovations in the CHE Laboratory

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marvi Matos, University of Washington; Danilo Pozzo, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

open-endedproblems. The approach is intended to provide a platform to teach and evaluate for an additionalset of “soft” skills. These important skills include leadership, composure under uncertainty,critical thinking, creativity, group work, task division, time management, literature searches andforward thinking. We believe that the introduction of high degrees of uncertainty into thelaboratory serves as a tool to prepare the students for a rapidly changing industrial world.Introduction The evolution of Chemical Engineering historically has been driven by changingindustrial needs and by research developments in a broad spectrum of areas. Some of therelatively young areas of Chemical Engineering include semiconductors and microelectronics

Conference Session

ChE: Innovation in Existing Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Golter, Washington State University; Bernard Van Wie, Washington State University; Jonathan Windsor, Washington State University; Gary Held, Washington State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

, non-electronic flow meters, manometers, pressure transducers and temperature probes withsmall-scale readouts.IntroductionThere is a well known need to re-visit the way in which engineers are trained to better preparethe next generation of engineers for the challenges of our changing society. [1] This can be doneeither by adding more courses, and thus more years, to engineering curricula or by utilizingalternate pedagogical techniques that can simultaneously enhance learning of core concepts anddevelop traditionally neglected ‘soft’ skills such as good communication practices.Alternate pedagogies include cooperative, hands-on, active and problem-based learning. Usually these pedagogies are applied

Conference Session

Professional Skills Development

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ashlee Nicole Ford Versypt, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

strongly agree and 6/46 with midly agree for 84.7% responding favorably. Thisquestion had the strongest positive opinions of the 7 questions. The following comments are asubset of the open-ended responses to the prompt to elaborate on their responses to Q5:  “I know that when I entered these courses, I was a stereotypical engineering student. I needed the assistance of these courses to push me to be more interactive with those around me.”  “These skills are just as important as technical skills.”  “Soft skills are significant for success.”  “I think it’s important to be a well-rounded individual. Technical knowledge is clearly invaluable to being an engineering but it will not serve you or your employer as well as

Conference Session

Focus on Capstone Experiences in the Chemical Engineering Curriculum

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Philip H. Harding, Oregon State University; Milo Koretsky, Oregon State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

as the final steps and significant contributor to graduateworkforce preparedness. Consequently, the student learning objectives and outcomes are broadand include many so-called “soft skills”. These soft skills include written and verbalcommunication, teamwork, and project management. The transition that students experiencebetween their academic and professional careers is shown thematically in Figure 3. Students arereminded of this “college to career” transition theme regularly throughout the year as new topicsare introduced and they wrestle with increasing open-endedness and ambiguity. Workforcepreparation amounts to creating proactive individuals with higher order cognitive, professionaland team skills. College

Conference Session

Chemical Engineering Education: Underclass Years

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Bullard, North Carolina State University; Donald Visco, Tennessee Technological University; David Silverstein, University of Kentucky; Jason Keith, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

culture: • Chemical engineering courses aimed at retention – (a departmental stakeholder cultural decision) • Bringing communication, soft skills, etc. into ChE curriculum (a departmental stakeholder decision) • The use of active learning and other ways to improve retention (if faculty members embrace these teaching concepts, they can modify the culture so that the students feel more engaged in the learning process and take ownership of their own learning). • The development of novel curriculum approaches and/or department level involvement (a departmental stakeholder cultural decision)Each of these classifications will now be discussed. In many cases, the concept ofretention is linked to an

Conference Session

Teaching Professional Skills in Chemical Engineering

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Stephanie G. Wettstein, Montana State University - Bozeman; Jennifer R. Brown, Montana State University - Bozeman

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

higher levels of career advancement[4] andsurveys indicate that practicing engineers spend a large portion of their work time writing orspeaking; however, feedback from industry indicates a lack of communication skills in manyengineering graduates.[5] Therefore, so-called “soft” skills, recently redefined as “professional”skills, need to be learned within the engineering curricula and be transferable to the engineeringworkforce. As expected, communication is recognized as a core transferable professionalskill,[2] which is reflected in current ABET criteria[6] and publications such as The engineer of2020,[7] prompting pedagogical changes in engineering curricula.[8, 9] At the author’sinstitution, feedback from alumni surveys and the departmental

Conference Session

Early ChemE Education

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bill B Elmore, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

pursuing aseparate Team Challenge for a period of 2-3 weeks. Upon completion of a Team Challenge,each group rotates—finishing the three team challenges shortly before the end of the semester.Team FormationAt the beginning of each semester students are allowed to self-select teams of four members each.Within teams, each member serves in a designated role (e.g. Team Leader, Data Recorder, SafetyOfficer, etc.)—rotation roles with each rotation to a new Team Challenge.Among the desired outcomes for teams are: 1) Strengthening of working relationships among students—particularly for improving learning and performance during the problem-based class periods 2) Growth of “soft” skills including leadership combined with a sense of teamwork and

Conference Session

Labs and Experiments

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Dee Clay, Ohio State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

identify tools and techniques that have proveneffective in the Unit Operations Laboratory. This is particularly important as the dual pressuresof increasing enrollment and tight budget pressures combine to increase the challenge to runningan effective undergraduate laboratory.Overview of the LaboratoryUnit Operations Laboratory courses are ubiquitous in chemical engineering departments andoften represent a rite of passage for upperclassmen. Key goals of the laboratory courses includeapplication of chemical engineering principles in experiments, technical report writing, and pilotscale equipment operation. Ancillary goals include enhancing soft skills with respect to groupdynamics and opportunities to improve techniques related to technical

Conference Session

Works-in-Progress Postcard Session

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Reginald E Rogers Jr, Rochester Institute of Technology (COE)

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

Engineering continues to be a strong topic of focus.Students are continually challenged to be mindful of soft skill issues associated with being aprofessional engineer; however, the retention of that knowledge is low. The prevalence ofincreasing student awareness in process safety and ethics beyond the textbook requiresinnovative ways to bridge the discussion between fundamental course content and experientiallearning. Given the time constraints of contact hours an instructor may have for a course, theintegration of practical discussions can be pushed aside to ensure the learning outcomes are met.This, however, can be a disservice to the students as they prepare to take up jobs either in a co-op/internship or full-time position.One approach to

Conference Session

Chemical Engineering Education: Upperclass Years

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Bullard, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

traditionallecture content as well as a capstone project. Academic content typically includesflowsheet synthesis and development, process simulation, process economics, andequipment design/heuristics. Depending on the background of the instructor and whetherthe course is one or two semesters, a laundry list of additional topics might includesustainability and “green design” concepts,1 process safety, 2 Good ManufacturingPractice, Six Sigma,3 optimization,4 selecting materials of construction, reading P&ID’s,heat exchanger network or reactor network synthesis, environmental regulations,engineering ethics, batch scheduling, and product design.5 Senior design is also the lastopportunity to reinforce “soft skills” such as teamwork6,7 and communication.8

Conference Session

Focus on Capstone Experiences in the Chemical Engineering Curriculum

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Senra, Lafayette College; Scott Fogler, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

Cornell University.H. Scott Fogler, University of Michigan V3ennema Distinguisshed Professor of Chemical Engineering Page 22.1551.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Transitioning Students to the Workplace in an Academic SettingAbstract: In their collegiate studies, students are given a wide array of concepts, theories andequations to assist them in their future endeavors. However, students entering the workforce areoften not prepared for the soft skills necessary to succeed in the workplace. Additionally,students have not been sufficiently exposed to practical critical thinking

Conference Session

Poster Sessions for Unit Operations Lab Bazaar and Tenure-Track Faculty

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Danilo Pozzo, University of Washington; Jim Pfaendtner, University of Washington; Marvi A. Matos, University of Washington; William B. Baratuci, B-Cubed; Jim L. Borgford-Parnell, University of Washington; Arne S.A. Biermans, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

energy and biotech industries that were notintroduced in other courses. All of these objectives have been met in an efficient way by focusing the theme of thelaboratory course around the concept of commercial biofuel production for transportation. Thiscontemporary subject nicely couples traditional chemical industry operations (e.g. distillationand absorption) with important processes that are used frequently in other industries that hire ourgraduates (e.g. enzymatic reactions and fermentation processes). Therefore, we are now able toprovide a more realistic, comprehensive and contemporary educational experience to all of ourundergraduate students. Furthermore, we have also modified the course framework to helpstudents develop “soft

Conference Session

Teaching Professional Skills in Chemical Engineering

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Robert Wayne Gammon-Pitman, Ohio State University; Lin Ding, Ohio State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

art. Yet, Dan’s academic plan to support his well-being and be happy are highly criticized. Dan’s vision long-term goal to be employable hasn’t happened and locates himself as “sitting in a void” reconciling with how to modify his plan or where things went wrong. Dan’s internalized yearly failures - the first 2 years of co-op/intern rejections as his lack of soft skills (being personable) and the third year as bad luck because of COVID—are from poor planning that should have been more career-oriented. Dan found the arts helpful to his personal growth and related more to these participating members than engineers. Reflecting Dan grapples with what he should’ve done,“ I shouldn't have made that um, I guess that happiness my

Conference Session

Contemporary Issues in CHE Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Blowers, University of Arizona

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

coursework while they have the satisfaction of progress. And, as social problemsmount due to resource constraints, the ability to help others through their profession is anotherstrong motivator.There are certain core skills that students must have in a discipline in order to become successful.Fostering those skills can be done through longitudinal advising. It is assumed that graduateswill be technically competent in their selected fields. However, students must have strongwritten and oral communication skills. These skills can be strengthened in students bysuggesting they participate in writing workshops, become student ambassadors or tour guides, orthrough tutoring other students. Teamwork is another "soft" skill expected in students.Encouraging

Conference Session

Early ChemE Education

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jamie Gomez, University of New Mexico; Vanessa Svihla, University of New Mexico; Abhaya K. Datye, University of New Mexico

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

unprepared [27]. Students report gaining soft skills such asteamwork and project management [29] and research shows the effectiveness of jigsaw inengineering classrooms [30, 31]. We were interested in jigsaw for two main reasons: first, wewere concerned that some students might be social loafers, meaning they would not put as mucheffort in [32]. Past research has shown that providing a meaningful task can prevent socialloafing, but we also sought to address this by reinforcing the idea that every student wasaccountable for group work. Second, because we divided our students into three (interrelated)topic areas, we wanted them to have opportunities to learn from each other and share informationacross topics. This was in part because we were not sure

Conference Session

ChE: Assessment

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ronald Terry, Brigham Young University; W. Vincent Wilding, Brigham Young University; Randy Lewis, Brigham Young University; Danny Olsen, Brigham Young University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

asked to evaluate individual student’s abilities in these areas by providinga single composite score ranging from 1 (not proficient) to 4 (proficient). The composite score isbased on direct assessments obtained from rubrics or other quantifiable measures. The rubricused in the senior laboratory course has 39 components from which a written report is graded.Similarly, an oral communication rubric has 27 components. This extensive rubric providesdetailed feedback to each student. These scores are combined across the several classes involvedto provide a composite measure of proficiency for each student.The written and communication “soft” skills are often hard to track unless a grading rubric orsome other comprehensive measure is used. One method

Conference Session

Professional Skills Development

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Abigail Jane Kulhanek; Cheryl A Bodnar, Rowan University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

Conference Session

Novel Classrooms

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie L. P. Jessop, University of Iowa; Anna L. Flaming, University of Iowa

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

like jigsaws.34 I’ve used them for problem-solving exercises (e.g., each teamlearns and teaches a method to calculate the pure component vapor pressure) and for soft-skill      exercises (e.g., each team considers an ethical case study and then presents it to other teams fordeeper discussion). I can cover a lot of ground without taking a lot of time in class.Anna – The best learning activity is one that aligns well to the learning objective. One flexible,low-prep activity is the minute paper. It engages every member of the class as individuals, andyou can use their responses as the basis for