Conference Session

ChE: Curriculum Reform & Assessment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeffrey Froyd; Jean Layne, Texas A&M University; Lale Yurttas, Texas A&M University; David Ford, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

responded to the initiatives,and how prospects for continued progress appear.IntroductionThe importance of departmental curricular reform is being increasingly recognized and manydepartments are engaged in this area1-3. In some cases, the National Science Foundation (NSF)has supported their efforts through Department-Level Reform (DLR) planning andimplementation grants4–15. Typically, curricular reform efforts focus on content. This isunderstandable since faculty members are passionate about critical content mastery that theyhope to see from their students. However, while increasing overall content knowledge meritssuch attention, there is more than content to be considered. How the content is presented, whatstudents are expected to do with that

Conference Session

ChE: Innovation in Existing Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Barry Barkel, University of Michigan; Peter Woolf, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

• Understanding of convergence, stability and response of systems • PID controllers and their tuning • Statistical process controlThe design task for the new course was to cover the above material adequately, within a15-week term, and to do so in a manner that that had flow and continuity. In addition,each section should relate in a logical way.To accommodate this material, we developed the course plan listed in Table 1. Incomparison to the more traditional course plan that we followed previously, this courserepresents a significant deviation, both in terms of content and emphasis. Page 11.1026.2 New Course Old

Conference Session

ChE: Experimental Design & Error Analysis

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Milo Koretsky, Oregon State University; Shoichi Kimura, Oregon State University; Connelly Barnes, Oregon State University; Danielle Amatore, Oregon State University; Derek Meyers-Graham, Oregon State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

implementation of an assessment plan toevaluate the effectiveness of this tool in promoting higher order thinking skills. The NorthwestRegional Educational Laboratory is providing support for the project evaluation and assessment.A five-member advisory committee consists of engineers and statisticians from academia(Oregon State University, University of Oregon) and industry (LSI Logic, Intel, WaferTech).The VirtualCVD Learning Platform is available now for use in approved courses. Instructorswho are interested in adopting this software into their curriculum can go to the following webpage for information: http://che.oregonstate.edu/research/VirtualCVDMotivationProficiency with statistical methodologies such as Design of Experiments (DOE) is

Conference Session

ChE: Innovation to Improve Student Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jason Keith, Michigan Technological University; Michael Miller, Michigan Technological University; Kirk Opella, Michigan Technological University; Julia King, Michigan Technological University; Jay Meldrum, Michigan Technological University; Chris Green, Michigan Technological University; Geoff Gwaltney, Michigan Technological University; Scott Bradley, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

, Campus Planning, Aerospace Enterprise,and Consumer Product Manufacturing. It is noted that there is a one-hour weekly“business meeting” between the faculty and staff mentors and all enrolled students. Themain goals and accomplishments during the past years will be briefly summarized here.Project work AFE Enterprise courses were first offered during the fall semester of 2002.Over the course of four years, an average of thirty students have been enrolled persemester (~ 40% Chemical Engineering). The original project was funded by the UnitedStates Army Tank Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) with the goal oftaking an electric vehicle and operating it with a hydrogen proton exchange membranefuel cell to extend the operating range of the

Conference Session

ChE: Curriculum Reform & Assessment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Turton, West Virginia University; Joseph Shaeiwitz, West Virginia University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

engineeringcurricula. The point is that a chemical engineering curriculum can be tailored to specific needs,but a curriculum that incorporates extensive training in both traditional and modern chemicalengineering probably can not be completed in four years. By taking advantage of the flexibilityof the current accreditation criteria, any of these curricula would pass accreditation as long asthere were an assessment plan in place to show that the curriculum responds to the needs of theconstituencies and produces graduates meeting the stated educational objectives and programoutcomes. Can all of these curricula be called chemical engineering? Why not? We always extol theflexibility of chemical engineers. An analogy to civil engineering may be appropriate. The

Conference Session

ChE: Innovation in Existing Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Silverstein, University of Kentucky

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

list of protocols to minimize the impact of terrorism waspresented. It should be noted that none of these protocols are new. Some are modified to considerhigher likelihoods of improbable events. ‚ Communication between a plant, the community, and government agencies ‚ Just-in-time production, waste minimization, best practices with hazardous materials, inherently safe design, “green” engineering ‚ HAZOP analysis ‚ Redundant control systems with fail-safes ‚ Venting systems with neutralization equipment ‚ Mechanical interlocks Some newer concerns for safety planning were also enumerated. These includedpreventing theft of materials, threats to

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

equipment, (2) fuel cell and battery manufacture and (3) scanning electron microscope.The class was broken into four groups and each group attended one of the locations for 15 minuteswhere they were given a presentation on the research performed there. For the next class period,the students were required to write a one-page summary of which experimentation they were mostinterested in and why. We plan to use this information to, possibly, link undergraduate researchstudents with appropriate projects.Class 9: Industrial Speaker DayAn adjunct member of our faculty has around 30 years of industrial experience in a wide range ofcompanies performing various tasks. He was invited (during the week of the AIChE meeting) todiscuss his vast experience to

Conference Session

ChE: Outreach Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sundararajan Madihally, Oklahoma State University; Eric Maase, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

: 7 ‚ Why did you do this experiment? ‚ What was your experimental set-up? ‚ What were your results? ‚ What conclusions can be drawn? ‚ What future plans would you suggest? The students were commended for an excellent performance in explaining their set-ups sothat the discussion would be viewed positively rather than as criticism. Using the completedexperiments as a guide and while their own presentations still fresh, a discussion on the attributesof an effective presentation was initiated. Using the questions stated above, the instructorsintroduced a general presentation format should include introduction, methodology, results ofwork, conclusions, and recommendation sections

Conference Session

ChE: Departmental Issues and Integrating Freshmen into the ChE Program

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charles Coronella, University of Nevada-Reno

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

planned design modifications, and to evaluate the impact on cost,performance, and safety of the modifications. Page 11.1041.5 The fifth assignment essentially required repetitive performance analysis, and to identifyadditional modifications. It also required students to conduct a two-hour test. The sixthassignment was similar, and also required the cooler's performance be shown graphically on apsychrometric chart. Students brought to class the finished coolers for a demonstration of itsoperation, and each team gave a 10-minute presentation for the seventh assignment. The coolerswere graded based on performance, safety, budget, style, and