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

2006-1454: PROJECT-BASED LEARNING IN A FIRST-YEAR CHEMICALENGINEERING COURSE: EVAPORATIVE COOLINGCharles Coronella, University of Nevada-Reno Chuck Coronella is Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he has taught since 1993. His Ph.D. is from the University of Utah, and B.S. and B.A. from Lehigh University. He has research interests in model-predictive control and in renewable energy. His teaching interests are wide ranging, and include undergraduate and graduate courses in chemical engineering, as well as engineering education of the broader society

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

Technological University Geoff Gwaltney is a Senior Research Engineer at the Keweenaw Research Center at Michigan Techological University. Geoff has worked closely with the AFE Enterprise.Scott Bradley, Michigan Technological University Scott Bradley is a Project Manager and Research Leader at the Keweenaw Research Center at Michigan Techological University. Scott has worked closely with the AFE Enterprise. Page 11.552.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 Engineering Education in Alternative EnergyAbstractThis paper describes education and research efforts in alternative energy at

Conference Session

ChE: Innovation to Improve Student Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

C. Stewart Slater, Rowan University; Mariano Savelski, Rowan University; Robert Hesketh, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

University Mariano J. Savelski is Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Rowan University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma and B.S. from the University of Buenos Aires. His research is in the area of process design and optimization with over seven years of industrial experience. He has applied his expertise in water and energy integration in green engineering design to industrial projects from food processing to petroleum refining. He is also involved in research in sustainable fuels, examining ethanol production from biomass. He is the recipient of the 2000 Lindback Foundation Faculty Award.Robert Hesketh, Rowan University Robert P. Hesketh is a Professor and

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

2006-1119: DESIGNING A PROCESS FOR DEPARTMENT CURRICULARREFORMJefferey Froyd, Texas A&M University Jeff Froyd is a Research Professor in the Center for Teaching Excellence and Director of Academic Development at Texas A&M University. He was Project Director for the Foundation Coalition, one of the NSF Engineering Education Coalitions and now serves as Project Director for “Changing Faculty through Learning Communities,” a project sponsored by the NSF Research on Gender in Science and Engineering Program.Jean Layne, Texas A&M University Jean Layne works as a Program Coordinator and Instructional Consultant in the Center for Teaching Excellence and the Division of

Conference Session

ChE: Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Keith Lodge, University of Minnesota-Duluth

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

. Page 11.1320.3Laboratory sessionsThe work in the laboratory sessions fell naturally in two parts. The first part was devoted toformal training in the programming of the microcontroller and the assembly of the requiredcircuitry; the syllabus for this is shown in the Table (following the References). The aim of thefirst part was to give the students all the tools necessary to do the work on a liquid-level controlloop that was basis of the second part; this was couched in terms of a project. The circuitry, with which to do the project (the second part), was constructed in the firstpart; the first part takes requires 6 – 8 lab periods typically. In the project, the students had toreplace the temperature sensor with the pressure sensor

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

reactorperformance but also on the cost of experimentation.This learning tool represents an innovative use of computers and simulation in integratingstatistics into engineering education. Students are given a “capstone” experience in which theyhave the opportunity to synthesize engineering science and statistics principles to optimizereactor performance. Since the simulation is from first principles, students can interpret theoutputs given by the DOE in terms of the chemical and physical phenomena in the system. TheVirtual CVD reactor allows students a broader and more realistic experience in using the DOEmethodology for process improvement - as if they were operating an actual industrial reactor.The project scope also includes development and

Conference Session

ChE: Outreach Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Laura Ford, University of Tulsa; Christi Patton Luks, University of Tulsa

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

, $75, and $50 for 2006. The students maycompete either individually or as a team, with no upper limit on the size of the team.The test circuit was designed and built by two University of Tulsa electrical engineering studentsas a project for one of their classes. Their circuit diagram is given in Figure 1, and a picture ofthe unit is given in Figure 2. The test circuit has an on/off switch and a green LED that indicatesthat the unit is on. This simple feature is very useful for determining that the unit is workingcorrectly. The students attach their equipment to the circuit with the alligator clips. The testcircuit contains a blue LED that is on when the circuit is completed through the alligator clipsand the contest entry. When thestudent

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

-disciplinary course is held in a large lecture hall with a class size normally exceeding100 students. The course focuses on introducing students to the profession through topic lectures,videos and a capstone project (normally something mechanical in nature). After analysis of thetopics and via discussions with chemical engineering students who have taken this class, it wasclear that certain important pieces of information, including things specific to chemicalengineering students, were never being discussed or even conveyed. Hence, the next logical stepwas to generate a separate class, Introduction to Chemical Engineering, which was to be requiredof all entering chemical engineering freshman. Note that this course, labeled ChE 1010, iscurrently not a

Conference Session

ChE: Experimental Design & Error Analysis

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephanie Farrell, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

through a hands-on design project in afreshman engineering course. Rubino4 describes a project-based freshman EngineeringTechnology course in which one module which introduces students to gross, systematic, andrandom error via hands-on measurements. The workshop described in this paper comprises aseries of hands-on activities in which students conduct a variety of measurements andcalculations in a familiar context, allowing experimental error and error analysis to become theprimary focus of the investigation without being obscured by new theoretical subject content orextensive report writing.This workshop was performed during a three-hour laboratory period at the beginning of thesemester, prior to conducting any laboratory experiments which

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

suggested a number of suchmechanisms that could potentially be applied to non-biological control problems [1].For the course we introduced two case studies related to biological systems: bloodglucose control and bacterial chemotaxis. Throughout the semester we introduced theproblem of glucose control via insulin in the human body. Initially, we introduced thephysiology of the problem and used a simple pharmacokinetic model of insulin as analternative example for a logical controller. This model was extended to the BergmanMinimal Model [2, 3], to provide a more accurate differential equation model for glucoseregulation. Students were assigned a team project to design an insulin injection schedulefor a diabetic patient. For this project, students

Conference Session

ChE: Innovation in the Laboratory

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brian Lefebvre, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

solvingfor the terminal velocity produces the following expression: 2g( p / )m vt ? (1) A pCDwhere vt represents the terminal velocity, g represents the acceleration due to gravity, prepresents the density of the particle, represents the density of the fluid, m represents the massof the particle, A represents the projected area of the particle, and CD represents the dragcoefficient. For rigid spheres in the laminar-flow region, Equation 1 can be further simplified toyield: gD p 2 ( p / ) vt

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

, Industrial,Chemical and Biomedical/Biochemical engineering. These are taught using a modular approachby instructors from each discipline and using hands-on projects tailored towards the high schoolstudents. During the week, the participants are also exposed to engineering industry through aplant tour. At the conclusion of the week, students give a presentation describing theirexperience at the academy in front of their piers, parents and teachers. This report focuses on use of the new module in the 2005 academy where students wereintroduced to biomedical and biochemical engineering. This was the last module in the series(week). The primary goal was to expose the students to various activities carried out inbioengineering. Additional goals

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

offered as electives. It is also suggested that problems frommodern applications of chemical engineering principles be incorporated in traditionally namedclasses. It is observed that several sets of companion materials have been published over theyears for this purpose, but they have not all been widely used.7-9 So, it is not clear howsuccessful this suggestion would be. For a small department, a new class entitled “modernchemical engineering” might be a method for incorporating an introduction to areas likenanotechnology, interfacial phenomena, microelectronics processing, etc., into a single elective.This could also be a required class to ensure that the traditionally trained chemical engineer hasexposure to the modern aspects. Design projects

Conference Session

ChE: Departmental Issues and Integrating Freshmen into the ChE Program

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Deborah Follman, Purdue University; George Bodner, Purdue University; Mica Hutchison, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

fluctuating ("My level ofunderstanding of the material, meaning how well I can look at a problem and see a way to findthe solution and not feel in the dark. This factor at first very negatively affected my confidence,but my confidence in this area is beginning to slowly increase.") influence on their confidence insuccess. Few students specifically indicated a lack of understanding as detrimental to theirefficacy. Grades: Scores on graded course materials including homework assignments, projects,quizzes, and exams and CHE 205 grading policies were frequently considered by students whenassessing their confidence in success. In indicating how grades and grading policies influencedtheir efficacy, CHE 205 men were more likely to describe a positive