evolving landscape of chemical engineering applications in societyand necessitates a commitment to fostering a culture of sustainability and social responsibilitythat prepares graduates for the complexities of modern engineering challenges.3. Course Structure and ImplementationThe Capstone process design course at Northeastern University is a one semester, 4 credit hour,project-based course where teams design a chemical process for a product or system withconsideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social,environmental, and economic factors. All projects require applications of chemical engineeringcurriculum such as material and energy balances, kinetics, thermodynamics, and mass and heattransport and using
Baysal, Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteProf. Joel L. Plawsky, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2025 Teaching Modular Design: Mobile Processing Plants to Reduce Food WasteIntroduction This paper details a recent collaboration at RPI whereby undergraduate researchers andfaculty from chemical engineering worked with capstone design students and instructors fromfour additional engineering departments on a collaborative, multidisciplinary project aimed atmodular design of agricultural waste processing plants. Chemical engineering processsimulations were integrated with concepts of modular manufacturing and transportable designover the course of two academic calendar
, vertically integrated in different core and optional courses bydesigning standalone solutions (e.g., sizing shell and tube heat exchangers in Heat Transfer), andknowledge-integrative courses (e.g., capstone courses). In a typical capstone project-based course,teams are formed to solve open-ended engineering design problems following the traditionalworkflow of developing process simulations, heat and material balances, process flow diagrams,piping and instrumentation diagrams, safety assessments, and economic analysis [3]. Ideally,projects are linked to industry needs, for which real-world clients interact with students, boostingnon-technical skills required for chemical process design, such as communication andcollaboration. Combining technical and
alternative solutions”, “evaluatealternatives”, and “evaluate prototype testing” [1,4].Development and ImplementationThe module on critical thinking was developed and implemented in two Fall 2024 coursessimultaneously, a freshman introduction to engineering course (GEEN 1201 Engineering as aCareer) and the first semester course (CHEN 4316 Chemical Process Design I) of a two-semestersenior design capstone sequence. The latter course serves to bring together the technical contentof previous ChE courses into a culminating capstone design experience. The course introducesstudents to process simulators, and includes group project assignments which challenge thestudents in understanding and applying sophomore and junior level course content. The
and usage in a second-year chemical engineering fundamentals and design course ata large research intensive Canadian public university.ContextThe course is a second-year chemical engineering course focusing on physical chemistryfundamentals as well as an introduction to process design. At the institution students complete ageneral first year and then in the second year start coursework in their discipline of interest. Thecourse covers topics including reaction characterization, vapour-liquid phase equilibrium, energybalances and unsteady-state balances. During the same term students are taking a material andenergy balances course and this content is also relied upon for the design project that studentsundertake. For the course design project
Paper ID #47592Introducing Programmable Logic Controllers in Undergraduate ChemicalEngineering Process Control Laboratory using a Liquid Level SystemTata Serebryany, University of WashingtonJennafer Marsh, Brigham Young UniversityHayden Scott WestDr. Stacy K Firth, University of Utah Stacy K. Firth is an Assistant Professor (Lecturer) in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Utah. In her role, she focuses on Engineering education in grades K-12 and undergraduate education. She has developed an inclusive curriculum for a year-long Engineering exploration and projects course that is now taught in 57 Utah
of Cincinnati (UC). He received his BS in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech, and his MS and PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. His past research has focused on membrane science, adsorption, and ion exchange. He currently serves as the Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Program Director at UC and teaches the capstone process design sequence. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Ohio.Dr. Troy J. Vogel, University of Notre Dame ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2025 Paper ID #47605 Troy Vogel is the Assistant Chair, the
of electrochemical processes will grow rapidly in the comingdecade [1], [2], [3]. A major enabler to climate-change mitigations will be the electrification oftransportation, industry, and buildings, which currently rely on fossil fuels as their primaryenergy input [4]. Stochastic renewable energy sources like solar and wind are expected todramatically increase the number of batteries that will be needed to store energy [3].Additionally, it is projected that the global demand for lithium-ion batteries will grow by almosta factor of ten by 2040, primarily driven by growth in electric vehicles [1], [2]. These batteriesuse electrochemical processes to store electrical energy as chemical energy.As production scales, there will be a rapidly
brainstorming acommon chemical to produce, and drawing on their knowledge of chemistry, what raw materialsthat can be used – in small groups they come up with possible steps in the process and then togetherwe create a process flow diagram – over the course of the semester, they master material andenergy balances on splitters, distillation columns, pumps, compressors, furnaces, reactors withrecycle, etc. On the last day of class, we revisit the process flow diagram that was created on thefirst day of class, to help them understand how what they have learned provides the foundation ofbecoming a successful chemical engineer. This process flow diagram is revisited with the samestudents in the capstone process design course – so that they can reflect on
publishing. He has over 25 yrs. experience working in industry at General Electric and Cabot Corp.Jacob Leicht, University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign Mr. Leicht is the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CHBE) Teaching Lab Specialist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a position he has held for over five years. His primary objective is to oversee the lab space used for a senior-level CHBE capstone course, the Unit Operations Lab. This includes maintaining both the physical equipment and the documentation and procedures that students will use as part of the class. He is also working with the faculty on the revitalization and relocation of the lab. ©American Society for
towardsthe Society 5.0 global vision. Coupled with the use of conscious, ethical Artificial Intelligence tools (ChatGPT, JasperAI, Copilot, Gemini, etc.) and learning modalities (active/experiential/inquiry-driven, flipped-classroom, etc.) willempower students to individualize learning experiences/outcomes. However, e-learning must be supplemented byopen discussions [13], and project-based/textbook-based learning, especially for foundational subjects. Withinchemical engineering, core subjects and topics like calculus, transport phenomena, chemical thermodynamics,separation processes, and plant/process design (undergraduate capstone) must be taught through a mix of pedagogicalstrategies. Our results reveal an increase (especially since 2017
ofcontextualization to build foundational skills and indicate real-world relevance.II. ContextualizationPORPs aim to improve first-year student engagement by using faculty research slides tocontextualize recitation problems. Contextualization in engineering education links technicalcontent to real-world applications, helping students grasp abstract concepts while emphasizingengineering’s societal impact [17], [18]. This approach fosters technical competence andinformed decision-making in global, economic, environmental, and social contexts [18], [19].Engineering curricula often achieve this through case studies, industry examples, andinterdisciplinary projects, which highlight the connection between technical knowledge andreal-world challenges [20].While