Incorporation of Research & Development-Focused Professional Skills in a Chemical Engineering Elective Course

Deborah Goldberg

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Professional Skills and Community Building in Chemical Engineering Education
Page Count: 17
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--40537
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/40537
Download Count: 266

Paper Authors

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Deborah Goldberg University of Maryland College Park

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Dr. Deborah Goldberg is a Senior Lecturer and the Associate Chair for Strategic Initiatives in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. She earned her BS in chemical engineering, her PhD in bioengineering, and worked as a biopharmaceutical development scientist at MedImmune for six years before joining the University of Maryland. She has taught seven different courses, including development of a first-year chemical engineering seminar and an elective course focused on biopharmaceutical process development. Dr. Goldberg has spearheaded departmental initiatives including a peer mentoring program, pedagogical training of undergraduate teaching fellows, and implementation of course learning communities. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Dr. Goldberg advises undergraduate students, with a special emphasis on preparation for placement in industry and graduate school. Dr. Goldberg conducts quantitative and qualitative pedagogical research to evaluate the success of her teaching innovations. In her role as the Chemical Engineering Associate Chair for Strategic Initiatives, Dr. Goldberg works to enhance the experience of all departmental constituents with a special focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

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Abstract

After graduation, many chemical engineering students pursue research and development (R&D)-focused work, whether in a research-intensive graduate program or in industry. These R&D positions require special skills, which are often not adequately covered in traditional chemical engineering courses. In this work, we will share examples of course activities specifically developed to teach R&D professional skills in an upper-level elective course. In addition, we discuss student and alumni perception of how the course contributed to their mastery of R&D skills.

Activities designed to build specific R&D professional skills were incorporated into the upper-level elective course “Biopharmaceutical Process Development & Manufacturing.” R&D skills were grouped into three sets, and specific course activities including literature discussions, lecture and active learning activities, homework, and a final project were designed to reinforce each of these skills. One of the most significant aspects of R&D, whether in graduate research or in industry, is design and analysis of experiments. Design of experiments was taught through literature discussions, lectures focused on DOE design, and homework problems focused on experimental design and data analysis. Decision making in the presence of multiple competing priorities is a significant challenge in R&D. In-class active learning exercises enabled students to experience analyzing hypothetical scenarios in which they had to make decisions while considering regulatory requirements, available resources, timelines, and patient health and safety. In homework assignments, students were asked to consider the relative importance of competing process and product characteristics including product quality, stability, robustness, and efficiency when recommending a final process or drug product parameter. A final set of essential industrial R&D skills are risk assessment and planning. Students studied different risk assessment frameworks and practiced analyzing risks and developing contingency plans. To synthesize the skills together, students completed a culminating project in which teams were assigned a real-world upstream, downstream, or formulation-focused problem, and students were asked to design a series of experiments to investigate and resolve the problem within a 3-month time frame. Since students had minimal information about the observed problem, they had to search the literature to determine possible approaches to better understand and fix the issue. This activity allowed students to practice preparing a long-term experimental plan without knowing intermediate outcomes, which requires prediction of multiple risks and outcomes and preparation of appropriate contingencies. Course reflections showed that students’ ability to design experiments and solve engineering problems improved as a result of taking the course, and that they understood the skills needed to address R&D challenges.

A survey of alumni 2-3 years post-graduation confirmed the importance of these R&D professional skills. Survey respondents included alumni in research-focused graduate programs as well as those in industries including pharmaceutical, defense, petroleum, and consumer products. Students in research-focused graduate programs shared that reading research literature, designing experiments, analyzing data, and making decisions based on data were important for their research work. Alumni in industrial R&D positions also rated process optimization, making decisions in the presence of competing variables, working with regulatory requirements, project planning, risk assessment, and contingency planning as important skills. This survey supports the need for activities focused on these skills to be included in the chemical engineering undergraduate curriculum.

In addition to delving deeper into the course activities, course evaluations, and survey results, the paper and presentation include ways to adapt these learning experiences to other fields beyond biopharmaceutical process development. The audience will come away with new ways to incorporate R&D professional skills in their own courses and a renewed appreciation of the importance of these skills in the chemical engineering curriculum.

Citation
Format

Goldberg, D. (2022, August), Incorporation of Research & Development-Focused Professional Skills in a Chemical Engineering Elective Course Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40537

TY - CPAPER
AB - After graduation, many chemical engineering students pursue research and development (R&D)-focused work, whether in a research-intensive graduate program or in industry. These R&D positions require special skills, which are often not adequately covered in traditional chemical engineering courses. In this work, we will share examples of course activities specifically developed to teach R&D professional skills in an upper-level elective course. In addition, we discuss student and alumni perception of how the course contributed to their mastery of R&D skills.

Activities designed to build specific R&D professional skills were incorporated into the upper-level elective course “Biopharmaceutical Process Development & Manufacturing.” R&D skills were grouped into three sets, and specific course activities including literature discussions, lecture and active learning activities, homework, and a final project were designed to reinforce each of these skills. One of the most significant aspects of R&D, whether in graduate research or in industry, is design and analysis of experiments. Design of experiments was taught through literature discussions, lectures focused on DOE design, and homework problems focused on experimental design and data analysis. Decision making in the presence of multiple competing priorities is a significant challenge in R&D. In-class active learning exercises enabled students to experience analyzing hypothetical scenarios in which they had to make decisions while considering regulatory requirements, available resources, timelines, and patient health and safety. In homework assignments, students were asked to consider the relative importance of competing process and product characteristics including product quality, stability, robustness, and efficiency when recommending a final process or drug product parameter. A final set of essential industrial R&D skills are risk assessment and planning. Students studied different risk assessment frameworks and practiced analyzing risks and developing contingency plans. To synthesize the skills together, students completed a culminating project in which teams were assigned a real-world upstream, downstream, or formulation-focused problem, and students were asked to design a series of experiments to investigate and resolve the problem within a 3-month time frame. Since students had minimal information about the observed problem, they had to search the literature to determine possible approaches to better understand and fix the issue. This activity allowed students to practice preparing a long-term experimental plan without knowing intermediate outcomes, which requires prediction of multiple risks and outcomes and preparation of appropriate contingencies. Course reflections showed that students’ ability to design experiments and solve engineering problems improved as a result of taking the course, and that they understood the skills needed to address R&D challenges.

A survey of alumni 2-3 years post-graduation confirmed the importance of these R&D professional skills. Survey respondents included alumni in research-focused graduate programs as well as those in industries including pharmaceutical, defense, petroleum, and consumer products. Students in research-focused graduate programs shared that reading research literature, designing experiments, analyzing data, and making decisions based on data were important for their research work. Alumni in industrial R&D positions also rated process optimization, making decisions in the presence of competing variables, working with regulatory requirements, project planning, risk assessment, and contingency planning as important skills. This survey supports the need for activities focused on these skills to be included in the chemical engineering undergraduate curriculum.

In addition to delving deeper into the course activities, course evaluations, and survey results, the paper and presentation include ways to adapt these learning experiences to other fields beyond biopharmaceutical process development. The audience will come away with new ways to incorporate R&D professional skills in their own courses and a renewed appreciation of the importance of these skills in the chemical engineering curriculum.
AU - Deborah Goldberg
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Incorporation of Research & Development-Focused Professional Skills in a Chemical Engineering Elective Course
UR - https://peer.asee.org/40537
DO - 10.18260/1-2--40537
ER -