Integration of the Chemical Engineering Laboratory with a Focus on Bio-Fuel Production
- Conference
- Location
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Vancouver, BC
- Publication Date
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June 26, 2011
- Start Date
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June 26, 2011
- End Date
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June 29, 2011
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
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Poster Sessions for Unit Operations Lab Bazaar and Tenure-Track Faculty
- Tagged Division
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Chemical Engineering
- Page Count
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18
- Page Numbers
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22.933.1 - 22.933.18
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--18283
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/18283
- Download Count
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570
Paper Authors
Danilo Pozzo University of Washington
Prof. Pozzo’s research interests are in the area of soft materials and nanotechnology. His group focuses on developing structure-function relationships for a variety of nano-structured materials having applications in materials, alternative energy and separations. Prof. Pozzo obtained his B.S. from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh PA. He also worked in the NIST Center for Neutron Research and is currently an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington where he has served since 2007.
Jim Pfaendtner University of Washington
Prof. Pfaendtner's research group focuses on multiscale modeling of biophysical systems. His group develops and applies new computational methodologies for a wide range of problems of chemical engineering interest including biomaterials and biocatalysis. Prof. Pfaendtner earned his B.S. from the Georgia Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University. After serving a two year post-doc at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, he joined the faculty of Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington in 2009.
Marvi A. Matos University of Washington
Marvi A. Matos is naturally from Puerto Rico. She obtained her B.S. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. Subsequently, she graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and a Masters of Science in Polymers, Colloids and Surfaces. Her dissertation work presented a novel technique to allow for the control of mass transport in crosslinked hydrogels with applications in the fields of biosensors and microfluidics.
Under a fellowship from the National Research Council, Marvi worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Her project at NIST involved the study of encapsulated neural stem cell’s viability and differentiation under AC electric fields.
More recently (2008 - 2010), she worked as a Lecturer at the University of Washington teaching the Chemical Engineering Laboratories (traditionally the Unit Operations lab). Her worked as a Lecturer included the development of new experimental modules for undergraduate ChemE students, the submission of proposals with an educational focus and the supervision of the laboratories. During this time she also participated in outreach activities arranged by the College of Engineering to target increasing the number of students from underrepresented minorities in engineering programs.
Today, Marvi serves as a Senior Research Scientist in the Bioengineering Department at the University of Washington and works as an independent consultant in engineering innovations.
William B. Baratuci B-Cubed
Dr. Baratuci earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 1991. He taught in the Chemical Engineering Department at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology for eight years before moving to the Seattle area. In Seattle, he taught in the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Washington for 10 years as well as in Mechanical Engineering at Seattle University. He currently supervises a Mechanical Engineering design team at Seattle University and works in the UO Lab at the University of Washington as a contractor. He also devotes time to the continuous improvement of his website, http://www.LearnThermo.com.
Jim L. Borgford-Parnell
University of Washington
orcid.org/0000-0003-3188-6302
Dr. Jim Borgford-Parnell is Assistant Director and instructional consultant for the Center for Engineering Learning & Teaching at the University of Washington. He taught design drawing, design theory, research methods, educational theory, and adult and higher education pedagogy courses for over 25 years. Jim has been involved in instructional development for 11 years, and currently does both research and instructional development in engineering education.
Arne S.A. Biermans University of Washington
Abstract
Integration of the Chemical Engineering Laboratory with a Focus onBio-Fuel Production. The production of renewable energy is one of the most important technologicalproblems that we face today. This challenge also offers us an opportunity to motivate andshape the early careers of Chemical Engineering undergraduate students. With this goalin mind, we have designed an innovative pedagogical model for the ChemicalEngineering Laboratory that is based on the central theme of producing fuels frombiomass. The most innovative component of the new laboratory is the completeintegration of new and existing experimental stations. The second part of the unitoperations laboratory course at the University of Washington was integrated to model abio-fuel production plant where student groups work on individual operations that makeup a complete process. This full-plant view of the laboratory allows students, for the firsttime, to evaluate the effects of their decisions on upstream and downstream plantoperations. Furthermore, it also provides a common framework to promote activediscussion and engagement amongst student groups. The transformation of the courseincluded the development of completely new modules for fermentation of biomass andthe modification of existing equipment and modules for the treatment, separation andextraction of product and waste streams. The new fermentation modules utilize internet-based remote monitoring technologies to track the development of fermentations whilestudents are outside of the laboratory. Fully interconnected units now define a commongoal of reducing costs and improving productivity and replace the original independentand unrelated experiments. The new structure also allows us to easily incorporate designconcepts, such as cost analysis and environmental compliance, into the laboratory. Theobjective of the re-designed course is to provide a realistic structure that is congruentwith what students will experience after graduation. The new laboratory structure is alsodesigned to foster leadership, creative thinking, composure under uncertainty and thecritical review of information. Furthermore, with the new structure, we also continue tomeet the original learning objectives of instructing students on the basics of experimentalplanning and reporting.
Pozzo, D., & Pfaendtner, J., & Matos, M. A., & Baratuci, W. B., & Borgford-Parnell, J. L., & Biermans, A. S. (2011, June), Integration of the Chemical Engineering Laboratory with a Focus on Bio-Fuel Production Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2--18283
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