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Session 2793

TEACHING STRATEGIES AND INDUSTRIAL COOPERATION IN A PROCESS DESIGN COURSE

Gustavo Bolaños School of Chemical Engineering Universidad del Valle P.O. Box 25360 Cali, COLOMBIA gbolano@mafalda.univalle.edu.co

ABSTRACT

The teaching strategy for a process design course at Universidad del Valle, one of the most traditional schools of Chemical Engineering in Colombia, is presented. The strategy is designed to strengthen the engineering skills, and also the so called “transferable” skills (i.e., teamwork, communication, self evaluation, and creativity) of the ChE students, and to provide studies of interest for the local industrial sector.

The class activities are designed to explore aspects related to teamwork, process synthesis, process safety, cost estimation and application of economic engineering concepts. Each class session is followed by a workshop in which the students work in teams and immediately practice the concepts previously studied. We use cooperative learning by asking each team to select one leader of process technology, one of market intelligence, and one of economic evaluation, and by offering specific workshops on these topics to the respective leaders, whom are responsible for teaching their teammates.

The subject of the design project is defined in consultation with engineers from industry, which act as external consultants for each project during the semester. The final assessment of each project is made by practicing engineers. Follow up and guidance are provided by the instructor and two graduate assistants. Each semester the projects are organized in a CD-ROM, which contains useful information, articles and patents included, such that any potential investor can easily find relevant information. Topics studied in the last few years include lactic acid, fuel alcohol, biodiesel, and several high-added-value products from industrial waste.

1. INTRODUCTION

The Process Design course is one of the most important components o a Chemical Engineering f curriculum because it allows the students to connect many of the concepts they have studied during several years, and to direct them towards the plannning of a chemical processing unit. This exercise offers inmense posibilities for the development of skills such as teamwork, communication, selfevaluation, integrative thinking, and creativity, among others. In addition, the design course provides an important opportunity for cooperation with industrial partners by Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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Bolaños, G. (2003, June), Teaching Strategies And Industrial Cooperation In A Process Design Course Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12175