Education for Chemical Engineers最新文献

The last 20 years has seen rapid expansion of sustainable energy deployment in the European Union (EU) and the United States (U.S.) that is driving the demand for trained professionals. An engineering degree with coursework in sustainable energy systems is a desirable initial qualification. However, engineering students should also appreciate the societal and environmental impacts of the sustainable energy transition. Furthermore, since the sustainable energy transition is a global endeavor, an international perspective is needed. The sustainable energy engineering course described in this paper taught students the scientific and engineering principles underlying the major types of emerging sustainable energy technologies from a chemical engineering perspective. The technical content served as context for comparing renewable energy deployment in the EU country of Austria with the U.S. The broader impacts (societal and environmental) of renewable energy deployment were then illustrated through student presentations. Survey results showed that students gained understanding of the engineering fundamentals underlying these renewable energy systems and challenges of their deployment in Austria and the U.S. Therefore, a unique outcome of this course was that students gained an international perspective on the expansion of sustainable energy systems needed to secure a low-carbon energy future.

Promoting new teaching methodologies is essential to improve the participation, motivation, interest, and results of students in all educational stages. In this sense, flipped classroom and problem-based learning have emerged in the last years as fascinating options to be implemented in high education levels thanks to the students’ maturity and previously acquired background. Working with motivating case studies based on real processes with their restrictions appears as an opportunity to bring future professionals closer to the industrial problems; this will capacitate engineers to solve and understand complex procedures getting tangible results. In this context, the main goal of this work is to combine flipped classroom and problem-based learning methodologies to gain the interest of students of a Master course in Industrial Engineering in the subject of Chemical Processes using real data of local companies. A survey, designed by the academics involved, will help collecting the opinion of students as well as the acquired skills in the frame of the specific subject. Results demonstrated the satisfaction of the students with the course, highlighting mainly the acquisition or improvement of self-learning skills (survey 4.0/5.0), capacity for organization and planning (survey 4.0/5.0), analytical ability (survey 4.2/5.0), and teamwork (survey 4.3/5.0). In addition, the grades accomplished during the year of implementation show that although the success rate is quite similar to preceding years, the marks achieved are considerably higher.

Instructors teaching chemical engineering topics have traditionally used graphical methods to explain core concepts and design unit operations. However, with the shift towards online and blended/flexible learning, there is a need to adapt these graphical methods for online use. This paper presents a set of interactive graphs that can be used for fluid flow, separation process, and reaction process unit operations and aims to investigate students' opinions of the interactive graphs and their motivations for using them in their studies. The digital resource developed in the paper is a set of slim single-page applications written in HTML5 & CSS3 with the numerical calculations undertaken in JavaScript (JS). The interactive graphs are embedded into the virtual learning environment (VLE) system Blackboard for two courses, and a paper survey is used to measure students' perceptions towards the interactive graphs and their use of them. The UTAUT2 model is used to analyse the student use of these resources. It is demonstrated that the use of online interactive graphs is popular with the students and the main driving factors are the performance expectancy and the hedonic motivation. Short scaffold questions to help students interact with the graphs are key to their usefulness. Some guidance on the use of interactive graphs is also provided. The interactive graphical resource can be found and used at the Graphical Chemical Engineering Design weblink: https://www.ce.manchester.ac.uk/gced.

A compact and cost-effective heat exchanger kit was successfully designed, built, and implemented in an undergraduate pharmaceutical engineering course on heat and mass transfer. The kit consists of a control box (dimensions: 160 mm x 180 mm x 98 mm) and a plate heat exchanger measuring 120 mm x 180 mm, along with various accessories. By utilizing affordable electronics and mechanical components, we were able to create 25 kits (cost: ∼USD$320/kit) that facilitate immersive hands-on learning experiences. In this study, the heat exchanger kit was incorporated into laboratory sessions. After the end of the sessions, a student survey was administered to gather feedback from all 71 participants. Students’ perceptions towards the kit in aiding their understanding of heat transfer principles was assessed. The survey results clearly indicated that the practical engagement with the heat exchanger kit had a positive influence on the students' comprehension and visualization of how heat exchanger systems work. Students recognized its representation of an industrial heat exchanger operation and its efficacy in enhancing their understanding and visualization of heat exchangers. By considering the encouraging outcomes and the positive feedback obtained from the students, we are motivated to continue utilizing the heat exchanger kit for future cohorts.

The accreditation of engineering programmes is a subject of great interest in the last decades. However, most studies in the literature are focused on case studies or deal with the different levels of acceptance of the groups involved in the accreditation. There are two main approaches for the accreditation of engineering programmes, i.e., at national or international level. Whereas most developed countries have established national standards for the quality assurance of the university studies, international accreditation systems for engineering studies are limited to 3 alternatives. The interaction between national and international accreditation systems is poorly understood despite of their significance in the design and management of the programme. We aim to fill in this gap and provide useful guidance for universities aiming to apply for the EUR-ACE® label in their chemical engineering programmes (bachelor or master). In general, there is a high level of complementarity between the Spanish and EUR-ACE accreditation systems. However, there are still challenges. For instance, the ad hoc procedure proposed by the national accreditation agency in Spain does not fully consider chemical engineering as a traditional branch of engineering. In addition, the changes in the Spanish accreditation system might negatively impact the current ad hoc procedure for EUR-ACE accreditation for some universities. The incorporation of IChemE in the accreditation process would be an option to deal with this issue.

Chemical engineers frequently contribute to the advancement of the medical field; however, medical applications are often only covered in elective courses. To introduce medical applications into the core curriculum, we implemented a hands-on learning tool that portrays blood separation principles through microbead settling in a core third-year chemical engineering separations class. Test scores from twenty-six students show significant growth at p < 0.001 from Pretest to Posttest I at average values of 41 % and 68 %, respectively. Posttest II scores reveal a significantly higher average score of 84 % for students who sat through lecture before the hands-on experiment in comparison to 75 % for students who first had the hands-on experiment then lecture with statistical significance of p = 0.046 and a moderate Cohen’s d effect size of 0.442. Students report positive, lasting impressions from the guided-learning worksheet and hands-on learning experience on their feedback surveys and one-on-one interviews. Retention assessments from four students six months post-intervention reveal retention of concepts with an average test score of 74 %. These outcomes suggest hands-on learning tools are most impactful on conceptual and motivational gains when supplemented with pre-experiment lectures and quality complementary learning materials.

Tweetable Abstract

A hands-on learning tool containing microbeads suspended in fluid shows blood separation principles and results in significant learning gains in a core chemical engineering separations class.

The grading of assessments that consists of large calculations represents an odious task for educators, as they must verify the correct procedures and algorithms were used as well as ensure that the calculations have been done correctly. For engineering capstone design project assessments, these calculations represent spreadsheets, coding and ancillary calculations that can run to over a hundred pages. There is no meaningful way an educator can properly assess such material in the timeframe given for grading. As such, quantitative tools are needed that enable educators to rapidly evaluate calculation-based assessments. Forensic auditing tools were used here to evaluate calculation-based assessments associated with chemical engineering capstone design projects. These tools analyse how data within sets are presented, the structure of spreadsheets and tables, as well as statistical principles around numbers and their distribution within large data sets. This enables the rapid identification of features within students’ assessments that warrant further investigation to establish if the data has been manipulated or calculation errors exist. The analysis demonstrated that chemical engineering students’ reports can be analysed by forensic auditing tools. Furthermore, these tools identified student errors and misconduct, based on abnormal results highlighted by the analysis, which were not discovered during the standard grading procedure. Applying forensic auditing tools enable a rapid approach to verify engineering students reports submitted for grading. This approach will reduce the time burden on educators, enabling them to focus on ensuring the correct design equations and procedures have been applied.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are revolutionising fields of science and engineering. In recent years, process engineering has widely benefited from this novel modelling and optimisation approach. The open literature can offer several examples of their applications to chemical engineering problems. Increasing investments are devoted to these techniques from different industrial areas, but insufficient information on a structured course covering these topics in a chemical engineering curriculum could be found. The course in this paper intends to reduce this gap. We introduce one of the first courses on artificial intelligence applications in a chemical engineering curriculum. The course targets Master's students with a chemical engineering background and insufficient knowledge of statistical approaches. It covers the main aspects by utilising frontal lectures and hands-on exercises with active learning methods. This paper shows the methodology we adapted to introduce students to machine learning techniques and how they responded to each class. The student performances for each test are shown, as well as the survey results based on student feedback and suggestions. This work contains essential guidelines for educators who will provide an artificial intelligence course in a chemical engineering curriculum.

In times of educational disruption, significant advances in adopting digitalization strategies have been accelerated. In this transformation climate, engineers should be adequately educated to face the challenges and acquire the new skills imposed by Industry 4.0. Among these, one of the most highly requested tools is Python. To tackle these aspects, this work establishes a pedagogical framework to teach Python to chemical engineers. This is achieved through a hands-on series of Python courses (sPyCE), covering topics as chemical reaction engineering and machine learning. Part of the series has been embedded in the curriculum of a Bachelor’s-level course at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Overall, students found the course to be useful; using Python, they solved systems of differential equations, mass and energy balances, set stoichiometric tables, regressions, simulations and more. Motivated by the large applicability and relevance of the covered topics, sPyCE is made publicly available on GitHub.

To improve the achievement and motivation of the students of the subject Mechanical Design of Equipment in the Chemical Engineering Degree, a teaching innovation project is carried out based on gamification and immediate feedback, specifically through the use of the Wooclap software. After the project design and implementation, it was evaluated using two main instruments: the institutional questionnaires of the own university and a specific questionnaire designed by the teaching team. The results suggested that the use of Wooclap in the classroom had a positive impact on students, allowing, on the one hand, to increase students’ motivation and, on the other hand, to improve their academic achievement. Likewise, the constructive comments from the students promoted the teaching team the opportunity to develop and deepen future changes and updates.