Education for Chemical Engineers最新文献

Thermodynamics studies the nature of energy and its forms of existence and transmission between systems. Exergy, as part of the Thermodynamics program in Chemical Engineering, plays a fundamental role in the development and promotion of processes related to energy saving. However, an analysis of the programs of Thermodynamics and related subjects for the Chemical Engineering degree in many Argentine universities revealed that there are few programs that include exergy as a component part of a Thermodynamics taught course, and those that do often use the few textbooks that address the subject. In this sense, a total of 92 textbooks have been counted as bibliography for the teaching of Thermodynamics/Physical Chemistry in Chemical Engineering. Out of that total, 39 books appear in at least two course programs, while the remaining 53 are less known books, and are cited by only one program. Of the 39 most widely used books, only 14 include the topic of exergy. On the other hand, the statistics of grades obtained by students in Thermodynamics indicate a low performance in the understanding of exergy. The results of exams showed deficiencies in different theoretical aspects related to the understanding of the topic with percentages of failure of 60%, 47% and 21% in three different evaluation instances. Moreover, the total percentage of students who could not solve the exergy problems or solved it with errors was significantly higher (> 67%) than the percentage of those who managed to solve it correctly (< 20%). In this work, a pedagogical proposal for the teaching of Exergy was formulated, contemplating the learning axes of the theoretical framework, the language and the nature of Thermodynamics. It is intended that this proposal serves teachers to promote a meaningful learning of exergy for Chemical Engineering students.

This study highlights the potential benefits of integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) into chemical engineering education. In this study, Chat-GPT, a user-friendly LLM, is used as a problem-solving tool. Chemical engineering education has traditionally focused on fundamental knowledge in the classroom with limited opportunities for hands-on problem-solving. To address this issue, our study proposes an LLMs-assisted problem-solving procedure. This approach promotes critical thinking, enhances problem-solving abilities, and facilitates a deeper understanding of core subjects. Furthermore, incorporating programming into chemical engineering education prepares students with vital Industry 4.0 skills for contemporary industrial practices. During our experimental lecture, we introduced a simple example of building a model to calculate steam turbine cycle efficiency, and assigned projects to students for exploring the possible use of LLMs in solving various aspect of chemical engineering problems. Although it received mixed feedback from students, it was found to be an accessible and practical tool for improving problem-solving efficiency. Analyzing the student projects, we identified five common difficulties and misconceptions and provided helpful suggestions for overcoming them. Our course has limitations regarding using advanced tools and addressing complex problems. We further provide two additional examples to better demonstrate how to integrate LLMs into core courses. We emphasize the importance of universities, professors, and students actively embracing and utilizing LLMs as tools for chemical engineering education. Students must develop critical thinking skills and a thorough understanding of the principles behind LLMs, taking responsibility for their use and creations. This study provides valuable insights for enhancing chemical engineering education's learning experience and outcomes by integrating LLMs.

Recently, the Brazilian Ministry of Education issued New Curriculum Guidelines for engineering programs. This paper encompasses a pedagogical intervention reflecting our efforts to incorporate these new guidelines into our engineering program. Specifically, this work has led to the competency-based rework of the following subjects offered in the Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Program at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp): I) Modeling and Systems Analysis; II) Synthesis and Optimization of Chemical Processes; III) Chemical Process Simulation; IV) Process Analysis and Control; V) Chemical Process Design; and VI) Chemical Installations Design. Thirteen transdisciplinary competencies are integrated throughout the six subjects. Students highlighted design thinking, lifelong knowledge/learning, openness to act autonomously, teamwork, communication, and cooperation as essential qualities. Moreover, the greater focus on the process systems engineering approach involving the analysis, synthesis, design, and control of sustainable processes helps chemical engineers to face new challenges using renewable resources.

In 2021, Universidad de la República in Uruguay approved a new Chemical Engineering undergraduate program that incorporates novel conceptual definitions such as competency-based education. This paper describes the process of defining the new curriculum plan and presents the program's structure, as well as specific and cross-disciplinary competencies. These competencies are then compared to the learning outcomes established in the guide for programs accreditation of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. To provide practical examples of how the competency-based approach was incorporated into the program, three specific cases are presented. The first case focuses on the implementation of the internship and industry project. The second case illustrates the incorporation of computational tools as an essential part of different courses throughout the degree program. Finally, the third case describes a new design for the fluid mechanics laboratory that emphasizes hands-on learning and helps students develop several competencies.

Process safety is a fundamental part of chemical engineering education and a key learning outcome to prepare generations of responsible and well-rounded engineers for the industry. The lack of courses and methodologies to prepare students with essential process safety training limits their consciousness about accident causes and prevention. It potentially leads to catastrophic and financially devastating events during professional practice. In this work, it was carried out a proposal for teaching process safety embedded within the chemical engineering program at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. The approach to teaching safety was defined as a disseminated curriculum, which consists of establishing a transversal axis of process safety, which includes different learning experiences distributed in key courses of the current curriculum, beginning from the first semester, and concluding in the capstone project as the major design experience. The teaching staff prepared a list of topics and detailed experiences to develop classroom activities and tasks on process safety. Therefore, the implementation was branded as “The moment of safety” to set a culture within the academic community and future engineers. In this work, two surveys were conducted to assess faculty members' perceptions. According to the survey findings, around 81.8 % of the students indicated a level of expectation between high and very high, and 93.9 % valued the methodology proposed for the program as correct. More than 88 % of faculty members evaluate the proposal as appropriate or very appropriate, and 70 % recommend the formulation of a new ABET student outcome for the program related to process safety. These findings emphasize the significance of continuing to work through curricula to build a long-term process safety culture.

Global engineering education addresses the development of professional competencies in undergraduates to prepare professionals capable of solving complex technical problems under social, environmental, and economic challenges. In this work, training was carried out to incorporate the bioprocess research of the chemical engineering students at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellin, Colombia, using a project-based learning methodology (PBL). An open call was made to the students, and they were challenged to build a prototype which they had to support together with a written report as evidence for their admission to the research hotbed and assign them research projects in bioprocesses. In the last decade, 276 students participated in the hotbed generating 21 conference presentations, four software, 14 research articles, and 16 academic awards. In parallel, a survey was conducted to analyze the perception of graduates participating in the hotbed according to a list of 17 competency criteria relevant to the chemical engineering program. It was found that the average perception is at the highest levels (4−5), which indicates that most of the graduates value the significant contribution made by the CIBIOT hotbed to the development of a professional in experimentation, communication, and acquisition of new knowledge.

The integration of product-based learning strategies in Materials in Chemical Engineering education is crucial for students to gain the skills and competencies required to thrive in the emerging circular bioeconomy. Traditional materials engineering education has often relied on a transmission teaching approach, in which students are expected to passively receive information from instructors. However, this approach has shown to be inadequate under the current circumstances, in which information is readily available and innovative tools such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality environments are becoming widespread (e.g., metaverse). Instead, we consider that a critical goal of education should be to develop aptitudes and abilities that enable students to generate solutions and products that address societal demands. In this work, we propose innovative strategies, such as product-based learning methods and GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) artificial intelligence text generation models, to modify the focus of a Materials in Chemical Engineering course from non-sustainable materials to sustainable ones, aiming to address the critical challenges of our society. This approach aims to achieve two objectives: first to enable students to actively engage with raw materials and solve real-world challenges, and second, to foster creativity and entrepreneurship skills by providing them with the necessary tools to conduct brainstorming sessions and develop procedures following scientific methods. The incorporation of circular bioeconomy concepts, such as renewable resources, waste reduction, and resource efficiency into the curriculum provides a framework for students to understand the environmental, social, and economic implications in Chemical Engineering. It also allows them to make informed decisions within the circular bioeconomy framework, benefiting society by promoting the development and adoption of sustainable technologies and practices.

The COVID-19 pandemic created significant challenges in operating the lab component of undergraduate courses and promoting active learning, with only a short time available to implement alternative teaching methods. In this work a low-cost platform for distance operation and assessment of replaceable bench-scale heat exchangers was developed to provide students an opportunity to observe the transient and steady-state behavior of heat exchangers while unable to access lab facilities. Each workbench had a new material cost of approximately C$5 000. Operation of physical equipment provided students the opportunity to observe non-ideal behavior and compare various heat transfer correlations which may not be seen in process simulators. The developed platform implemented an Arduino microcontroller for low-cost process control. Equipment was seamlessly slotted in to the existing course upon the return to on-campus learning and provided a more stable system when compared to previously existing lab experiments. Most learning outcomes were observed in remote and in-lab experiments and challenges faced in remote operation are highlighted. No statistically significant difference was observed in student performance between students completing lab experiments remotely and students completing experiments in-lab.

This work describes current teaching methodologies applied in the Unit Operations Laboratories (UOL) at the National University of Colombia (UNAL) Bogota campus, with emphasis in the capstone course of Laboratory of Separations, Reactions and Control Operations (LSRCO). This class is carried out using a wide variety of pilot and bench scale equipment within a ∼ 1000 m² laboratory facilities. The description of the course includes the context where it was developed, its goals and the intended student outcomes. Problem-based methodologies deployed during laboratory sessions are described, and required preparatory and final reporting materials together with examples of projects conceived and developed by students are described. The lasts are related to process control, separations, reaction engineering and entire process design problems. Additionally, course evaluation and grading scheme is presented including student surveys and final grades from recent semesters. Finally, tools, rubrics and results from the assessment of ABET’s student outcomes are summarized. Based upon the obtained results, it was observed that the working and evaluation methodologies have been well received by students, and besides improving technical competences, those have been effective to enhance their core skills and to promote the development of a research and entrepreneurial attitude.

In Colombia there are few chemical engineering programs and those have been historically linked to the industrial development of the country, supporting the training needs for industrial development in several regions of economic importance. The southwestern Colombian region contributes with the largest industrial production in the country, and the chemical engineering program of Universidad del Valle has been the only one in the region for 78 years. The last curriculum reform took place 20 years ago and the accelerated technological change urged the adoption of deep changes in the curriculum structure. A student-centered constructivist approach was applied in the faculty-wide transformation in the mesocurriculum and microcurriculum levels, defining the so-called Sensitivities, Capacities and Competencies (SCCs) as the set of attitudes, skills and knowledge necessary for an integral performance of engineers. Those were considered from two standpoints: general and disciplinary formation. In the disciplinary level, the historic traditional pillars of chemical engineering were maintained, but taking advantage on the areas of academic research, development and innovation (R+D+I) expertise demanded by the industry around the university in addition to transversal priority areas for modern chemical engineering professionals. This contribution discussed the elements of the curriculum reform for modernizing the chemical engineering curriculum of a high-impact program in a stablished university with a regional vocation.