An Integrated, Modular Chemical Engineering Curriculum

University Of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

PROPOSAL NO.: 0230613 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: McCarthy, Joseph INSTITUTION NAME: University of Pittsburgh TITLE: An Integrated, Modular Chemical Engineering Curriculum Abstract As the scientific needs of tomorrow's industries are not well defined, the goal of an engineering educator should not be to train specialized experts in the perceived areas of future import, but instead to give students a broad spectrum of knowledge and to cultivate their ability to think analytically and critically while encouraging them to pursue learning throughout their careers. The challenge before us then is to develop a curriculum that prepares students for the engineering economy of today, while enabling them - through a strong and well integrated core of engineering knowledge -- to maintain versatility through life-long learning and continuing education. In this proposal we will formulate a plan to (a) Give the students a strong fundamental foundation by concentrating on the essential core of scientific and engineering basics in a given discipline.(b) Enhance systems thinking by helping students to integrate their knowledge across courses and disciplines so that they are better prepared to address open-ended problems; and (c) Prepare and provide for continuing education and life-long learning. We hypothesize that an effective method of accomplishing these three tasks is to combine ideas from the NSF Coalitions with the well-established K-12 practice of Block Scheduling. Specifically, we propose to: 1. Modularize and integrate the critical "core" of Chemical Engineering (including mass balances, thermodynamics, kinetics, separations, transport phenomena, process systems, control, laboratory, and design) into six Pillar courses. 2. Re-evaluate and re-align supporting courses (mathematics, chemistry, physics, and biology) and elective courses into application-focused tracks. 3. Re-align each individual course so that, in addition to the traditional macroscopic and continuum-level descriptions, we also include "sub-continuum" or "fundamental unit" analysis.