Introduction to Chemical Engineering (and Nanotechnology) at USC Reflecting on Your Teaching Introduction to Chemical Engineering (and Nanotechnology) at USC C. Ted Lee, Jr. Assistant Professor Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science February 21, 2007

Industries ChE grads serve Macroscopic vs. Molecular approach Outline Industries ChE grads serve Macroscopic vs. Molecular approach Courses students take Specializing in a particular area (emphasis) Nanotechnology “Degree Projects” “Chemical Engineering education is at a crossroads. There is a disconnect between the curriculum (which is largely focused on unit operations, e.g., heat exchangers, distillation columns, etc., and heavily geared towards commodity chemicals) and faculty research (which has recently emphasized nano- and bio-technology). Furthermore, there is a disparity between the courses students take and the diversity of industries they will serve (only about 25% of graduates go to work in the chemical industry, while the biotech, food, fuels, and electronics industries continue to aggressively hire ChE graduates).” From: NSF-DUE-0633372 “A Degree Project Approach to Engineering Education”, PI: C. Ted Lee

After graduation, where does a ChE work? Only about a quarter of ChE grads go to work in the chemical industry Many of our recent graduates have gone to work in new and emerging areas of importance

Who’s Hiring? (USC ENGINEERING CAREER FAIR - October 12, 2006 Over 25 companies actively recruiting ChE/PTE/MASC graduates (class size ~ 20) Abbott Vascular Aerospace Corporation Boeing Company Central Intelligence Agency CH2M Hill Deloitte Consulting Ecmtek, Inc. Eler & Kanlinowski Energy Corporation of America ENVIRON International Company ExxonMobil Honeywell International Intel Corporation KPMG L-3 Communications- Electron Tech. Lam Research Lawrence Livermore Nat. Lab. Micron Technology, Inc. MicroStrategy State Water Res. Control Board Simpson Gumpertz & Heger U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Valero Energy Corporation WorleyParsons Xerox Corporation

Macroscopic vs. Molecular The bio/nano emphasis of research will likely result in new technologies, which will lead to an even greater number of graduates working in “nontraditional” enterprises So how then can the faculty continue to prepare highly-qualified students for today’s changing workplace? macroscopic  molecular Chemical engineering is uniquely positioned between molecular sciences and engineering

What courses do students take? ChE 120 – Introduction to Chemical Engineering conservation of mass and energy ChE 330 – Thermodynamics thermo (heat), dynamics (flow) ChE 350 – Separations over 75% of the production costs for chemicals/synthetic materials ChE 442 – Chemical Kinetics reaction rates, enzymes, etc. ChE 443 – Viscous Flow flow through pipes, etc. ChE 444 – Unit Operations components in a typical manufacturing facility ChE 445/446 – Molecular Transport Processes diffusion vs. heat ChE 460 – Process Control automation ChE 480 – Plant Design putting it all together…

ChE 120 – Introduction to Chemical Engineering Mass and energy balances (neither can be created or destroyed) D -H2 new approach Hong U. Wong (USC STAR Program) and B.J. Gill (Merit Research Scholar) traditional method Process In Out

Thermodynamics is concerned with internal energy changes ChE 330 – Thermodynamics Total energy (E) of a system: Kinetic Energy (K.E.) – velocity of the center of mass Potential Energy (P.E.) – location of the center of mass Internal Energy (U) – associated with molecular motions, interactions, and bonds in the system Thermodynamics is concerned with internal energy changes E = K.E. + P.E. + U Frink: And these should give you the grounding you'll need in thermodynamics, hypermathematics, and of course microcalifragilistics. Homer: Look, I just wanna know how to invent things...tell me!

Customizing your degree ChE students may select an “emphasis” in a particular field (biochemical, environmental, and petroleum engineering, polymer science) Most students take advantage of this opportunity Biochemical Engineering and Nanotechnology are the most popular emphases ‘01 ‘02 ‘03 ‘04 ‘05 Emphasis of ChE Students

Nanotechnology Option CHE 487 Nanotechnology and Nanoscale Engineering Through Chemical Processes Focus: Chemical engineering fundamentals and engineering science Topics: Properties of materials on the nanometer scale, probes capable of visualizing matter on these length scales, techniques of processing nanoscale materials. CHE 491 Nanotechnology Research for Undergraduates Focus: Experimental learning Topics: Individual research for the completion of the degree project, to be taken during both semesters in the senior year. MASC 350 Design, Synthesis and Processing of Engineering Materials Focus: Engineering science (top-down approach to nanotechnology) Topics: Structure, properties, synthesis, and design of metallic, ceramic, polymeric, electronic, composite, nanostructured and biomaterials; microfabrication. CHEM 453 Advanced Inorganic Chemistry Focus: Fundamental (bottom-up approach to nanotechnology) Topics: Atomic and molecular structure, bonding, coordination compounds, transition and nontransition metals, magnetic and optical properties, crystal field theory. Nanotechnical Electives EE/MASC 438L Processing for Microelectronics Focus: Technical (microelectronics) Topics: Applications and electrical evaluation of selected processes in microfabrication. -or- CHE 489 Biochemical Engineering Focus: Technical (bionanotechnology) Topics: Biological and biochemical processes and materials, separation/purification of biological products; proteins, enzymes, and nucleic acids. -or- CHE 463L Introduction to Transport Processes in Porous Media Focus: Technical (nanomaterials) Topics: Single- and multi-phase flow though porous media; diffusion and heat transfer. Hard Soft Properties probes Processing TEM, SEM, AFM DLS Nanocrystals, micelles, polymers, colloids composites chemical kinetics dispersion polym., ordering, packing, nano-templating, nano-separations Materials Q-dots proteins

Nanotechnology “Degree Projects” NSF-DUE-0633372 “A Degree Project Approach to Engineering Education”, PI: C. Ted Lee

Nano-module #1: Synthesis of Gold gold nanoparticles “Q-dots”

Degree Projects for all Options

Conclusions ChE is not just chemical engineering Graduates go to work in many diverse areas A broad range of scientific and engineering topics are covered in the curriculum, making ChE grads highly desired (and making the curriculum increasingly difficult to teach) ChE students at USC can further fine tune there degrees with an academic emphasis

Questions? 1. Do your own experiences as a learner influence your teaching approaches when you teach? In what way? 2. “Critical reflection” is described as “a deliberate, consistent, systematic effort to uncover assumptions”: As you reflect on your teaching, what might have been erroneous assumptions that, upon critical reflection, needed your attention regarding either the effectiveness of a teaching approach or one aspect of student learning? 3. What type of student feedback do you find most helpful to your own critical reflection and, thus, your assessment about your teaching? 4. Research has shown that College teaching should not be an isolating profession: critical reflection about teaching requires a community of peers; it’s a social process: one needs peer feedback and emotional support. Do you agree? Why?