USC

C. Ted Lee, Jr.

Assistant Professor

Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science

February 21, 2007

Introduction to Chemical Engineering (and Nanotechnology) at USC

Reflecting on Your Teaching

USC 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

USC 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

USC Who’s Hiring?(USC ENGINEERING CAREER FAIR - October 12, 2006

Over 25 companies actively recruiting ChE/PTE/MASC graduates (class size ~ 20)

Abbott VascularAerospace CorporationBoeing CompanyCentral Intelligence AgencyCH2M Hill Deloitte Consulting Ecmtek, Inc. Eler & Kanlinowski Energy Corporation of AmericaENVIRON International Company ExxonMobilHoneywell International Intel Corporation

KPMGL-3 Communications- Electron Tech.Lam ResearchLawrence 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

USC 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

USC 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…

USC ChE 120 – Introduction to Chemical Engineering

• Mass and energy balances (neither can be created or destroyed)

new approach

Hong U. Wong (USC STAR Program)and B.J. Gill (Merit Research Scholar)

traditional method

ProcessIn Out

CH2CH3 CH CH2

-H2

USC 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

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!

Thermodynamics is concerned with internal

energy changes

USC 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

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1 2 3 4 5

Environmental

Polymer Science

Petroleum

Nanotechnology

Biochemical

ChE

‘01 ‘02 ‘03 ‘04 ‘05

Emphasis ofChE Students

USC Nanotechnology Option

CHE 487 Nanotechnology and Nanoscale Engineering Through Chemical ProcessesFocus: Chemical engineering fundamentals and engineering scienceTopics: 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 UndergraduatesFocus: Experimental learningTopics: 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 MaterialsFocus: 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 ChemistryFocus: 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 ElectivesEE/MASC 438L Processing for MicroelectronicsFocus: Technical (microelectronics)Topics: Applications and electrical evaluation of selected processes in microfabrication.-or- CHE 489 Biochemical EngineeringFocus: 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 MediaFocus: 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,

colloidscomposites

chemical kinetics dispersion polym.,

ordering, packing, nano-templating,

nano-separations

Materials

Q-dots proteins

USC Nanotechnology “Degree Projects”

In Out Process

+ vs.

Mass Balances Thermo Separations Heat X-fer Kinetics

+

A

B

percolation surface reaction fractionation adsorption nanoparticle synthesis

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

USC Nano-module #1: Synthesis of Gold

gold nanoparticles

“Q-dots”

USC

Core CHE Course

Nanotechnology Biochemical Engineering

Polymer Science

Petroleum Engineering

Environmental Engineering

CHE 120: Mass Balance

Perform polymerizations

Fractionate n-component feeds

Investigate side-reactions of contaminants

CHE 330: Thermodynamics

Examine nanoparticle interactions

Protein-protein, protein-ligand interactions

Determination of the -solvent conditions

Aliphatic and aromatic interactions

Partitioning of contaminants from org. to aq.

CHE 350: Separations

Fractionate nanoparticles based on size

Recover viable proteins from cells

Separation of monomer from polymer

Separations based on volatility (GC)

Ultra-separation of contaminants (~ ppm, ppb)

CHE 442: Chemical Kinetics

Investigate nanoparticle catalyst

Examine enzymatic catalyst

Study emulsion polymerization reactions

Using petro chems. in rxns (combustion)

Rxn rates in VOC vs. eco- solvents

CHE 445: Heat Transfer

Thermal conductivity of nanocolloids

Thermal denaturation of proteins

Thermal conductivity of polymer solns

Heat transfer in fuels combustion

“Micro” global warming, UV and O3 removal

Synthesize nanoparticles

Grow E. coli cells

Degree Projects for all Options

USC 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

USC 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?