1. 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

2. 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 “A Degree Project Approach to Engineering Education”, PI: C. Ted Lee

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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…

7. 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

8. 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!

9. 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

10. 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

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

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

13. Degree Projects for all Options

14. 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

15. 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?