(462c) Process Design and Critical Thinking

For the last six years, students in the capstone process design course are required to design a process, which converts raw materials into a desired product. This process design is completed in teams of 4-5 students and each team designs a different process. The design assignment is split into different sections, which include; process synthesis and balances, equipment design, process optimization & impact of design on global, economic, environmental and society, and process economics. In order to provide our students the opportunity to effectively communicate their work, critically analyze and critique open-ended designs, the projects are rotated between teams for each section of the design. During the rotation of projects, the teams have the opportunity to evaluate one another’s work, integrate design reviews into their final analysis and learn by critically analyzing other projects.

This is the sixth year of this approach to teaching the capstone process design class. This presentation will include specific details/examples of course/team logistics, team and individual assessment and direct assessment of learning objectives. In addition, the technical evolution of the design will be quantified by examining the design changes in response to the critiques provided by the other teams.