Emulsions are homogenous mixtures of two immiscible liquids where one phase is finely dispersed in the other. They are found in a variety of consumer productions including food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Although, this is a phenomenon that chemical engineering students often encounter after graduation, students often have a weak background in this area due to the absence of a required emulsions or colloids course in the chemical engineering curricula. One opportunity to increase student exposure and retention in this field is the integration of an open-ended emulsion experiment in the senior process engineering laboratory. As part of the half-semester experimentation cycle students are divided into teams to design an emulsion experiment, test a variety of variables, and have weekly team oral pop quizzes.
