2024 AIChE Annual Meeting
(461c) Flipping the Chemical Engineering Curriculum: Start with Design
Author
Chada, J. - Presenter, University of Wisconsin-Madison
The instructor of the first course in any curriculum plays an important role; they provide the ‘first-look’ to prospective students entering a new discipline. For the uninitiated, a first engineering course must balance teaching threshold concepts that often involve math, science, and problem solving to students with vastly different academic backgrounds. In recent years, UC Santa Barbara has overhauled its first-year chemical engineering course, drawing inspiration from Prof. Jeffrey Reimer’s introductory textbook, to emphasize the creative design of new processes. We emphasize the importance of concepts, creativity in design, and authentic problem-solving rather than strictly numerical solutions. In this session, I will highlight our approach and its effect on improving both course outcomes and the student experience.