(262h) Generative AI with Matlab for Enhancing the Chemical Engineering Curriculum

Generative AI (GenAI) has rapidly gained popularity in chemical engineering education, research, and industry, much like in other fields, through platforms such as ChatGPT. Beyond general applications like text, code, and image generation, GenAI is used for chemical engineering-specific applications such as enhancing GenAI model outputs by integrating domain-specific knowledge, designing and completing process flowsheets, gathering and preprocessing chemical and hazard data, optimizing processes, and facilitating AI-assisted decision-making while operating processes.

As chemical engineering educators delve into GenAI, they frequently encounter questions regarding its optimal usage, benefits, limitations, and responsible implementation to ensure academic integrity and effective student learning.

We will present the experimental tools provided by MathWorks, enabling educators and students to utilize Generative AI with MATLAB. We will discuss how these tools can be integrated into chemical engineering courses, such as heat transfer and process control, and how they can be applied in student projects involving low-cost hardware such as Chem-E-Car projects.

We will summarize our findings on promising educational use cases of GenAI. Additionally, we will address concerns about academic integrity, explore custom GPTs for creating instructional content and student assessments. We will conclude by providing resources to help you begin experimenting with GenAI using MATLAB.