AIChE Virtual Communities of Practice – Supporting Faculty during the COVID-19 Pandemic

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, chemical engineering departments from around the world shifted their course offerings from in-person to online almost instantaneously. The AIChE Education Division immediately responded to this educational shift by developing five Virtual Communities of Practice (VCPs) that allowed faculty to share experiences and best practices as well as provide a network for emotional support. Community creation, methods and materials shared, and surveys related to the impact of this initiative will be discussed

Experiments for a Computing Class

The Course Description for Numerical Computing for Chemical Engineers Course at Missouri University of Science and Technology States that Students Will Add to their Programming Skills by Exploring Numerical Computational Techniques for … Chemical Engineering Processes. the Challenge is that the Course is Taught Early in the Curriculum Before the Students Know What Those Chemical Engineering Processes Are. the Course Has Been Structured as a Flipped Class with Class Time Devoted to Solving Problems with the Numerical Tools. to Provide Relevance for the Material, an Experimental Component Has Been Added to the Course. in the Laboratory Sessions, the Students Conduct a Brief Experiment or Activity and Then Analyze that Process using the Computational Technique for the Week. the Activities and Experiments Take No More Than 10 Minutes to Conduct and Use Inexpensive Materials. in This Paper, the Author Will Present How the Course Was Flipped to Accommodate the Lab Sessions, Describe the Experiments Used in the Course, and Relay the Student Response to This Course

Multiphase Equilibrium Behavior of the Mixture Carbon Dioxide + Ethane + Methanol

The Three-Phase Liquid-Liquid-Vapor (Llg) Phase Equilibrium Behavior of the Mixture Carbon Dioxide + Ethane + Methanol Was Experimentally Studied. the Boundaries of the Three-Phase Llg Region in Pressure-Temperature Space Are Delineated. Compositions and Molar Volumes of the Two Liquid Phases and the Vapor Phase Along the 288.15 and 298.15 K Isotherms Are Reported. © 1994, American Chemical Society. All Rights Reserved

A Survey of Women in Academia and the role of a Multidisciplinary Professional Society

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is a global professional society of over 30,000 members with a mission to “Stimulate women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity”1. SWE is an organization that is deeply rooted in industry. The founding members were employed by firms that are a result of the industrial revolution, and thus the focus of its membership is on those that work for industry, consultants, and often themselves. This focus has unintentionally left a large population of its membership, the academic population, underrepresented and misunderstood. Early discussion at the board level in the mid 2000’s indicated a willingness for a paradigm shift. However, the representation of academics on the board and other leadership roles has been lacking. This can be attributed to the lower numbers of this group relative to the whole, as well as the requirements of tenure that do not support the time and dedication to such an endeavor. A small but influential group of members, including a former board member, and a few involved at various levels of the society have been working toward increasing opportunities for women in academia (WIA). Some of the initiatives have been the societal support of the WIA committee, the addition of professional development opportunities targeting women in academic careers, providing recognition and awards, and aiding in networking opportunities. These all lead toward career advancement, making SWE more attractive to women engineers in the academe. To further our understanding of available opportunities and those opportunities that will make membership and active participation more attractive to members in academia, a survey was developed. Information gathered by the survey include demographics, perceived needs, and potential contributions the individual could make in furthering the creation of professional development opportunities for this population. This work is intended to share the results of this survey, using descriptive statistics, further developing our understanding of this underserved population within SWE

Comparing a Modified Problem-Based Learning Approach to a Traditional Approach to Teaching Heat Transfer

Experience has convinced me that traditional lectures are easy for the professor, but are not always the best educational approach for the majority of my students. Over the years I have tried to incorporate more active approaches in the classroom. I incorporated many active learning activities and added technology-driven modifications to my courses. More recently I tried adding problem-based learning (PBL) to my classes. I found that light use of a modified form of PBL along with a variety of other active learning elements have improved the level of student involvement, classroom morale, and, ultimately, the learning that occurred in my classes

Determination of Partial Molar Volumes at Critical End Points

There Has Been Considerable Interest in the Volumetric Behavior of Supercritical Binary (And Higher) Fluid Mixtures Near the Solvent Critical Point. It is in the Vicinity of This Critical Point that Supercritical Extraction Processes Are Generally Considered to Be Most Effective. in the Case of a Solvent + Solute System that Exhibits Liquid-Liquid-Vapor (Llg) Partial Miscibility, Properties of the Dense Gas Phase Near an Ll = G Upper Critical End Point Are Most Interesting. the Partial Molar Volumes of the Solvent and Solute at These Conditions Are Difficult to Measure Directly. in This Note, We Show that the Solvent and Solute Partial Molar Volumes of the Critical Phase of a Binary Critical End Point Are Readily Determined from the Associated Three-Phase Liquid-Liquid-Vapor (Llg) Volume-Composition Data. © 1995

Multiphase Equilibria of the Binary Mixture Xenon + 1-Decanol

Patton, C.L., Luks, K.D., 1994. Mulphase Equilibria of the Binary Mixture Xenon + 1-Decanol. Fluid Phase Equilibria, 98: 201-211. Our Group Has Previously Performed Liquid-Liquid-Vapor (11g) Studies of Binary Systems of Several Solvent Gases (Ethane, CO2, N2O) and the Homologous Series of 1-Alkanols. as a Result of These Studies, the Question Has Arisen as to What Effect the Molecular Nature of the Solvent Gas Has on the Llg Phase Equilibrium Behavior. to Help Answer This Question, the Llg and Solid-Liquid-Vapor (Sig) Behavior of the Binary Mixture of the Non-Polar Solvent Gas Xenon Plus the Solute 1-Decanol Are Examined. the Compositions and Molar Volumes of the Liquid Phase Along the Llg and Sig Loci Are Detailed. in Addition, Liquid-Vapor (Ig) Equilibrium Data Are Reported for Two Isotherms. the Properties Along the Multiphase Loci of Xenon + 1-Decanol Are Compared with Those for the Binary Mixtures Ethane + 1-Decanol, N2O + 1-Decanol and CO2 + 1-Decanol. © 1994

Multiphase Equilibrium Behavior of the Mixture Ethane + 1-Decanol + N-Docosane

Patton, C.L. and Luks, K.D., 1993. Multiphase Equilibrium Behavior of the Mixture Ethane + 1-Decanol + N-Docosane. Fluid Phase Equilibria, 85: 181-190. the Phase Equilibrium Behavior of the Liquid-Liquid-Vapor (11g) Region of the Mixture Ethane + 1-Decanol + N-Docosane Was Examined. This Ternary System Was Studied Experimentally using Visual-Cell Stoichiometric Techniques with Pressure Discrimination of ±0.01 Bar, Accomplished by using a Cell Pressure Transducer in Conjunction with a Dead-Weight Gauge. the Three-Phase Region Was Located between the 11g Loci of the Binary Mixtures Ethane + 1-Decanol and Ethane + N-Docosane and Bounded Below by a Lower Critical End Point (1 = 1-G) Locus and above by an Upper Critical End Point (1-1 = G) Locus. Phase Compositions and Molar Volumes Are Reported for the Two Liquid Phases Along the 298.15 and 304.15 K Isotherms. Separabilities between the Liquid Phases of the Two Solutes Are Presented and Discussed for the Two Isotherms. © 1993

Liquid-Liquid-Vapor Phase Equilibrium Behavior of Binary Xenon + 1-Alkanol Mixtures

Liquid-Liquid-Vapor (Llg) Loci for the Binary Mixtures Xenon + 1-Hexanol and Xenon + Methanol Are Studied Experimentally using a Visual Cell (Stoichiometric) Technique. the Pressure, Temperature, Phase Compositions and Molar Volumes of the Two Liquid Phases Are Reported for All the Xenon + 1-Alkanol Mixtures from Ethanol to 1-Tetradecanol, Which with Methanol Are All the Members of This Homologous Series of Binary Mixtures that Display Llg Behavior. the Llg Behavior of This Homologous Series of Mixtures is Compared to that of the Homologous Series of 1-Alkanol Mixtures with the Solvent Gases Ethane, Carbon Dioxide, and Nitrous Oxide. © 1995