Work-in-Progress: The Design of Up-to-Date Industry Problems for a Sophomore Chemical Engineering Course: Challenges and Gains of Industry Mentors

In the last decades, the chemical engineering field has expanded and now encompasses other diverse fields such as pharmaceutical, renewable energy, nanoparticles, food products, and safety. However, the chemical engineering curriculum has not evolved at the same pace. Thus, the gap between industry needs and competencies developed in chemical engineering (CHE) programs has grown. To adequately address this problem, the authors’ goal is to synergize industry-student-academia and to enculturate classrooms with industry. Implementation of this model is particularly essential in the early years of the curriculum. As the first step, the authors aim to design and incorporate up-to-date industry problems into “Materials and Energy Balance” as a course assignment. The authors of this paper have been working with industry mentors from various areas of the chemical engineering field to design up-to-date application-based problems/projects for the selected CHE class. Five industrial mentors with different areas of expertise were selected. One industrial mentor is chosen particularly from process safety experts to integrate safety into the course. The sustainability of this model is dependent on understanding the gain and challenges of industry mentors. Thus, industry mentors are interviewed prior to and following the faculty-industry mentorship to determine the challenges and gains. This study describes these efforts and the data collected. Based on the data collected and analyses, challenges, and gains are identified. The findings of this study help to reveal the effective principles of industrial engagement for the evolving field of chemical engineering. The knowledge gained provide insights regarding important aspects of industry-faculty engagement and establish best practices. The results can help other institutions to build and maintain industry-faculty relationships.