A method is presented which can be used to obtain analytical solutions for boundary value problems (BVPs) using the matrix exponential and Maple. Systems of second order, linear differential equations are expressed as two or more first order equations in matrix form, and their solutions are obtained using the matrix exponential, matrix…

We present an educational unit to teach computational modeling, a vital part of chemical engineering curricula, through the lens of synthetic biology. Lectures, code, and homework questions provide conceptual and practical introductions to each computational method involved in the model development process, along with perspectives on how methods…

This paper introduces a novel virtual method to conduct continuous distillation experiment in an undergraduate unit operation laboratory with the help of SPM 700 Distillation Column, one of the modules available in Simtronics, a commercial process operation simulator. Simtronics simulator is a powerful tool to teach process industry skills and it…

Applications or "apps" for computers and mobile devices are ubiquitous in modern technology. Several apps are available for teaching chemical engineering and are disseminated inexpensively or are freely available online. This paper highlights software apps that chemical engineering instructors may use "off the shelf" for iOS,…

Student success and attempts on hundreds of online homework problems housed in a fully interactive online textbook, Material and Energy Balances zyBook, were studied over three cohorts of students (n=284). Auto-graded homework questions with randomized numbers and content can explore proficiency in the course material. Students are allowed to…

MATLAB live scripts are useful for reproducible programmatic compilation of chemical data and literature. In this article, we use a combination of the PubChem PUG REST Application Programming Interface (API), Structured Data Query (SDQ) agent, and text extraction with MATLAB live scripts that allow programmatic PubChem similarity searching, SMARTS…

This article presents and analyzes existing taxonomies of virtual and augmented reality and demonstrates knowledge gaps and mixed terminology, which may cause confusion among educators, researchers, and developers. Several such occasions of confusion are presented. A methodology is then presented to construct a taxonomy of virtual reality and…

Simulation software has experienced growing interest in chemical engineering curriculums for its usage in commercial engineering practices. This article describes the ASPEN Plus® version 10 (V10) simulations and a student teach students approach to integrate ASPEN in the chemical engineering curriculum at the University of Kansas (KU). Videos,…

Two 20-h modelling-based workshops focused on the explanation of thermally activated phenomena were held at the University of Palermo, Italy, during the Academic Year 2014-2015. One of them was conducted by applying an inquiry-based approach, while the other, still based on laboratory and modelling activities, was not focused on inquiry.…

Purpose: The implementation of life cycle assessment (LCA) and carbon footprinting represents an important professional and research opportunity for chemical engineers, but this is not broadly reflected in chemical engineering curricula worldwide. This paper aims to present the implementation of a coursework that is easy to apply, free of cost,…

This paper illustrates a teaching technique used in computer applications in chemical engineering employed for designing various unit operation processes, where the students learn about unit operations by designing them. The aim of the course is not to teach design, but rather to teach the fundamentals and the function of unit operation processes…

Introductions of computer-aided software and simulators are implemented during the sophomore-year of the chemical engineering (ChE) curriculum at the American University of Sharjah (AUS). Our faculty concurs that software integration within the curriculum is beneficial to our students, as evidenced by the positive feedback received from industry…

Optimization problems suitable for all levels of chemical engineering students are available. These problems do not require advanced mathematical techniques, since they can be solved using typical software used by students and practitioners. The method used to solve these problems forces students to understand the trends for the different terms…

This paper deals with the use of commercial CFD software in teaching graduate level computational fluid dynamics. FLUENT 6.3.26 was chosen as the CFD software to teach students the entire CFD process in a single course. The course objective is to help students to learn CFD, use it in some practical problems and analyze as well as validate the…

Group projects are common in undergraduate chemical engineering course. Wikis are a new medium for group projects because they are Webpages that are edited using the same software used to view the Webpage. Advantages include the ability to record changes made by each individual (helpful for grading), ability to continuously monitor progress, and a…