Projects Lab, Chemical Engineering, University of Utah
Chemical Engineering Design & Innovation

Syllabus, CH EN 1705

Instructors: 

Ed Trujillo - Section 1 Anthony Butterfield - Section 2 Bob Cox
Chem. E. Professor Chem. E. Professor Lab Manager
edward.trujillo@utah.edu tony.butterfield@utah.edu rec6@utah.edu
3290H MEB, 801-581-4460 3226 MEB, 801-587-8461, 801-61-3.1416 3520B MEB, 801-581-7846

Teaching Assistants: 

Kyle Branch - Section 1 Elizabeth York - Section 2  
kyle.branch@utah.edu a.york@utah.edu  
3226B MEB 4th Floor MEB  

Requirements

Prerequisites:  C- or better in CH EN 1703, MATH 1210 or 1270.

Schedule/Location: 

 
Section 1
Section 2
Days
Thursday
Thursday
 Friday
Friday
Times
9:40 - 10:30
10:40 - 12:40
 12:55 - 1:45
2:00 - 4:30
Room
WEB L110
MEB 3520
WEB L114
MEB 3520

See the online class calendar (http://www.che.utah.edu/projects_lab/calendar.php) for a detailed schedule of lectures and student presentations.

Catalog Description: 

Introduction to engineering design and a wide range of contemporary chemical engineering topics through hands-on design projects. Topics include physical measurements, the design process, data acquisition, fluid flow, heat & mass transfer, biochemical engineering, chemical-reaction kinetics, and process control. This course also focuses on written and oral communication of engineering designs and data.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of CH EN 1705, students should be able to...

A. Better Prepare for a Chemical Engineering Career:

  1. Identify the societal role of chemical engineers and determine contemporary problems solved by chemical engineering.
  2. Explain clear and reasonable long term plans for a variety of academic and professional career paths for chemical engineers.
  3. Develop a support network with senior students and faculty to aid students throughout their career.
  4. Use hands-on laboratory design experiences as foundational insights into the physical processes that are key to future chemical engineering core courses.

B. Create Implement and Evaluate Practical Solutions to Engineering Problems:

  1. Design apparatuses suited to chemical engineering goals, using efficient and effective design methods.
  2. Use simple machining tools, laboratory equipment, and basic prototyping skills to assemble a variety of materials to meet specific design goals.
  3. Create and utilize sensors, simple circuits, data acquisition systems, and user interfaces needed to manipulate and monitor physical processes.
  4. Apply concepts from mathematics to validate the performance of designs.
  5. Analyze experimental measurements using descriptive statistics, and demonstrate an introductory understanding of inferential statistics.
  6. Identify and avoid threats to the environment, health, and safety in a laboratory setting and throughout each step of the design process.

C. Improve Team Working and Communication Skills:

  1. Use team working skills, including goal-setting, consensus-building, listening, role-setting, and time management, to mitigate conflict and complete project goals.
  2. Accurately, efficiently, and clearly convey experimental background, equipment designs, methods, data, and conclusions through oral, visual, and written communication.

Course Details:

Team Projects: Throughout the semester students will be assigned a variety of design projects. Each project will focus on important aspects of chemical engineering, and is meant to provide a hands-on foundational experience with the important chemical engineering concepts that students will encounter throughout their careers. Each project will result in one or two homework assignments, primarily in the form of short memos describing the project.

The majority of work on class projects will be accomplished in lab, during class time. Try to manage your time as to conduct all your experiments which use lab equipment during scheduled class time. However, if more lab time is needed, contact the professor or lab manager to obtain their approval. You should never work in the lab alone.

Teams: Students will be assigned to work in teams of two or three, and teams will be rearranged at the start of most new projects. A significant portion of the homework in 1705 will be a team effort. A single assignment will be turned in per team, and each team member will receive the same grade on their homework assignment. However, a significant portion of your grade will depend upon peer evaluations of how well you perform as a member of their team.

Homework: Throughout the semester you will be given small homework problems to be conducted and turned in individually. Assignments that are to be worked on as an individual will be clearly marked in the footer of their problem statement.

Final Project: At the end of the semester your team will propose and execute a final project. We will discuss possible topics for your final project in class, near the end of the semester. These projects may range from improving our Chem E car to working on ongoing faculty research projects within out department. Final projects will culminate in a 10 min team presentation.

Grading:

A detailed explanation of the grading for 1705 may be found on the projects lab site, http://www.che.utah.edu/projects_lab/courses/rubric.php?course=1705 . The grading breakdown for 1705 is shown in the bar graph below.

50%20%20%10%

Team Projects

Final Project

HomeworkLaboratory performance, safety, cleanliness

 

Assignments handed in late will receive a 9% penalty for the first day late (or fraction thereof), and an additional x% penalty for each subsequent day late, where x equals the number of days after the due date. If x > 100 then x = 100. So a project that was 4 days late would be able to receive a maximum score of: 100 - (9 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4) = 81%.

Text, Materials, Fees:

There is a special laboratory fee of $50. You must also keep an approved laboratory notebook (available in the bookstore). It is recommended that you have access to Perry's Chemical Engineers Handbook, 8th ed, and Writing Style and Standards in Undergraduate Reports, Second Edition by Jeter and Donnel (ISBN 978-1-932780-06-2).

Hard hats, lab coats, and safety glasses will be supplied by the department. Proper use of safety equipment, maintenance of your laboratory workspace and proper record keeping in the lab book will have significant bearing on your grade.

We will have desktop computers available for use, but they are difficult to move around the lab and a bit slow. If you have a laptop it is recommended that you bring it to lab. It is also recommended that you purchase and install a student version of MATLAB, as it will be used in 1705 and in your numerical methods course next year.

Online Material:

The projects lab has a dedicated site with which you should become familiar, http://www.che.utah.edu/projects_lab/. On this site you may find equipment manuals, SOPs, the class calendar, and much more. Oral and written report guidelines are provided in the course handbook, and are also made available online (http://www.che.utah.edu/projects_lab/courses/lab_handbook.php). Lecture overheads and other miscellaneous course material may be found at http://www.che.utah.edu/projects_lab/courses/course_material/. Importantly, each student has a page on this site from which they may submit reports, check their grades, and evaluate the team participation and oral presentations of peers (see the left column menu).

In addition, you will receive several homework assignments using online simulations, and lectures throughout the semester regarding physical measurements, data analysis, and several topics in statistics. Online interactive simulations, and detailed explanations of data analysis concepts will be available to you online, http://www.che.utah.edu/~tony/OTM/.

Nondiscrimination and Disability Access Statement:

The University of Utah is fully committed to affirmative action and to its policies of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity in all programs, activities, and employment with regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age, status as a person with a disability, religion, sexual orientation, and status as a veteran or disabled veteran. The University seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people with disabilities. Reasonable prior notice is needed to arrange accommodations. Evidence of practices not consistent with these policies should be reported to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, (801) 581-8365 (V/TDD).

Upon request, this information is available in alternative formats, such as cassette, Braille, or large print.