New Directions for Chemical Engineering (2022) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 213-238
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From page 213... ...
. There is no question as to the increasing role of modeling and simulation tools in the education of chemical engineers of the future.
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Electronic structure calculations are used at the smallest level, which can inform classic force fields to access longer length and time scales. Chemical engineers have made leading contributions using such approaches in a wide variety of systems.
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Reactive force fields such as ReaxFF and QMDFF and improvements in ab initio molecular dynamics promise to enable model-based chemical experiments. Chemical engineers can also meet the challenge of capturing and manipulating the information from simulation and experiment in forms that provide mechanistic insight to inform the design, control, and exploitation of the systems of interest.
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. Chemical engineers are likely to contribute significantly to the development, implementation, and commercialization of these systems of the future.
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Specifically, AI can enable chemical engineers to design circular products and materials (via ML-assisted design processes for rapid prototyping and testing) , operate circular business models (via AI's predictive capabilities from histor ical datasets)
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With rapid advances in biological/medical knowledge, data-collection capabilities, and computer hardware and software technologies, the development of such medical simulation systems may occur sooner rather than later. NOVEL INSTRUMENTS Chemical engineers have had a transformative impact on instrument development, especially in the establishment of fundamentals underpinning measurement and characterization, in the development of hardware, and in early adoption.
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The impact on biology and medicine has been particularly significant, since the high-throughput capabilities of these tools now make the routine collection of massive amounts of data a practical means of addressing biological complexity. The field of tool development offers opportunities for chemical engineers to contribute to the development of next-generation instruments that will provide both fundamental and practical insights not possible today.
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The design, analysis, and effective deployment of these systems offer opportunities for chemical engineers to contribute their expertise in fluid dynamics, reaction engineering, tissue and cellular engineering, and process systems engineering. SENSORS Sensors for Process Monitoring Sensors play an important role in the design, development, and monitoring of processes and systems in all areas of chemical engineering.
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An emerging opportunity is in the adoption of these sensors and sensor networks for remote operation and remote laboratories. While remote operations have been used in the past largely for processes with safety concerns or with inherently limited access, the practical limitations imposed by COVID-19, which made remote operations inevitable, have brought this technology to the forefront not only for manufacturing processes but also for instruction in laboratory courses, representing an area of potential future impact for chemical engineers.
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modifying existing analytical methods and using data science methods to determine the composition of complex mixtures (e.g., cell culture supernatant)
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. Recent advances in sweat-based sensors are fueling optimism that the development of means of measuring additional analytes, including hormones, toxins, and allergic responses in the body, will likely have a similar transformative impact on health.
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The challenges associated with expanding the scope of such technologies for a broad range of drugs offer future opportunities for chemical engineers. Data Handling and Processing The ability to extract new, better information from existing data promises to have significant impacts on health and medicine.
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Such a future suggests profound and exciting opportunities for chemical engineers, who are trained in process integration and systems-level thinking -- skills that will be required to synthesize disparate data streams into information and knowledge. The systems thinking, analytical approaches, and creative problem-solving skills of today's chemical engineering graduates give them a distinct advantage in using AI in real-world contexts.
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Chemical engineers would often begin a career in R&D or manufacturing and move, over time, into senior technical and business leadership positions. Faculty members would engage with industry as consultants and through university–industry collaborations.
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The committee proposes strategies for growing and diversifying the profession -- both of which are essential to the field's survival and potential for impact -- by making it more broadly accessible.1 Following a discussion of the aspects of undergraduate and graduate education that will need to change to prepare the next generation of chemical engineers, the chapter turns to emerging trends that are shaping new models of learning and innovation for the future. FIGURE 9-1 Career paths available to chemical engineers in a range of industries, shown here with median salary in industry categories with at least 30 respondents to an American Institute of Chemical Engineers salary survey.
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universities is shown in the figure below. Undergraduate education and graduate research and education are two distinct but connected functions of research universities.
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THE UNDERGRADUATE CORE CURRICULUM Throughout its history, chemical engineering has been defined as a profession by its core undergraduate curriculum, a curriculum that has for more than a century prevented the "spalling of the profession" (p. 573, Scriven, 1991)
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The examples used in transmitting this knowledge and applying it in practice have changed and will continue to do so as chemical engineering finds new applications, even as the foundations have acquired additional complexity through mathematical dexterity fueled by transformational changes in computing power, as well as greater breadth through the growth of the biochemical aspects of the discipline. The core undergraduate curriculum provides a problem-solving approach to the mastery of concepts in the dynamics and thermodynamics of physical and chemical processes, with a historical evolution from the physical to the chemical; most recently to the biochemical and electrochemical, and at present, toward the photochemical realm.
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. These requirements have not changed, but chemical engineers function and practice in a much different environment today.
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In the committee's view, the core undergraduate curriculum is not the most effective vehicle for delivering the necessary foundational knowledge and skills in these areas. Elective courses, postgraduate training in specialized industrial settings, and lifelong learning through professional societies and relevant literature provide more effective routes for acquiring and sharpening these skills, and the application and sharpening of these ancillary skills can be made part of each core course, with emphasis on how they enable and enhance the technical contributions of chemical engineers.
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These earlier connections can be made, in the committee's view, by making the boundaries between the silos more porous, highlighting how the individual core concepts first presented within their respective silos ultimately merge into the practice of chemical engineering. Experiential Learning and a "Laboratory within Each Core Course" The dense nature of the core undergraduate curriculum leaves few openings for incorporating an additional hands-on laboratory course earlier in the curriculum.
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The analogous course for majors is mathematical in nature and uses the roasting, grinding, and brewing of coffee to introduce process flow diagrams, mass and energy balances, transport phenomena, separations, and the basics of design. With this experience in hand, students are demonstrably more sophisticated in their understanding of how individual courses and concepts fit into the discipline and various applications as they complete their degrees.
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Later sections of this chapter address the need to enhance and improve training in business, economics, innovation, and entrepreneurship, as well as lifelong learning. The committee considers these skills to be essential, well suited to being illustrated within the core undergraduate curriculum but entailing foundational knowledge that lies beyond the core.
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. 3 E.g., National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (https://www.nobcche.org/)
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Training and Fostering the Next Generation of Chemical Engineers 237 to the social factors that require attention in any technical field seeking to spark creativity and build pathways to include the full pool of talent. The importance of role models and access to opportunities is clear, as is the need for adequate academic preparation for any STEM field, including chemical engineering.
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238 New Directions for Chemical Engineering FIGURE 9-4 Demographic breakdown of degrees awarded to chemical engineers by race: (a) bachelor's degrees, (b)
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