Solving Material Balance Problems at Unsteady State using a Remote Laboratory in the classroom

Dr. Darinka del Carmen Ramirez Hernandez has been a professor in the Chemical Engineering Department of Tecnologico de Monterrey (ITESM) in Campus Monterrey, Mexico since 1996. She also works on the Virtual Laboratory Project at ITESM. Dr. Ramirez earned a Ph.D. in Innovation in Education from ITESM in 2011, an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from ITESM in 1989, and a B.S. in Biochemical Engineering from IT La Paz in 1987. She teaches to first and second-year chemical engineering students. Dr. Ramirez’s main subjects include Material Balances, Energy Balances, and Thermodynamics. She also teaches to students from the master’s program in Education using Technology at the Universidad Virtual del Tecnologico de Monterrey. She has worked on projects with Canam-Romisa, Danisco Ingredients S.A. de C.V., GBM-Grupo Bioquimico Mexicano,. Grupo Industrial Chihuahua S. A. and Siemens. She was trained in Problem Based Learning strategy by the Wheeling Jesuit University-NASA at Wheeling, West Virginia. Dr. Ramirez has several publications, including the chapter ”El profesor como agente de cambio a traves del trabajo colaborativo” (Translated: The teacher as an agent of change through collaborative work) in the book La escuela como organizacion de conocimiento (Translated: The school as an organization of knowledge). She co-authored the proceeding ”Enhancing Innovation and Creativity through Active Learning,” and that was published in 2006. Dr. Ramirez also participated as an editor to the International Journal of Engineering in Education in their special issue: ”Active Learning in Engineering Education.”