Open Access"REAL" ENGINEERING FOR A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY 1ST YEAR PROJECT/DESIGN COURSE APSC100
Author(s) -
Barrie Jackson
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
proceedings of the ... ceea conference
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2371-5243
DOI - 10.24908/pceea.v0i0.3998
Subject(s) - subject (documents) , process (computing) , engineering design process , computer science , discipline , engineering ethics , work in process , work (physics) , engineering management , engineering , mechanical engineering , sociology , operations management , social science , library science , operating system
Queen’s University has a common first year for engineering. A few years ago a project/design course was introduced, APSC100, which has been quite successful. It was predicated on the fact that students who are attracted to engineering are really excited about the possibility of “doing engineering” early in their student experience. The design of Chemical processes is something that few if any first year students have any appreciation of. We are in the process of developing a project for APSC100 which will introduce the subject as well as have the students work with a commercial FlowSheet simulator. We believe that simulators “warts and all (1)” can be an excellent learning tool, and exposure to these programs is essential as they have become so much a part of today’s engineering career experience. Commercial Flowsheet simulators continue to be a challenge for people with many years familiarity with these systems. There is however a potential for a great deal of learning about the “design process” by the use of these tools, provided these tools are presented in such a way as to be challenging but not intimidating. The paper will describe the approach to developing the APSC100 module, the challenges faced and the anticipated solutions. One particular problem will be developing something that will interest a broad spectrum of students. It has been noted that “Chemistry” often seems to be a subject that is avoided by many. This module will hopefully demonstrate the fact that “Chemistry” is one of the basic sciences and how it is the basis for much of the product of the modern world. Since this is a “work-in-progress” we anticipate and welcome suggestions as to how to present a successful module to our students.