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Chemical Engineering - Biology Crossover Project - Customer Client Interactions
No full textThe freshman level Introduction to Chemical Engineering CHME100 course was run in the spring 2015 term. This course was modified to include modules that familiarized the students with key chemical engineering principles. Traditional topics were covered that included fluid flow, heat transfer, electrical systems and controls. A specific focus of each topic was modules or case studies that dealt with applications to industry, potentail biological hazards or contaminants, and process safety. Within each of these modules, the presence of microorganisms was incuded in the discussion from a safety, economic and environmental standpoint. These freshman level chemical engineering students were given a project to help bridge the traditional engineering focus to an all-encompassing project. The first step was to work within a chemical engineering team to assess a problem at a facility. After the chemical engineering students worked together to collect data, assess the problem and work on a possible solution, they met with a junior level molecular biology student group. The CHME 100 students communicated and collaborated with the molecular biology students as a customer or client would interact to solve the problems associated with microorganisms in industrial settings. They presented their work in a written report and an oral presentation. The interactions and experiences of this module will be discussed
How to Join Fiber-Reinforced Composite Parts: An Experimental Investigation
No full textA coupler has been developed to prevent windshield wiper systems from being damaged by excessive loads that can occur when the normal wiping pattern is restricted. Unlike the traditional steel coupler used in wiper systems, the composite coupler will buckle at a prescribed compressive load threshold and become extremely compliant. As a result, the peak loading of the coupler and the entire wiper system can be greatly reduced. The coupler is composed of a pultruded composite rod with injection-molded plastic spherical sockets attached at either end. The sockets are used to attach the coupler to the crank and rocker of the windshield wiper linkage. Because the loads exerted on a coupler vary in magnitude and direction during a wiping cycle, the joint between the sockets and the pultruded composite rod must be robust. The paradigm for attaching sockets to steel couplers (i.e. over-molding the sockets around holes stamped into the ends of traditional steel couplers) was tested and found to produce inadequate joint strength. This paper details the methodology that was employed to produce and optimize an acceptable means to join the injection-molded sockets to the fiber glass pultruded rods. Specifically, a designed experiment based on the Robust Design Strategy of Taguchi was used to identify the process, processing parameters, and materials that yield a sufficiently strong joint at a reasonable manufacturing cost without damaging the integrity of the underlying composite structure
Na0.44MnO2 Positive Electrode for Advanced Na-Ion Batteries: From Nanoplatelets to Nanofibers
No full textRoom-temperature sodium-ion battery (NIB) has re-attracted increasing attention in recent years because of its unlimited raw material resources and physical and chemical similarity to Lithium-ion battery. Recently, the world’s first Na-ion battery powered vehicle has been demonstrated by British company-Faradion, which further proves the capability of this new type of battery technology. Research on appropriate cathode materials for NIB started in the 1970s along with Li-ion batteries, and many intercalation compounds have been studied including layered oxides (NaxMO2 (M=3d transition metal such as Mn, Fe, Co, Cr, Ni, V, Ti etc.)), polyanion compounds (NaxMPO4, NaxMPO4F, (M= Mn, Fe, V, Ti etc.) and other compounds such as TiS2 , TaS2, MoSe2, and SnSeyS2−y etc. Among these, Na0.44MnO2 has attracted lots of attention as a cathode material because of its wide tunnel structure with high theoretical specific capacity (122 mAhg-1) and good cyclability. Na0.44MnO2 has an orthorhombic crystal structure with MnO6 octahedra and MnO5square pyramid, and the latter forms edge-linked chains linked to two double and one triple octahedral chain by the vertices forming two types of channels. The wide tunnel structure helps accommodate some of the stresses associated with structural changes during cycling
Letter of Re-Accreditation and Opportunity for Improvement Notes
No full textThis letter is the formal re-accreditation of our programs. It also identifies specific opportunities for improvement that must be closed by 2020. Progress on these must be demonstrated with the next Quality Assurance Report which is due in the 2017-2018 academic year