Engineering Education in Chemical Engineering
Our primary research purpose is to apply engineering design, process engineering, and chemical engineering research methods to improve engineering education and enhance the formation of engineering professionals. We focus on 4 main areas:
1. Development of engineering educational technologies and the application of project-based learning through the creation of effective laboratory experiences.
This area focuses on the development and implementation of learning environments where students can improve their professional skills and practice self-directed learning. We have promoted these skills by the incorporation of problem-based learning, project-based learning, and the creation of effective experimental experiences.
2. Professional development, teamwork, and the development of teaming skills to close the gap between learning and industry practice to pursue a more dynamic engineering workforce.
We apply the principles of teaming education to the practice of engineering in laboratory environments. Laboratory environments require effective technical communications and a high degree of collaboration which makes them ideal spaces for the development of teaming skills and the practice of teamwork. Our goal is to effectively prepare engineering students for changing work environments that center around collaborative activities.
In addition, we study the creation of learning environments and external collaborations that allow us to be more effective at recognizing and closing gaps in student knowledge as they move to the engineering practice. We are interested in understanding how learning occurs in experiential learning spaces such as laboratories. Laboratories can be effectively used to implement evidence-based practices that target these skills. We actively work with our industry partners to try to understand their needs and expectations and to integrate all stakeholders to the educational process.
3. The creation of innovative safety training and the enhancement of process safety in engineering through its standardization and incorporation in engineering education.
Our goal is the development of innovations in pedagogy in safety education. We aim to advance safety education research by creating educational practices that help shape the future of engineering education in the area, change how we teach our students, and continuously update how we approach the practice of engineering learning.
4. The integration of sustainability concepts and practices in the engineering curriculum and the design of effective recycling processes.
We are currently working on the implementation of sustainability education to engineering programs and designing novel recycling processes for non-conventional polymer streams. This research pursues the development of experimental separation, recycling, and learning technologies to pursue the overall improvement of STEM training and contribute to the mitigation of climate change.
