Course Number
545.619
Course Format
In-person

This course is a group design project (i.e., not a lecture course). In the class, student groups research the various forms of alternative energy and then model a real-world alternativeenergy process. The goal of the project will be to develop a process model that is sufficiently complete and robust that it can be used to understand the important factor in the process design and/or operation. This design project is focused on the role of alternative energy in the US and world economies. The remainder of the course will be devoted to a technical and economic analysis of an alternative energy technology. This course is organized to replicate group project work as it is practiced in industry. The class is divided into groups (typically 3 or 4 students) and each group meets separately each week with the instructor. Hence, there are no regularly scheduled class times; student groups sign up for weekly meeting times using Starfish in Blackboard. These meetings typically will be 60 minutes long. The expectations and assignments for this course are quite different from most other courses. There are no weekly lectures by the instructor. Rather, each week each group will make a PowerPoint presentation on the week’s topic or their progress on their project. Prerequisite(s): 540.202 Introduction to Chemical & Biological Process Analysis; 540.203 Engineering Thermodynamics; 540.301 Kinetic Processes; and 540.305 Modeling and Statistical Analysis of Data for Chemical and Biomolecular Engineers. Course Note(s): Graduate Level. Meets with 540.401 Projects in Design: Alternative Energy.