A New Interdisciplinary Engineering Course on Nanoscale Transport Phenomena

• Published in: Association for Engineering Education - Engineering Library Division Papers p. 23.80.1
• Main Authors: Gu, Zhiyong, Budhlall, Bridgette Maria, Sun, Hongwei, Barry, Carol ance, Donatelli, Alfred A, Jill Hendrickson Lohmeier
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Atlanta American Society for Engineering Education-ASEE 23.06.2013
• Subjects: Chemical engineering; Colleges & universities; Curricula; Design; Electronic devices; Electroosmosis; Engineering schools; Experiments; Fluid mechanics; Heat transfer; Interdisciplinary aspects; Lab-on-a-chip; Laboratories; Manufacturing; Mechanical engineering; Medical devices; Medical electronics; Medical equipment; Microfluidics; Modules; Nanomaterials; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology devices; New technology; Organic chemistry; Polymers; Production methods; Transport phenomena

A New Interdisciplinary Engineering Course on Nanoscale Transport Phenomena A new interdisciplinary engineering course, “Nanoscale Transport Phenomena forManufacturing Nanodevices”, was recently developed. This course focuses on the principles ofnanoscale transport phenomena needed for manufacturing nanodevices and aims to close a largegap between nanoscience and commercial production of nanotechnology products. The coursealso helps to integrate the interdisciplinary knowledge required for designing and manufacturingnanodevices into undergraduate curricula. To meet these unique needs and challenges, fiveinstructors from three engineering departments (Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering,and Plastics Engineering) have created this interdisciplinary course. This course was offered forthe first time as an elective to seniors during the 2011 fall semester and was offered again in the2012 fall semester. The course was presented through lectures, hands-on laboratory exercises,demonstration experiments, and a final design project. In this paper, we discuss the lecture topicsand eight hands-on laboratory experiments that were developed into modules to complementlectures in fluid mechanics, heat transfer, mixing, reaction engineering, electroosmosis,electophoresis, and manufacturing methods for micro and nanoscale devices. We also show thefinal project designs for the nanodevices or nanosystems that were finished by student teams atthe end of the course. Finally, we show the assessment results from the pre-post student surveysas well as faculty interviews. This new interdisciplinary course will better prepare undergraduates for employment focusedon designing and manufacturing nano/microfluidic systems, lab-on-a-chip devices, electronicsdevices, medical devices, and other emerging technologies. The impact of this senior-levelcourse will significantly enhance the “Nanomaterials Engineering Option” in the ChemicalEngineering Department undergraduate curriculum as well as the medical device industry focusin the Plastics Engineering Department, and can be used in the accelerated BS-MS programwhich is popular in the College of Engineering. The course will be available to the chemical,mechanical, and plastics engineering seniors each year. Our lab modules can be exported tofreshman introductory engineering courses in the College of Engineering. In addition, themicroscale fluid mechanics and heat transfer experiments may be incorporated into theundergraduate chemical engineering Unit Operations Laboratory courses.