The Chemical Engineering Capstone Experience Design Research Entrepreneurship

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The Chemical Engineering Capstone Experience: Design, Research, Entrepreneurship, or All of the Above? Stephen

The Chemical Engineering Capstone Experience: Design, Research, Entrepreneurship, or All of the Above? Stephen W. Thiel, Ph. D, PE Department of Biomedical, Chemical, and Environmental Engineering University of Cincinnati Keywords: Capstone Design Entrepreneurship Research Team Breadth

Challenge: Tensions Among • Increasing number of students interested in Why? Desired Outcome: Revisioned

Challenge: Tensions Among • Increasing number of students interested in Why? Desired Outcome: Revisioned Capstone • Meet the traditional learning objectives of the UC CHE Program, – Undergraduate research • Addresses the more specialized – BS-MS programs needs of research- and – BS-MBA programs entrepreneurship-focused students • Traditional CHE design • Coordinates with (not replace) MS capstone experience thesis research and entrepreneurial • “One program, one capstones capstone” – prefer to avoid • Enrich capstone experience for track-specific capstone traditional CHE students through • Capstone reflects students’ interaction with students on nonprior experience traditional tracks

When? S-STEM Scholarship Program * • BME (Biomedical), CHE (Chemical) , ENVE (Environmental) Engineering

When? S-STEM Scholarship Program * • BME (Biomedical), CHE (Chemical) , ENVE (Environmental) Engineering • Targeted Support for Students in Entrepreneurial and Research Tracks • First class will complete capstone in 2018 -2019 • Need CHE, ENVE research capstones 2014 - 2015 2016 Curriculum Revision Capstone Revisioning 20182019 S-STEM Cohort 1 Existing ACCelerated ENgineering Degree program (ACCEND) – BS+MS / BS+MEng / BS+MBA in 5 years – continuing program *NSF Grant #1356656: S-STEM: Bridging Our Students to Their Future 2015 -2016: Starting push for more students in research co-op positions in additional to usual undergraduate research

Where? • Are there similar programs elsewhere? • Vision: program-wide (CHE, ENVE) or department-wide

Where? • Are there similar programs elsewhere? • Vision: program-wide (CHE, ENVE) or department-wide implementation – Cross-disciplinary teams: • BME + CHE • CHE + ENVE – “Broad” teams (research + entrepreneurship + traditional students) • Vision: model for other engineering programs at the University of Cincinnati and elsewhere

What? • Curriculum – Structured undergraduate research courses … work in progress – Workshops

What? • Curriculum – Structured undergraduate research courses … work in progress – Workshops and social events – already a successful part of S-STEM/REU programs – Identify research mentors early … work in progress • Current BS Capstone Course Sequence – Design + Economics – Implementing Engineering Firm/Process Engineering Group Model • MEng Capstone Projects

Prognosis? Questions/Challenges • Documenting impact – what metrics? • Can we scale-up with current

Prognosis? Questions/Challenges • Documenting impact – what metrics? • Can we scale-up with current ACCEND and undergraduate research students? • Class size! • Maintaining UC “brand” and approach • New ENVE program … capstone “under construction” Brilliant Educators • How do we structure the UG research process to lead to “broad” capstone projects? • How good an idea is this? What are the weak points? • Any suggestions, warnings, or sage advice about implementation? • How do we get broad teams up and running quickly? Or at all?