(108d) Python for Chemical Engineering Calculations: An Elective Course for Undergraduate Students

Modern engineering calculations require a flexible and efficient programming language. Python is such a language: it is open source, free, easy to learn, and simple to use. These factors make Python one of the most popular programming languages in the world, highly demanded by employers. However, most undergraduate programming courses for engineers focus on languages other than Python.

I developed and taught a new course "Python for Chemical Engineering Calculations", which was offered in Spring 2021 as a 3-credit undergraduate elective.¹ The goal of this course was to introduce undergraduate chemical engineering students to Python and demonstrate how it can be used for solving a spectrum of chemical engineering problems. The example problems were taken from the undergraduate chemical engineering curriculum, e.g., from courses such as Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics, Fluid Flow, Kinetics and Reactor Design, etc. Lectures and practical sessions were complemented by six guest lectures delivered by engineers working in industry who demonstrated the use of Python in their jobs. I used the "flipped classroom" approach, where the students watched the short tutorial videos before each class.² Classes typically started from short quizzes based on the videos, after which the class time was utilized for hands-on activities.

The course was very well received by the students. They spoke highly of the strong connection between programming and the chemical engineering curriculum, which was impossible to see from taking a generic programming course. Guest lectures was another aspect enjoyed by many. Finally, the flipped classroom which provided a lot of time for in-class activities, appealed to the students a lot. This success suggests that some of this course materials and approaches can be utilized for teaching the required programming and numerical methods courses.

1. G. Y. Gor, ChE 490: Special Topic - Python Programming for Chemical Engineers. Chemical and Materials Engineering Syllabi. https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/cme-syllabi/160
2. G. Y. Gor, ChE490: Python for Chemical Engineering Calculations. Video Lectures. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWx-kn1Xf12a77HKLCtZn4E2cjjjoL8N8