Chemical Education Today edited by
Association Report: 2YC3
Ann Cartwright San Jacinto College, Central Campus Division of Science & Mathematics Pasadena TX 77501-2007
A Chemical Technology Program Partnership by Gary Hicks
Brazosport College would be the first to admit that they owe the success of their Chemical Technology Program to the partnership that was developed between the college and the surrounding chemical industry. The college is a two-year institution located near the Texas Gulf Coast with more than twelve chemical companies in the immediate area. Dow Chemical is the largest, employing more than 5,000. Currently, the Science Department at Brazosport College offers associate of science degrees in biology, chemistry, and physics, and associate of applied science degrees in chemical technology and instrumentation technology to meet the needs of these industries. In addition, many students enroll in classes to prepare for specific occupations or to build their skills for employment. This may only require the student to take a few courses. The current Chemical Technology Program addresses skills needed for both laboratory and process technician jobs in the chemical industry. An Associate of Applied Science Degree in Chemical Technology is offered with either a laboratory or a process option. These programs were developed with input from the chemical industry, and the college trains all new process employees for BASF and Dow. Additionally, the college does customized flexible-entry training in process operations and laboratory analysis for these and several other companies. The process option focuses on instruction in plant operations. The courses provide students with a basic understanding of plant safety, plant equipment, process instrumentation, and a variety of unit operations. The unit operations concepts are taught using actual pilot plants. These pilot plants are designed to reflect the type of unit operations commonly found in the chemical plants in the local area. The unit operations lab with six pilot plants was constructed with the assistance of industry to better train and prepare students for occupations as plant operators and technicians. With the help of Dow Chemical, BASF, several construction companies, and local vendors, the college is currently reconstructing an outside life-size distillation unit that was donated by Dow Chemical. It has been estimated that the combined replacement cost for the pilot plants in the unit operations lab and the outside distillation unit is more than $2 million. Both of these projects are prime examples of what education and industry can do when they work together in a partnership. Other highlights of the program are a computer-based training lab to provide instruction in process equipment, safety, and maintenance; a computer-controlled process in glassware that allows instrumental analysis students to evaluate their analysis in the context of a chemical process (this is being built on an NSF ILI grant); and a co-op program,
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which currently provides laboratory and process training positions with local chemical companies. What is on the frontier? Some recent developments in which Brazosport College is involved are: • Professional Development. In an effort to allow other faculty an opportunity for exposure to operating a chemical plant, the college is developing a course centered around using the recently constructed distillation plant. This would be for both high school and college faculty, academic as well as technical. • Regional Alliances. Brazosport College, along with 10 other colleges and 29 chemical companies along the Gulf Coast, participates in a regional alliance called the Gulf Coast Process Technology Alliance (GCPTA). The membership consists of a college representative and two industry representatives from each college. The alliance began about two years ago with the purpose of increasing the ability of its college members to deliver quality educational services. There are also plans being made to form a regional alliance for laboratory technology. • Implementation of the Voluntary Industry Standards. These standards or competencies are the results of a project funded by the U.S. Department of Education and distributed by the ACS. They were just published in the spring of this year and are beginning to affect curricula across the country. The GCPTA recently received a Perkins Grant through the College of the Mainland from the State of Texas to identify core course topics for the entire Gulf Coast Region and will use the Voluntary Industry Standards to develop one course as a model from which a regionally coordinated curriculum can be developed. Changes at Brazosport College mentioned in this article to some degree reflect many changes that are beginning to occur at two-year colleges across the nation. On the local level, companies are becoming more involved in technology programs and working as partners with their local college. Labs are being developed that better represent the work environment into which students will be going. At the regional level, companies and colleges are beginning to combine efforts through alliances. On the national level, companies and colleges are looking seriously at national entry-level standards for both laboratory and process technicians. These changes will have a significant impact on the future of chemical technology education. Gary Hicks teaches at Brazosport College, 500 College Drive, Lake Jackson, TX 77566;
[email protected].
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 75 No. 1 January 1998 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
