cooperative education
Edited by GEOFFREYDAVIES ALANL. MCCLELLAND
A Cooperative MS. Program in Industrial Chemistry Guy Mattson and John Gupton University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816
This montws wlumn describes a well-established graduate program in industrial chemisby with a considerable degree of academic-industrial interaction. Its distinctive feature is the opportunity provided for students to undettake joint, industrially-oriented research projects on campus and at cooperating companies to the benefit of all participants. Im pressions of participants in this and similar programs will be featured in future columns. I975 an \I. 5. degree pr~grami n lnd~i..rrinl 111 the tall d C t . n t r ; ~Floridi, l Chemistry w s initiated n i ill? ~lnivt~.ity rh~mknuwn as Flordii Tc(hnt,lmical i.niwr>irv. 'l'hii nrogram was developed and implemented in response to'the freauentlv"exoressed concern for the widenine eulf between . chemistry as it is taught in our colleges and universities and chemistrv as it is ~racticedcommerciallv. This concern was first studied in 1971 by means of an ACS survey of the research managers, directors, and vice presidents of 96 companies in the chemical and chemical processing industries. I t was noted that the purpose of this survey was to "help educators asking how they can better train chemists for Dositions in industrv".l Since the publication of the concluBions of this survey there have been many meetings and conferences to consider various means of better preparing students for industrial careers. For example, one of the most recent was the 1978 Presidential Conference on Industrial Chemists conducted by the ACS. The final report of this meeting suggested that the Committee on Professional Training modify its criteria to give greater emphasis to such topics as industrial chemistry, polymer chemistry, patents, and some chemical eneineerine conceuts. ,I here aerms t o 1w nu vmtn,wr>y amu11:: ren. l 1 t1.s t o the ilnture d t h e r~r.hlt~n: it is iiml~lv . . that our graduates are not adequately trained for professional careers in industrv. The question is what to do about it. Some
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developed specific couries and specific programs in industrial chemistry and polymer chemistry. Several have developed M S . programs in chemical engineering specifically designed for graduate B.S. chemists. Some schools have developed interdisciwlinarv chemistrvlbusiness . oroerams desiened to " prepare students for nonlaboratory careers in the chemical industry. Still others see co-op and summer internship programs as the ideal solution to the problem. There are a number of approaches, and it is verv probable that no single method wokd work well a t every school. Our purpose is simply to describe an approach that has worked well a t U.C.F. Our basic objective was to provide a program which would
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"Chemistry in the Economy," American Chemical Society Study, Washington, DC, 1973. 124
Journal of Chemical Education
emphasize the application of the fundamental principles and theoretical concepts of chemistry to the development of nroducts and nrocesses. wrovide a ~ersoectiveof the chemical industry and develop an approacg to problem solving which is consistent with industrial nractice. I t was our feeline that this muIc1 1w lr..;t :ir~\,mpliihcd41 the h13ster3 Ie\.eI, .illuwing us t u huild 0 1 1 the hase providrd 11s;I .trtm,:- .\('S:~rrredited bachelor's program. One of the first steps in the development was to invite a group of representatives of the chemical industry to our campus. In the spring of 1971 nine chemists who served in managerial funciions-and were directly associated with research and development met with our faculty for two days. The ournose of the meetine" was to obtain advice and euidance on the overall objectives and the specific course content of the oroeram. One of themaior noints to come out of this meetine Lasthat the primary emphasis of the program should he on chemistrv. The eraduate usuallv starts out in industrv in a researchand development job. This may involve a longterm or basic research ~ r o i e chut t more tv~icallvinvolves Drocess
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perform as a chemist. Later, after considerable experience and after demonstrated performance, he may move into other areas such as p r o d u c t h , marketing, or puichasing. However, evaluation of the graduate during the early part of his career will be based upin the contributions he can make as a chemist. After setting the curriculum and outlining the content of the courses, about 3 years were required to develop the instructlonal materials for these courses. During this time two special topic courses, one a lecture course and one a lab course, were offered to try out these teaching materials and methods. %
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Subsequently, the Industrial Chemistry curriculum has been structured so that a full-time student can complete all the required courses within one academic year. The courses are taught, for the most part, in the evening in order to accommodate local, full-time employed students. The curriculum currently consists of ten courses spread over three quarters. We are now in the process of converting to a semester system in which case there will he some combination of course materials in order that four courses will be taken each semester. The following is a list of the required courses: Semester Hours Chemical Structure I Chemical Structure I1 Chemical Synthesis I Chemical Synthesis I1 (5) Chemical Dynamics I (6) Chemical Dynamics I1 (7) Chemical Processes (8) Laboratory Principles of Industrial Chemistry (1) (2) (3) (4)
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Structure I, Synthesis I, Dynamics I, and Chemical Processes are taken the first semester and the remaining courses are taken the second semester. Structure I is a course that deals with structure-property relationships as applied to analytical methods and methods development. The role of analytical methods in the characterization of materials, establishment of product specifications and as a basis for process control schemes is also considered. The Structure I1 course subsequently deals with structure-property relationships which give the commercial product their useful character. As with the previous course, a wide range of products such as polymers, solvents, antioxidants, and UV stabilizers are discussed with the intent of giving the student a broad overview as opposed to an in-depth treatment of one specific area. This general philosophy is carried through the other courses to a significant extent. The Chemical Synthesis courses (I and 11) include inorganic as well as organic syntheses. It is felt that this is truly representative of an industrial situation since usually one cannot isolate considerations to either organic or inorganic products. As part of the Synthesis I1 course, a number of practicing industrial chemists from such companies as Ethyl, Dow Chemical, Phillips Petroleum, Union Carbide, Eastman Kodak, and Bayer are brought in as visiting speakers to discuss ongoing synthetic industrial research projects. Appropriate references are made available to the students prior to the lecture. As might he anticipated, this aspect of the course is particularly appealing to the students. The Dynamics I and I1 courses are oriented toward the physical chemistry and engineering considerations of industrial projects. Subjects which are covered include material balances, energy balances, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, unit operations, kinetics of homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions, catalysis, and equilibrium systems. These courses are presented in a manner that the student acquires a knowledge of the basic principles of chemical engineering and a familiarity with the approaches used in process design. The Chemical Processes course presents a detailed review of the development of a number of manufacturing processes. The material is presented so as to cover: the technical and economic feasibility of a proposed project; strategies used in planning a process development program; and optimization and scale up considerations. This
course is intended to place the entire research and development process in perspective by taking a project from the early stages of laboratory research to the final stages of large scale manufacture. We feel that such information gives the student a real awvreciation for the approach and tvpes .. of constraints that characterize many &lustrial projects. Laboratory Principles of Industrial Chemistrv deals with s e ~ a r a t i o n data, and practical aspects of process control schemes and devices. One of the unique aspects of the course involves each student having the opportunity to act as both a technician collecting data and a group leader evaluating and reporting the data. The students are rotated as teams throueh a series of experiments with each student having the chance to function as both a worker and supervisor. Once the student has completed this group of courses he should he prepared to function in a number of different capacities for a eiven company. As is the case for most graduate programs, the graduate student selects a wroiect. a research advisor, and a committee during the first ninemonths. The projects are very specific in nature and are intended to have some industrial relevance. which are representat& selected:
of the kindsbf topics which ;odd be
(1) "Llquid Phase Oxidation of 1.3-Pentadiene" (2) "Synthesis and Flame Retardant Studies of Bromoesters of
2,4-PentanedienoicAcid" (3) "Ruthenium Catalyzed Hydrogenation of Aqueous Sodium Bicarbonate" (4) "Preparation of a Polymer Bound Cobalt (11)Sehiff Base Complex" (5) "A Study of the Concentration of Citrus Essential Oils by Absorption" (6) "Separation of Piperylene Concentrate by Extractive Distillation" The research projects are intended to he completed within a six- to nine-month time frame if the student devotes full time to the project. Some of the research has been carried out in collaboration with the Louisiana Division of Dow Chemical. Dow has generously supported some projects and has helped to create an environment rewresentative of industrial research. These projects have been ;onducted both on campus and a t the Dow plant. This particular aspect of our program is very important since i t involves the faculty member as well as the student which is usually not the case in co-op type programs. We feel that for long term considerations, this is a very constructive feature since faculty members remain in the mainstream of industrial c h e m i ~ t ; ~I n. order to minimize any potential problems regarding patents and inventions, a very flexihle agreement has been develoned hetween Dow Chemical and the finiversity of Central Florida. T o date, seventeen students have completed the program and are pursuing careers with such companies as Shell, Dow, Coca Cola. Harris. Union Camw. and Miles Laboratories. In conclusion, we hope that h e end result of our efforts has been to (1)allow for the smooth transition of our graduate students into the industrial workplace; and (2) enable our graduate students to make an immediate contribution to their employer.
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ACS CO-OP Directory Available The American Chemical Society has published the "1982 Directory of Chemical Co-op" which features details about the 243 co-op program for chemists and 84 programs for engineers operating in the United States and Canada. Copies are available lor $15 from Officeof Cooperative Education, ACS 1155 Sixteenth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20036.
Volume GO
Number 2
February 1983
125
