DAVE, Rajesh N. & PFEFFER, Robert
New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102 dave@megahertz.njit.edu, pfeffer@admin.njit.edu
Abstract:In recognition of the critical need for promoting education, research and technology transfer in the industrially important area of particle technology, NJIT has initiated a number of activities in the past several years. These include the establishment of an interdisciplinary concentration in particle technology across the engineering curriculum, funded by a National Science Foundation-Combined Research and Curriculum Development (NSF-CRCD) grant. This effort involved developing three new courses: (1) Introduction to Particle Technology: Fundamentals and Applications (for upper-level undergraduates and entry-level graduate students), (2) Current Research in Particle Technology: Micro-level Modeling (for graduate students), and (3) Experiments and Simulations in Particle Technology (for both undergraduates and graduate students). In addition, individual experiments from the laboratory course will be incorporated into existing required laboratory courses in the Chemical and Mechanical Engineering curricula so that every undergraduate in these disciplines will receive some exposure to particle technology.
This paper describes our experiences with the building of alliances and partnerships while developing this curriculum. The first step towards developing these partnerships has been through the formation of an Advisory Board (AB). This board, which consists of particle technology experts from industry, academia and research laboratories, has been of significant help in providing guidance as well as technical and financial support. As an example, during the offering of the graduate courses, several members from our AB delivered three-hour lectures to the class in their particular areas of expertise. A second step involved the fostering of collaborations with faculty members from a number of different universities, including the NSF-Engineering Research Center in Particulate Science and Technology at the University of Florida. These activities, together with the NSF-CRCD award, served as the impetus for developing new research and development (R&D) collaborations with industry, leading to the formation of the Particle Technology Center at NJIT. Moreover, in 1997 the authors received one of the new R&D Excellence Awards from the State of New Jersey to establish a Particle Processing Research Center in collaboration with Rutgers University. These and other very positive experiences in developing and nurturing partnerships are described in detail.
Keywords: education, research, particle, technology, partnerships
Particle technology is concerned with the characterization, production, modification, flow, handling and utilization of granular solids or powders, both dry and in slurries. This technology spans a host of industries including chemical, agricultural, food products, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, mineral processing, advanced materials, munitions, aerospace, energy and pollution control. The need for incorporating this subject in the undergraduate and graduate engineering curriculum has been well-recognized [1,2]. As a consequence of an NSF Combined Research and Curriculum Development (NSF-CRCD) grant, an interdisciplinary concentration of new courses in particle technology has been developed at the New Jersey Institute of Technology by five faculty members in several of its departments. This concentration consists of three principal courses: (1) ”Introduction to Particle Technology”, designed for upper-level undergraduates and first-year graduate students; (2) ”Current Research in Particle Technology”, intended for graduate students; and (3) ”Experiments and Simulations in Particle Technology” which is intended for upper-level undergraduates and first-year graduate students. In addition, several experimental modules from the laboratory course will be incorporated into core undergraduate laboratory courses in the Chemical and Mechanical Engineering Departments. It is believed that these new courses cover material, which is substantially absent in established engineering curricula.
There were many challenges in developing this curriculum because the scope of particle technology is very broad-based and highly interdisciplinary. One of the primary objectives of the NSF-CRCD award is to bring the current research of the five Principal Investigators (PIs) and other researchers in the field into the curriculum. However, since the subject of particle technology is so broad and diverse, it soon became apparent to the PIs that the students need to be provided with a large amount of background material before the research material can be taught effectively. Therefore, the introductory course was designed to contain the necessary background material so that students could understand the new concepts, methodologies and research results (not yet available in textbooks) introduced in the two advanced courses. It was also clear that one individual may not have the expertise and experience required to develop a comprehensive program of education in this field, and in some cases, even a single course. Thus a team of instructors is needed to develop the curriculum concentration, and the two advanced courses are staffed with more than a single instructor as well as guest lecturers from outside the university.
Another goal was to establish particle technology as an interdisciplinary academic concentration, which is integrated into the engineering curriculum without adding extra credits or dropping existing requirements. This is met by introducing the three courses in such a way that a student can take one or more of these courses as an undergraduate elective. Moreover, while the first course provides the necessary background material for undergraduate students, the other two courses are designed so that a graduate student with some minimal knowledge of the field may take them without having taken the first course.
Another challenge in this curriculum development is to present the basic concepts, industrial practice and new research in particle technology without overwhelming the student, yet exposing him/her to a new set of analytical and experimental tools required for problem solving in this field. This challenge was met, in part, by the development of an instructional laboratory, and the development of user-friendly computer simulations, so that the students (and the instructor) have access to these facilities to further enhance the classroom instruction.
Further difficulties arose due to the fact that it is necessary to employ equipment and software which are not routinely used in the current engineering curriculum, such as state-of-the-art instrumentation for characterization, mixing and flow property measurement, as well as image analysis, computer simulations and video animation systems. In addition, students must also be taught the use of associated software. The current curriculum does not have the infrastructure to accommodate this, and we had to develop an easy to use set of instructions, and to train graduate students who would be available to help the students taking the courses. It turned out that providing the proper background material for the wide variety of topics in particle technology proved to be more demanding than teaching the material related to the research of the PIs.
Lastly, in order for our students to receive the most up-to-date education and training in this rapidly evolving technological field, it was essential for us to maintain a leadership position in particle technology research. The NSF CRCD program served as the vehicle to enable us to develop a synergy between education and research in particle technology.
This course is intended to provide background material in particle technology. Since the material covered in this class is not available in a single book, several references books were used [3,4,5]. The course covers a variety of topics in particle technology as listed below (more details can be found in reference [6]):
This course is intended mainly for graduate students who already have some knowledge and background in particle technology. The course is highly theoretical in nature and emphasizes micro-level modeling to understand macroscopic behavior. It covers the mathematical and numerical tools used in mathematical modeling and computer simulations. Also incorporated are recent research developments in the field, not yet appearing in standard textbooks. This course requires team-teaching, and also utilizes guest lecturers. While the course content may change depending upon the instructor, the main topics include:
Many of these topics involve examples taken from the research of the PIs. The course also requires development of computer simulation codes by the students.
This course is intended for undergraduate and graduate students and serves to complement the two lecture courses by providing the students with a comprehensive laboratory experience. The laboratory contains a variety of experimental equipment for performing classical experiments for instruction and training as well as for conducting new research in particle technology and therefore serves a dual purpose. This equipment includes:
The laboratory course is nearly complete and we have developed 12 new experimental modules. We consider this course to be especially important to the overall program, and without the help of many of our partners, it would not have been possible to achieve. The material for the course was derived through lengthy discussions and considerable help from our advisory board members and other partners, and from studying the available literature [4,7-14]. The completed laboratory modules are listed below:
During the next academic year, several of these experimental modules will be chosen for incorporation into the Mechanical and Chemical Engineering undergraduate core laboratory courses. Furthermore, we will continually update these modules to reflect new advances in our research.
During the course of this project, it was recognized that a number of alliances and partnerships were required for the successful completion of the goals of the project. The first step towards developing these partnerships has been through the formation of an Advisory Board (AB), consisting of experts in particle technology from industry, academia and government research laboratories. This board is comprised of members from 12 industrial companies and 6 universities and/or research laboratories including representatives from Canada, Germany and Japan. It has met annually in March at NJIT beginning in 1995.
We have received equipment, materials and supplies, and other financial support from seven of the advisory board companies--Alcoa, Aveka, Dow, DuPont, Exxon, Proctor & Gamble and Hosakawa. In addition to providing support, guidance and technical advice for our CRCD project, the members of the advisory board have shared their class notes, problems, experiences and ”war stories” with us, and presented guest lectures to our students. As an example, four academic members of our AB, delivered lectures to the students in the graduate course. Also, for the laboratory course, three industrial and one academic member of the AB presented lectures on particle size analysis and other particle processing techniques, and another representative from a member company of the AB spent a full day with our students on one particular laboratory experiment. These special presentations are listed below:
We have also collaborated with faculty, engineers and scientists from other universities and industrial companies not on our advisory board. These include:
These alliances have resulted in special guest lectures and seminars for our students, writing of joint research proposals to government agencies, receiving valuable equipment, supplies and technical expertise and funds for conducting specific research projects.
For example, Drs. Eiichi Fukushima of New Mexico Resonance and Arvind Caprihan from the Colorado school of Mines presented guest lectures on the application of NMR imaging techniques to study the behavior of flowing particulates. This collaboration ultimately resulted in a joint (with Dr. Anthony Rosato of NJIT) NSF GOALI grant ”Magnetic Imaging of Highly Energized Granular flows: Vibrated Beds.” Dr. Mark Richman of WPI together with Dr. Rosato presented a joint lecture in the graduate course on the comparison of kinetic theory modeling and discrete element modeling of sieving.
The authors of this paper and Dr.Rajiv Singh of the Engineering Research Center (ERC) on Particle Science and Technology at the University of Florida (UF) have recently written a joint research proposal to investigate the mixing of nano-sized particles using dry processing, and to characterize the degree of mixing obtained. This proposal brings together complementary expertise from two prominent centers involved in research in particle processing. The research team from NJIT has been pioneering the use of dry or environmentally friendly processes for mixing and fine particle coating while the ERC at UF is a leader in particle characterization. For example, characterization of mixing at the near particle scale is possible only through the use of STEM-Z, soon to be available at UF through a supplementary NSF award to the ERC. Thus this project provides an excellent opportunity to utilize this special purpose expensive instrumentation to obtain useful results and overcome the current technological barriers to the characterization of mixing of nano-particles.
Another important research collaboration is in the area of dry particle coating, a relatively new process for producing composite particles or engineered particulates with tailored properties. Typically, dry methods to produce engineered particulates use a variety of machines which coat the core or host particles (usually1 to 200 microns in size) with fine or guest particles (usually submicron in size) by subjecting the mixture to large shearing and compressive stresses or high impact forces. No solvents, binders or even water are required making these processes environmentally friendly, and without need for drying the product. With the help of Hosokawa Micron and Nara Machinery of Japan and Aveka of Minneapolis who contributed state-of-the-art dry particle coating machines and equipment to NJIT, as well as our own proprietary designs, we have developed a unique laboratory facility for fundamental research and product development in this important area of particle technology [15,16,17,18]. Nara Machinery even sent one of their engineers from Japan to NJIT for six weeks at their expense to teach us and our students on how to best use and apply their machines. Our laboratory has attracted a great deal of interest from pharmaceutical, food, consumer products and chemical processing companies as well as the US Army and we are working together with several of these companies to find new applications and produce new materials that can be commercially viable.
For example, Dr. Paul Mort of Proctor & Gamble (a member of our AB) spent several days with our students to perform various experiments and discuss research ideas related to dry particle coating applications in consumer products. He provided very valuable industrial insights to our students.
While research activities in the area of particle technology have been ongoing for several years at NJIT, the CRCD award has served as the impetus for the formation of the Particle Technology Center (PTC), an umbrella organization whose mission is to promote education, research and technology transfer. In addition, the Particle Processing Research Center (PPRC), a joint research center between NJIT and Rutgers was established in 1997 through a five-year R&D Excellence Award from the New Jersey Commission of Science and Technology. This program provides seed money ($300,000 per year) for five years to develop a long–term, self supporting program whose focus is basic science with industrial relevance, having intermediate and long-term commercialization potential. The PPRC complements the activities of the PTC at NJIT and the Pharmaceutical Engineering Program (PEP) at Rutgers University and brings together a highly talented, multidisciplinary staff that includes faculty, research associates and students drawn from several different departments. The educational activities of this center are tied together by NJIT's NSF CRCD program and Rutgers' NSF GRT program. These inter-relationships are shown schematically in Figure 1. Figure 2 schematically shows the scope of the research activities of the PPRC. The PTC can be accessed electronically through its web site: http://www-ec.njit.edu/ec_info/image2/ptc/ and the PPRC through its web site: http://www-ec.njit/edu/ec_info/image2/PPRC/.
Another avenue for promoting productive alliances and partnerships is through close association with professional societies and industrial consortia who are interested in promoting education as well as research and development. For example, both of the authors have been very supportive of the activities of the Particle Technology Forum (PTF) of the AIChE, an interdisciplinary, international group of engineers and scientists interested in particle technology, now consisting of over 800 members. In fact, one of the authors (R. Pfeffer) actively participated in the formation of the PTF about 7 years ago, served as a member of the executive committee and was elected its first treasurer. He was also one of three organizers of both the First International Forum on Particle Technology in Denver in 1994 and the Second International Forum on Particle Technology, as part of the 5th World Congress of Chemical Engineering, in San Diego in 1996. These activities have led to many new contacts and were very helpful in forging new alliances and partnerships for the PTC.
Figure 1. PPRC in relation to PTC and PEP
Figure 2. PPRC research projects
Similarly, an active participation by our group in the activities of the International Fine Particle Research Institute (IFPRI) has been very productive. IFPRI consists of over 40 large multi-national member companies whose goals are aimed at enabling better design and control of equipment and processes for producing, modifying and handling of particles. To satisfy these goals IFPRI sponsors research projects of interest to the member companies at the best university research laboratories throughout the world. These research projects are chosen by the member companies, with the help of a technical committee and 3 academic scientific advisors from North America, Europe and Japan. The Particle Processing research Center (PPRC) currently has two IFPRI supported projects, one in particle compaction led by Professor A. Cuitino of Rutgers and the other in mixing and segregation led by Professor F. Muzzio of Rutgers and Professor A. Rosato of NJIT. In addition, the Particle technology Center (PTC) at NJIT has been chosen to design and operate the IFPRI homepage on the World Wide Web. Furthermore, because of our close contact with IFPRI (Professor Pfeffer is one of IFPRI’s scientific advisors), many of our AB members for our NSF CRCD project are also IFPRI representatives.
Another PTC research project (also supported by the GOALI program of NSF) uses a rotating fluidized bed reactor to simultaneously remove soot and NOx from diesel engine exhaust [19,20]. This project has also attracted large industrial interest and has its own Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) with member companies that include Exxon, Mobil, Alcoa, Engelhard and Mercedes. If successful, this device could have a significant impact on protecting the environment from particulates and smog. Once again, the IAB has been an invaluable source of technical input and advice as well as providing financial support in the form of cash, equipment and supplies.
The authors are fully committed to the continued development of alliances and partnerships for collaborative projects in engineering education and research. For example, we are part of a 5-university consortium, along with faculty from Purdue, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers, to submit a NSF IGERT proposal entitled ”A Graduate Education and Research Training Program in Particle Technology”. The primary goal of this program is to prepare outstanding engineers who possess the technical edge necessary to confront the huge array of new and existing technologies involving particles. The proposed program will capitalize on the premier particle technology expertise in the United States and involves a team effort among five universities. Five new courses in particle technology incorporating laboratory and computer experiments will be developed collaboratively, with broad interaction from industry, and shared among the five universities via videoconferencing.
The development of a curriculum concentration in particle technology is ongoing, and so far, our experience has been very positive. Despite the challenges due to the broad and inter-disciplinary nature of the subject material, we have made substantial progress. All three courses have already been offered twice and we are working on disseminating the materials that we have developed. Currently, our goal is to put sample notes and examples on our web sites, and provide several modules from each course to colleagues for use at other universities. We will also share information on our laboratory development, simulation codes and video animations. In the next academic year, several experimental modules will be incorporated into the core undergraduate laboratory courses, and the results of that experience will be reported in the future.
This development would not have been possible without our partners. As described above, our experience in forging partnerships has been extremely positive and we believe that additional benefits will be gained by continuing to nurture these alliances in the future. The most unexpected result of our curriculum development effort was the concomitant growth of our research activities. This has convinced us that a strong synergism exists between education and research, and that the success of both depends heavily on implementing alliances and partnerships.
Lastly, it should be noted that because of the large diversity of NJIT's student body, many of the students exposed to the new curriculum in Particle Technology were women and underrepresented minorities. Furthermore, many of the graduate students were international students from Asia and Europe, and it is expected that they will disseminate some of the ideas and material, which they have learned when they return to their home countries. The project also involved several undergraduate students in particle technology research and training. Perhaps this exposure will inspire them to pursue graduate studies in this field.
We strongly believe that a broad educational program in particle technology such as ours will increase students' awareness to the problems and opportunities in this field. This will generate ideas for new products and processes, thereby contributing to manufacturing competitiveness, to the preservation of the environment and to the public welfare.
We are grateful for the financial support from the National Science Foundation grants EEC-9420597 (CRCD) and EEC-9354671, and the Exxon Research and Engineering Corporation, for three annual Teaching Aid grants. We also appreciate help from all of the undergraduate and graduate students who participated in the laboratory course. Thanks are also due to our advisory board (AB) members for their active participation in our curriculum development.