Chemisch productontwerp

The Chemical Product Design course provides insight into the key aspects that play a role in the development of chemical products. Teams of 5-6 students work on designing a new product. The goal is to effectively use the acquired knowledge about chemical engineering and creativity of the team to develop an innovative but realistic product.

The following topics are covered in the course:

• Working effectively in a team

• Aspects that are important for product design

• Relationship between physico-chemical composition and product properties

• Development of physico-chemical models to describe product properties and performance

• Identifying customer needs

• Generating new ideas and selecting the most promising idea

• Developing a new product.

The activities during the course mimic the situation in a chemical company where a new product is developed. Your team is a group of engineers who have received this task from their manager. The role of the manager is taken by a staff member of the Chemical Engineering Department, who serves as the team's coach.

The assessment of the course is based on two group projects and on peer review:

• The first project (P1) examines the functioning of an existing product. The output of this project is a written report.

• The second project (P2) is the design of your own product. The outputs of this project are a written report and a final presentation.

• Students peer-review their team members on various aspects (e.g. performance, attitude, leadership/initiative, time management and communication).

A student's final grade for this course is calculated as follows:

• The group grade for P1 is the grade for the written report.

• The group grade for P2 is 75% determined by the written report and 25% by the presentation.

• The final group grade is calculated from P1 and P2 grades with the following weights: 20% for P1, 80% for P2.

• The individual grade of a student is calculated from the final group grade based on the peer review. The peer review will be used to differentiate the grades between team members, in combination with the feedback from reflection meetings with the coaches after P1 and P2.

There is no retake for any of the components.