2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Particle science, engineering and technology (PSET) is prevalent in a wide range of industrial sectors, including pharmaceuticals, materials, and consumer products. Learning the fundamentals of particle science, powder processing, and suspension rheology often happens while on the job--as particle science is not commonly taught in the engineering curricula. The lack of formal education on particle and powder technology creates inefficiencies within industry. To meet the ever-growing need for engineers skilled in particle science, there is a need for these topics to be integrated into existing materials curriculum and developing pedagogical methods for continued education. In this WIP, we share results from a scoping literature review on the current laboratories, educational tools and simulations available for PSET educators. We queried 301 articles from Engineering Village using terms such as “colloids,” “particle science,” “education,” and “simulation.” After reviewing titles and abstracts, 20 papers were selected for thematic analysis. Preliminary findings indicate that most tools available to educators are flowsheet simulations and educational (visual) simulations developed for research and shared publicly as potential educational tools. The most common domains covered by the simulations were fluidization, suspensions and processing--potential due to tapping into a chemical engineering and chemistry education. Implications of this literature review include a synthesis of tools available to engineering educators and a general scope of PSET domains covered by educational tools.