2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

How We Teach: Process Control

Presented at WIP: Applied Chemical Engineering & Sustainability

This paper reports results from the 2025 AIChE Education Division survey on how process control is taught in chemical engineering programs in the United States and Canada, along with insights from a panel discussion held at the AIChE Annual Meeting. Faculty from 85 institutions provided 88 responses describing course structure, instructional priorities, software use, laboratory practices, and recent curricular changes. Results show that most institutions require a standalone process control course, typically lecture based with substantial simulation or problem solving laboratory components. MATLAB, Simulink, and Excel were the most commonly used computational tools, and many courses incorporated project or problem based learning. Faculty emphasized understanding process dynamics and controller tuning as core goals while noting persistent student challenges with mathematics. Topic coverage remains largely consistent with prior surveys, though more programs now include design oriented content, Python, and practical examples. The panel discussion highlighted increasing automation in industry, the need to balance mathematical depth with design practice, and the growing role of AI in process control coursework. Overall, the findings provide an updated picture of current instructional practices and emerging trends in teaching process control.

Authors

Dr. Laura P Ford http://orcid.org/0009-0002-3585-1879 The University of Tulsa [biography]

Laura P. Ford is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Tulsa. She teaches engineering science thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, separations/mass transfer, process control, and chemical engineering senior labs. She is an advisor for TU's student chapter of Engineers Without Borders - USA and advises a student creating a digital model related to natural gas processing.
Dr. Daniel D. Anastasio Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology [biography]

Daniel Anastasio is an associate professor at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He received a B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Connecticut in 2009 and 2015, respectively. His primary areas of research are game-based learning, safety and ethical reasoning pedagogies, and membrane separations.
Dr. Janie Brennan Washington University in St. Louis [biography]

Janie Brennan is a Senior Lecturer of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research focuses on implementation of process safety interventions and other evidence-based pedagogy in chemical engineering coursework.
Dr. Jennifer L. Cole http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7104-2986 Northwestern University [biography]

Jennifer L. Cole is the Assistant Chair in Chemical and Biological Engineering in the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and the Director of the Northwestern Center for Engineering Education Research at Northwestern University.
Dr. Kevin D. Dahm Rowan University [biography]

Kevin Dahm is a Professor and Undergraduate Program Chair of Chemical Engineering at Rowan University. He earned his BS from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (92) and his PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (98). He has published two books, "Fundamentals of Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics, with Donald Visco Jr., and "Interpreting Diffuse Reflectance and Transmittance" with his father Donald Dahm.
Jacqueline Gartner Ph.D. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1292-8557 Campbell University [biography]

Jacqueline Gartner is an Associate Professor at Campbell University and teaches chemical engineering and engineering economics.
Dr. Luke Landherr http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9805-7336 Northeastern University [biography]

Dr. Luke Landherr is a teaching professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University, conducting research in comics, alternative assessment, and engineering education.
Dr. David L. Silverstein P.E. http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3221-7565 University of Mississippi [biography]

Dr. David Silverstein is the Chair and Professor of the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Mississippi. He holds a PhD and MS in Chemical Engineering from Vanderbilt University and a BSChE from the University of Alabama. Silverstein is a licensed Professional Engineer in Kentucky (PE #22899). Prior to his current position, he spent 25 years at the University of Kentucky, where he served as a professor and Extended Campus Director. Silverstein is a Fellow of ASEE and of AIChE.
Dr. Stephen Ward Thiel P.E. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6797-7225 University of Cincinnati [biography]

Stephen Thiel is a Professor-Educator in the Chemical Engineering program at the University of Cincinnati (UC). He received his BS in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech, and his MS and PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. His past research has focused on membrane science, adsorption, and ion exchange. He currently serves as the Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Program Director at UC and teaches the capstone process design sequence. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Ohio.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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