M.A.P.S. Laboratory (Materials, Automation, Processing, and Simulation)
The M.A.P.S laboratory is a project funded by the Dow Corning Foundation for the purpose of creating a paradigm shift in teaching design skills through laboratory experiences. At right, Zac Doorenbos, ChE senior, pauses while working on the M.A.P.S heat exchanger design experiment.
Prior to the M.A.P.S project, student projects in the chemical engineering laboratories tended to be cook-book recipes for conducting an experiment and caculating an engineering parameter from the results obtained. In the M.A.P.S paradigm, students are asked to design a process using the methods learned in lecture classes, then build or assemble the equipment to meet their design, and finally to test their design by operating the process and taking appropriate measurements. At left, students Rick Hamilton and Bhavani Puli are working on the M.A.P.S. gas absorber design experiment.
At right, students on the fluid mechanics design experiment design and then build a piping system in order to accomplish a specific flow design.
Thanks to the Dow Corning Foundation and Mr. Doug Aldrich, formerly of Dow Corning, for their generous support of our program through the M.A.P.S laboratory grant.
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