Commonplace processes, like baking bread or purifying water, are made of complex chemical reactions occurring in reactors. Chemical engineering undergraduates learn to model reactions in various types of reactors through a new project in the Chemical Reaction Engineering course. Using the skills they developed in class, students collaborated with Carnegie Mellon University neighbors on their water sustainability processes.
Coty Jen, who teaches the course, envisioned the project to help third- and fourth-year students build lifelong knowledge in chemical engineering by connecting math equations and models to chemical reactors in a real-world context. Jen, associate professor of chemical engineering, and her course assistant, Gabe Mendez-Sanders (ChemE ‘24), spent fall 2024 establishing a collaboration with the Center for Sustainable Landscapes (CSL) at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. The partnership produced 12 unique “Reacting with Nature” projects for students to model the CSL water reuse systems as chemical reactors.
The CSL is a “living museum” designed to bring attention to the intersection between built and natural environments. Its building treats all storm and sanitary water captured on-site through two water reuse systems.
