Education in process systems engineering: past, present and future

Abstract

The term ‘Process Systems Engineering’ may be traced back at least as far as the early 1960s. In parallel with the emergence of a research agenda for this new sub-discipline, pioneers of the subject began to consider the nature of education in process systems engineering, and its relationship to the broader chemical engineering curriculum. In this paper, a personal view of the history of the development of education in our field will be given. It will be argued that two complementary approaches have been pursued, each of which has played an important role both within the sub-discipline itself and in the context of the development of chemical engineering education more broadly. On the one hand, pedagogical materials have been developed and courses delivered covering important advances in process systems engineering as they have emerged from the research community. As a result, the teaching of design and control methodologies, techniques and tools has become more systematic and comprehensive in the past four decades, reflecting the strides made by the research community in tackling these complex engineering problems. In parallel with these developments, educators have been concerned to develop curricula and courses designed to help students to adopt a ‘systems approach’ to engineering problem solving. Here, the objective has been not so much to help students to learn about the application of specific ideas and methods to particular classes of engineering problem. Rather the aim has been to encourage students to adopt a particular, systematic approach to their entire professional practice. Advances in both directions will be illustrated through examples taken from the literature, as well as through an account of the process systems engineering components of the chemical engineering course at Imperial College. Finally, the author will present his personal view on developments which are likely to emerge in the future, as process systems engineering and chemical engineering continue to respond to external changes as well as to the continuing development of our subject.