Product Design Applied to Formulated Products: A Course on Their Design and Development that Integrates Knowledge of Materials Chemistry, (Nano)Structure and Functional Properties

Product development is a multi-faceted role that a growing number of engineers are tasked with. This represents a significant shift in career paths for those employed in the chemical and materials engineering disciplines, who typically were concerned with bulk commodity manufacturing. This paradigm shift requires the undergraduate curriculum to be adapted to prepare students for these new responsibilities. The authors present here on a product design capstone course developed for chemical engineering seniors at the University at Buffalo (UB), The State University of New York (SUNY). The course encompasses the following themes: a general framework for product design and development (identify customer needs, convert needs to specifications, create ideas/concepts, select concept, formulate/test/manufacture product; and (nano)structure-property relations that guide the search for smart/tunable/functional materials for contemporary needs and challenges. These two main themes are enriched with case studies of successful products. Students put the course material into practice by working through formulated product design projects that are drawn from real-world problems. The authors begin by presenting the course Product Design Applied to Formulated Products: A Course on Their Design and Development that Integrates Knowledge of Materials Chemistry, (Nano) Structure and Functional Properties Andrew M. Bodratti University at Buffalo (UB), The State University of New York (SUNY), USA Zhiqi He University at Buffalo (UB), The State University of New York (SUNY), USA Marina Tsianou University at Buffalo (UB), The State University of New York (SUNY), USA Chong Cheng University at Buffalo (UB), The State University of New York (SUNY), USA