Effectiveness of an applied microbiology course specifically designed for chemical engineering majors

In recent years, the disciplines of microbiology and chemical engineering have developed an increasing convergence. To meet the needs of their future employers, today's chemical engineering students must receive some background in microbiology. This report describes the development and content of "Biological Systems and Applications," a novel course specifically designed to provide basic biology and applied microbiology knowledge, skills, and experience to sophomore chemical engineering majors. Data collected from entrance and exit surveys of the students demonstrated that the course is successful. The importance of the "project-base" learning technique and of interdisciplinary faculty-student and faculty-faculty collaborations are proposed as elements essential to the success of this particular course.