Faculty Projects
Creating a Modern Chemical Engineering Process Controls Laboratory

Ashty Karim headshot

Faculty

Ashty Karim, ChBE

Amount Requested

$80,000

Summary

Process controls are foundational to chemical engineering practice, connecting all areas of the discipline and interfacing with other engineering disciplines. Controls are also found throughout everyday life, from the thermostat in your home to how a toilet works. Yet, Northwestern's Chemical Engineering program currently offers no hands-on laboratory component in this area. This represents a gap that distinguishes us from peer programs where dedicated controls laboratories are standard. This gap puts our undergraduates at a disadvantage as they enter the job market. Beyond career readiness, learning modern process controls, including the use of AI in controller design and tuning, would prepare our students for the next generation of chemical engineering practice.

Our project is to develop a modern chemical engineering process controls laboratory. We are requesting funds to purchase the equipment necessary to launch CHEM_ENG 340-0: Chemical and Biological Process Controls Laboratory, a soon-to-be required course for all chemical engineering seniors. A piloted version of course activities will run in Winter 2027 in the existing companion course CHEM_ENG 341-0: Chemical and Biological Process Dynamics and Controls, with a full laboratory course launch in Winter 2028. The course is already in the formal curriculum approval pipeline as part of McCormick's undergraduate curriculum updates.

This investment represents a meaningful and permanent increase in what our students learn and experience in a sustainable way. Undergraduate chemical engineers will get hands-on experience linking real data collection to computational models and control objectives. Importantly, the selected equipment for purchase is integrated education-focused systems, which minimizes additional faculty or staff time to maintain the experimental apparatus compared to equipment that is combined on a more ad hoc basis. Supporting this project would deploy funds to avoid incurring costs of personnel time, both in the immediate and medium terms. The modern chemical engineering controls laboratory supported by the Murphy funds will serve undergraduate students and McCormick for years to come.

Planned Activities/Investments

We will develop a modern chemical engineering laboratory through equipment purchase and curricular development. We will purchase four Multi-function Process Control Teaching System units (Armfield PCT40 Series), which provide hands-on experience with level control, temperature control, pressure control, and flow control. These are designed for educational purposes and represent equipment commonly found in industrial process control plants. Each unit is designed to be used with a programmable logic controller, with an integrated computer-based data acquisition system for complete plant simulation using the accompanying monitoring software or coded by the students. The programmable logic controller module interfaces directly with the system and provides a range of programming challenges that map onto real industrial applications. This equipment is flexible with a breadth of supported activities (e.g., tank liquid level control, liquid temperature control), which means the laboratory activities can evolve to meet changing needs of the field.

Equipment procurement will begin upon receipt of Murphy funds in Fall 2026. Two Armfield PCT40s will be ordered in October 2026, with delivery and installation targeted for December 2026, allowing Winter 2027 pilot activities to begin on schedule. Prof. Karim will develop and deliver a minimum of four discrete pilot lab sessions integrated into CHEM_ENG 341-0 during Winter 2027. Assessment data collected during the pilot will inform the purchase of the remaining two units in Spring 2027, with full four-station capacity active by Fall 2027 ahead of the Winter 2028 course launch. Installation and software configuration will be coordinated with the Chemical Engineering department.

Impact

This laboratory will directly serve all 20-40 Chemical Engineering seniors annually, beginning with a Winter 2027 pilot cohort in CHEM_ENG 341-0. CHEM_ENG 341-0 is also listed as an elective for a new master's program in Engineering Biology, meaning the reach of this laboratory experience may extend to students outside chemical engineering as well. In addition, the equipment itself is advertised for multiple disciplines that teach controls, such as mechanical engineering. The lab course we are developing carries 100% engineering topic designation under ABET and directly aligns with McCormick's engineering education modernization priorities, including McCormick's commitment to preparing students with the practical, hands-on competencies that define modern engineering practice.

This laboratory course will give undergraduates exposure to the same categories of equipment found in manufacturing plants, refineries, and bioprocessing facilities. Through hands-on interaction with this equipment, students will develop practical skills in building and wiring instrumentation systems, acquiring and interpreting real sensor data, diagnosing sources of process and measurement noise, and designing and tuning PID controllers on a live physical system. Developing these skills will distinguish our undergraduates as job-ready chemical engineering graduates.

Impact will be evaluated against three measurable outcomes. First, pre- and post-activity assessments will measure student learning on process controls concepts aligned with the course learning objectives (see below). Second, end-of-course surveys will assess student confidence in hands-on instrumentation and controls tasks, benchmarked against pre-course baseline confidence ratings. Third, the pilot lab activities will be reviewed by Prof. Karim and the department's undergraduate curriculum committee to assess activity design and equipment performance before the full course launch in Winter 2028. Results will be reported to the Murphy Society at the conclusion of the 2026–27 academic year.

Key course learning objectives include:

  • Explain how control hardware and instrumentation work.
  • Critically evaluate raw experimental data to guide subsequent analysis steps, including model development.
  • Write programs to acquire data, perform analysis, and output signals to effectively simulate and analyze basic process control systems and solve basic process control problems.
  • Control processes using an integrated hardware and software system that you build and test.

Deliverables

Fall 2026, Two Multi-function Process Control Teaching Systems (PCT40) from Armfield purchased and installed

Winter 2027, At least four pilot lab activities developed and delivered in CHEM_ENG 341-0

Spring 2027, Pilot assessment and evaluation

Summer 2027, Remaining equipment purchase and installation

Fall 2027, Full set of lab activity materials (minimum 6 activities) with student-facing instructions and instructor rubrics

Spring 2028, CHEM_ENG 340-0 launched as standalone required course

Sustainability

The long-term sustainability of this laboratory will be secured through the Chemical Engineering department. First, CHEM_ENG 340-0 is already in the formal curriculum approval pipeline and will become a required course for all Chemical Engineering seniors, guaranteeing recurring enrollment and institutional justification for the laboratory's continued operation. Second, the Chemical Engineering department has committed to equipment maintenance, consumables, and its eventual refresh. Third, this project will use integrated education-focused systems, which minimizes costs associated with additional faculty or staff time in the immediate and medium terms. Murphy funds are therefore a one-time capital investment.

Budget Overview

  • Equipment, 4 x Multi-function Process Control Teaching System (PCT40): $80,000
  • Lab Infrastructure, Electrical or space modifications if required: TBD

Note: Indirect costs have not been included at this time.

Total Budget Amount: $80,000

Matching Funds

The department is committed to cost-share through instructor and administrative time for course development, piloting, and evaluation.