This project is developing a modern, fully-equipped, undergraduate lab in the critical cross-disciplinary area of Particulate Systems Engineering. This lab forms the basis for an undergraduate lab course, serving approximately 40 students each year, taught in conjunction with the course, "Particulate Systems Engineering" (ENGR 379), offered through the Particulate Systems Research Center. This lab course is expanding and enhancing a successful undergraduate program in this area which has included the nurturing of over 70 talented undergraduates through a previous NSF grant. Accurate measurement and prediction of particulate properties are important to the science and technologies associated with global warming, ozone layer depletion, indoor and outdoor air pollution, combustion, micro-contamination control, nanophase and materials manufacturing, sensor and fiber optic fabrication, reduced production and cleanup of hazardous wastes, and nuclear reactor safety. This importance is emphasized by the fact that over 70 percent of DuPont products are in particulate form, and that the nation's research agencies initiatives in global warming, air quality, and nanophase manufacturing. Equipment used in this project falls into three categories: aerosol generation, aerosol classification, and analytical lasers. In combination with the substantial equipment already in place, this new equipment allows undergraduate students to participate in an intensive laboratory course that includes experiments designed to measure particle distributions, characterize aerosol particles, study aerosol dynamics and reaction chemistry, study specific aerosol applications, and study and compare different aerosol measurement and generation techniques.
