The chemical and material manufacturing industries have made a major commitment to making products and process safer and more environmentally friendly. To accomplish this, these industries have placed tighter controls on processing, increased process instrumentation, and generally increased process complexity to minimize waste production. This increase in sophistication has placed substantially increased responsibility on the process operator. The innovative two-year degree program in Chemical Engineering Technology: Advanced Process Operations outlined in this proposal draws upon a strong partnership between Dow Corning Corporation and Dow Chemical Company, major chemical and material manufacturers; Delta College, a community college system serving the manufacturing area; and Michigan Technological University, a major engineering and technological university. The proposed degree program will consist of a first-year program taught at Delta College where high school articulation agreements and diversity outreach initiatives are well established. Due to proximity, work internships will be possible with the industrial partners. Upon successful completion of this first year experience based on academic performance and work-related recommendations, students can transfer to the second-year academic program at Michigan Tech. The second year will stress engineering technology with a strong laboratory component leading to a capstone pilot plant experience in the new multipurpose pilot plant facilities of the Process Simulation and Control Center. Cooperative and apprentice experiences will be available during the second year. This industry/college/university partnership between a local community college, a major university, and two major process industries will enable the development and implementation of a model program which will lead to highly trained process operators who are comfortable with new process technologies, the regulations which shape these industries, and the safety and teamwork skills which are adaptive to the changing high performance workplace of the chemical and material processing industry.
