Biotechnology is one of the fastest emerging technical fields, and bioprocess engineering in particular is becoming increasingly critical in determining our country's ability to compete effectively in the world market. Over the last nine years, the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Maryland at College Park has developed an undergraduate laboratory course in biochemical engineering through an iterative process incorporating feedback from students. Experiments are carefully selected and designed to integrate classical chemical engineering principles with modern biotechnology techniques. They cover most of the basic and commonly used laboratory techniques in enzyme and microbial technology. A series of urease related bioprocesses currently form the heart of the major experiments ranging from initial culture isolation to final bioproduct recovery: 1) strain isolation or genetic engineering, 2) oxygen mass transfer, 3) fermentation kinetics, 4) enzyme purification, 5) enzyme kinetics, and 6) enzyme immobilization. As urease hydrolyzes urea to ammonia and carbon dioxide, changes in the pH allow the enzyme to be easily, safely, and inexpensively detected. With pH indicators, the enzyme reaction can be visualized, thus, providing great pedagogical value. The impact of the project reaches far beyond bioprocess engineering, as most of the experiments are also highly suitable for the unit operations laboratory, a core chemical engineering course, and are easily portable to other schools. Plans for multiple dissemination activities exist. Most of these biochemical engineering experiments have already been designed, tested, and proven with equipment borrowed from graduate research. However, lack of dedicated equipment causes many problems. The objective of the project is to procure the most fundamental bioprocess equipment for the undergraduate chemical engineering laboratory.
