University of Virginia Library

N.S.F. Summer Program

For a couple of reasons, the
field of chemical engineering
doesn't attract as many
students as other scientific and
technical areas, notes Dr. L. U.
Lillelet, associate professor of
chemical engineering at the
University of Virginia.

"It's partly because a lot of
kids don't know the field
exists, and also because it's not
the easiest field to
learn–incorporating chemistry,
physics and math," he says.

One solution to the
problem is to bring 23
outstanding high school
students to the University for a
six-week summer program
designed to give them a taste of
the field and an idea of how
well they would like to work in
it.

Engineering School

That is what the
University's School of
Engineering and Applied
Science has done in a program
concluded this weekend under
the sponsorship of the National
Science Foundation.

The students, 17 boys and
six girls selected on the basis of
their abilities in high school
science, took part in a program
that reintroduced their
understandings of science and
math, moved to more advanced
subjects that none of them had
had, such as calculus, and got
down to the basic work of
chemical
engineering—controlling
chemical reactions, unit
operations such as distillation
and the handling of materials,
and the operation of a small
pilot plant–a miniature plant at
the University to produce
hydrogen.

Selected Experiences

"What we're trying to do is
give them some
background...and selected
experiences of what a real
chemical engineer will do in
running a pilot plant," Dr.
Lilleleht says.

"Running the plant isn't
that complex," he says. "But
to have to understand, analyze
and explain everything is
something else."

"Part of their work is
analyzing their results, writing
reports, coming up with
conclusions and
recommendations...and making
an oral presentation of their
experiences," he notes.

At the same time, during
the course of the program the
curriculum included visits to
other parts to the University's
sciences and engineering
departments, discussions by
faculty members from the
humanities of the impact of
technology on the way we live,
and trips to plants such as an
oil refinery at Yorktown.

Drawing Students

Drawing its students from
throughout the eastern half of
the nation, the program at the
University is one of a series
sponsored by the National
Science Foundation at a
number of institutions in a
wide variety of fields, mostly
in the sciences. The program at
Charlottesville is the only one
dealing with chemical
engineering.

Favorable Consideration

"We kind of hope they will
consider us favorably when
they make their career
decisions," Dr. Lilleleht says.
"But so far we haven't really
tried to sell it too hard. We
don't want to push them far.
But we would encourage them
to go into the field."

Top Students

He adds, "These are really
top students from their
schools–so we probably
haven't overworked them. But
we have heard a couple say
they learned more here in a
few weeks than in a year in
school," he says.

One student agrees with
that, but sums up the program
in less scientific terms: "It's
pretty cool," he says.