In the (Fume) Hood

ITFH LIVE at ChESS: Sindia Rivera-Jiménez, Tracy Gardner, Dami Daramola and Micha Barankin Nov 11, 2022

ITFH is LIVE again! Our host Matt Cooper chats with Sindia Rivera-Jiménez (University of Florida), Tracy Gardner (Colorado School of Mines), Dami Daramola (Ohio University) and Micha Barankin (Colorado School of Mines) in beautiful Golden, CO at the 2022 ChE Summer School. Their wide-ranging discussion of this year's Summer School touches on the beautiful venue, favorite workshops from the week, pushing personal boundaries while whitewater rafting and biking, and testimonials on why faculty should attend the ChE Summer School summer school. Spoken-word poetry intro by Courtney Pfluger (Northeastern University)!

ITFH LIVE at ChE Summer School: Dan Anastasio, Dan Burkey and Sandy Petit Oct 28, 2022

ITFH goes LIVE as host Matt Cooper chats with Dan Anastasio (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology), Dan Burkey (University of Connecticut) and Sandy Petit (University of South Florida) in beautiful Golden, CO at the 2022 ChE Summer School. Their discussion of ChE Summer Schools of the past ends up going in many directions, including favorite workshops, a quest for clothes hangers, an early memory of Milo Koretsky, and go-to karaoke jams. Bonus appearance by hype person Lucas Landherr (Northeastern University)!

ITFH 29: Courtney Pfluger Raps About Innovation Jul 19, 2022

Courtney Pfluger, Associate Teaching Professor of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University, is ITFH host Matt Cooper's guest in this entertaining episode of the show! They discuss Courtney's innovative research in inclusive teams, clean water, and renewable energy education in Brazil. Matt is delighted to learn of Courtney's unique favorite band, and even more delighted when he and Courtney rap to Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy" together!

ITFH 28: Taryn Bayles Reaches Out Jun 22, 2022

Taryn Bayles, Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, joins podcast host Matt Cooper in the fume hood. In this episode Matt and Taryn theorize what makes our ChE education community so great, discuss Taryn's successes in student outreach and design projects, and Taryn shares incredible stories of her ballet career.

ITFH 27: Daniel Lepek Provides a Multi-Course Menu May 17, 2022

In this episode ITFH host Matt Cooper catches up with Daniel Lepek (Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Cooper Union) about his goals as current Chair of the AIChE Education Division, share pet peeves as ABET PEVs, and talk about what wine pairs best with fried bologna. We are also fortunate to hear Daniel - a trained classical pianist - play a bit of the song "Paris" as part of this interview.

ITFH 26: Matt Liberatore Reverse Engineers Engineering Education Mar 22, 2022

Double the Matt! Matt Liberatore, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Toledo, joins ITFH host Matt Cooper for a wide-ranging conversation about Matt L's work on interactive textbooks and YouTube problems, his service as Chair of the AIChE Education division and... harp music!

ITFH 25: Sarah Wilson Prioritizes Student Mental Health Feb 15, 2022

This time Matt's ChE talk show guest is Sarah Wilson, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Kentucky. They discuss Sarah's current NSF research project on the mental health of engineering students, her collaborative work in safety education, as well as her new course on bourbon production.

ITFH 24: Elif Miskioğlu Thinks Fast Jul 13, 2021

In this edition of ITFH our host Matt Cooper speaks with Elif Miskioğlu, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Bucknell University, about System 1 and System 2 thinking, Elif's experiences being named one of AIChE's 35 Under 35, and - if you can believe it - singing to puppies.

ITFH 23: Milo Koretsky Explores Conceptual Knowledge Jun 01, 2021

This edition of ITFH features Matt Cooper's incredible conversation with Milo Koretsky (Tufts University) about conceptual teaching/learning and how the AIChE Concept Warehouse got started - Milo even gives Matt an on-air concept test! Milo also explains just how deep the rabbit hole of a phase diagram goes before he and Matt find out they've both seen Bob Dylan and Paul Simon live in concert.

ITFH 22: Tony Butterfield Advocates Citizen Science Mar 30, 2021

Tony Butterfield, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Utah and Matt talk about enabling citizen science, social connections in capstone design and unit ops laboratories, storytelling in video games, and find out they both like Beck, Arcade Fire, and can recite lyrics from Radiohead's OK Computer album off the top of their heads.

ITFH 21: Margot Vigeant Has Food For Thought Feb 16, 2021

Margot Vigeant, Professor of Chemical Engineering at Bucknell University, joins Matt to talk about food science and her new article series on the topic in the journal Chemical Engineering Education, applications of entropy to whiskey, and what turns out to be their shared fondness for the band They Might Be Giants.

ITFH 20: Lucas Landherr, Comic Book Hero Jan 12, 2021

Season 2 kicks off with the first-ever ITFH interview! Matt talks with Professor Lucas Landherr (Northeastern University) about being CEE's comic mastermind, his recent AIChE process control conceptual testing presentation and '90s alternative music. Bonus dirt on the family lives of Carnot and Bernoulli too!

ITFH 19: Listener Mailbag May 26, 2020

In the Season 1 finale, Matt and Jason answer questions from listeners and get into discussions about easter eggs in textbooks, policies grading exams, Rankine, Kelvin, Joule, pro wrestling, cooking, aspic (aka beef jelly), Jello molds, advice for faculty, and a nickname for ITFH listeners.

ITFH 18c: HW Problems Part 3 (The Dessert) May 19, 2020

In the final episode of a three part series, Matt and Jason further discuss HW problems and a whole lot more. Topics include: orange juice, infomercial science, TVs in hotel bathrooms, absorption-stripping, Whizzo(!), Deacon Process, chlor-alkali, dilution of emissions, losing weight by eating ice, fuel vs. food, and corn on the cob. We will wrap up Season 1 next week with a Q&A session!

ITFH 18b: HW Problems - Part 2 (The Main Course) May 15, 2020

In the second of a three part series, Matt and Jason get into discussing HW problems and a whole lot more. Topics include: leaching oil from soybeans, egg sorting, old-timey baseball names, The Simpsons softball episode, making jam, food science, coffee and espresso, Guinness, golden rice, GMO foods, tomatoes, tomacco, artificial flavors, bananas and avocados.

ITFH 18a: HW Problems - Part 1 (The Appetizer) May 12, 2020

The first season is drawing to a close, but we've still got a few episodes left. In this first of a three part series, Matt and Jason discuss finishing the semester, thermodynamics textbooks, acronyms, In Living Color, David Alan Grier, Tenacious D, High Fidelity, student comments in course evaluations, engineering estimations, sometimes there is no exact answer.

ITFH 17: Combustion Reactions May 05, 2020

This week, Matt and Jason discuss final exams, breakfast and eggs, hydrogen, fuels, air, combustion, mobile apps for ChemEs, publishing journal articles, reality vs. textbook, "human error", how much catalyst to use, and why this summer already feels different.

ITFH 16a: Out the Fume Hood Apr 30, 2020

A quick bite of extra material that didn't make the cut for Episode 16. Matt and Jason's discussion about catalysts quickly morphs into reminiscing about Mr. T and the 1980s. Also some observations about grocery shopping during Covid-19 shutdowns.

ITFH 16: Separation and Recycle Apr 28, 2020

This week, Matt and Jason discuss propylene and propane, IUPAC names for chemicals, recycle loops, separations, the Amazon reviews for FRB book, purge streams, and recycling of aluminum vs. plastics.

ITFH 15: Working from Home Apr 21, 2020

This week, Matt and Jason record from home for the first time during the Covid-19 shutdown. Topics include the challenges of working and teaching from home, more discussion about balancing reactions, Matt's "instant nickname generator algorithm", learning styles, and what an engineer should know.

ITFH 14: Chemical Reactions (Part 2) Apr 14, 2020

This week, Matt and Jason discuss the difference between thermodynamics and kinetics, entropy, extent of reaction, water-gas shift reaction, hydrogen, multiple reactions and side products, atomic balances, NOx emissions, and the future of work and travel post-Covid-19.

ITFH 13: Chemical Reactions (Part 1) Apr 07, 2020

This week, Matt and Jason discuss chemical reactions in balances, yield & selectivity, oxidative coupling of methane, fireplaces, are Jarod and Timmy real people?, extent of reaction, Greek letters, air separation, liquid nitrogen, noble gases, xenon fluoride compounds, periodic table party, BET surface area, Raney nickel, palladium, joules, styrofoam cups and heat transfer, and the proper way to hold wine glasses.

ITFH 12a: Out the Fume Hood Apr 01, 2020

Hoping to provide some laughs during a tough time... here's the second installment of Out the Fume Hood! Recorded in February, we were saving this fora rainy day. Topics include Star Wars, Kylo Ren, the Darth Jar Jar Theory, Valentine's Day, cooking and cookbooks, eating at restaurants by yourself, Kanye albums, memorable rap lyrics, teaching isn't easy, "Wildside" by Marky Mark, mentions of chemical engineering in music, and the ITFH Christmas album.

ITFH 12: Solutions Manuals Mar 31, 2020

A bite-sized 18-minute episode! This week, Matt and Jason discuss solutions manuals, online homework, ethics, chromate salts, putting engineering calculations into context, bypass streams, citizen science, and particulate matter.

ITFH 11: Balances on Multiple Unit Processes Mar 24, 2020

This week, Matt and Jason dive back into the book and get deep into the history of industrial chemistry and its impact on the 20th Century. Topics include: problem solving strategies for multiple unit processes, AIChE Concept Warehouse, hypothetical ITFH merchandise, periodic table belt buckles, recycle loops, the Haber-Bosch Process, ammonia and fertilizer, the Fischer-Tropsch process, oil and the Battle of Stalingrad, Geography Bees, zombies, Harry Potter, air conditioning and refrigeration, and authors' voices in textbooks.

ITFH 10: Managing Covid-19 Teaching Impacts Mar 17, 2020

This episode focuses on how engineering educators are adjusting to the impacts on coronavirus, especially with respect to online teaching, exams and delivery of course materials. Matt and Jason share their perspectives, experiences, thoughts and suggestions for handling this unexpected change in how we teach. Comments, ideas and feedback are welcome!

ITFH 9: Course Evaluations Mar 10, 2020

This week, Matt and Jason take a break from the textbook to primarily focus on topics related to teaching. Discussion includes: handling impromptu meetings with students, Rich Felder's "Random Thoughts", evolving the syllabus, being called "Mr." instead of "Dr.", the Cooper surname, speculation on barrel making, gender balance in chemical engineering, and course evaluations.

ITFH 8: Balancing a Process Mar 03, 2020

An extra large 58+ minute episode that is half "In the Fume Hood" and half "Out the Fume Hood"! Topics include: The Grey Album, misheard lyrics, degree of freedom analysis, flowchart scaling, independent equations, baking, Matt's biscuits, listening to music in the 90's, Netflix, social interactions during and after college, incomplete derivations in textbooks, learncheme.com, "New Math", self-esteem, confidence vs. arrogance, role models, Barkley & Jordan, entourages, real processes don't always balance, Matt's newspaper column, and GI Joe.

ITFH 7: Process Flowcharts Feb 25, 2020

Matt and Jason discuss the general balance equation, the exchange of tangible goods for digital points, creative answers to extra credit questions, benzene and toluene, decaffeinating coffee, @Midnight on Comedy Central, "activate those beans", Breaking Bad, the correct pronunciation of surnames, flowchart labeling and nomenclature, college course numbers, missing the connotation, using stream tables, and logical process design.

ITFH 6: Fundamentals of Material Balances Feb 18, 2020

Matt and Jason reflect on the podcast so far, talk about material balances, the periodic table and merchandise, alchemy, lingo/dialects, how ChemEs identify themselves, 30 Rock and "mind grapes", The Simpsons and "nucular" reactions, batch processes, misconceptions about batch distillation, extra credit, and applying mass balances to real processes.

ITFH 5: Things Chemical Engineers Probably Already Know Feb 11, 2020

Jason and Matt discuss "old-timey" words in chemical engineering, pressure measurements, just what is temperature?, Matt's not on social media, graduate school is a great life experience, Christmas cards, preference comedy over drama, the Trolley Problem in ethics, Jason's mobile apps for chemical engineers, the concept of flow, online homework, and learning to say "no" at work.

ITFH 4: Chemical Engineering Basics (Part 2) Feb 04, 2020

Jason and Matt discuss engineering estimations, the challenges of timed exams, teaching statistics to engineers, random Simpsons stuff, curve fitting, baseball analytics, what Matt would do if he won the lottery, Matt's HW problem in the book, and engineering ethics.

ITFH 3a: Out the Fume Hood Jan 28, 2020

Leftover and off-topic material from Episode 3 becomes the first installment of "Out the Fume Hood"! In this "Analog to Digital Power Hour" (really only 25 minutes), Jason and Matt take a detour from engineering education and talk about music, concerts, stand up comedy shows, movies, soundtracks, and the digital photography revolution.

ITFH 3: Chemical Engineering Basics (Part 1) Jan 28, 2020

Matt and Jason discuss perceptions of chemical engineers, benefits of the metric system, significant figures, views on what "let's meet at 8:00" actually means, why you need to always include zero before decimal points, the value of polished presentations, recording lectures and a future "academic Netflix". Matt closes out with his famous "Cole's Law" story.

ITFH 2: Introduction to Material & Energy Balances (Part 2) Jan 16, 2020

Topics in this episode include: Unit Conversions, the Metric System and its use in Rap Lyrics, the History of Temperature, and Using Wikipedia for Science and Teaching.

ITFH 1: Introduction to Material & Energy Balances (Part 1) Jan 14, 2020

The inaugural episode! Topics in this episode include: Handling Make-up Exams, Social Media, Impostor Syndrome, and "What Some Chemical Engineers do for a Living".

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