Week 1

Welcome to Week 1

 19 April 2021 

First Introduction to Chemical Product Design Lesson

Welcome to our very first Blog Post! Today we will be sharing about our very first Introduction to Chemical Product Design, CP5065 lesson! We will be sharing with you guys more about what we have learned today. Let's go!

What is a Chemical Product 

In our first lesson, we started things of by learning about chemical products, its definition, and plenty of examples. Now you may be asking, what is a chemical product? Is it a product made out of chemicals? Is it a product that is based of chemistry? Well, a chemical product is a product that is manufactured or design using Chemical Engineering Principles!

 

Categories of Chemical Products

When it comes to chemical product, it falls under 4 different categories. It includes Commodities, Chemical devices, Molecular products, and Micro-structured products.

First off, Commodities are normally made in bulk quantities and would be sold at the lowest possible price. An example would be plastic.

Next, Chemical devices are miniature processes which help to attain a particular chemical transformation and it provides mainly convenience. An example would be a pH meter where it tells us conveniently what pH value the solvent you are measuring is.

Next, would be the Molecular products which possess specific chemical structures and are normally discovered through research.

Lastly, would be Micro-structured products created with specific functions. An example would be the mock crab stick that is found on the market with the intention to imitate crab meat but is however mostly made of flour.

Team Formation:

The particular framework used for team formation here is Tuckman’s theory.
He states that in order for a team to grow they must face challenges, tackle problems,
and find solutions as a group then plan the work before delivering results.
He categorizes it into 5 necessary and inevitable phases in team formation.

Forming

• Team acquaints and establishes the ground rules. Formalities are preserved and members are treated as strangers.

Storming

•   Members start to communicate their feelings but still view themselves as individuals instead

of being part of the team.

• They resist control by the group leader and show hostility towards them.

Norming

•   Teammates feel part of the team and realize they can achieve work if they accept other viewpoints.

Performing

•   The team works in an open and trusting atmosphere where flexibility is the key and hierarchy is of little importance.

Adjourning

•   Team conducts an assessment of the year and implements a plan for transitioning roles and recognizing members’ contributions.

Documentation

• Good documentation can track changes and avoid confusion 
• Detailed recording of the workflow of tasks also serves as a good “instructional manual” to refer to when the task needs to be repeated after a lapse of time.

Reminders

Each entry is 3% (2% for timeliness & completeness; 1% for quality)

  Four checkpoints (Week 4, 8, 12 and 16)

Reflections:

Alton: From this week's lesson we just set the ground rules and the certain expectations that have to be met throughout this module and more importantly what this module will build up to in year 3.  

Leon: This week's lesson introduced me to a whole new module relating to what I have learnt in Year 1. I was able to understand how this module could benefit and enable me to do well in the near future. It was also my first time blogging as well!

Shou Chun: This week gave me an insight into what is chemical product design and what to expect from this module. I feel that this module will teach me valuable skills needed for subsequent modules and the Capstone Project in Y3.