Archived-Announcements-2014

Previous announcements for 4N4 (in reverse time order):

• 12 Dec: I received the following from a former student today: "4N04 was extremely useful in getting this position [a job at a major ChemEng employer in Canada] and it sounds like I will also be using it fairly frequently in the job". Remember to sell your skills in your job interviews. The reflection form you are filling out (that you received by email), is one way to summarize your skills. Copy and paste that in a document and use it to prepare for your job interviews.
• 09 Dec: don't forget, Tyler is running an exam review in JHE 342 on Friday evening, from 5pm onwards.
• 08 Dec: the grades for the assignments (except the last one) and the peer-evaluations are uploaded into Avenue. Please verify your grades are accurate. A few other grades are still coming (safety workshop, assignment 8) as the TAs and myself get them uploaded.
• 05 Dec: this hotel company is being accused of ethical blindness. Even though it is not an engineering case, can you reason the two parties' points of view using the Code of Ethics?
• 05 Dec: while preparing the exam for next week I discovered your class is the 50th time that the 4N04 course has been held (it existed prior to that, but using different course codes). Here's the exam the students wrote back in 1965, when the course was held in the second semester. Here's another exam example, from 1992, that covers a flowsheet you might partially recognize.
• 04 Dec: the allocation for the 4W04 course has been posted.
• 03 Dec: information about the final exam is posted.
• 03 Dec: I forgot to mention in class today, but the TAs and myself will be uploading all available grade information into Avenue over the next week. It will be available prior to the final exam. Since most grading so far has been electronic, it's not been an issue to know your grades.
• 28 Nov: thank you all for your hard work on the projects over the past few weeks. I've received projects from groups A1 to A10 and B1 to B10, including the P&IDs. Thank you and hope you have a good weekend. Kevin.
• 27 Nov: please remember to fill out a course evaluation for 4N04; your feedback helps to make this course better and better. Thank you.
• 27 Nov: I do want to stress the importance of arriving on time (even early!) to the tutorials on Thursday and Friday. Your troubleshooting group members depend on it.
• 26 Nov: this fascinating video and article shows the massive metal arch that is being built next to Chernobyl, that is going to be slid over the reactor and contain it. The video shows the control rooms at that moment in time.
• 24 Nov: new notes are posted for the next section: on troubleshooting.
• 20 Nov: please select your 4W4 section for 2015. Please fill in the form on or before Monday, 24 Nov, at 4pm.
• 20 Nov: new notes are posted for the next section in the Safety topic: on HAZOP
• 18 Nov: because our guest speaker on Wednesday will be sharing confidential information, the class will not be video recorded.
• 16 Nov: interested in entrepreneurial courses? A highly recommended program is starting in January right here in Hamilton.
• 13 Nov: Tyler has volunteered to run a review session for 4N04 the day before the final exam, in JHE 342, on 12 December, from 5pm to 8pm.
• 13 Nov: struggling with capital cost estimation: here's another university's slides on the topic, with good pictures to show what is being costed.
• 13 Nov: a 4th (and final) memo has been posted, containing important details about the project reports. The memo answers questions that frequently came up during group meetings.
• 13 Nov: Tyler has volunteered to run a review session for 4N04 the day before the final exam, in JHE 342, on 12 December, from 5pm to 8pm.
• 11 Nov: the second set of notes for the Process Safety topic are posted now. Please download and print for Wednesday's class.
• 10 Nov: more information about the midterm
  • the class average was 75.4%
  • I'll post a rough set of solutions soon
  • the collaborative midterms will be returned at the tutorials on Thursday and Friday.
• 09 Nov: the notes for the next section, on Process Safety, are posted for class on Monday.
• 06 Nov: a new set of slides are posted for class on Friday. Please print them out (if you can): only the first half of them are required.
• 05 Nov: there is an important tutorial this week (06 and 07 November). See you there.
• 31 Oct: The class on Friday will be a lecture on Batch Scheduling. And we have another amazing external guest lecture coming up in November from a Praxair Project Manager/Cost Estimating Manager/Proposal Development Leader, on cost estimation and project management.
• 31 Oct: A great article for the meetings coming up, a background reading on fluidized beds.
• 31 Oct: As mentioned earlier, I tend to cancel classes around busy periods in the project. There will be no class on 3 and 5 November. This gives your group time to prepare for the meeting or to work on the follow-up items after the meeting.
• 29 Oct: A clarification: the course project is due on 28 November 2014, at 13:30.
• 28 Oct: a new set of notes for the Operability topic has been posted. Please download and print for Friday's class.
• 21 Oct: an important resource on our current operability topic is Dr. Marlin's newest textbook, particularly chapter 4. Please read this, as it is part of the course materials, and for your self-directed learning course project.
• 14 Oct: the date and time for the final exam has been set: Saturday, 13 December, at 19:30, MDCL/1105.
• 14 Oct: the next notes, on the Operating Window, are posted now. Please print for Wednesday's class.
• 14 Oct: a small modification to the current assignment 5: do not calculate the flow rates of "bfw", and "hps" required for any of the heat exchangers. In your costing table for question 9, leave the flow rates blank. Still report, however, the costs for the streams. We will cover in class how to estimate the flow rates.
• 09 Oct: there are two new memos posted regarding the self-directed learning group project.
• 09 Oct: just a note about the tutorial on 16 October (Thursday). It will be in a different location, in BSB room 105.
• 09 Oct: new notes are posted on Operability - the next topic in our course.
• 06 Oct: details about the midterm are provided for you. The venues are:
  • BSB, room 105: last names starting with A to G
  • BSB, room 117: last names starting with H to O
  • BSB, room 138: last names starting with P to Z
• 03 Oct: The final set of slides for the economics section has been posted for Monday's class.
• 03 Oct: Solutions for the first two assignments are posted so you can start studying for the midterm. Solutions for the 3rd and 4th assignment are coming soon.
• 18 Sep: the slides for tomorrow (Friday, 19 Sep) are posted.
• 17 Sep: the second assignment is posted now.
• 14 Sep: the timing couldn't having been more perfect. This article from Friday's Globe and Mail discusses almost every question that is in the first assignment. It's about a couple in the Hamilton area that are wondering when they can retire, and afford to do what they would like.
• 10 Sep: the first assignment is posted for the Thursday and Friday tutorials. Please see the instructions below for setting up and submitting your group assignment electronically.
• 10 Sep: the group listing is available now. You will work in these groups on Thursday and Friday, get to meet each other, and establish how your working relationship will evolve over the rest of the semester. I used the name most frequently seen in your group selection forms. If I used the wrong name, or if you prefer a different name, please contact me.
• 08 Sep: please ensure you are registered for the 4N4 course in SOLAR, and that you can see the course in Avenue. If you cannot see the course in Avenue, then you are not registered correctly.
• 07 Sep: the first set of notes are posted for class on Monday. Please print and bring them with you to class.
• 05 Sep: select your groups for 4N4 using this link: http://yint.org/groups and please fill it in by Sunday evening.
• 31 Aug: the first tutorials are on 04 September (tutorial group T01) and 05 September (tutorial group T02).

There will be tutorials on these days and you must attend them. We will meet in JHE 342. Please come prepared by thinking of answers to these 3 questions (30 seconds per answer; you will be talking one-on-one with other people in the class as a way to form your groups for the rest of the term).

• Summer is almost over! What is your favourite thing to do in the summer? What interesting/exciting thing did you accomplish this past summer?
• Describe one of the most interesting things you've learned in your prior engineering studies so far.
• Which area (and why) would you like to work in when graduated? [it does not have to be engineering related].

• 29 Aug: the first class will be Friday, 05 September, at 13:30, in BSB room B136, and the class slides are posted.
• 26 Aug: materials for the 2014 course will be added here shortly. Please check back later.