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Educating chemical engineers for a sustainable future: Embedding sustainability in process design

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Preparing future Chemical Engineers to address complex sustainability challenges requires educational approaches that move beyond traditional discipline-focused teaching to develop systems thinking, interdisciplinary collaboration, professional identity, and the ability to balance competing environmental, economic, societal, and technical priorities. However, integrating these interconnected competencies meaningfully into engineering curricula remains a significant pedagogical challenge. This paper presents a teaching-focused case study demonstrating how sustainability-driven, problem-based learning can address these challenges through a third-year Chemical Engineering Design Project centred on developing a bio-based styrene production process. A collaborative, research-informed learning approach was adopted, enabling students to design an integrated process combining conventional ethylbenzene dehydrogenation with bioethanol production from agricultural residues. Students applied process modelling, material and energy integration, process safety and hazard analysis, and techno-economic evaluation to explore the complex trade-offs involved in sustainable industrial process design. The educational experience highlighted opportunities to enhance student engagement, strengthen systems thinking, and develop a deeper appreciation of the interconnected technical, environmental, and economic dimensions of engineering decision-making. The project also provided opportunities for students to develop confidence in addressing open-ended problems, collaborative problem-solving skills, and professional competencies relevant to contemporary engineering practice. Aligned with the conference theme, Together through Change, this case study illustrates how authentic, sustainability-led design projects can bridge the gap between theoretical learning and professional engineering practice. It offers a transferable educational approach for embedding sustainability into Chemical Engineering curricula while fostering interdisciplinary thinking, professional identity, and the competencies required to contribute to the transition towards low-carbon, resource-efficient, and sustainable industrial systems.
DOI: 10.71957/z7vg7d59
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7221513617
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