Memorandum

To:
CHE 4401 Students
From: W. M. Clark
Date: August 24, 2015
Subject: Unit Ops Schedule and HW Assignments

Welcome back to what for most of you will be your final year at WPI. We hope you had
a great summer and are now ready to get serious about learning some chemical engineering.
This note is to inform you of some special scheduling features and the first homework
assignments for CHE 4401. There will be no 8 am lab session on Thursday, August 27th. The
first actual laboratory sessions will be Tuesday, September 8; Wednesday, September 9; and
Thursday, September 10. However, you will have important class meetings and homework
assignments due before then as described below.
We will have a special initial meeting on Thursday, August 27 at 2:00 p.m. in GH
227. This is not on your schedule and I recognize that some of you may have conflicts, but please
be there if you can. At the meeting, we will discuss course procedures and lab group
assignments.
All course handouts will be distributed via the world wide web and discussed at the 8/27
meeting. You can access the course website through the myWPI system at
http:\\www.wpi.edu. You should have automatic access to the course web page if you are
enrolled in the course. Otherwise you might find access as a guest. Once in the web site you
will find a large number of MSWord and PDF files with information for the course. Be sure to
find the first, second, and third homework assignments that are due Tuesday, September 1;
Thursday, September 3; and Friday, September 4, respectively. Start working on them
right away. If you have any trouble getting into the course web pages, contact me at
wmclark@wpi.edu. Also please complete HW0 select your group as soon as possible.
You should also attend one of the lab orientation sessions. If your schedule shows you
have lab on Tuesday, you should show up in GH 116 at 9 AM on Tuesday, September 1. If you
have Wednesday or Thursday lab, please show up at GH 116 at 9 AM on September 2 or 3,
respectively. At these orientation meetings we will tour the lab and have a brief introduction to
the machine shop, pipes, valves, and fittings. It is required that you attend your assigned meeting
and wear a hard hat and safety glasses in the lab. If you dont already have these items, please
purchase them from the chemical stockroom on a day BEFORE your lab session (not the day of).
Wednesday afternoon class periods will be in SL 115 at 2 pm beginning on September 2
and will continue throughout the term. Topics may include lab safety, review of fundamentals,
career development (employment opportunities), statistics and error analysis, professional and
ethical responsibility, and report writing.