More than 1/3 of the world’s population now resides in India and China. As both countries grow, the pressures mount on infrastructure, resources, workforces and environmental sustainability. The good news, however, is that a new generation of engineering students is focused on addressing this dual challenge of meeting the increasing demand for resources from a growing population with rising standards of living while also addressing sustainability goals. AspenTech recently had the honor of providing training to help select groups of these students build technical skillsets that will prepare them as they enter industry.

Chemical Engineering Design Competition in China

Earlier this year AspenTech organized an online training in China with a local partner aimed at university students who will be attending the National College Students Chemical Engineering Design competition. This training enabled participants to use Aspen Plus^® software, the industry’s leading process simulation solution, as a preferred tool to complete the competition. Nearly 1,000 students from more than 250 Chinese universities participated in the training class.

This is the world's largest national chemical engineering university competition and is co-sponsored by the Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China (CIESC) and the China Education Association of Chemical Industry (CEACI). The competition aims to develop the innovative thinking, engineering design and practical skills of students, preparing them to become the workforce of tomorrow. During the final, each team prepares an oral report and corresponding presentation documents which introduce the design works of the team, after which they conduct a defense. The finals judging committee makes a comprehensive evaluation based on the quality of the works submitted by each team, oral reports and defense performance. The competition concludes as the committee announces the results of the awards and holds a ceremony after the finals. Aspen Plus was the preferred tool used by attendees to complete the simulation task in the competition. A post-training questionnaire showed that 100% of them said they will continue to utilize Aspen Plus simulation software tool for future study and work-related purposes. Additionally, 70% of the respondents said they wanted to become certified Aspen users by completing AspenTech’s certification exams.

 

Learning Spirit Continues in India

While the AspenTech team in China was working with students, so too was the team in India. AspenTech organized an in-person training for Indian university students from Vel Tech High Tech Dr. Rangarajan Dr. Sakunthala Engineering College in Chennai, as part of the national-level workshop to introduce process modeling using Aspen HYSYS^®. Due to its industry-leading position, universities such as Vel Tech want their students to become proficient Aspen HYSYS users in their aim to produce industry-ready graduates for the workforce.

 

 

Ms. Athira Rema, AspenTech’s technical consultant in Pune, India, was invited to inaugurate the national workshop conducted as part of the college’s National Science Day. The training program was held over four days and aimed at enabling students to utilize Aspen HYSYS as a pre-requisite tool to complete their final year project work.

 

 

The training was highly valued by the participating teams. More than 100 chemical engineering students attended the training. Every student said that they would continue to use Aspen HYSYS for future simulation study and work; 98% of the students completed AspenTech’s user certification exam for HYSYS. Indeed, the learning can-do mentality is well-captured across populous student communities in India and China to capitalize on innovation, produce graduates who are industry ready, and meet the dual challenge through the decades to come.