CHE 3321

This course wasn't bad, but the professors (Ford and Caliari co-taught) basically just read from the textbook every lecture, sometimes word-for-word. I would recommend just going through the textbook and memorizing the 'common' derivations of formulae that you use in class everyday, since those are not explicitly given on exams, and make your life much easier. Ask the TA for help on homework, both professors got confused at some point in the semester trying to explain the problem, and the TA makes sure they reference the answer key before helping you. Review homework problems before exams, you may see something familiar. As a professor, Ford is super nice, just be prepared to self-teach yourself most of the content.

I feel like quite the odd one out. I loved Geise's class but though Transport I was hands down the worst class I've taken in the ChemE dept. Ford is nice, but I don't think she is a very effective teacher. She loved gimmicky things like bringing in gak or coffee makers, but that seemed more like pandering than anything that would actually aid in understanding the material.

Her tests also didn't really test your understanding of the basic concepts so much as how fast you can do differential equations, and at least one question on each test seemed more like a logic puzzle than a test of conceptual understanding. Once you understood the trick it was easy, but the time constraints made the tests artificially difficult.

Professor ford is the nicest professor in cheme. She is very friendly and approachable, grades fairly and prepares you well for tests. This class is probably the easiest cheme class you will take besides matbal.

Coming into chemE, I didn’t expect I would need to know a lot of physics, so I didn’t really try that hard in intro physics. Welp, that hurt me because this class is all physics, especially in the beginning with Fluid Statics, buoyancy, force balances, etc. HW makes up 25% of your grade, so do well on those (she will not accept late hw-very strict). Tests can be difficult but are fair. Ford can be tricky. She put a problem on the 2nd exam that was in the textbook, but nothing like we had ever done in class or in the homework. On the other hand, Ford grades pretty fairly and really seems to want to get to know all the students. She’s funny and brings in coffee/other fun experiments that male professors might not. Overall, super refreshing to have a female professor in ChemE.

Ford is an awesome professor and probably one of the best in the chemical engineering department. The class is difficult but she makes it manageable and facilitates learning. Her grading policy is very fair. Compared to other courses you will take in your chemical engineering curriculum, this is one of the best.