For the third time in his career, David Silverstein, a professor of chemical engineering at the UK Pigman College of Engineering Paducah campus, has been named a winner of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) William H. Corcoran Award.
The William H. Corcoran Award is presented each year to the author(s) of the most outstanding article published in Chemical Engineering Education.
Silverstein was a 2023 co-winner, along with his 13 co-authors, for their paper titled, "AIChE Virtual Communities of Practice-- Supporting Faculty During the COVID-19 Pandemic," published in the Winter 2022 issue of “Chemical Engineering Education.”
Silverstein and his peers from some of the nation’s top institutions recounted the shift across chemical engineering departments across the globe to virtual learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and explored the impact.
ABSTRACT:
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, chemical engineering departments from around the world shifted their course offerings from in-person to online almost instantaneously. The AIChE Education Division immediately responded to this educational shift by developing five Virtual Communities of Practice (VCPs) that allowed faculty to share experiences and best practices as well as provide a network for emotional support. Community creation, methods and materials shared, and surveys related to the impact of this initiative will be discussed.
The award is named in honor of the late Bill Corcoran, a beloved California Institute of Technology professor of chemical engineering. Nominations for the award are not accepted as all published papers in a calendar year are automatically considered.
