Many students entering the Chemical and Biological Engineering program at CSU are passionate about topics related to sustainability and are quite excited to conduct hands-on experiments to reinforce concepts they are learning in their lecture-based classes. Unfortunately, there are currently no classroom-related elements in the first-year curriculum that encourage and foster students’ enthusiasm for sustainability in an experiential manner. The principal aim of this proposed project is to fill this gap by introducing novel, hands-on experiments focused on sustainability into the first-year Introduction to Chemical and Biological Engineering Lab course (CBE 101B).

This year, our students will be learning about engineering and sustainability opportunities within the process of making chocolate. The class lecture includes a review of the basic principles of sustainability and the individual steps of growing, harvesting, fermenting, transporting, roasting, cracking/winnowing, grinding, tempering, molding, and the distribution of chocolate to the consumer. The lab part of the class includes hands-on experimentation with grinding cocoa nibs, tempering, and molding them into chocolate bars. The series ends with the students conducting quality assessments not only of the chocolate that they make but also of commercially available chocolate. Guest lecturers from chocolate production companies from both Fort Collins and Amsterdam spoke with our students to provide multiple and various global perspectives on approaching engineering and sustainability in making chocolate. The overall purpose of this series is to provide students with an impactful and relatable hands-on experience to critically think about closing sustainability gaps within the supply chain and process resources used for producing a single bar of chocolate through the lens of an engineer.