Syllabus

Course Title

CEE-233: Advanced Air Pollution Control and Engineering

Academic Department

Chemical and Environmental Engineering

Course Instructor

Markus Petters, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Office: Center for Environmental Research & Technology of UCR | Room 128
Web: https://mdpetters.github.io
Email: markus.petters@ucr.edu
Office Hours: Tu 12:20-13:20 pm (after class)

Course Description

Covers principles necessary to understand the atmospheric behavior of air pollutants. Topics include gas- and aerosol-phase chemistry, atmospheric diffusion, removal processes and residence times, and the formation and fate of gas and aerosol pollutants.

Meeting Time/Location

Lecture: Tu/Th 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM
Location: Riverside Campus | Humanities and Social Sciences | Room 1406
Discussion: Tu 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Location: Riverside Campus | Student Success Center | Room 216

Course Materials

Students will need access to a laptop computer with scientific computing software installed. The choice of software is up to the student and may be one of the following: MATLAB, Python, R, or Julia. Students need to be able to run git from the command line and be able to install add-on packages on their device. The computer will be needed to complete exams.

Assessment

Assessment of learning objectives will be through assignments and exams.

Evaluation of Student Performance

The grade components in the class include:

The participation score will be based on physical presence and participation during in-class poll questions. The grade will be computed from the automatically generated grade book of the Poll Everywhere platform.

Exams will mimic the homework assignments and are to be taken in person. They will be administered via GitHub Classroom. A laptop computer with appropriate software installed will be required for taking the exam.

Definition of Letter Grades

This Course uses Letter Grading: A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F, I, W. Grading policies follow UCR Regulations., Letter grades are defined as follows:

A - Distinction, indicating exceptional achievement. Mastery of course content at the highest level of attainment that can reasonably be expected of students at a given stage of development.

B - High pass, indicating more than minimal competence but less than exceptional achievement. Strong performance demonstrating a high level of attainment for a student at a given stage of development.

C - Pass, indicating competence. Totally acceptable performance demonstrating an adequate level of attainment for a student at a given stage of development.

D - Marginal pass. This grade is used to recognize that a student’s performance was marginal but clearly better than that of students who receive an F.

F - Fail. This grade is used to indicate that the student has failed the course and will not receive any credit for the course. The F grade indicates that the student’s performance in the required exercises has revealed almost no understanding of the course content.

I - Incomplete. This grade is used as a temporary grade. At the discretion of the instructor, students may be given an GD grade for work not completed because of a serious interruption in their work not caused by the student’s negligence.

W - Withdrawal. Used on student’s grade reports and transcripts to indicate all courses for which they have received official approval to drop or from which they have received official approval to withdraw after the deadlines for dropping.

Mastery Based Grading

This course will use mastery-based grading. Mastery based grading assigns letter grades "A" to "F" based on a point cutoff evaluated from the assignment rubric.

Under some circumstances I may allow resubmission of an assignment for you to demonstrate mastery.

Absence Policy

Consistent class attendance is the number one predictor of academic success. Therefore, class attendance is required. Excused absences include

1. Medical Conditions

2. Death in the Immediate Family

3. Military Orders

4. Legal Obligations

Written verification from a from physician, lawyer, judge, or commanding officer needs to be provided for any makeup exam.

Late Homework

Late homework will receive no credit. An extension may be granted if the student can document extenuating circumstances related to an extensive period of excused absence between the date that the homework assigned and the homework due date. In addition, religious observances or other unanticipated life events may interfere with class attendance and homework submission. These may qualify for an extension, provided sufficient documentation is presented.

Methods of Student Instruction

• Slides: Slide deck presentation are used to deliver content

• Lecture Notes: Handwritten lecture notes are used to deliver key derivations

• Poll Everywhere: In-class polling questions for formative assessments

• GitHub Classroom: GitHub Classroom is used for homework projects

• Pluto Notebooks: Pluto notebooks are used as reference text and demonstration of implementation of algorithms in computer language

• Discussion Sessions: Discussion sessions are used for one-on-one instruction

Term Project

You are tasked to design a field campaign to validate aerosol emissions at urban scale. You can pick the location (metropolitan area), emission type (e.g. mobile vs. stationary), aerosol type (black carbon vs. secondary organic aerosol vs. inorganic sources). The main objective is to design a measurement campaign that is (1) feasible, (2) affordable, and (3) compelling. Feasible means that it is logistically possible to conduct the measurements. Examples of feasibility include site access, instrument availability, and personnel availability. Affordable means that you are limited in the number of high quality instruments you can deploy. An example of "non-affordable" would be a campaign that requires a fleet of specialized aircraft. Compelling means that the data will provide meaningful constraints on the emissions given the limitations of your sensors and the geographical area. Examples of "not compelling" would be insufficient sensitivity of the selected sensor(s), insufficient temporal or spatial coverage, or interference by factors outside of your control, including meteorological factors.

Evaluation will focus on the following aspects

• Problem statement (description of the emission problem)

• Feasibility analysis (is the project feasible)

• Budget analysis (is the project affordable)

• Engineering objectives analysis (is the project compelling)

Milestones

• April 9: Identification of title and 3-5 sentence abstract on envisioned scope

• April 23: Problem statement and list of papers to be considered.

• April 30: Campaign overview figure and outline of the proposed campaign

• May 7: Feasibility and budget analysis

• May 21: Engineering objective analysis

• June 6: Presentation of project and final draft of term paper

Readings and Recommended Texts

Reading material is provided in the form of online notebooks. Additional reading may be assigned on an ad-hoc basis.

Academic Accommodations

Students are encouraged to take an active role as their own advocates. They are not required to identify themselves as having a disability; however, students are not eligible for accommodations unless they self-identify. Students are responsible for visiting the SDRC office (Student Disability Resource Center, 125 Costo Hall (951) 827-4538, http://sdrc.ucr.edu/, and obtaining and delivering letters detailing appropriate accommodations to each of their instructors in a timely manner every quarter.

Instructors are responsible for assisting in providing accommodations; students are required to make requests in an appropriate and timely manner. Ordinarily, required accommodations are described in a letter, which is given to the instructor by the student. Classroom accommodations may involve providing space for a sign language interpreter or real-time captionist, asking students to clear a path for wheelchair users, announcing need for note takers, for example. Some accommodations, such as materials in Braille, large print, or electronic format, readers, and special equipment for testing or composing papers, are provided outside of the classroom by SDRC. UCR practices for students summarized by the Dean.

Academic Rights and Responsibilities

All students, faculty, and staff are responsible for understanding and complying with the University’s stated academic requirements. Students should feel free to express their thoughts and opinions in an academic forum. Assignments must be completed by the student for whom the work is assigned and without unauthorized aid of any kind.

Academic Integrity

At UCR we are committed to upholding and promoting the values of the Tartan Soul: Integrity, Accountability, Excellence, and Respect. As a student in this class, it is your responsibility to act in accordance with these values by completing all assignments in the manner described, and by informing the instructor of suspected acts of academic misconduct by your peers. By doing so, you will not only affirm your own integrity, but also the integrity of the intellectual work of this University, and the degree which it represents. Should you choose to commit academic misconduct in this class, you will be held accountable according to the policies set forth by the University, and will incur appropriate consequences both in this class and from Student Conduct and Academic Integrity Programs. For more information regarding University policy and its enforcement, please visit: https://conduct.ucr.edu/.

Cheating is the giving, taking, or presenting of information or material by a student that unethically or fraudulently aids oneself or another person on any work which is to be considered in the determination of a grade or the completion of academic requirements or the enhancement of that student’s record or academic career. Cheating includes, but is not limited to the following actions:

1. Copying from someone else’s assignment, examination, or other academic exercise.

2. Possessing, buying, selling, removing, receiving, or using, at any time or in any manner not prescribed by the faculty member, any information related to an instrument of academic evaluation.

3. Using materials, equipment, or assistance in connection with an assignment, examination, or other academic exercise which have not been authorized by the faculty member, including but not limited to, notes, calculator, or other technology.

4. Obtaining or attempting to obtain, in a dishonest manner, any material relating to a student’s academic work.

5. Working with another or others in completing an assignment, examination, or other academic exercise when the faculty member has required independent and unaided action.

6. Attempting to influence or change an academic evaluation, grade, or record by unfair means.

7. Permitting another individual to substitute for one’s self in an academic evaluation.

8. Marking or submitting an examination or evaluation material in a manner designed to deceive the grading system,

9. Failing to comply with a specific condition of academic integrity which has been clearly announced in a particular course,

10. Submitting, without prior permission of the faculty member, any work by a student which has at any time been submitted in identical or similar form by that student in fulfillment of any other academic requirement at any institution.

11. Submitting of material in whole or part for academic evaluation that has been prepared by another individual(s).

12. Submitting data which have been altered or contrived in such a way as to be deliberately misleading.

13. Providing false information to the University in any manner to achieve an unfair advantage, enhance one’s record, or complete a requirement.

Digital Course Components

Students may be required to disclose personally identifiable information to other students in the course, via digital tools, such as email or web-postings, where relevant to the course. Examples include online discussions of class topics, and posting of student coursework. All students are expected to respect the privacy of each other by not sharing or using such information outside the course.

Digital Course Components: Digital course components include

• GitHub Classroom platform.

• Canvas Learning Management System

• PollEverywhere

• Jupyter Hub (Participation is optional)

Non-Discrimination Policy

It is the policy of the University of California Riverside not to engage in discrimination against or harassment of any person employed or seeking employment with the University of California on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender expression, gender identity, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, or service in the uniformed services. Furthermore, University policy prohibits retaliation against any member of the University community filing a complaint of discrimination or harassment. This policy is intended to be consistent with the provisions of applicable State and Federal laws and University policies.

Technology Policy

The use of laptop computers or tablet to follow the notebooks during lectures is permitted and encouraged.

Course Schedule