MCEN4228/5228: Design of Coffee taught by Carmen Pacheco-Borden serves as an introduction to how engineers use their disciplinary training to approach and solve problems outside of the traditional confines of their discipline, as illustrated by the roasting and brewing of coffee. The course offers weekly hands-on experimental laboratories to demonstrate key engineering principles in subject areas such as heat transfer, mass transfer, thermodynamics, materials science, sustainability, water quality, biomedical engineering and device design evaluation. 

Students participate in design trials
Lab experiment starts with unroasted beans
Students can use a roaster to roast coffee beans
Students prepare to roast their beans
Students can use a dripper to brew coffee
Yiwen Shen and Dulce Gonzales-Beltran prepare to roast beans
Student pours water into kettle for brewing
Jose Soto brews coffee with french press
Student tracks watts used during roasting
Students prepare to roast beans with popcorn maker
Bex Mikofsky, Demi Dayton and Osmar Aguirre prepare to roast beans
Cordelia Kim pours coffee to taste it
Elijah Miller writes down results
Students track watts used while roasting
Coffee beans turn brown once roasted
Carmen Pacheco-Borden walks students through design trial
Students test the potency of their coffee
Students prepare to taste coffee
Students get ready to taste their coffee
Students prepare to taste their coffee
Student watches as beans are roasted
Carmen Pacheco-Borden helps student team
Final result of roasting and brewing
Students work in the Will Vill Teaching Kitchen
Students cool the roasted beans before brewing
Students try using a french press
Students roast their coffee beans
Students taste their coffee after roasting
Final result after brewing and roasting
Demi Dayton pours hot water into dripper