MACTLAC, or the Midwestern Association of Chemistry Teachers in Liberal Arts Colleges, hosts an annual conference that brings a wonderfully diverse crowd of chemistry faculty from liberal arts colleges across the midwest. This year, Pine Research wanted to bring EChem in a Box, to demonstrate how easy, affordable, and accessible it can be to incorporate experimental electrochemistry into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum.
We are commonly asked the following questions:
- “How can we teach electrochemistry without an electrochemist?”
- “Is electrochemistry still interesting? Didn’t we discover everything about electrochemistry in the 1970’s?”
- “How can we afford to add another instrument to our already slim budget?”
- “Do you have any electrochemical laboratories available? Our faculty do not have time to develop new labs in the near future.”
- “Is electrochemistry useful outside of the analytical curriculum?”
- “We want to gain ACS accreditation of our chemistry program, but we need help for our instrumental offerings. I see electrochemistry is one of the experiences that fulfills the instrumentation requirement by the ACS. Do you have any products that can help us?”
EChem in a Box addresses all of these questions. Yes, electrochemistry is timely (poll your class to see if there are any students without a battery-powered device in their pocket), as we are an energy hungry world. Batteries, while not new, have room to be improved. The fundamental concept of a battery is strictly electrochemical in nature.
We have put Echem in a Box together to make it easy, affordable, and accessible to implement across your curriculum. At MACTLAC, we will give the midwesterners a demonstration and opportunity to run their own experiment, ask questions, and network about the electrochemical possibilities.