Industrial involvement in undergraduate research: online determination of thermal properties of food materials

A description is given of an undergraduate research project, developed with the aid of an engineer in industry, involving the determination of thermal properties of several food materials. The objective was to instruct chemical engineering students at the sophomore level in research methodology. The students would determine the heat capacities and thermal conductivities of cocoa powder, whole milk powder, and cane sugar, both dry and as a 50:50 mixture (by mass) with water. The involvement of an industrial contact was found to be a motivating factor by demonstrating to the students that the subject of the research project was significant, and by implying that the subject matter the students were learning could be applied to a `real world´ problem