Quality Assurace/Quality Control
QUALITY ASSURANCE/QUALITY CONTROL
CenCITT's Quality Assurance/Quality Control Plan has
been formulated and approved by the EPA and the SAC. The plan
is implemented at the project level by each Project
Investigator. The general CenCITT plan is tailored to
integrate with the needs, aim and type of each project. For
example, projects which do not include experimental data
collection (e.g. modeling, process simulation, industrial
needs surveys) will not have an experimental QA/QC plan. The
intellectual quality of such projects is guaranteed through a
peer review process. QA/QC procedures for projects which
include experiments and data collection normally consider the
accuracy of results required for the stated intention of the
work. For example, a study to examine industrial feasibility
of a new technology would normally not require reagent
purities as high as those demanded by catalytic reaction
product determinations. Screening experiments may not
require as many repeat experiments as pure component property
measurements. Each SAC-approved, project proposal normally
includes a specific QA/QC plan and names a Project QA/QC
Officer. These officers report to their respective
Institutional Coordinators, with ultimate responsibility borne
by the CenCITT Director.
Since almost all of CenCITT's exploratory research
includes participation from graduate and undergraduate
students, QA/QC is as much an educational process as a set of
experimental guidelines. CenCITT's goal is to emphasize
quality in such a way that it becomes second nature to all
students involved with its projects. Communication among
students and faculty throughout CenCITT is encouraged so that
plans and analytical procedures can be compared and constantly
improvement upon.
Back to Table of Contents