Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

A. Hoxie

Integrating Energy Modeling Software into Sustainable Energy Systems Curriculum A. Hoxie, Ph.D. University of Minnesota DuluthThe Passive House energy modeling software was integrated into a senior level technical elective onsustainable energy in the Mechanical and Industrial Energy program at the University of MinnesotaDuluth. Previous iterations of the course have focused primarily on energy production. Renewableenergy technologies were introduced from large-scale utilities to distributed small-scale systems.Students also learned the current methods of energy production as well as the sectors of energy usethroughout the

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

D. A. Rogers; B. D. Braaten

research and course work is one method of developing a new type of researchprogram.At this time there are approximately 400 undergraduate and 30 graduate students in the NDSUECE Department. Contained in this group of students are very talented and bright individualscapable of thinking independently, taking initiative, and leading groups of people. One methodof challenging these capable students is to integrate active research programs directly into thecourses currently being taught in the ECE curriculum. Over the past few semesters, the authorshave been working to bring research activities into the courses in electromagnetics that werementioned earlier. In particular, research topics associated with flexible antennas, microwavecircuitry, and

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

R. Nelson; J. Bumblis; C. Liu; A. Turkmen; N. Zhou; D. Olson; R. Rothaupt

of the Computer Engineering program at UW-Stout. In this program an embedded system is viewed as any object that contains a computing device(e.g. a microprocessor, microcontroller, or a digital signal processor) with the object itself notfunctioning as a general purpose computer. This definition allows us to consider any object from asimple appliance (like a digital watch) to complex portable integrated devices such as medicalinstrumentation and 4G cellular devices containing gigabytes of memory and a complex operatingsystem supporting a variety of applications. Students are encouraged to engage their imaginations andengineering skills to solve real-life problems using embedded systems technologies (hardware andsoftware) as well as the

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Seraphin C. Abou

in nanotechnology safety and medicine.Building on the international curriculum on nanotechnology to support communication,collaborative learning has also become an integral part of learning management systems. Fromsystems safety perspective, the integration of the international curriculum has brought about anew strand of educational research focusing on public safety, computer conferencing, biologysystems, computer-mediated communication, also resulting in an established research fieldknown as computer supported collaborative learning, a new area in engineering learning andteaching. In addition, Henri (1992), [5], introduced quantitative approaches (such as the numberof messages, level of interaction) and qualitative approaches (such as

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Carl Sandness; Tom Jamar; Roy Smith; j. Moe Benda

withlocal businesses, industry, higher education and regional development, this committee hassponsored activities such as: Curriculum development in the High School, Mentoring withyoung practicing engineers (representing multiple organizations from diverse backgrounds), job-shadowing with engineers to discover the nuts and bolts of a day in the life of an engineer, abusiness / engineering Pro-E computer lab at the High School, and a Junior Engineers Clubamong other things. The committee is comprised of instructors from Hibbing High School,Hibbing Community College and the University of Minnesota-Duluth; industry leaders fromCliffs Natural Resources, Jasper Engineering, BARR Engineering and NORAMCO; and leadersfrom regional support agencies such as

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Eric Musselman

structural engineering, water resources engineering, environmental engineering, trafficengineering, geotechnical engineering and project management. These speakers talk about thework done in their field, highlight projects that they are currently or have previously worked on,and talk about what it is like to work in an engineering firm. They also provide time for thestudents to ask questions. This section of the course is very well received by students andprovides a wealth of valuable information.Approximately seven of the lectures are used to introduce topics that will be used throughout thecivil engineering curriculum, as well as for the design project integrated into the course. Thesetopics include: an introduction to civil engineering, the

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Christopher R. Carroll

Adapting Digital Design Instruction to a Programmable Logic Device Setting Christopher R. Carroll University of Minnesota DuluthIntroductionProgrammable Logic Devices have revolutionized the way in which digital circuits are built.Individual Small-Scale- or Medium-Scale-Integration (SSI or MSI) devices are rarely used, andin fact are becoming hard to find. Instead, FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) andCPLDs (Complex Programmable Logic Devices) have become the standard for implementingdigital systems1. FPGAs and CPLDs offer much higher circuit density, higher reliability, andsystem simplification, all of which make them

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Ryan G. Rosandich

for everything that is added, something must be taken away. This is an age-old problem faced by mechanical engineering programs which were first reduced from five years to four, and then asked to include additional content as the field of mechanical engineering continued to evolve. New materials, techniques, and analysis tools are added each year to an already crowded curriculum. To implement the recommended changes within the 128 credit limit would be very challenging, especially in the face of accreditation constraints. 2. Engineering fundamentals must be retained What is the definition of engineering fundamentals? An mechanical engineering faculty will have difficulty making the distinction

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

M. S. Stachowicz; L. B. Kofoed

byDeGraff and Kolmos [3] in the following: A problem is the starting point of the learning process. The type of problem is dependent on the specific situation of the curriculum, study regulation, semester etc. Normally a semester theme guide which problems can be dealt with. Often semester courses are planned to meet demand from the study regulation and will at the same time support the problem solving process the students have chosen for their project. It is crucial that the problem serves as the basis for the learning process because it will determines the direction of the learning process as well as a problem places emphasis on a question rather than an answer. This also allows the learning content

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Christa James-Byrnes; Mark Holdhusen

potentially all over theworld, team work becomes very challenging.Another integral part of the traditional introductory engineering course is the inclusion of theperspective of outside practicing engineers. This usually takes the form of either a field trip to he ac ici g e gi ee c a b i gi g he e gi ee c a a a i i i g ec e . Freasons stated above, this becomes a challenge in the online environment. Proceedings of the 2011 North Midwest Section ConferenceBeing able to give oral presentations is an i a a ec f a e gi ee ca ee . For thisreason, it is emphasized in the traditional introductory engineering course. Given that studentsare geographically dispersed and courses are generally delivered