Conference Session

ECE Pedagogy and Assessment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Larry Bland, John Brown University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

The ABET criteria does not define the various attributes of “ability to engage in life-long learning.” The various institutions create their own definitions. By virtue of thesedifferences, each institution also creates its own assessment process and tools. From the basicconcept of life-long learning, we will not measure this outcome while the student is at ourinstitutions. Life-long learning can only be demonstrated over a thirty-plus year career. Wemust look at career learning interventions, understand which interventions have the greatestimpact on life-long learning, and implement those attributes that can be implemented well in aclassroom. Education and learning take place along a four-part continuum with formal, non-formal,informal

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mehrdad Razavi, McFarland Clinic, University of Iowa; Mani Mina, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

between her/his knowledge of engineering and itsapplications to medicine? Should programs require biology instead of chemistry, or both? Inthis paper we address how we can help our engineering students to be best prepared for and/orpursue a career in bioengineering, biological, and medical sciences?” 4To answer this question, let us first overview the curriculum of bio-medical engineeringeducation in engineering schools & medical education in medical schools. Page 11.653.2The Engineering curriculumThe traditional approach in bio-medical engineering education has been to emphasize the basicnatural sciences such as biology, chemistry and physics

Conference Session

ECE Curriculum Innovations

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Godfrey, U.S. Coast Guard Academy; Joseph Staier, U.S. Coast Guard Academy

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

have statistically significant increases in averageresponse ratings. Page 11.80.8 Table 1 – End-Of-Course Survey Questions with Statistically Significant Increases in Average Responses Section 1 -COURSE FEEDBACK Q1. I understood the learning objectives of the course. Q2. The homework assignments could reasonably be completed within the time allotted. Q3. Homework did not exceed, on the average, the two hours per one-hour lecture guideline. Q6. I believe the course material will benefit me during my career. Q8. Emphasis was placed on the quality of material, not on the quantity (ie

Conference Session

ECE Curriculum Innovations

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Huettel, Duke University; April Brown, Duke University; Leslie Collins, Duke University; Kip Coonley, Duke University; Michael Gustafson, Duke University; Jungsang Kim, Duke University; Gary Ybarra, Duke University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

, Fundamentals ofECE presents a broader view of the field and provides a roadmap for the curriculum.Furthermore, the course links each discussion of a concept, device, analysis technique, or systemto later core and advanced classes that discuss that topic in more detail. This preview not onlymotivates future core and advanced courses, but it also enables students to identify their areas ofinterest earlier in their academic career and to select their future courses based in a principledexperience-based manner.2.3 Real-World ConnectionCurrent engineering education literature suggests that exposure to real-world applications earlyin the curriculum is a key factor in student interest, long-term understanding and retention8-11.However, standard curricula in

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kedmon Hungwe, Michigan Technological University; Seyed Zekavat, Michigan Technological University; Glen Archer, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

introduces the background of our activities including the methodology of the study andstructure of the survey. Section 3 presents the survey outcome data analysis. Section 4 discussesthe results of our analysis and Section 5 concludes the paper.2. BackgroundA key mission of university baccalaureate engineering programs is to develop and offerinterdisciplinary coursework that is essential to preparing highly-qualified engineering graduateswho will be successful and productive in their future careers. To this end, it is generallyrecognized in the academic environment that an introductory course in EE should be offered tothe non-electrical engineering (non-EE) students. As a result, almost all engineering institutionsoffer at least one “service course

Conference Session

ECE Curriculum Innovations

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charles Bunting, Oklahoma State University; Alan Cheville, Oklahoma State University; James West, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

during 2003.Another series of questions were designed to gauge the students’ attitudes toward the course asrelated to relevance, format, and effectiveness and these results are presented in figures 5-7. Page 11.1424.9 How relevant was this class to what you will be doing in your career as an engineer? 70% 62% 60% 50% 50% 50%Student Responses 40% 40

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ravel Ammerman, Colorado School of Mines; Pankaj Sen, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

between Academia and IndustryAbstractCurrently the electric power industry is facing a looming shortage of qualified and well-educatedcandidates to fill a large number of positions within the electric energy sector. The job ofpreparing electrical engineering students for careers in the broad interrelated areas of electricalpower systems, machines and energy is a formidable challenge. This task is further complicatedbecause it must be accomplished using very limited financial resources within the short timeframe available in a typical undergraduate engineering curriculum. This situation providedColorado School of Mines (CSM) with a unique opportunity to design a very effectiveundergraduate power engineering curriculum

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Neetika Kohli, Purdue University; Cordelia Brown, Purdue University; Monica Cox, Purdue University; David Meyer, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

students. During this important point in astudents’ academic career, it is critical that the students’ initial exposure to engineering is learnercentered, knowledge centered, assessment centered, and community centered1. Wirelessresponse units can serve as the catalyst to stimulate these interactions.The Introduction to Digital System Design course2 is offered by the School of Electrical andComputer Engineering. Students majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineeringare required to take the course. A number of Computer Science students take the course as wellto fulfill degree requirements. This four credit hour course has a weekly three hour lab that istightly integrated with the course material covered during the three hour a week

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joerg Mossbrucker, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

design and test of mobile robotics applications.Bibliography1. See the description of the Electrical Engineering discipline at the IEEE USA web-site at: http://www.ieeeusa.org/careers/yourcareer.html2. See the MSOE web-site for course description at of all courses mentioned in this paper at: http://www.msoe.edu/eecs/cese/courses/curriculum.php?progcode=EE15.1&abet=03. See Microsoft's web-site at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc/4. See the web-site of IAR, one of the industry's leader in IDE's for embedded systems at: http://www.iar.com/5. See the ISO/IEC9899 standard, available on-line at: http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg14/6. See the web-site of Atmel Corp. at: http://www.atmel.com/dyn

Conference Session

ECE Curriculum Innovations

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cynthia Furse, University of Utah; Behrouz Farhang-Boroujeny, University of Utah; Stephanie Richardson, University of Utah; Rohit Verma, University of Utah; April Kedrowicz, University of Utah; Bryan Stenquist, University of Utah

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

, particularly women and minorities in engineering and routinely volunteers in Utah's K-12 schools as an engineering mentor, science educator, and engineering career guidance counselor and is active with the Society of Women Engineers, Junior Engineering State, Expanding your Horizons, School-to-Careers, MESA, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. Dr. Furse was the Professor of the Year in the College of Engineering at Utah State University for the year 2000. She is the Director of the Center of Excellence for Smart Sensors, an active, funded research program including electromagnetics for biology and remote sensing. The Center focuses on imbedded antennas and sensors in complex environments, including

Conference Session

ECE Laboratory Design

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mukul Shirvaikar, University of Texas-Tyler; Mark Humphries, University of Texas-Tyler; Leonardo Estevez, Texas Instruments Inc.

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

, testing an audio codec and implementing an embeddedweb server. TI expects to disseminate the instructional resources developed and tested in thiscourse to other universities and industry partners.IntroductionDual-core processors have recently entered mainstream computing in PC systems, and it iscritical for students of computer engineering to be exposed to them early in their career. Thispaper extends past work 1, which presented the development of some introductory labs using TI's P POMAP 5912 Starter Kit (OSK). The Real Time Systems senior elective course at theUniversity of Texas at Tyler combines lectures along with an integrated lab. The students arerequired to have at least one course in structured

Conference Session

Digital Communications Systems

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sven Bilen, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

independent study or research credit in continue working on their own SDRdesigns.5. Summary We encourage other programs to consider developing an SDR course as it can be used totie together many of the concepts students learn during their undergraduate electrical engineeringprogram. One student team wrote “we felt that this was a good class to take to end ourundergraduate career because it served to sum up much of what we had learned in previousclasses. To create a complete SDR system, several interdisciplinary subjects must be considered:DSP, communications theory, and RF theory are just of few of these.” Indeed, this is exactlywhy the course was offered.ReferencesBenson and Lall, “System-level design using FPGAs and DSPs,” white paper, The

Conference Session

Integrating Research Into Undergraduate ECE Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Georgios Anagnostopoulos, Florida Tech; Michael Georgiopoulos, University of Central Florida; Ken Ports, Florida Tech; Richie Samuel, University of Central Florida; Melinda White, Seminole Community College; Veton Kepuska, Florida Tech; Philip Chan, Florida Tech; Annie Wu, University of Central Florida; Marcella Kysilka, University of Central Florida

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

. In our present paper we will provide a brief overview of the project’s characteristicsand share our experience about engaging undergraduate students in research in year 1 of theproject. More specifically, we will report the overall achievements accomplished so far in termsof research products such as student-developed software, publications and other disseminationefforts. Additionally, we report on student assessment results regarding the quality of theirexperience through their participation in aspects such as the student-teacher interaction, theknowledge and experience that students acquired, while performing research and the type ofimpact their involvement had on their future academic and/or career aspirations.1. IntroductionMachine

Conference Session

Integrating Research Into Undergraduate ECE Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jan Allebach, Purdue University; Edward Coyle, Purdue University; Joy Krueger, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

(VIP) Program is an engineering educationprogram that operates in a research and development context. Undergraduate students that joinVIP teams earn academic credit for their participation in design efforts that assist faculty andgraduate students with research and development issues in their areas of technical expertise. Theteams are: multidisciplinary – drawing students from across engineering; vertically-integrated –maintaining a mix of sophomores through PhD students each semester; and long-term – eachundergraduate student may participate in a project for up to seven semesters and each graduatestudent may participate for the duration of their graduate career. The continuity, technical depth,and disciplinary breadth of these teams enable

Conference Session

Digital System Design

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sin Ming Loo, Boise State University; Arlen Planting, Boise State University; Matt Murdock, Boise State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

qualified to obtained advanced careers. One may argue thatthe use of discrete components and wiring skills learned are highly important and desirable in the real-world engineering environment. However, such skills are usually not the concentration of any four-yeardegree program. It is strength in design capability and design debugging that makes a good engineer, notprototype wiring. The use of discrete components in real-world engineering problems is very limited. Ifsuch use is so limited, should this be the only technology used in the students’ learning environment?One solution to this dilemma is using a combination of mature technology and the latest technology in thelearning laboratory. The truth is that basic TTL components are wonderful tools

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Qian Du, Mississippi State University; Judy Schneider, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

the near future.I. IntroductionOne key mission of baccalaureate engineering programs is to develop and offer theinterdisciplinary coursework that is essential to preparing highly-qualified engineering graduateswho will be successful and productive in their future careers.1 As Electrical Engineering (EE)has increasing cross-correlation with other engineering fields, most engineering institutions offeran introductory course in EE to non-electrical engineering (non-EE) students.At Mississippi State University (MSU), the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering(ECE) is tasked with offering such a “service” course, ECE3183 Electrical Engineering Systems,to non-EE majors in other engineering departments. In this course, basic circuit

Conference Session

ECE Pedagogy and Assessment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jason Coutermarsh, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Kenneth Connor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Don Millard, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Shortened attention spans hinder students Page 11.1062.2from staying engaged and focused in technical classrooms, resulting in poorerperformance and diminished interest in pursuing technical careers.5 Notwithstanding therecent advances in educational technology, we need to incorporate more dynamic, hands-on opportunities to reach and motivate more diverse populations. Today’s engineeringstudents don’t enter college with the same amount of hands-on experience that priorgenerations typically had.6, 7Project OverviewThe "Mobile Studio" project is developing hardware/software and pedagogy with supportfrom both Analog Devices and HP which, when connected to a PC

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yakov Cherner, ATeL, LLC; Amin Karim, DeVry University; Ahmed Khan, DeVry University-Addison; Victor Rubanchik, Don State Technical University (DSTU), Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

virtual systems enables students engaged in distance learning tomaster practical skills at any time and at any place. This paper presents an introduction to“Active Learning Suite (ALSuite)” software developed for interactive simulations and virtualexperiments, and discusses its application for Telecommunication (Fiber Optics and WirelessCommunications) Courses, for onsite, online and hybrid delivery modes.I. IntroductionTo achieve success in learning and in pursuing a successful career, a student in the 21st centuryneeds to attain proficiency in science, technology, and culture, in addition to the reading,writing and calculating skills. The Digital-age literacy requires students to gain understandingof information in all its forms: basic literacy

Conference Session

ECE Pedagogy and Assessment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peter Mark Jansson; Ying Tang; Ravi Ramachandran, Rowan University; John Schmalzel, Rowan University; Shreekanth Mandayam, Rowan University; Robert Krchnavek, Rowan University; Robi Polikar, Rowan University; Linda Head, Rowan University; Raul Ordonez, University of Dayton

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

disciplines (Chemical, Civil and Environmental,Electrical and Computer, and Mechanical) were started in 1995; the first undergraduateclass enrolled in 1996; the first engineering building was completed in 1998; and the firstgraduates left Rowan in 2000. Accreditation under ABET [14] Criteria 2000 was grantedto all four engineering programs in 2001. The opportunity to create new engineeringprograms is rare—most educators spend their careers making the best of incrementalcurriculum innovation at established institutions. There are many well-known problemssuch as those cataloged by the ASEE report, “Engineering for a Changing World” [24]. Itwas clear that engineering education needed to do a much better job of demonstrating therelevance of materials

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rocio Alba-Flores, University of Minnesota-Duluth; Fernando Rios-Gutierrez, University of Minnesota-Duluth

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Page 11.934.11IGVC, and to fulfill the senior design requirement for the students in our department. Theparticipation in this project gave students real life team work experience. They experienced theapplication of theoretical information in different areas of knowledge to solve real life problems.This experience could later be used in their professional careers to solve similar problems innumerous other applications. The potential of real-world autonomous devices being able tocontrol themselves is growing, and in some cases is very desirable.Throughout the process of designing and building the autonomous vehicles, the teamsencountered many problems and made some mistakes of their own and they had to be realizedand acted on accordingly. The