Conference Session

Software and e-learning in the ME curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Benson Tongue, University of California-Berkeley; Eric Lew, University of California-Berkeley

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

web experience starts, not surprisingly, with a home page that contains both graphicimagery and text, both of which are linked to actions that access other parts of the site anddisplay additional information. Pages are linked in such a way that the student can movethrough the site in a self-directed and individual way: there is no one “right” way to navigatethrough the information.The sorts of questions that can be answered include the following. What does a mechanicalengineer work on? If I’m interested in the wheel/tires of a car, what sort of companies wouldI investigate for employment? Likewise, if I’m interested in wheel/tires, what courses shouldI take here at Berkeley?In addition to broad questions of career paths, quite specific

Conference Session

Improving ME instructional laboratories

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Chastain, Clemson University; Harvin Smith, Clemson University; Mason Morehead, Clemson University; David Moline, Clemson University; John Wagner, Clemson University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

(TAs) are responsible for two three hour sections. Mechanical engineering students completingthe program at Clemson indicate that the top three near-term professional career plans are topursue (in descending order) design positions, manufacturing positions, and graduate schoolopportunities7. The senior level laboratory should satisfy three key items: (i) accepted ABET(Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) syllabus, (ii) general learning goalscollectively established by the faculty, and (iii) student career needs. Consequently, studentsshould learn how to use common instrumentation, sensors, actuators, and data acquisitionsystems that complement analytical and numerical solutions to investigate engineering problems.Although the

Conference Session

What's New in Dynamics?

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peter Avitabile, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Tracy Van Zandt, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Jeffrey Hodgkins, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Nels Wirkkala, University of Massachusetts-Lowell

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

donot command the subject matter well enough and sometimes feel that it is too late to catch up onreview what they now realize they should have already known from previous courses. Figure 1shows a cartoon expressing the student’s eventual realization as they approach the latter part of Page 11.503.2the undergraduate educational career. Professor, why didn’t someone tell us that the material covered in other courses was critical and going to be really important for the work we

Conference Session

Introducing Active Learning into ME Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gul Kremer, Pennsylvania State University; Madara Ogot, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

” activities encourage the development of curiosity, proficiency and manualdexterity, three desirable traits of an engineer.14 Dissection gives the students early exposure tofully operational and functional products and processes. Introducing these experiences early inthe students’ academic careers has been shown to increase motivation and retention.17 Inaddition, dissection can be used to provide an awareness of the design process.9Dissection activities are used in engineering education to fulfill one of two needs: to exposestudents to and give them a better understanding of physical artifacts or to inspire students in Page 11.428.4engineering (see

Conference Session

What's New in Dynamics?

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peter Avitabile, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Stephen Pennell, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; John White, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Charles Van Karsen, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

need for basic STEM (Science, Technology, Engineeringand Mathematics) material that is critical to the solution of engineering problems. Closelyrelated material may be spread out over several courses. By the nature of the structure ofsemesters (or quarters), material is grouped together into logical units to allow for material to bedeployed in a controlled fashion with specific timetable that integrates the material in thestudent’s academic career. Unfortunately, students don’t understand this. As far as they areconcerned, the material does not appear to have any connection to other material from previouscourses. This then makes the material appear to be unimportant. Students naturally tend to hitthe “reset button” after each and every course

Conference Session

Introducing Active Learning into ME Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ali Al-Bahi, King Abdulaziz University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

learning objectives.Finally course evaluation addresses issues related to the reliability of data gathering and datainterpretation as well as course verification and validation and the mechanism of using theresults to modify the course.2. Elements of ABET EC200 Criteria2.1 Program Educational Objectives and Program OutcomesABET EC 20003 defines Program educational objectives as "broad statements that describethe career and professional accomplishment that the program is preparing graduates toachieve". It also defines Program outcomes as "statements that describe what the studentsare expected to know and be able to do by the time of graduation".Program Educational objectives have to be consistent with the mission of the institution, EC2000 criteria

Conference Session

Introducing Active Learning into ME Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Pedro Orta, ITESM Monterrey; Ricardo Ramirez Medoza, Institute Tecnologico De Monterrey; Hugo Elizalde, Monterrey Tech; David Guerra, Monterrey Tech

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

underlying academic project will be carried out using anappropriate Reverse Engineering Learning Technique. This educational project is used as a framework for re-designing the learningenvironment for under- and graduate engineering careers offered at the ITESM, such asMechanical Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering and Electrical and ElectronicEngineering. The framework fits within a current major trend in engineering education,seeking to develop specific skills for newly graduates entering the job market. Thanks tothis new educative system, students will be immersed into a fertile environment forinnovation, therefore having an edge when seeking their first job. The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents up-to-date

Conference Session

Software and e-learning in the ME curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yakov Cherner, ATeL, LLC; Arnold Lotring, Submarine Learning Center; Robert Klein, Submarine Learning Center; Thomas Campbell, Submarine Learning Center

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

submarine shore learning sites in the United States and Guam. He is a career Submarine Naval Officer. Captain Lotring has served on five submarines including command of USS MINNEAPOLIS-ST PAUL (SSN 708) a fast attack submarine homeported in Norfolk, Virginia. Navy assignments in training and education have included duty as the Atlantic Submarine Force’s Prospective Commanding Officer Instructor where he trained over ninety future submarine Commanding Officers and as Commanding Officer of Naval Submarine School.Robert Klein, Submarine Learning Center Commander Robert "Bob" Klein is a reservist currently serving as the Functional Integration Director at the Submarine Learning Center. He is

Conference Session

Incorporating Projects into the Curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joshua Vaughan, Georgia Institute of Technology; William Singhose, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

team members who do not fullycontribute to the project. These uncomfortable group dynamics stifle creativity and degradeenjoyment. Therefore, allowing students to participate in challenging design projects outsideof any official coursework can greatly improve their educational experience. This can proveto be a difficult proposition, as student experiences and interests vary. In addition, thepriorities of the students will change throughout their educational careers, often making itdifficult to retain students during multi-year projects. In order to attract and retain studentparticipants, projects must be both scalable in difficultly and complexity and offer a varietyof engineering challenges.One project that fulfills these criteria is ARLISS

Conference Session

Capstone Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kelley Racicot, Washington State University; Charles Pezeshki, Washington State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

, programs and corporate interests. This social network issupported by an implicit incentive system that benefits everyone. Our study characterizesthe incentive-benefit network of a small-scale group assessment project.Another important concept is the development of an assessment technique for averagedgroup assessment when the concepts to be measured do not lend themselves easily to Page 11.237.9classical methods of testing and grading. Taking a client out to lunch may, in manyways, influence the success or failure of a professional’s career more than rememberinghow to solve a complex integration problem—yet educational programs shy away fromteaching the

Conference Session

Innovations in Mechanical Engineering Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paris von Lockette, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

teaching. In the 2001 teaching formal, graded emphasis was not placed on thinking through complex algorithms before attempting to generate code whereas 2003 included this at several stages. o Response to the tutorial was exceptional. Several students commented that they wished they had learned Matlab in this fashion earlier in their college careers. o Two-thirds of students engaged in self-guided learning of programming language as evidence by a special challenge assignment. Students where challenged with generating Matlab code to perform the computational simulation of polymer formation in as few commands as possible. Two thirds of students developed functioning programs utilizing fewer commands than the

Conference Session

Innovations in Mechanical Engineering Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Hill, University of Michigan; Dawn Tilbury, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

with Professor William Messner of Carnegie Mellon University) in 1997 for her work on the web-based Control Tutorials for Matlab. An expanded version, Control Tutorials for Matlab and Simulink, was published by Addison-Wesley in 1999. She is co-author (with Joseph Hellerstein, Yixin Diao, and Sujay Parekh) of the book Feedback Control of Computing Systems. She received an NSF CAREER award in 1999, and is the 2001 recipient of the Donald P. Eckman Award of the American Automatic Control Council. She belongs to ASME, IEEE, and SWE. She was a member of the 2004-2005 class of the Defense Science Study Group (DSSG) and is a current member of DARPA's Information Science and Technology Study Group

Conference Session

Software and e-learning in the ME curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Frank Fisher, Stevens Institute of Technology; Constantin Chassapis, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

common dilemma when considering the undergraduate curriculum is the proper balancebetween “teaching fundamental theory” versus “teaching applied software”. While theestablishment of a sound base of engineering fundamentals within our students is perhaps theprimary goal of the undergraduate curriculum, increasingly there is a legitimate incentive toexpose students to the proper use of different engineering software tools in preparation for theirprofessional careers. While efforts to include such computational techniques have included thedevelopment of an elective upper-level undergraduate course1, the practical difficulty ofimplementing these changes within and throughout the curriculum, and in particular thedifficulty of integrating software

Conference Session

Improving ME education: Broad Topics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peter Schuster, California Polytechnic State University; Andrew Davol, California Polytechnic State University; Joseph Mello, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

student and professor. This does help as there is more organizedengineering, but it also detract from the unique experience where the students are in charge. Inaddition, historically, seniors become less active in the clubs; perhaps because they have already Page 11.1155.6completed the desired experience, or because they now understand that they need to focus ontheir classes to get a job! The result may be that those less interested in the result do thedevelopment.The club approach is much more conducive to continuity as some students may join as freshmenand stay on the team throughout their undergraduate career. This model leads to a great

Conference Session

Improving ME instructional laboratories

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Layton, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; James Mayhew, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

2006-133: MECHANICAL MEASUREMENTS: REWRITING THE SCRIPTRichard Layton, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Richard A. Layton earned his doctorate from the University of Washington in 1995 and is currently an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Prior to his academic career, Dr. Layton worked for twelve years in consulting engineering, culminating as a group head and a project manager. His professional interests include physical systems theory for modeling and simulation of dynamic systems and curriculum development and lab development in mechanical engineering.James Mayhew, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology James E. Mayhew received his

Conference Session

Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics Instruction

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Seth Norberg, U.S. Military Academy; Ozer Arnas, U.S. Military Academy; Daisie Boettner, U.S. Military Academy; Michael Rounds, U.S. Military Academy; Phil Root, U.S. Military Academy; Richard Melnyk, U.S. Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

integrates the topics in the course should be used. Such a text wouldnot feature separate Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics sections. It would also address thetopics on a more fundamental level and address the fact that both disciplines are essentiallydifferent ways to analyze energy and losses. Furthermore, a custom text that utilized a casestudy approach to developing the theory or the actual case studies used for ME311 would greatlyenhance the course.Another recommendation is to continue to use the Fundamentals of Engineering ReferenceManual as a supplemental text for the course. The opportunity to view and use this referencetool early in students’ academic careers is an excellent way to familiarize them with the layout

Conference Session

Introducing Active Learning into ME Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ibrahim Olwi, King Abdulaziz University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

2006-1880: AN ACTIVE LEARNING FLUID MECHANICS COURSE BASED ONOUTCOMES ASSESSMENTIbrahim Olwi, King Abdulaziz University Dr. Ibrahim A. Olwi is an Associate Professor in the Aeronautical Engineering Department of King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He received his MS in 1980 from Ohio State University and his Ph.D. in 1984 from Tulane University, New Orleans. He started his academic career 20 years ago and has been teaching Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics courses since then. He published numerous papers in applied aerodynamics and modeling of energy systems. However, his recent interests are focused on thinking based learning strategies and gifted education. He frequently