Conference Session

Incorporating Projects into the Curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Choate, Western Kentucky University; Kevin Schmaltz, Western Kentucky University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Engineering, including the Freshman Experience course, Sophomore Design, Junior Design and the Senior Project Design course sequence. Prior to teaching at WKU, he was a project engineer for Shell Oil, designing and building oil and gas production facilities for offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Page 11.754.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 Industry-Based Design Projects in the Junior Year: Making the Transition to Senior ProjectsAbstractThe Mechanical Engineering faculty at Western Kentucky University have developed andimplemented a Professional Plan to assure

Conference Session

What's New in Dynamics?

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie Wang; Oguz Soysal

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

discussion. Students are involved in the classactivities, peer tutorial, and discussion of the exercise problems and real world examples.The assessment includes course surveys from the students, the scores on the quizzes andtests and final exams. The result shows the student strength and limitation in the areas ofmathematics, physics and engineering science. The paper presents the result from thecourse assessment and the plans for continuous improvement to achieve ABET learningoutcomes and objectives in mechanical engineering program.IntroductionThe course ENES 221 – Dynamics is a fundamental course in mechanics for sophomoremechanical engineering students at Frostburg State University. The prerequisites for thiscourse are Calculus II and Statics

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

deadlines approach the tendency for many students is to let theirclass work slip and focus too much of their effort on the competition. To some degree a goodstudent weighs the costs and benefits and makes rational decisions as too how much effort he/shecan afford to put into the club project. This type of student may sacrifice an “A” in a course ortwo for their participation in a club project, knowing that the experience they are gaining maywell outweigh a small difference in GPA when they are interviewing for a job. However, at theother end of the spectrum is a student who loses focus and allows the competition to becometotally consuming. Good advising and project planning can go a long way to avoid this problembut sometimes it is extremely

Conference Session

Improving ME education: Broad Topics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daria Kotys-Schwartz, University of Colorado-Boulder; Derek Reamon, University of Colorado; Lawrence Carlson, University of Colorado-Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

theeffectiveness of required courses. On-going assessment will not be successful if faculty does not“buy-in” to the program, if students do not consider the exam a meaningful practice, if examsolutions are circulated among students, or if there is variability in the test administration.Success necessitates the full commitment of faculty, honest and consistent rewards for studentparticipation, rigorous faculty training and strict exam administration to reduce variability.Therefore, the first step for a successful assessment program is the commitment of the faculty.On May 4th, 2005 the current state of the ME proficiency exams, concept inventory backgroundand proposed concept inventory implementation plan was presented to the mechanicalengineering faculty

Conference Session

Meeting ABET Requirements

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sarah Freeman, Tufts University; Douglas Matson, Tufts University; Grant Sharpe, Tufts University; Chris Swan, Tufts University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

be significantly complicated by the language barrier but thisexperience only enhanced the student appreciation for pre-trip planning with an emphasis onadaptability and design flexibility. All students who are involved with this project, traveling or not, have the opportunity toexpand their knowledge of a foreign culture and build global awareness as international citizens.All technologies implemented were to be sustainable, re-creatable, and acceptable within thesocial, political, and economic contexts of the community. The students worked towardsimproving the standard of living without being culturally intrusive. In the process the teamempowered both the community and the individual students involved.Implementation The

Conference Session

Improving ME education: Broad Topics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Renuka Thota, University of Louisiana-Lafayette; Suren Dwivedi, University of Louisiana-Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

; • To develop a learning laboratory at each partner institution, integrated with the curriculum, to provide facilities for hands-on experience in design, manufacturing and product realization; • To understand and experience selected elements of the product realization process; • To develop a complete business plan for the introduction of a new product; • To bring virtual designs into reality; • To prepare students for the shift to industry by boosting their confidence, and by strengthening their engineering and soft skills; and • To develop strong collaboration with industry.Product RealizationA rapid product development approach is intended to encourage students, from the outset, toconsider all elements of

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

.” The model quadrants in illustrated in Figure 1 are:A: Expose (Dissection) – Typically included in first and second year courses to familiarize students with physical artifacts in a structured environment. Structure overcomes anxiety students may have with engineering. It increases learning of engineering terminology and vocabulary, and generally only requires high school level of mathematics, physics and chemistry.B: Inspire (Dissection) – Typically found in first and second year courses where it is used to introduce design, graphics, or ground within students the fundamentals from foundation engineering courses such as statics and mechanics of materials. The format is less structured with students planning

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

principles are reinforced through open ended, student conducted, multifacetedmechanical and thermal/fluid system experiments. The students work in a collaborative mannerto develop mathematical models, create test plans, apply measurement techniques, perform dataanalysis, and write comprehensive technical reports. In this paper, an overview of the threeexperimental systems and accompanying student learning objectives will be presented. The firstexperiment features the modeling, testing, and analysis of a single degree-of-freedom systemsubject to excitation from a rotating unbalanced mass. The student teams are tasked toanalytically and experimentally investigate the system and design a dynamic vibration absorber.In the second experiment

Conference Session

Capstone Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Janna, University of Memphis; John Hochstein, University of Memphis

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

system.Table 2 is an example of a task planning sheet for the Fireplace Heat Recovery Project. The planshows a completion date selected for each task. By the end of the fifth week of the semester, forexample, a CAD model is to be developed. Also included in the task planner (although notshown in Table 2) is the name/initials of the individual responsible for completing the task.Each group member maintains a notebook or diary of all tasks completed for the project. Thediary contains any and all details of the work done by that particular member on the project. Thiswould include something as short as a phone call, or as detailed as calculations to predict when apump will cavitate.The Project Director meets with the course instructor on a weekly basis

Conference Session

Improving ME instructional laboratories

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

S. Perwez Kalim, Wilkes University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

provided anincreased opportunity to enhance the oral and written communication skills of the students.In order to design, build, and test an experimental pump setup, which can be used in futureexperiments required a comprehensive planning on part of the student groups and the instructorin implementing these phases together. In the first phase, the system design including theselection of specific equipment and associated costs (capital and operating costs) werecompleted. Once the best design was approved, each team then acquired and assembled thedesired components as specified in their design. In the last phase all student teams joined handsand installed and tested the system together as a group. The students were also mandated tofollow the safe

Conference Session

Meeting ABET Requirements

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Craig Gunn, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

as are feasible within the constraints of the institution. These skills coupledwith technical information create for the student an atmosphere of interest within whichcommunication skills can easily be incorporated and emphasized. Careful planning andcoordination can provide needed instruction in the communication skills within the department.These ideas are developed in a structured plan that incorporates communication instruction andevaluation into all engineering classes offered by the Department of Mechanical Engineering.The plan shows the development of communication skill awareness in the freshmen year throughthe senior design experience.There will always be a need for communication skill awareness. Students seem to forget theimportant

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

validate engineering principles encountered in lecture coursessuch as system dynamics or fluid mechanics.From conversations over several years with colleagues from various institutions, we note thatmechanical engineering (ME) laboratory courses like ours often suffer from neglect and a lowlevel of student engagement. In a previous paper [1] we describe a plan to improve ME labs byimproving student engagement and by more closely meeting the learning objectives appropriateto engineering laboratories. The purpose of this paper is to present our accomplishments to datein the measurements course.Prior condition of the measurements courseOur version of Mechanical Measurements is a two credit-hour, junior-level course that meets forone lecture hour and

Conference Session

Capstone Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Edwin Odom, University of Idaho; Russ Porter, University of Idaho; Steven Beyerlein, University of Idaho; Adrian Gomez, University of Idaho; Lloyd Gallup, University of Idaho

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

. The video created from this storyboard can beviewed on the Mindworks web site: www.webs1.uidaho.edu/ele/mindworks.The entire process took about one week as an extra-curricular homework assignment. Studentsworked in teams of two, spending 1½ - 2 hours per day on video design and developmentactivities. This involved extensive interaction with graduate student mentors and professionalstaff members. Needs analysis and topic selection was conducted by graduate student mentors,faculty, and professional staff in planning the course. Student teams selected topics of personalinterest. Design specifications were approved 1-2 days after author teams received theirassignments. Background research, skill development, creation of quick references, and

Conference Session

Improving ME instructional laboratories

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jed Lyons, University of South Carolina

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

– there is a 95% chance that it isnot normally distributed. Unfortunately, most of the students performed the five data analysissteps in the order given on the lab handout. Because steps 2, 3 and 4 all assume that the data isnormally distributed, their results appear to have no meaning. Students expressed frustration thatthey had wasted time calculating results that they could not report. The instructor used thisopportunity to discuss the importance of critical thinking and about planning engineeringprocedures. The lesson learned is that the real world is not cookbook. Engineers must plan theirown experimental and data analysis procedures.Piston Kinematics LabVery accurate data is necessary for the course learning objective of identifying the

Conference Session

Introducing Active Learning into ME Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ali Al-Bahi, King Abdulaziz University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

applications enforced such that students realize the different knowledge other students have?29. Are out-of-class activities designed such that all team members have to participate?Instructional Methods to Address the 2nd Pillar of Active/ CooperativeLearning: “Individual Accountability”30. Does the grading system allocate at least 25% of the final grade to individual work?31. Are learning structures (such as Jigsaw) which enforce “Teach it to someone else” encouraged?32. Is individual contribution to team reports demonstrated and rewarded?33. Is random checking (i.e. selecting students at random to answer a question) used to assist individual accountability?34. Are individual quizzes, examinations, presentations, etc, planned to

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

engi-neering (eventually including commentary from professional engineers), as well as the class’srelevance with respect to other areas within the mechanical engineering curriculum.To aid students in planning their schedules, it will also list prerequisites, the estimated workload, helpful books and/or internet sites, places to get help, and other similar classes the Page 11.145.10student might like if he or she enjoyed the class.Interests PageThis page is designed to guide students through mechanical engineering based on theirparticular interests. It will describe the various fields within mechanical engineering, notingthe types of jobs available

Conference Session

Meeting ABET Requirements

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nihad Dukhan, University of Detroit Mercy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

tenets of the engineering profession and its actions [2].” Reference [3] includes the students’ knowing of the engineering practice within aglobal, environmental and societal context as one of the ‘awareness skills’. It alsoindicates that mastering such skills will be a major determinant of the futurecompetitiveness of engineering graduates. Agenda 21, a global action plan for delivering sustainable development accepted atthe Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, stated that “education is critical forpromoting sustainable development and improving the capacity of the people to addresssustainable development issues [4]”. The international survey of Ref. [4] found out thatengineering students had weak knowledge of many of the environmental

Conference Session

Incorporating Projects into the Curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

B. Terry Beck, Kansas State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

twenty to most recently on the order of forty students in thepast several years. Future plans include the development of a variety of mini-laboratory modulesstructured in a web-based format to supplement text information and to further reinforce thepractical design process. A number of such mini-laboratory experimental setups are alreadyavailable, and additional setups are being planned for construction using rapid prototyping Page 11.840.12technology.Bibliography1. B. T. Beck, “A Modular Wing-Tail Airplane Configuration for the Educational Wind Tunnel Laboratory,” Proceedings of the 2004 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress

Conference Session

Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics Instruction

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Cimbala, Pennsylvania State University; Laura L. Pauley; Sarah Zappe; Meng-Fen Hsieh, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

homework assignment, students sign out some equipment,perform some simple experiments, and analyze their results. Assessment shows that the studentsincreased their knowledge of several fundamental concepts about pump performance. A follow-on homework assignment during the following week clarified some of the fluid mechanicsconcepts that were misunderstood by many of the students.We consider this a successful first attempt, and plan to develop several more take-homeexperiments in our fluid flow course and in other courses. Through this process we haveestablished methods for expanding and enhancing the experiential learning components relatedto laboratory instruction that we can scale up to encompass our entire curriculum.We hope to repeat this

Conference Session

Introducing Active Learning into ME Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie Linsey, University of Texas-Austin; Brent Cobb, U.S. Air Force Academy; Daniel Jensen, U.S. Air Force Academy; Kristin Wood, University of Texas-Austin; Saad Eways, Austin Community College

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

INTUITION Manner in Which a Person Evaluates Information T Focuses on objective facts and causes & effect. Focuses on subjective meaning and values. F THINKING FEELING Manner in Which a Person Comes to Conclusions J Focus is on timely, planned decisions. Focus on process oriented decision-making. P JUDGEMENT PERCEPTION2.2 VARK OverviewThe present work also builds on student learning preferences as obtained from an instrumentcalled the VARK Catalyst. Rather than being a diagnostic tool for

Conference Session

Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics Instruction

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donald Mueller, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

class visited a local manufacturer of heat pumps,WaterFurnance International. The students got to see first-hand how heat pumps weremanufactured. During this visit, an alumnus gave us insight into many real-world issues such asmembership in technical societies, international patent protection, and labor concerns. This tripwas extremely insightful, and we plan to visit in the future. Later in the semester, students weregiven a design project dealing with heat pumps.Midway through the semester, students were required to read an article from an on-linepublication Distributed Energy7 and write a brief memo summarizing the article. Three differentarticles were assigned, and the articles were discussed during the class in which the summarieswere

Conference Session

Software and e-learning in the ME curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph Rencis, University of Arkansas; Javed Alam, Youngstown State University; Venkata Seshada Aluri, University of Arkansas

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

created that are more expressive and engaging whencompared with the e-Lectures created using MS PowerPoint or MS Producer. In the future moree-Lectures will be created on various concepts used for teaching and learning finite elementmethod using this approach.AcknowledgementThis work is partially supported by the National Science Foundation grant DUE CCLI-EMDAward Number 0514044.References Page 11.478.121. Ubell, R., “Engineers turn to e-learning,” IEEE Spectrum, Vol. 37, No. 10, pp. 59-63, October 2000, http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/6/18918/00873919.pdf.2. “Executive Summary,” National Education Technology Plan, http

Conference Session

Incorporating Projects into the Curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shanzhong (Shawn) Duan, South Dakota State University; Li Qian, South Dakota State University; Teresa Hall, South Dakota State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

. This new course has addressed the need for engineering design linkedto manufacturing. To make the course substantially fulfill its role of a bridge between the designcurriculum and manufacturing curriculum, the course outcomes have been tied to the students’senior design projects. Student surveys and course assessments indicate that the course plan anddesign provides a promising solution to the need for integration between design curriculum andmanufacturing curriculum.IntroductionDesign curriculum and manufacturing curriculum are two key subject areas in many engineeringprograms. Specific requirements in curricula may vary, but they encounter similar issues andchallenges as far as design concept through final manufacturing production is

Conference Session

Innovations in Mechanical Engineering Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Theodore Heindel, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

solutions had to be checked. Finally, eachlaboratory exercise was either edited to correspond to material in the new textbook, revised toupdate the exercise, or developed from scratch. During the second semester of coursemodifications, additional laboratory modifications were implemented. The laboratorymodifications took a lot more time to implement than originally planned, which was the mostsignificant challenge in this project. All of these changes made it frustrating (at times) for the students because the lecturenotes, problem solutions, and/or laboratory exercises were made available only 1-2 days beforethey were covered. (As a side note, even when they were made available several days before theywere covered, few students actually

Conference Session

Improving ME education: Broad Topics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amir Mobasher, Alabama A&M University; Ruben Rojas-Oviedo, Alabama A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

) Eng. (3) 2. ENG 204- World Literature II 5. HIS 102-World History II 3. Art/Music Electives 6. Social Science MTH 125 MTH 126 MTH 227 MTH 238 ME 312 & L ME 481 ME 482 Calculus I (4) Calculus II (4) Calculus III Differential Heat/Mass Quality and Oprtn. Plan & (4) Equations (3) Transfer (3) Reliability (3) Sch. (3) CHE 101/L PHY 105 PHY 106

Conference Session

Meeting ABET Requirements

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Bannerot, University of Houston

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

concerned with assessment at the course level and will describehow one might organize a plan for such assessment. Page 11.356.6 Table 2: Example Survey for Heat Transfer Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: use 5 for strongly agree; 4 for agree; 3 for neutral; 2 for disagree; and 1 for strongly disagree.disagree agree 1 2 3 4 5 I feel that I understand the physics of the modes of heat transfer understand heat conduction in one dimension and electrical analogies am able to analyze heat exchangers using the

Conference Session

Introducing Active Learning into ME Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ibrahim Olwi, King Abdulaziz University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

. Sometimes when we teach our courses, we tend to lose sight of the fact that each courseis but one element in a learning sequence defined as a curriculum. The closer therelationships are among courses, curriculum, and planned out of class activities, the moreeffective the learning experience will be for the students2. The paradigm shift initiated by theappearance of ABET engineering accreditation criteria EC 2000, see Ref. [3], imposed oncourse designers to keep in mind this relationship between these three educational aspects. Acourse has to be designed, taught and assisted to address program objectives and outcomes.2. Active LearningThe instructor can make the most of a classroom by turning it into active learning. The setupin the classroom would