Conference Session

Design in Manufacturing

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jorge Rodriguez, Western Michigan University; Mitchel Keil, Western Michigan University; Alamgir Choudhury, Western Michigan University; Sam Ramrattan, Western Michigan University; Pavel Ikonomov, Western Michigan University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

modeling, and biomechanics.Alamgir Choudhury, Western Michigan University Alamgir A. Choudhury is an assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan. He earned his MS and PhD from NMSU(Las Cruces) and BS in mechanical engineering from BUET (Dhaka). His interest includes computer applications in curriculum, MCAE, mechanics, fluid power and instrumentation & process control. He is also a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Ohio and affiliated with ASME, ASEE, SME and TAP.Mitchel Keil, Western Michigan University Dr. Keil is an associate professor in the Industrial and Manufacturing Department at Western

Conference Session

ChE: Innovation in Existing Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Silverstein, University of Kentucky

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

today,chemical engineering educators must be provided with current information pertinent to existingclasses that will empower tomorrow’s engineers to function effectively. A module developed to integrate topics in homeland security into a course in Ethics,Safety, and Professionalism is described. This module introduces students to the role ofgovernment, industry groups, and individual plants in maintaining as safe an environment asreasonably possible in an age of terrorism. The focus of the module is to tie elements of thecourse and curriculum previously discussed to a rapidly changing contemporary issue. Topicstied to the module include the role of government (executive and legislative roles and currentactivities in both with regard to

Conference Session

Manufacturing Education Innovation and Assessment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Wells, North Dakota State University

Tagged Divisions

Manufacturing

thoroughly. There is a logical path to befollowed in the realization of the product. The rubric can be most readily illustrated through thefollowing instructions that are issued to students undertaking a project to design a manufacturingsystem for a given product.9 The context is that student teams in a ‘production engineering’class fulfill the learning objectives for the course through a semester-long project. Student teamsdesign a production system for an existing product. The products have been as varied as caststeel flow control valves, printed circuit boards and fishing reels. Integrated into the fabric of theproject, students are challenged to critique the product design to improve manufacturability andreduce cost. The first three stages of

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Valentin Razmov, University of Washington; Richard Anderson, University of Washington

team-related information could not be freely shared. Ultimately,there is an element of trust underlying these activities, trust which instructors earn.2.2. Acting on Student FeedbackIn response to student feedback, the instructors try to react promptly and visibly. Whether theparticular student feedback relates to course curriculum issues, the coverage of technical content,or the state and needs of a given team project, in preparation for a class session we consider if itis appropriate to adjust the order or the content of what is covered in order to increase thelearning benefit for students. The specific teaching practices we use to support such flexibilityare to:‚ have a pool of candidate topics to cover and as the next class session nears

Conference Session

International Case Studies, Collaborations and Interactions

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shi (Stan) Lan, DeVry University-Chicago; Yaqing Mao, Beijing Normal University, China

Tagged Divisions

International

(2005), typically the number of required credit hours to complete a bachelor’s degree inelectronics in China was substantially more than the number of required credit hours in theUnited States.1 This factor alone provided explanations, to a certain extent, to the findings thatelectronics students sampled in China should spend significantly more time on attendingclassroom lectures and scheduled labs, and on studying outside the classroom than theircounterparts in the United States.Lan & Lee (2005) found that, by comparing Tsinghua University at Beijing, and the Universityof Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the typical electronics curriculum in China required 171 - 176credit hours, which resulted in an average of 22-23 credit hours per semester

Conference Session

Innovations in Mechanical Engineering Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paris von Lockette, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

aspects of materials science, numerical methods, andprogramming in an integrated fashion. During the second teaching of the course, it was modifiedto enhance its delivery by focusing on the aspects which gave the students the most difficulty inits first offering: syntax and organization of operations in programming. This was achievedthrough the use of Matlab as a meta-language platform, development of Matlab tutorials for thecourse, and an emphasis on algorithmic thinking.In this paper, algorithmic thinking involves developing a complete understanding of theoperations required via hand calculations and block diagrams before attempting to generate anycode. Students were graded on their ability to relate what the program/algorithm should do

Conference Session

Innovative Laboratories in BME

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Markus Billeter, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Institute for Biomedical; Grace M. Nijm, Northwestern University; Bugrahan Yalvac, Northwestern University; Alan Sahakian, Northwestern University

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

Fellowship. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in ECE at Northwestern University.Bugrahan Yalvac, Northwestern University BUGRAHAN YALVAC is a postdoctoral fellow in assessment studies for the VaNTH ERC at Northwestern University. He holds B.S. degrees in Physics and Physics Education and an M.S. degree in Science Education from METU, Ankara. For his Ph.D. studies at Penn State, he majored in Curriculum and Instruction and minored in Science, Technology, and Society (STS).Alan Sahakian, Northwestern University ALAN V. SAHAKIAN earned the Ph.D. in ECE at the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1984. Since then he has been at Northwestern University where he is currently Professor of BME and

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Curricula

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bruce Berdanier, Ohio Northern University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

2006-2646: WATER RESOURCES EVALUATION FOLLOWING NATURALDISASTER IN HAITIBruce Berdanier, Ohio Northern University Dr. Bruce Berdanier is currently an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering in the TJ Smull College of Engineering at Ohio Northern University. In this position, Dr. Berdanier is responsible for teaching all of the courses in Environmental Science, Water and Wastewater Treatment, Solid and Hazardous Waste, Surface Water Quality and Project Management that are included in the Civil Engineering curriculum. Additionally, Dr. Berdanier directs all teaching and research activities in the Environmental Engineering laboratory. Dr. Berdanier also conducts research in surface

Conference Session

Knowing Our Students III

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Guili Zhang, University of Florida; YoungKyoung Min, University of Florida; Matthew Ohland, Clemson University; Timothy Anderson, University of Florida

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

eightsemesters with a GPA over 3.0, pointing to the need for qualitative research of that population tolearn if they are leaving because the early curriculum failed to give them an accurate impressionof what lay ahead. There is also evidence that students who are the least likely to succeed inengineering are the least aware of their predicament, which has implications for engineeringadvising and academic policymaking.II. Prior research on predicting engineering attritionThe graduation rate of undergraduate students who matriculate in engineering is not muchdifferent from that for the general student population, and the rate increases significantly afterstudents reach a ‘threshold’ of progress in engineering.1 The pool of students graduating highschool

Conference Session

Innovations in Mechanical Engineering Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amir Rezaei, West Virginia University Inst. of Tech.; Marco Schoen, Idaho State University; Gurdeep Hura, West Viginia University Inst. of Tech.

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

2006-942: INNOVATIVE METHODS IN TEACHING FUNDAMENTALUNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING COURSESAmir Rezaei, West Virginia University Inst. of Tech. Dr. Amir Rezaei is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at California State Polytechnic University,Pomona. His research interests include Anisotropic Elasticity, Composite Materials, Vibration, and Stability. He is an active member of American Society of Engineeirng Education (ASEE) and is currently serving in Design Division (DEED) of this society. He has taught across the mechanical engineering curriculum as well as developing new courses in graduate and undergrduate levels.Marco Schoen, Idaho State UniversityGurdeep Hura, West Viginia University

Conference Session

Technology in Classrooms - Construction Engineering Perspective

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mohammed Haque, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Construction

analysis and design principles that need to be mastered instructural design. Enhancing World Wide Web developments, the new opportunities for Page 11.1435.2interactivity and flexible access to various media format (text, sound, static illustrations, 2D and3D dynamic illustrations, Virtual Reality worlds) challenge the traditional experience in shapinglearning environments for web-based education.It is essential to use alternative modes of instruction to create an ‘almost real’ environment whichenables students to better understand the construction concepts. In today’s computer age, it iscrucial to use multimedia as effective tools of teaching

Conference Session

Teaching with Technology in Dynamics and Mechanics of Materials

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Honghui Yu, The City College of New York; Feridun Delale, The City College of New York

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

so well defined that the content and coverage of the course have been almostfixed for many decades. Most of the textbooks are similar. On the other hand, due to theadvancement of technology, MoM has found many new applications. Mechanicalengineering students are having more and more employment opportunities in emergingtechnologies other than conventional industries such as automobile companies. There isa need to expose students to many applications of MoM in real life especially inemerging technologies. The work reported in this article is part of the department’s effort in incorporatingemerging technologies into undergraduate curriculum, which is supported by a grant fromthe National Science Foundation. For this particular course, the

Conference Session

Network Administration and Security

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph Ekstrom, Brigham Young University; Melissa Dark, Purdue University; Barry Lunt, Brigham Young University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

current technical concepts and practices in core information technologies; 2. understanding of best practices and standards and their application; 3. ability to assist in the creation of an effective project.Summary of Implementation ApproachesIn this section we categorize the techniques that we have used to integrate the IASknowledge area from IT2005 into our programs. 1. Slip-streaming: This approach requires the opportunistic insertion of current events into discussions in the existing curriculum. For example, during a discussion of C I/O one could take 5 minutes and discuss how one of the SMTP buffer-overflow problems allowed a root kit to insert its code into a buffer and

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Gilbert, University of South Florida; Robert Poth, Douglas L. Jamerson Jr. Elementary School; Robin Little, Douglas L. Jamerson Jr. Elementary School; Marilyn Barger, University of South Florida

might be tempting to conclude that there is verylittle content in the paper, primarily a flow of ideas about relating children's literature toengineering concepts and/or that the ideas presented are well-known. However, the challengeaddressed is not how to teach state-of-the-art engineering to elementary school children. Nor isit to provided occasional or periodic instruction on engineering marvels and/or engineeringcareer possibilities. Rather, the presentation outlines a method to integrate an entire publicschool state mandated elementary curriculum at all grade levels using engineering scienceprinciples and engineering design practices appropriate for each grade level and spirallyconnecting these principles and practices upward through all

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

. "Organizing for Manufacturable Design", Harvard Business Review. January- February 1999.16. Howell, S.K., Collier, K., Larson, D., Hatfield, J., Hoyle, G., and G. Thomas. “An Integrated Engineering Design Experience: Freshman to Senior Level”, ASEE.17. Brian P.Self, Keith Bearden, Matthew Obenchian and Daniel Diaz.” A senior Research Project Applied Across the Curriculum” US Air Force Academy, Colorado.18. “Concurrent Engineering Fundamentals” by Biren Prasad, Prentice Hall International series in industrial and systems engineering.19. Computer- aided Manufacturing International Data and an article in Business week, McGraw-Hill Publication, April 30, 1990, p 110.20. Smith R.P, Barton, R.R, Novack, C.A, Zayas Castro, J.L”Concurrent

Conference Session

CPD - Engineering Education K - Life

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Zhili (Jerry) Gao; Virendra Varma, Missouri Western State University; Christiana Houck, University of Nevada-Las Vegas

Tagged Divisions

Continuing Professional Development

have already developed the basic understanding of construction methods, materials, and estimating. • Compared with other courses in the construction curriculum, it is less computational. • The department has previously used web-based pedagogy for this course.Tools InvolvedMany tools are available for developing an on-line course. The main tool is the WebCT that isavailable to all faculty at Missouri Western. It has also been the tool for faculty training and hasbeen evaluated to meet the following criteria: Page 11.847.3 • Ability of integration with current registration system and ease of use. • Possibility

Conference Session

Instrumentation and Measurements: Innovative Course Development

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sri Kolla, Bowling Green State University; Joseph Mainoo, Bowling Green State University

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

fieldbus networks with linksto official web sites of each fieldbus organization [4]. Integration of fieldbus topics intoundergraduate curriculum is slowly taking places at various institutions. For example, Franz [5]reported the development of a National Center for Digital and Fieldbus Technology (NCDFT)under an NSF grant at Lee College, Texas. Also in Reference [6], Müller and Max Felserdescribed how fieldbus concepts are adopted in control technology curriculum in Switzerland. Aweather station instrumentation experiment that uses digital and wireless communicationconcepts was adopted in a Computer Engineering curriculum at University of Oviedo, Spain [7].The concept of fieldbus networks such as Devicenet are also introduced in PLC courses

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Industrial Technology

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ranjeet Agarwala, East Carolina University; Tarek Abdel-Salam, East Carolina University; Craig Sanders, East Caroilina University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

Engineering Education. Session 25664 Grimheden, M., and Hanson, M., “Mechatronics-The Evolution of an Academic Discipline in Engineering Education,” Mechatronics, Elsevier, 15:179-192, 2005.5 Angelov, C., Melnik, R.V.N., Buur, J., “The Synergistic Integration of Mathematics, Software Engineering, and User-Centered Design: Exploring New Trends in Education,” Future Generation Computer Systems, Elsevier, 19:1299-1307, 2003.6 Wright, A.B., “Planting the Seeds for a Mechatronic Curriculum at UALR,” Mechatronics, Elsevier, 12:271-280, 2002.7 Hargrove, J.B., “Curriculum, Equipment and Student Project Outcomes for Mechatronics Education in the Core Mechanical Engineering Program at Kettering University,” Mechatronics, Elsevier, 12:343-356, 2002.8

Conference Session

Building Blocks for Public Policy in Curricula

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alison Tramba, University of Virginia; Edmund Russell, University of Virginia; P. Paxton Marshall, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

Engineering and Public Policy

knowledge to actual problems.7 In the Fall of 1993, an American Society forEngineering Education (ASEE) task force of engineering deans and industry leaders observedthat social conditions limit engineering design more than technological considerations do.8Three years later, in 1996, the IEEE Spectrum convened an "Employment Roundtable,"concluding that the “non-engineering context” plays heavily into engineers’ careers and that theymust actively participate in decision-making processes.9 Page 11.1054.3In spite of these and many other admonitions, engineering instruction has changed slowly.Course and curriculum integration such as that initiated at

Conference Session

Digital Communications Systems

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dennis Silage, Temple University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

is the trustee of the Temple University Amateur Radio Club (K3TU, www.temple.edu/k3tu), which he has integrated into the undergraduate communications curriculum and capstone senior design projects. Dr. Silage is a past chair of the Middle Atlantic Section of the ASEE and now the Secretary/Treasurer of the ECE Division of ASEE. Page 11.1206.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 Teaching Digital Communications in a Wireless World: Who Needs Equations?AbstractDigital communication is traditionally taught by examining the temporal and spectralresponse and the

Conference Session

Interdisciplinary Education in ET

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeffrey Evans, Purdue University; Matthew Kirleis, Purdue University; Casey Smith, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

bycapitalizing on using the same volume of chemical distributed over a larger number of tests. To accomplish this goal, researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students wererequired to work as a team, from requirements generation to user documentation. Undergrad-uate technology students were required to develop requirements, characterize subsystems,implement solutions, and test and verify the integrated system working in an unfamiliar sci-entific domain. This combination of tasks and team interactions across disparate scientificdisciplines is not common in Technology curriculums. Thus a secondary goal was to observeand document teamwork experiences of this interdisciplinary group. The remainder of this paper is as follows. Section 2

Conference Session

New trends in ECE education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ravel Ammerman, Colorado School of Mines; Pankaj Sen, Colorado School of Mines; Michael Stewart, North Dakota State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

2006-491: THE IMPORTANCE OF ELECTRICAL SAFETY TRAINING INUNDERGRADUATE POWER ENGINEERING EDUCATIONRavel Ammerman, Colorado School of Mines Ravel F. Ammerman (Member IEEE) received his BS in Engineering in 1981 at Colorado School of Mines (CSM), Golden, Colorado. He also received his MS in Electrical Engineering (Power Systems and Control) at the University of Colorado in 1987. He has over 24 years combined teaching and industrial experience. Mr. Ammerman has coauthored and published several technical articles on Engineering Education, Curriculum Development, and Computer Applications related to Power Systems Engineering. Mr. Ammerman is an accomplished teacher having received the CSM

Conference Session

Best Zone Paper Competition

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ross McCurdy, Ponaganset High School

Tagged Divisions

Council of Sections

Establishing Fuel Cell Education in the High School K-12 Education Issues Relevant to EngineeringAbstract Today’s high school students are the next generation of potential fuel cell users anddesigners, and educating our students now is a critical step towards the widespread acceptanceand implementation of hydrogen fuel cell technology in the near future. While most schoolshave not integrated hydrogen fuel cell technology into their curriculum, some pioneering schoolshave already developed programs to teach and apply fuel cell science in the classrooms; amongthem is the Fuel Cell Education Initiative, started in 2001. The Fuel Cell Education Initiative began with an idea and a mission: to teach studentsabout

Conference Session

Simulation and Virtual Instrumentation in ET

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Irwin, Mott Community College; James Moseley, Wayne State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

theeducational basis of PBL. The main supporters of the cognitive theories are Jean Piagetand Robert Gagne. The implementation of the PBL activities involves instructorguidance, reflection and motivation as well. Constructivism is an off chute fromcognitivism where theorists believe not all information is known and there isn’tnecessarily one truth to all questions. Constructivist philosophy believes knowledge isbased on experiences and one must construct their own meanings. John Dewey, born outof a progressive philosophy, believes in social constructivist psychology, because he isconcerned with the process rather than the end product of the curriculum (Dewey, 1916)4.Cognitive teaching involves problem solving, cooperative learning and discoverylearning

Conference Session

FPD1 -- Implementing a First-Year Engineering Course

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dana Elzey, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

component of the curriculum. These changes include increasing numbersof women and minorities in engineering (and the need to increase them further), better preparednessof high school graduates for college-level study, and heightened competition among institutions andfields for the best students. Entering engineering students are therefore more diverse, moredemanding, and more ‘consumer-conscious’ and sophisticated in the evaluation of career alternativesthan ever. So in addition to providing students with the fundamentals of technical problem solving,the intro to engineering course must now provide an effective learning experience for a much more

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donna Riley, Smith College; Lionel Claris, Smith College; Nora Paul-Schultz, Smith College; Ida Ngambeki, Smith College

classes, which do not makemuch room for this type of learning style. Thus the blog is an integral part of liberativepedagogies and of multiple learning activities in the course. The blog does not come at the end ofa unit or the end of the semester, it is a continuous process in which assessment goes hand inhand with curriculum and learning.The blog was worth 30% of the course grade - 10% for the ethics component, 10% for the groupproject, and 10% for the weekly reflections, which are the primary focus of this paper. Due totime and resources constraints, the blogs were graded using a simple rubric; the ethics andweekly reflections were graded together, with 2 points for completeness, 2 points for the qualityof reflection, and 2 points for critical

Conference Session

Innovative Laboratories in BME

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joe Tranquillo

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

of information is sacrificed for quality and depth of learning. 4) The Bucknell Biomedical Engineering Program teaches a number of small classes in an integrated lab/lecture format. It is expected to be more challenging to translate this progression to courses with large enrollments and specified lab times. 5) Preparing students to design a project in three weeks is difficult. Page 11.1056.5Addressing the Challenges:Although not all of the challenges above can be addressed, there are some generalguidelines that were found to be helpful: 1) Letting students know up front what they will be doing, and

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Design

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kevin Dahm, Rowan University; Dom Acciani, Rowan University; Jennifer Courtney, Rowan University; Chenguang Diao, Rowan University; Roberta Harvey, Rowan University; William Riddell, Rowan University; Bernard Pietrucha, Rowan University; Paris von Lockette, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

2006-568: CONVERGING-DIVERGING APPROACH TO DESIGN IN THESOPHOMORE ENGINEERING CLINICKevin Dahm, Rowan University Kevin Dahm is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Rowan University. He received his Ph.D. from MIT and his B.S. from WPI. Among his areas of interest are computing and process simulation in the curriculum, and integrating economics and design throughout the curriculum. He has received the 2003 Joseph J. Martin Award and the 2002 PIC-III Award from ASEE.Dom Acciani, Rowan University Dom Acciani is a self-employed forensic engineer and an Adjunct Professor of Civil Engineering at Rowan University.Jennifer Courtney, Rowan University Jennifer Courtney is an

Conference Session

Digital Communications Systems

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sven Bilen, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Radio1. Introduction This paper discusses the implementation of a course in software-defined radio (SDR)technology and systems. The course contains significant computer and hands-on project work inorder to implement working SDR systems. Focusing on SDRs provides a method to tie togethermany of the classes in a typical electrical engineering undergraduate’s curriculum: core coursessuch as Circuits and Devices, Signals and Systems, Embedded Microcontrollers, andEngineering Electromagnetics; as well as many of the popular elective courses such asCommunications, Controls, and Signal Processing. Building a functioning SDR system requiressome understanding of all of these topic areas. SDR is an emerging technology that promises to have a

Conference Session

Sustainable Engineering

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eric Beckman, University of Pittsburgh; Gena Kovalcik, University of Pittsburgh; Mary Besterfield-Sacre, University of Pittsburgh; Robert Ries, University of Pittsburgh; Kim Needy, University of Pittsburgh; Laura Schaefer, University of Pittsburgh; Larry Shuman, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, and her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Wichita State University. Prior to her academic appointment, she accumulated nine years of industrial experience while working at PPG Industries and The Boeing Company. Her research interests include engineering management, engineering economic analysis, and integrated resource management. Dr. Needy is a member of ASEE, ASEM, APICS, IIE, and SWE. She is a licensed P.E. in Kansas.Robert Ries, University of Pittsburgh Robert Ries is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the