Conference Session

Contemporary Instrumentation

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Rajai, Northern Kentucky University; Hank Javan, University of Memphis; Seyed Allameh, Northern Kentucky University; Horold Wiebe, Northern Kentucky University

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

2006-2105: DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTER-UNIVERSITY ADVANCEDINSTRUMENTATION COURSE FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS IN ENGINEERINGTECHNOLOGYMark Rajai, Northern Kentucky UniversityHank Javan, University of MemphisSeyed Allameh, Northern Kentucky UniversityHorold Wiebe, Northern Kentucky University Page 11.471.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 Advanced Instrumentation for Graduate Students in Engineering TechnologyAbstractInstrumentation is one of the most important courses of engineering curriculum. Almost allprograms in engineering technology at undergraduate level offer labs and instrumentation.Also, most of the textbooks on instrumentation

Conference Session

Curriculum Development and Applications

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alice Scales, North Carolina State University; Aaron Clark, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Design Graphics

), 19-21.7. http://www.careerclusters.org/clusters/sre.htm8. Wiebe, E. N., Clark, A. C., Ferzli, M., & McBroom, R. (2003). The VisTE Project: Visualization for Improved Technological and Scientific Literacy. Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, session 2438.9. Noble, J. S. (1998). An Approach for Engineering Curriculum Integration in Capstone Design Courses. International Journal of Engineering Education, 14(3), 197-203.10. Clark, A. (2001). Technical Data Presentation: A New Course Offering for Engineering Graphics Programs. Proceedings of the Southeast Section of the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, Gainsville, FL.11. de

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

. Page 11.1433.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2006 Virtual Prototyping: A Bridge between Design and ManufacturingAbstractThis paper intends to study integration of design curriculum and manufacturing curriculum viavirtual prototyping. Design and manufacturing are two important subject areas in mostengineering schools. Various courses are offered in these two areas. However under the currentcurriculum setting, the design program and manufacturing program have been developeddiscretely without regard to the potential benefits provided by the integration of both of them dueto lack of a curricular bridge to properly link them together.Virtual prototyping, which is also called dynamic

Conference Session

Software Engineering Curriculum Components

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Deepti Suri, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Mark Sebern, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Software Engineering Constituent Committee

have been allocated for the lab (iii) our choice of projects (iv) ourexpectation of students’ or any combination of these. We have presented the current state ofaffairs in an effort to share our experiences, successes and challenges with other SE educators.We hope that they will do the same and many collaborative opportunities will arise as a result.6. References [1] CMMI Product Development Team, “CMMISM for Systems Engineering/Software Engineering/Integrated Product and Process Development, Version .02: Continuous Representation”, Technical Report CMU/SEI- 2000-TR-031, Software Engineering Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 2000. [2] Groth, P. G. and Robertson, E.L., “It’s All About Process: Project-Oriented Teaching of

Conference Session

Curriculum Development and Applications

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jana Whittington, Purdue University-Calumet; Kim Nankivell, Purdue University-Calumet; Joy Colwell, Purdue University-Calumet; James Higley, Purdue University-Calumet

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Design Graphics

Technology (CGT). The CGT program atPUC was created in 2000 and has grown from 18 students to approximately 200 in 2005. Whilemanaging such growth has presented challenging issues for CGT faculty, the faculty have alwaysperformed program development with an eye towards future Technology AccreditationCommission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology (TAC/ABET) accreditationin mind. Hence, in creating the associates and bachelor’s degrees, and the various programoptions, the faculty at PUC have planned for future accreditation and job success of the graduatesby including technical courses along with many courses in the degrees which emphasize the “softskills” of engineering technology, such as communication, teamwork, and appreciation

Conference Session

Software Engineering Curriculum Support

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph Clifton, University of Wisconsin-Platteville

Tagged Divisions

Software Engineering Constituent Committee

computing curricula in a varietyof ways. Authors have written about integrating software testing throughout their curriculum andusing software development methods such as Extreme Programming2, 3, 4. Papers have beenwritten on how some software engineering techniques, such as pair programming, can helpincrease retention, particularly of female students7, 8.This paper suggests that other software engineering practices can be used to help increase thesuccess rates in lower division courses, which should translate into increased retention rates. Inparticular, use of detailed work plans and periodically monitored time logs and version controlcheck-ins is examined. The underlying assumption is that students need to be encouraged to startprograms early

Conference Session

ChE: Curriculum Reform & Assessment

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeffrey Froyd; Jean Layne, Texas A&M University; Lale Yurttas, Texas A&M University; David Ford, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

chemicalengineering curriculum, the project team began by asking what new capabilities were desired forgraduates with a BS in chemical engineering. The project team initially framed these additionalcapabilities in terms of four outcomes that described what graduates would be able to do or howthey would think:a) Apply fundamental ideas in chemical engineering over a greatly expanded range of time and length scales. Lengths range from sub-molecular and nanoscale processes to super-macroscopic plant integration encompassing more traditional continuum and macroscopic scales. Time scales range from sub-nanosecond molecular motions to month-long time constants for plants.b) Apply ChE fundamental ideas to emerging application areas such as biotechnology

Conference Session

Construction ET/Technology Curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Russell Marcks, Sinclair Community College; Larraine Kapka, Sinclair Community College; Alan Watton, Sinclair Community College

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

well serve the end goal ofan optimally tuned control loop. Many instruction manuals that accompany an HVAC controllerdo not even address the issue of loop tuning. Thus, a common rule-of-thumb practiced by theHVAC control technician is to adjust the controller gain until the end device stops moving. Thelack of understanding of integral and derivative control modes usually precludes the use of thesecontrol modes in the typical HVAC loop, even if the loop would be well served by includingthese modes. Even if integral control is originally set up during the commissioning process, it isoften disabled shortly thereafter by the building operator. This is generally a direct result of thelack of understanding of control loop tuning and the inability to

Conference Session

Incorporating Projects into the Curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

B. Terry Beck, Kansas State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

flight, form the basis for initiating the design process. This leads naturally to adiscussion of stability in steady level flight, and the need to provide by means of a tail therequired attitude of the airplane. It is further observed that the stability issues connected with thedetermination of attitude in steady level powered flight are similar to those associated with aglider in steady glide.The text used in this course is Introduction to Flight by John D. Anderson [2]. This book is oneof the introductory course texts used in a typical aerospace program curriculum. While it doesnot provide an in depth treatment of either experimentation or aerodynamic theory, it provides abroad treatment of the overall subject with emphasis on flight. In

Conference Session

Software Engineering Curriculum Support

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sheryl Duggins, Southern Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Software Engineering Constituent Committee

.2. The Role of ProcessOne fundamental idea that is crucial to include in our software engineering curriculum is the roleof process. We teach our students the importance of process in software engineering; however,we typically fail to incorporate the very fabric of process in the way we teach our students 1.Quality Assurance (QA) is based on the idea that improving the process by which a product isdeveloped will result in an improved product 2. The initial work in this area, known as TotalQuality Management (TQM), was done by Deming 3 and was applied to the manufacturing Page 11.154.3community. Since his initial contribution, QA has been

Conference Session

Curriculum Development and Applications

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sohail Anwar, Pennsylvania State University-Altoona College; Janice McClure, Pennsylvania State University-Altoona College

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Design Graphics

sectionswould rotate. This method allowed three class sections to be taught concurrently. This also mosteffectively used the three specialized classrooms that were needed. A technology classroom wasneeded for the computer tools topics. A drafting classroom was needed for the drawing topicsand a laboratory classroom was needed for the design topics. It was decided to change to oneinstructor per section due to the changes in the curriculum for the Bachelor of Science degree inElectro-Mechanical Engineering Technology (EMET), an objective of the faculty to make arelevant introduction to engineering technology, and the blending the engineering technologystudent into the same program,.. It was necessary to adjust both the engineering topics and

Conference Session

Curriculum Development and Applications

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

La Verne Abe Harris, Arizona State University; Richard Newman, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Design Graphics

January 2002 Hurwitz Group Report found that approximately 500 percentmore of the Web content is retained with streaming media experiences, as compared to staticWeb sites.7The research firm comScore Media Metrix recently released streaming media viewing habits ofAmerican consumers. Fifty-six percent of the domestic Internet population, which amounts to 94million people, viewed an online streaming media. During April to June 2005, the averageperson viewed 73 minutes of streaming content per month.9 Young men, ages 18 to 34, led theway in streaming media consumption as a part of their business communications with 84 minutesper month during the heart of the business day.9How can streaming be incorporated into the curriculum?Today, almost every

Conference Session

Innovative Curriculum & non-Technical Skills

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ahmed Khan, DeVry University-Addison; Barbara Eichler, DeVry University; John Morello, DeVry University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

the gap between the developed worldand the developing worlds. The course falls into the inter-disciplinary STS classification(a field known as Science, Technology and Society whose main focus is to explore theinfluences of technologies on society and the relationships between societies andtechnologies). The course emphasizes an integration of all their previous studies atDeVry in addition to professional group work, research, research presentations andtechnical reports, communication, critical thinking and analysis, solutions andapplications of the moral and ethical dilemmas the use of technology sometimes presents.The course also identifies conditions that have promoted technological development andassesses the social, political, historic

Conference Session

ECE Laboratory Design

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Throne, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

of freedom systems, incorporating full order and reduced orderobservers with state variable feedback, and including integral control in conjunction with statevariable feedback (with and without observers). As an example, Figure 13 shows a Simulinkmodel which includes a discrete-time model of a one degree of freedom plant. In thisimplementation state variable feedback is being utilized as well as integral control. Figure 14shows the same basic structure with the mathematical model of the plant replaced with the realplant. Finally, Figure 15 is a comparison between the predicted response of the system using themathematical model of the plant and the measured response when the actual plant is used. Againthis figure shows the real system takes

Conference Session

EM Program Trend and Development

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gordon Geiger, University of Arizona

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

suggestions, the BEEd proposed integrating into the curriculum 1. “exposure to the concepts of business, economics, marketing and manufacturing and risk. 2. Sustainable development of the environment and 3. Engineering management, including effective interaction with shop-floor and technical support personnel.”They also recommended “ remove some material and some courses from the currentcurriculum. …Remove redundancies, for example the repetitious teaching of the sameprinciples of chemistry, physics and thermodynamics in different courses. Incorporatesome math and science “base” courses into engineering courses. Emphasize in-depth onearea of engineering practice in a discipline and provide

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Yeary, University of Oklahoma; Tian Yu, University of Oklahoma; Robert Palmer, University of Oklahoma; Mike Biggerstaff, University of Oklahoma; L. Fink, University of Oklahoma; Carolyn Ahern, Ahern and Associates

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

2006-203: A HANDS-ON, INTERDISCIPLINARY LABORATORY PROGRAM ANDEDUCATIONAL MODEL TO STRENGTHEN A RADAR CURRICULUM FORBROAD DISTRIBUTIONMark Yeary, University of Oklahoma Dr. Mark Yeary is an Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. He has many years of experience as a teaching assistant, lecturer, and assistant professor. Since January of 1993, he has taught many students in various laboratories and lecture courses, culminating in approximately 11 years of teaching experience. For the 1999-00 academic year, he received the Outstanding Professor Award, given by the Texas A&M student chapters of IEEE and Eta Kappa Nu, and IBM in Austin

Conference Session

Curricula of the Past, Present, and Future

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amy Banzaert, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; John Duffy, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; David Wallace, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

JOHN J. DUFFY is a Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department, the Coordinator for the Solar Engineering Graduate Program, and the Director of the Center for Sustainable Energy at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He has written over 70 papers on solar engineering, environmental analysis, and education. He has integrated service-learning into nine engineering courses at the undergraduate and graduate level with local and international projects and is the principal investigator on an NSF grant to integrate service-learning into the entire curriculum of the college of engineering at UML. He also coordinates the Village Empowerment project which has designed and installed over

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dale Bremmer, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Patricia Carlson, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

2006-1925: AN ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK FOR A LARGE-SCALE,WEB-DELIVERED RESOURCE PROJECT FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERSOF MATH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGYDale Bremmer, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Dale Bremmer is a professor of economics in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana. He has taught at Rose-Hulman for the last eighteen years, specializing in applied econometrics. Bremmer has also taught at Arkansas State University and Indiana State University. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from Arizona State University while he earned his doctorate in economics from Texas A&M University.Patricia

Conference Session

Promoting Scientific and Technological Literacy

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Ncube, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

is an essential component of any new instructional program. With this inmind, PLTW has developed comprehensive and intensive training programs to prepare teachersto use the cutting-edge technology that is an integral part of the curriculum. This training isfacilitated by a pre-assessment, Summer Training Institute. Ongoing training supports theteachers as they implement the program and provides for continuous improvement of skills.School counselors are also vital to the success of any pre-engineering program. PLTW informscounselors of the various benefits of the program and the various careers available in the field.Over the past 6 years participation in PLTW in Indiana has risen to over 135 schools with over14,000 students. The evaluation

Conference Session

Professional Development Programs for Teachers

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anant Kukreti, University of Cincinnati; Patricia McNerney, University of Cincinnati; Suzanne Soled, University of Cincinnati; Kelly Obarski, University of Cincinnati; Mingming Lu, University of Cincinnati; Richard Miller, University of Cincinnati; Daniel Oerther, University of Cincinnati; Heng Wei, University of Cincinnati; Thaddeus Fowler, University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

seminar was given by the Chief Engineer from Richard Goettle, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio and showcased a novel technique developed by their company for “permanent soil nail retaining walls” as an example to illustrate how geotechnical engineers solve landslide problems. The science behind the concept was illustrated, the mathematics involved in the design calculations was presented, and the construction process used for the retaining wall systems was explained with pictures. This seminar illustrated how science and mathematics are integrated in engineering design and how the technology is transferred into the practice of engineering. Pictures of various other projects executed in the greater Cincinnati area were presented with ideas

Conference Session

Introductory Materials Engineering Courses of 2020

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brian Mitchell, Tulane University

Tagged Divisions

Materials

Edition), McGraw-Hill, NY, 2004.3. W.D. Callister, Materials Science and Engineering : An Introduction, (7th Edition), J. Wiley & Sons, NY 2006.4. Gr. Stephanopoulos, “Invited comment: Chemical and Biological Engineering,” Chemical Engineering Science 58 (2003) 4931 – 49335. R.C. Armstrong, Curriculum Revitalization in Chemical Engineering, 24th Annual Meeting of the Council for Chemical Research (CCR), 2002.6. K.J. Bundy, Fundamentals of Biomaterials : Science and Applications, Springer, 2006.7. A. Cottrell, An Introduction to Metallurgy, Institute of Materials, 1995.8. J.R. Fried, Polymer Science & Technology, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2003.9

Conference Session

Assessment & TC2K Methods

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gary Crossman, Old Dominion University; Alok Verma, Old Dominion University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

2006-63: AN ASSESSMENT AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT MODEL FORENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMSAlok Verma, Old Dominion University Alok K. Verma is Ray Ferrari Professor and, Director of the Automated Manufacturing Laboratory at Old Dominion University. He also serves as the Chief Technologist of the Lean Institute and MET Program Director at ODU. Alok received his B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering, MS in Engineering Mechanics and PhD in Mechanical Engineering. Alok is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Virginia, a certified manufacturing engineer and has certification in Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma. His publications are in the areas of Lean Manufacturing, Process Automation and

Conference Session

FPD7 -- Service Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lorelle Meadows, University of Michigan; Samantha Jarema, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

communication, engineering problem solving, teamwork, global/societal impacts andethics. These questions also address the students’ level of engagement with the material and theirmotivation. Students’ responses to both sets of questions provides an insight into their learning.To determine if the integration of a service-learning curriculum into Engineering 100 affectedthe student’s learning in the course, a detailed statistical analysis of the teaching evaluationresponses was performed. These analyses included a Stepwise Regression analysis, MultipleRegression analysis, Correlation analysis, and a Multifactor ANOVA test performed on theteaching evaluations for four successive semesters of ENG 100 taught by the same instructor; thefirst three without

Conference Session

FPD2 -- Highlighting First-Year Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Howard, East Carolina University; Joseph Musto, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

programs have freshman-level courses that are designed to introduce studentsto the engineering profession, teach problem-solving and design skills, and motivate the students.Engineering graphics is a subject that is also usually taught at the freshman level, sometimesintegrated with the introduction to engineering course, other times as a stand-alone course. Solidmodeling software has become widely used in education over the past decade, primarily inexisting engineering graphics courses. Because solid modeling is an integral part of the productdesign cycle, it can be used as a gateway to explore engineering design and to relate courseworkto real world applications. The use of solid modeling software at the freshman level also has thepotential for

Conference Session

Professional Development/Scholarship & Service Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Phillip Sanger, Western Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

2006-1484: SERVICE LEARNING PROJECTS AS PLATFORMS FOR ANUNDERGRADUATE PROJECT MANAGEMENT COURSEPhillip Sanger, Western Carolina University PHILLIP A. SANGER Phillip Sanger is an Associate Professor of Engineering and Technology and serves as the Director of the Center for Integrated Technologies at Western Carolina University. He holds a B.A. in Physics from Saint Louis University and earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin Madison. Technology development including MRI magnets and SiC power devices plus economic development has been his career foci

Conference Session

Capstone Courses II

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Donohue, University of Virginia; Garrick Louis, University of Virginia; William Scherer, University of Virginia; Michael C. Smith, University of Virginia; K. Preston White, Jr., Jr., University of Virginia; Peter Beling, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering Constituent Committee

engineering education; and the faculty, staff, and studentsof the Department of Systems and Information Engineering at the University of Virginia’sSchool of Engineering and Applied Science throughout the years for their dedication and efforts.A special thanks goes out to Steve Patek for an interesting and thought-provoking discussionregarding the project assignment algorithm.References1. Ceddia, J. and Sheard, J., “Evaluation of WIER – A Capstone Project Management Tool,” Proceedings ofthe International Conference on Computers in Education (2002), volume 1, pp. 777 – 781.2. Gupta, J.N.D. and Wachter, R.M., “A Capstone Course in the Information Systems Curriculum,”International Journal of Information Management, 18(6), December, 1998, pp

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

Conference Session

Engineering and Public Policy Pioneering Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Green, Mississippi State University; Jerry Emison, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering and Public Policy

2006-121: MINDING THE GAP: AN INTRODUCTORY COURSE ONENGINEERING AND PUBLIC POLICYRobert Green, Mississippi State University Robert A. Green is the Undergraduate Coordinator for the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering at Mississippi State University. He has a BS degree in Chemical Engineering, an MS degree in Mechanical Engineering, and an MA in National Security and Strategic Studies from the US Naval War College. He is also pursuing a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration at Mississippi State. He is a registered professional engineer and was a research engineer for 14 years prior to assuming his current position.Jerry Emison, Mississippi State University Jerry Emison is an

Conference Session

Internet and Distributed Computing

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shelton Houston, University of Southern Mississippi; Christopher Herrod, University of Southern Mississippi; Steven Blesse, University of Southern Mississippi

Tagged Divisions

Information Systems

allow 24 hour laboratoryaccess to students in a Cisco CCNP curriculum. IT programs that are associated with theCisco Networking Academy Program may want to consider this type of implementationif student laboratory access is a recurring problem or if a larger number of students arecommuters. Overall, student feedback was very positive. More importantly, the numberof student complaints related to laboratory access was reduced to zero.If an institution considers, any type of distance learning extension, student ethics cannotbe overlooked. A system of checks & balances should be incorporated to insure thatstudents are actually performing assignments

Conference Session

Recruiting and Retention

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peter Goodmann, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

technology is so pervasive in modern life thatmost people simply take it for granted. The author is attempting to restore the traditional path byexpanding the use of hands-on construction projects which are intended to catch the interest ofstudents and kindle their enthusiasm early in the curriculum, and to encourage an interest inamateur radio through radio-oriented projects.I. The Ancient GeeksIn ancient times (mid-20th century) a technologically inclined teenager might be lucky enough tohave an adult relative or friend who was an amateur radio operator (often referred to as a “ham”radio operator, or just a “ham”). He would be exposed to the nuts and bolts (or tubes and wires)of electronic technology through that person (an “Elmer”, ham slang for