Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jean-Claude Thomassian, Georgia Southern University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

the reader knows how to use PSpice to obtain simple dc biaspoint .OP and linear frequency sweep (phasors) .AC analysis. Numerical (PSpice) and symbolic(Analog Insydes) simulation results are presented and some comparison are offered. The purposeof this paper is not to lay out specifics or technical details.Example 1: Simple DC parallel resistor circuitIn the first example, Fig. 1, we have an ideal DC current source in parallel with three resistors.We will solve this example by using both PSpice and Analog Insydes and compare the results.An expression for V1 is obtained; some results are given illustrating approximation working inconjunction with one of the resistors, R3, passing to a ı limit

Conference Session

Digital and Embedded System Design

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lynne Slivovsky, California Polytechnic State University; Albert Liddicoat, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Page 12.1504.3circuit rises, by 1975 economics may dictate squeezing as many as 65,000 components on asingle silicon chip.” Forty years ago, 1 billion transistors per integrated circuit wasinconceivable.This technology trend of an exponential increase in the number of transistors per die has fueledthe growth in the electronics industry over the last forty years. Not only does this technologytrend have a significant impact on commercial products but it also has a significant impact ondigital system designers, the tools they use, and the level of abstraction in which digital designerswork. Obviously we do not have an exponential increase in the number of engineers that areavailable each year to design integrated circuits. Therefore, to keep pace

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ian Papautsky, University of Cincinnati; Ali Asgar Bhagat, University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

” behavior in that factors such as surface tension, energy dissipation, andelectrokinetics begin to dominate. Integrating microfluidics with sensors, actuators, or otherelectronics provides for new applications.1-3 Even more importantly, the new fluid manipulationprinciples have enabled manipulation and detection of nanoliter fluid samples. The behavior ofsuch systems has been extensively investigated and explored in so-called lab-on-a-chip (LOC)systems.4,5Recently, expanding interest in scaling down to nanometer dimensions of the channels for fluidtransport opened a new window for fundamental and applied studies of nanofluidics—studies ofthe characteristics of flow in nanoscale systems. From the applications point of view,nanofluidics represents an

Conference Session

Optical and Wireless Communication Systems

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ernest Kim, University of San Diego

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

of concepts introduced in each course.Curricular design of both courses as well as assessments of concurrent registration in the coursesis presented. Specific laboratory design, fabrication, and measurement experiments conducted inthe RF and microwave engineering course that helps emphasize concepts introduced in theengineering electromagnetics course are outlined.IntroductionRadio frequency (RF) and microwave engineering courses are commonly taught as an electricalengineering elective in the senior or graduate years of study.1 Concepts introduced in RF andmicrowave courses benefit from a solid understanding of passive and active circuits, and time-varying electromagnetic field theory.2 With regard to electromagnetic fields, wave

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dorin Patru, Rochester Institute of Technology; Daniel Phillips, Rochester Institute of Technology; Eric Peskin, Rochester Institute of Technology (COE)

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

TexasInstruments MSP430 microcontroller family with a target cost of approximately $100 includingpower supply and JTAG based programming interface. As shown in Figure 1, in addition to themicrocontroller, it also provided two serial ports, seven segment LED displays, a two-line, 40character LCD display and 18 discrete momentary switches for user interaction. The particularmicrocontroller model chosen also provided parallel input/output ports, timer/counters andanalog-to-digital conversion capability along with 60 kilobytes of flash memory and 2 kilobytesof random access memory. While the choice of the microcontroller to be used as a case study iscertainly open for debate, the Texas Instruments MSP430 family3 was been chosen for thefollowing reasons

Conference Session

ECE Pedagogy and Assessment

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Sadowski, U.S. Military Academy; Lisa Shay, U.S. Military Academy; Christopher Korpela, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Erik Fretheim, U.S. Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Zekeriya Aliyazicioglu, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona; Saeed Monemi, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona; Tim Lin, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

getting overly involved inprogramming. This will guide the students through basic concepts of signal representations,sampling, quantizing, coding, frequency domain representation, impulse response and transferfunction, digital filters, and basic filter types. 1. IntroductionDigital Signal processing (DSP) technology has changed fast and is extremely growing in thecommercials sector such as cellular phones, automobiles, stereo equipment, CDs, MP3 formats,and MPEG formats. This growth supports the discrete time signals and systems courses in theelectrical and computer engineering undergraduate curriculums to gain a solid understanding offundamental DSP theory, implementation, and applications in more detail. The changes incomputer and DSP

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ronny Veljanovski, Victoria University; Alex Stojcevski, Victoria University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

indicateda positive outcome.1. PBL in Electrical Engineering at Victoria University VU has always liaised with its stakeholders whom consist of community, university staff and students and industry to determine the competencies a professional engineering graduate should possess. Recent feedback from VU’s industry

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alka Harriger, Purdue University; Kyle Lutes, Purdue University; Jack Purdum, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

programming and microprocessor design. However,the clear emphasis of the software development courses in CIT is on using programminglanguages to build business applications. Figure 1 shows these distinctions based on the student'srole within the various layers of Information Technology. This distinct emphasis on usingprogramming languages and tools for application development, rather than on teaching studentshow programming languages and microprocessors work, impacts the way the courses are taught.The authors believe teaching these skills help students get part-time jobs and internships evenafter the first semester.The sequence of study in CIT recognizes that there are different types of software anddifferences in the way in which that software is

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christopher Greene, University of Saint Thomas

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

engineering problems. System simulations, step and impulse responses, convolutionintegrals, and later in the course the DFT were all used. This approach has the added advantageof introducing the students to actual industrial tools that they may be asked about in futureemployment.ModulationSeveral Simulink models were developed during the class. Figure 1A shows one used tointroduce the concepts of modulation. The details of the modulator and demodulator are shownin Figures 1B and 1C respectively. FIGURE 1 EXAMPLE SIMULINK EXPLORATION OF AM MODULATION Page 12.1326.5 FIGURE 2 MODULATOR

Conference Session

Digital and Embedded System Design

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kevin Bolding, Seattle Pacific Univ; Dave Van Ess, Cypress Semiconductor

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

or interface with the componentin a laboratory setting. Typically, a course will follow a sequence such as this1, 2: 1. Organization of microcontroller systems 2. Introduction to the development system used in the course 3. Programming the development system in assembly language or embedded C 4. External bus (memory) interfacing and timing 5. Exceptions and interrupts 6. Timer system 7. Parallel port interfacing 8. Serial port interfacing 9. Analog-to-digital conversion 10. Brief exploration of alternative microcontroller choicesBecause the details of almost every part of the course depend entirely on the type ofmicrocontroller chosen and the development environment provided, it is critical to the success ofthe course

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Haley Haywood, Oklahoma State University; Forrest Austin, Oklahoma State University; Seth Williams, Oklahoma State University; Cameron Musgrove, Oklahoma State University; Charles Bunting, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

on student development. 1Possibly one of the most challenging courses to adapt due to its large size and multidisciplinarynature is ENSC 2613 Introduction to Electrical Science. Although this course is the basis tomany electrical engineering courses, it is also multidisciplinary (including but not limited tomechanical, civil, industrial, and chemical engineers), and is also populated by over one hundredstudents in both fall and spring.The development model used in this paper is based on Bloom’s Taxonomy2, a model of learnerdevelopment which identifies six levels of learning and helps faculty know when students havemastered a level. A simplified version of this model is shown in Figure 1

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education III

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jason Pitts, Oklahoma State University; Patrick Teague, Oklahoma State University; Alan Cheville, Oklahoma State University; Charles Bunting, Oklahoma State University; Sohum Sohoni, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

-programmingcounterparts. However it was found that there was no statistical variation on exam scoresbetween paired students and non-paired students. It should also be noted that a much higherpercentage of non-paired students dropped the course midway through the semester, 24.1%compared to 7.6% of paired students.53 MethodsThe experiment to be performed will consist of three stages. In each stage a different method ofinteraction will be applied to (and used in) the lab section of the course. Each method will beapplied to a separate semester, so that students are exposed to only one. These methods are asfollows 1. Students will work individually on lab assignments. Each student will be solely responsible for her own work. Lab assignments will be of a nature

Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

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

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

approach benefits students in a variety of ways such as reinforcing fundamentalconcepts, motivating the study of ECE, and providing an opportunity to develop creativeproblem solving skills. In addition, the laboratory experience has been shown to have asignificant positive impact on the achievement of several ABET criteria.1. IntroductionAs part of broad curriculum reform, a new introductory course entitled Fundamentals ofElectrical and Computer Engineering has been developed and established as the cornerstone ofthe ECE curriculum at Duke University. The Fundamentals course introduces core concepts thatspan all of ECE: how to interface with the physical world; how to transfer and transmit energyand information; and how to extract, analyze, and

Conference Session

Optical and Wireless Communication Systems

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

George Moore, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

students to gather information regarding the equipment; interpretspecific problem spaces; select an appropriate subset of the equipment to address the specificproblem at hand; develop a strategy for equipment, component and sub-system interconnections;make measurements on devices, component, and sub-system; and finally report their findingsbased on an analysis of their collected data. We have embraced this approach because it engagesthe student’s major cognitive processes, thereby leading to more meaningful learning. Researchsuggests that this higher order thinking allows individuals to assimilate, apply and retain morefully the information learned 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12.Recently the department was presented with an opportunity to enhance the

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Richter, Technische Universitat Berlin; Sven Grottke, Technische Universitat Berlin

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

themselvesspending a considerable amount of time with project management and coordination activities.That means, teams have to design interfaces and data structures to combine their efforts to createa working project, which adds an often underestimated social component to the course. Withsome guidance from the teachers, students have always been able to supply a working code at theend of the semester. Needless to say, the thrill of having a nontrivial working program at the endof the course is a major source of motivation for our students and adds much to the satisfactionand positive feedback we receive.1. BackgroundThe field of image compression often attracts students of various fields: the technology is well-recognized in today's world, let it be as

Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Douglas Williams, Georgia Institute of Technology; Robert Butera, Georgia Institute of Technology; Selcuk Uluagac, Georgia Institute of Technology; Matthew Clark, Georgia Institute of Technology; Andy Deck, National Instruments; Michael Torba, National Instruments; Steven Trahan, National Instruments

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

12.409.2LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT was designed from the ground up using input from LEGO roboticsenthusiasts. All aspects of the NXT kit are significantly upgraded from earlier LEGO kits andhave increased functionality at roughly the same cost. The NXT controller incorporates threeprocessors, including a microcontroller for motor control, another for Bluetooth wirelessnetworking, and the 32-bit ARM7 microprocessor. This improved processing power also enablesa more sophisticated programming environment. A screen capture from the LEGOMINDSTORMS programming environment is shown in Figure 1. The motors and sensors allhave six-wire cables connecting them to the controller, allowing both analog and digitalconnections. The motors feature built-in rotational

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy Bigelow, University of North Dakota

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

developed focus program be compatible with admission intomedical school was achieved by discussing the proposed course work with the pre-medicineadvisor on our campus. Although, not all of the suggested pre-medicine courses could beincluded due to our desire of maintaining a strong electrical engineering curriculum (i.e., lackingtwo semesters of organic chemistry, course in biochemistry, and course in genetics), all of thelife science courses added when forming the focus program are also suggested for studentsplanning to study medicine. Therefore, the students would be able to enter medical school withonly a minimal amount of additional schooling (~ 1 additional academic year, less if summerclasses are taken).Overview of ProgramThe Biomedical

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tianxia Zhao, Indiana-Purdue University-Fort Wayne

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

radiation.Introducing those math tools is essential to provide visual aids and better understanding of theEM concepts, and enhance students’ programming skills to solve engineering EM problems. (a) Vector algebra and calculusBoth Matlab and Mathematica can do vector analysis. In addition, Mathematica can find the EMfields in analytic form (with additional toolbox, Matlab can solve problems analytically too).One thing worth of mentioning is that both Mathematica and Matlab functions are case-sensitive.To use Mathematica, start with the command < Sqrt[x^2 +y^2], theta -> angle[x, y]}, {x, x1, x2}, {y, y1, y2}, opts]; ( example : PlotPolarVectorField[{r, Sin[q]}, {r, q}, {x, -1, 1}, {y, -1, 1

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Min-Sung Koh, Eastern Washington University; Esteban Rodriguez-Marek, Eastern Washington University; Claudio Talarico, Eastern Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

interfaces. This paper presents a set of digital signal processing (DSP) studentclass projects that include the design of GUI interfaces for simulation and testing of systemsentirely through the use of Matlab. The paper also presents a preview of follow-up labdevelopments which will include the implementation of complete systems into a DSP board usingMatlab. In addition, there are classes under development in which the projects will requiredownloading Matlab algorithms into FPGAs. This paper's overarching goal is to demonstrate thatEE curricula do not need the teaching of many different high-level programming languages ifMatlab is taught vertically throughout the curriculum.f f ff 1. IntroductionTypical Electrical Engineering (EE) curricula have

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Lord, University of San Diego

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

professor in apractical way. These aspects include authentic investigation, motivation for communication,tying the writing to the technical content, a well-defined audience, providing useful practice foran engineering career, and not being overly burdensome to the engineering faculty instructor.Specific examples, student response, and lessons learned from activities in sophomore-levelCircuits, junior-level Electronics and a senior-level elective on Optoelectronics are presented.1. IntroductionTo help develop essential communication skills that engineering graduates need, engineeringfaculty must find ways to incorporate writing into the curriculum. There have been reports ofimpressive work integrating writing centers or technical communication

Conference Session

ECE Pedagogy and Assessment

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tokunbo Ogunfunmi, Santa Clara University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

previously to test some pre-requisite skills (likeElectric Circuits I and II) which are both pre-requisites to the Linear Systems course. These arepart of the assessment tools we developed and used prior to the use of the SSCI Test.Later, in Section 5, we briefly describe the SSCI CT Test which was administered in our Linearsystems class at the Santa Clara University in both Fall 2005 and Fall 2006. The SSCI CT Test isgiven to assess the students’ performance and determine evidence of learning outcomes.The goals of our study are :(1) To determine how much conceptual understanding the students have developed by the end ofthe class (compared to the beginning of the class).(2) To correlate the performance on the end-of-term exam with the performance on

Conference Session

ECE Pedagogy and Assessment

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Owe Petersen, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Stephen Williams, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Eric Durant, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

2000” (EC2000, now called the Engineering Criteria) was implemented inthe later 1990s. Many aspects of the new criteria required a new mind-set and were quitedifferent from the Traditional Criteria, which had significant elements of “bean counting.”EC2000 at its heart was to allow greater freedom in how an engineering program defined itselfvia its intent, its constituencies’ needs, and its curriculum [1][2][3]. But, along with freedom tochoose comes the need to properly understand the new criteria and its implications.One item of lingering confusion relates to the program educational objectives and programoutcomes. Even now significant difficulties appear to exist in understanding the meaning of

Conference Session

ECE Pedagogy and Assessment

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Fadi Kurdahi, University of California, Irvine; Judy Shoemaker, University of California, Irvine; John LaRue, University of California-Irvine

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

described in this paper: (1)course-embedded assessment which makes use of assessment results already being collected aspart of regular coursework, and (2) a scoring rubric for assessing program outcomes related tothe required senior design project. Assessment results from 2004-05 indicated that a relativelysmall percentage of students achieve some of the program outcomes. After making adjustmentsto the curriculum, assessment results from 2005-06 indicated that the vast majority of studentsachieved all the program outcomes.BackgroundThe Computer Engineering program resides in the department of Electrical Engineering andComputer Science (EECS) in The Henry Samueli School of Engineering at the University ofCalifornia, Irvine. As of Fall Quarter 2005

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education III

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donald Peter, Seattle Pacific University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

use available theories and tools to efficiently create successful designs. Students in Page 12.1596.2engineering programs usually could learn the theories of circuit analysis and the powerful CAEtools like MATLAB® 1 and MultiSim® 2, but when it came to apply them effectively to real worldproblems, they often struggled. One reason for this, he thought, was that so much focus wentinto mastering the mathematics of analysis and how to use software packages that emphasis onintuitive understanding lagged. I easily resonated with his remarks, having had a similarexperience in my own formal engineering education and having worked in industry for over

Conference Session

Optical and Wireless Communication Systems

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Caverly, Villanova University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

solutions has resulted in a resurgence in Radio Frequency (RF) engineeringinterest at the undergraduate level. Some of these applications include not only wirelessnetworking using such protocols as WiFi, WiMAX, and ZigBee, but also such applications aswireless sensors and RFID as well as the familiar personal communications systems. In fact, theInternational Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) shows that RF and “wirelessapplications may replace computers as the key driver in manufacturing”1 over the next 10 years.Electrical engineering departments can expect increased demand to provide well educatedengineering professionals to address this increase in the need for RF and wireless engineers. Astime goes on, there will also be the attendant

Conference Session

Optical and Wireless Communication Systems

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adam Neale, University of Waterloo; Jason Shirtliff, University of Waterloo; William Bishop, University of Waterloo; Cutberto Santillan Rios, University of Waterloo

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

the antenna thatchanges dynamically along with the pattern, and a print function capable of printing the setpatterns along with all of the relevant parameter values. The tools were developed using Page 12.1125.3Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 and the C# programming language.Design and DevelopmentFigure 1 illustrates the single dipole antenna tool. It is the simplest of the simulation tools. Itsunique features are explained in the features section below, but is provided here as a visual aidfor explaining the features common to each simulator. Figure 1: Single Dipole Antenna Simulation ToolThe common layout for each

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shonda Bernadin, Georgia Southern University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

section describes this paradigm, which is based on the reorganization ofcourse content; and the incorporation of assessments that measure the effectiveness of studentlearning. The results of implementing the model are presented, followed by future courseenhancements and conclusions.A Paradigm for Student AssessmentThe paradigm that was developed for incorporating effective assessments in the introductorysignal-processing course is defined as a three-step process. The underlined theme for creatingappropriate assessments for increased student learning was self-reflection and correction. STEP 1 Course mapping and instructional design

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J. Shawn Addington, Virginia Military Institute; Wilbur Dale, Virginia Military Institute; Isaac Putnam, Virginia Military Institute

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

carry themajority of the charge when electric current flows in the n-type material. On the other hand,doping a semiconductor with p-type acceptor material (which has only three electrons in theouter shell) results in holes in the valence band. Because there are more holes in the valenceband than there are electrons in the conduction band, the majority charge carriers of p-typematerial are holes.1When current flows through these semiconductors in a magnetic field the charged particles tendto push to one side of the conductor or the other. The resulting voltage difference can bemeasured perpendicular to the current flow. The transverse voltage across a semiconductor iscalled the Hall Effect.2 See Figure 1.The primary difficulty in building this

Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yi Cheng, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona; Kathleen Hayden, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona; Zekeriya Aliyazicioglu, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

of operations:generate, capture and pulse-width-modulation (PWM). Our students were able toimplement a PWM controller, or an input capture function to measure the period orfrequency of an input signal and generate real-time interrupts.We used the book [1] to provide reading material for the SHC. We discussed the typicaldesign flow of SHC: partitioning, scheduling and implementation. Among the three co-design classifications: SHC of embedded systems, SHC of instruction set processors, andSHC of reconfigurable systems, we studied only the SHC of the embedded systems. Weused several embedded systems as case studies: a car dashboard system, a real-timespectrum analyzer using FFT calculations, MP-3 encoding and decoding, and MPEGencoding and