Conference Session

Innovative Mechanics Education Programs and Projects

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Phillip Cornwell, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Charles Farrar, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Peter Avitabile, University of Massachusetts-Lowell

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

. This trend is of particular importance to Los Alamos National Laboratorybecause of its reliance on employees with advanced degrees. The problem is further exasperatedby the need for most employees of LANL to be US citizens so they are able to obtain therequisite security clearances. The Los Alamos Dynamics Summer School (LADSS) is aninnovative, proactive approach that is designed to not only benefit the students through theireducational experience, but also to motivate them to attend graduate school and to make thestudents aware of career possibilities in defense-related industries after they have completed theirgraduate studies. Students in the program are paid the same as regular LANL summer students,but there are significant educational

Conference Session

Innovative Mechanics Education Programs and Projects

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Howard, East Carolina University; Rick Williams, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

software was used along with a low-cost rapidprototyping system in a project in which high school students attempted to optimize the design ofa component subjected to well-defined loading and constraints.This project was conducted as part of Summer Ventures, a program in which talented highschool students from across North Carolina explore math and science-related careers at severalUniversity of North Carolina System campuses. This was the initial offering of engineering asan option for the students. Students selected three areas of participation. For three weeks, theyspent two hours per day in each of the selected areas. During the fourth and final week, theychose one of their three areas for more in-depth study.During the engineering portion of

Conference Session

Internet Delivery of Mechanics Courses

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Douglas Carroll; Hong Sheng, University of Missouri

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

AC 2007-670: USING TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE THE TRADITIONALLECTUREDoug Carroll, University of Missouri Dr. Douglas R. Carroll, PE is a Professor in the Interdisciplinary Engineering Department at the University of Missouri-Rolla. He is best known for his work with solar powered race cars, winning two national championships and publishing a book on solar car design. He has received many teaching awards in his career. His research interests are composite materials, solar-electric vehicle technology, and educational research.Hong Sheng, University of Missouri Dr. Hong Sheng is an Assistant Professor holding joint position at the Business Administration Department, and Information Science and

Conference Session

What's New in the Mechanics of Materials?

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie Linsey, University of Texas-Austin; Austin Talley, University of Texas--Austin; Daniel Jensen, U.S. Air Force Academy; Kristin Wood, University of Texas-Austin; Kathy Schmidt, University of Texas-Austin; Rachel Kuhr, University of Texas-Austin; Saad Eways, Austin Community College

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

Results Correlated with Student CharacteristicsStudents’ opinions of the ALPs were correlated with their “expected grade in class”, “careerplans after graduation” and “overall G.P.A.”. The student’s expected grade was measured afterapproximately one month of class so this measure is likely an indication of how well the studentsfelt they understood the material as they progressed through the class. No differences in opinionwere observed as function of “career plans after graduation” or “overall G.P.A”. For mostsurvey questions there were no trends in correlation between expected grade and survey opinion.T-tests were used to evaluate statistical significance. In each graph the error bars are twostandard errors. When the error bars do not overlap