Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cameron Coates, Armstrong Atlantic State University; Wayne Johnson, Armstrong Atlantic State University; Chris McCarthy, Armstrong Atlantic State University

and may sometimes include a financial incentive. Thispaper describes and assesses a one-week summer program designed to push the academic andtime management limits of students who are already interested in science and engineering. Theprimary objective is early exposure to research, design and communication with the expectationthat all participants in the program will become undergraduates who are motivated to pursueresearch projects. Other objectives included the successful introduction of advanced concepts to12th grade students through software; pushing the intellectual pace of these students, who aregenerally unaccustomed to academic pressure, and the development of the participants’leadership and teamwork skills. This program distinguishes

Conference Session

Graduate Education and Undergraduate Research in ET

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jerry Visser, South Dakota State University; Kurt Rosentrater, USDA-ARS

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

astudent a well rounded opportunity. Most undergraduates work within internships or cooperativeeducational frameworks with one entity. At South Dakota State University, the ProductDevelopment Center (PDC) has initiated a collaborative research project with the USDAAgricultural Research Service (ARS) in Brookings for the benefit of undergraduate students.This collaborative framework with the United States Department of Agriculture ARS grows fromthree key aspects. First, the students at both the ARS and the PDC exchange concepts and workinteractively on projects. This provides a wider scope to how their research efforts connect tothe greater scope of both the PDC and ARS. Second, the PDC and ARS pool equipment andlaboratory tools which would be

Conference Session

Software Engineering Topics

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Sebern, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Mark Hornick, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Software Engineering Constituent Committee

www.msoe.edu/se/AbstractData management tools are necessary for effective support of disciplined software processes thatmake use of historical data for planning and process improvement. This paper reports describestwo such tools and how they have been applied in an undergraduate software engineeringprogram and to support software process improvement initiatives in industry. One of the tools, anopen-source development project, has recently added new capabilities that may make it anattractive choice for both educators and practitioners.IntroductionSoftware engineering programs generally incorporate courses and other learning experiences thatare designed to provide breadth and depth of coverage across the discipline, addressing bothpractice and process

Conference Session

The Challenges of Tech Transfer

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bruce Mutter, Bluefield State College; Frank Hart, Bluefield State College

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

our School of Engineering Technology and ComputerScience (SETCS) with in-house internship experience and the School with a source of increasedfunding through CART, the operation of our own Course Management System (CMS) as a fee-based self-sustaining business operation, our ongoing applied research projects for industry andagencies, our partnerships with other colleges, universities, industry, and government, and theoperation of the shop CART store.The vision of CART is to become a highly respected resource for innovative engineering andmerging technologies in the discovery of applied research and design of applications that driveour economic viability, solve industrial problems, and strengthen homeland security and nationaldefense.Our

Conference Session

International Case Studies:Collaborations, Exchanges & Interactions

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joerg Mossbrucker, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Stephen Williams, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Edward Chandler, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Holger Dahms, Lübeck University of Applied Sciences; Owe Petersen, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Jens Thiedke, Lübeck University of Applied Sciences

Tagged Divisions

International

Applied Sciences the MSOE faculty generally teach a shortintensive 2 week course at the end of the spring semester. An appropriate number of credits andassociated grade are given and entered on both university transcripts. The Lübeck universityfaculty visit MSOE in the fall quarter to participate in the project defense of their own studentswho perform their Diplom Arbeit (senior thesis project) at a company generally in theMilwaukee region. During the visit the Lübeck faculty also provide a series of special topiclectures in various courses depending on the expertise of the faculty member.The benefits of the faculty exchange are many. Not just does the experience foster a strongerbond to the partner abroad, but the presence of the faculty serves

Conference Session

IE Program Design II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sandra Furterer, East Carolina University; Sandra Furterer, University of Central Florida; Abeer Sharawi, University of Central Florida; Luis Rabelo, University of Central Florida; Lesia Crumpton-Young, University of Central Florida; Kent Williams, University of Central Florida; H. Gregg St. John, EMG Consulting

Tagged Divisions

Industrial Engineering

Learning Theory and Instructional Design Theories that will provideexperiential learning and student experiences in the classroom.• Integrate Cognitive Learning Theory and Instructional Design Theory to identify appropriateuses of technology to support classroom instruction goals and student learning objectives.• Develop aggressive recruiting strategies that increase awareness of IE careers among HighSchool students and serve to entice them to pursue Industrial Engineering with special emphasisupon exposing members of historically underrepresented groups and females.The project has contributed to engineering education in two major ways: 1) to provide a strategythat other departments of higher education can use to reform their curriculum; and 2

Conference Session

Effective Learning Innovations in Civil Engineering Courses

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chris Ramseyer, University of Oklahoma

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

. Challenges for the facultyand staff include; providing enough raw materials to keep up with the students' phenomenalvolume of work, helping make the work fun and exciting, and expanding the students horizonsbeyond the immediate research focus of their team. As the summer progresses, the students takeover day-to-day management of the projects. To ensure that all the students are engaged in theresearch and understand its goals and challenges, weekly meetings are held to discuss progress,difficulties and preliminary results. Keeping the work fun and exciting, while granting thestudents control of the research process, encourages the students to pursue graduate study. Several research sponsors make this challenging program possible. Each of the

Conference Session

IT-based Instructional Technologies

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie Mariga, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Information Systems

• Establish, configure, and properly protect a remote desktop connection to the 2003 Server using terminal services • Configure File EncryptionAt the end of each lab project, the students are required to write a laboratory reportdocumenting their experiences with the software installation and configuration. Thestudents do not like having to do this activity but as IT professionals they must be able tocommunicate technical information in a non-technical way. By providing them with theexperience of writing lab reports they get some exposure of having to write technicalreports. Many students take the course during their second semester sophomore year orsometime during their junior year and many students have come back and informed thefaculty

Conference Session

Innovations for the Senior Year of the ME Curriculum

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gregory Davis, Kettering University; Craig Hoff, Kettering University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

AC 2007-2879: USING THE SAE COLLEGIATE DESIGN SERIES TO PROVIDERESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATESGregory Davis, Kettering University DR. GREGORY W. DAVIS is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Kettering University, formerly known as GMI Engineering & Management Institute. Acting in this capacity, he teaches courses in the Automotive and Thermal Science disciplines. He also serves a Director of the Advanced Engine Research Laboratory, where he conducts research in alternative fuels and engines. Currently, Greg serves as co-faculty advisor for the world's largest Student Chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the Clean Snowmobile Challenge Project. Greg is

Conference Session

Sustainable Engineering

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stanley Greenwald, New York Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

ofScience in Environmental Technology and is required for the Master of Science in Energy Managementprograms at New York Institute of Technology in addition to a six-credit thesis and studies in airpollution, waste management, law, risk analysis, auditing, groundwater contamination, GIS, OSHA-Hazwopper and many more. Each student is required to submit a feasibility study for the development ofa Distributed Generation system in their homeland including a demographic analysis of the local area inquestion and estimation of electric load requirements for residential, commercial and industrial customers.The course and project outcomes include a site plan, type of power plant, quantities of fuel, generatingcapacity, construction and generating costs. The

Conference Session

Computer-Assisted Lab Studies

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Parten, Texas Tech University; Timothy Maxwell, Texas Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

interfaced to the overall system control.System interfacing through a controller area network (CAN) bus is standard inautomotive systems. The increasing complexity of sub systems is requiring validationtesting before inclusion into the system. This leads to test procedure concepts such ashardware in the loop and software in the loop.The development of the vehicle is a complex, large team, multidisciplinary project withstudents primarily from mechanical engineering, electrical and computer engineering.The majority of the team members are enrolled in a two-semester senior design sequencein either Electrical or Mechanical Engineering. Some graduate students and volunteersalso participated in the program. The project last longer than the courses. In

Conference Session

Innovative Techniques in Graphics

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Holdhusen, University of Wisconsin-Marathon County

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Design Graphics

. Specifically, they had trouble manually creating the multiview projections andproperly dimensioning the drawings. This research finds that all students, regardless of theirexperience, benefit from taking engineering graphics at the university level.IntroductionStudents start engineering programs with many different experiences. Some students begin anengineering program with some knowledge of engineering graphics. This knowledge ofengineering graphics ranges from knowing the basics of technical sketching, to the ability to readtechnical drawings, to an intimate knowledge of 3D modeling using CAD. Students gain theseexperiences from many places including job training and high school CAD classes. Mostuniversity engineering programs require a course in

Conference Session

K-12 Programs (Co-sponsored by K-12 Division)

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lynn Fujioka, isisHawaii and Women in Technology; Sheryl Hom, isisHawaii and Women in Technology; Leslie Wilkins, Maui Economic Development Board

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

AC 2007-2310: ISISHAWAII: THE POWER OF ONE PLUS ONE FOR BRINGINGGIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN INTO THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERINGPIPELINELynn Fujioka, isisHawaii and Women in Technology In 2002, Lynn Fujioka left the advertising industry after 25 years to launch isisHawaii, a women's online mentoring resource. Since partnering in 2003 with The Women in Technology (WIT) Project (a statewide workforce development initiative administered by The Maui Economic Development Board and funded, in part, by the U.S. Departments of Education, Agriculture and Labor), Lynn's new-found passion in educational outreach provides a rewarding outlet for her creative and business skills.Sheryl Hom, isisHawaii and Women in

Conference Session

Design of Lab Experiments II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ahmad Pourmovahed, Kettering University

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

energy systems. A design project isincorporated into this laboratory course. Currently, experiments performed in this laboratoryinclude a Jet Engine, Road Load Simulation, PEM Fuel Cell Performance, Centrifugal Pump,Fan Laws, Compressible Flow, Pipe Flow and Flow Meters, Lift and Drag, Heat Exchanger,and Cylinder Convection. Among other things, the students learn how jet engines work; howaircraft wings produce lift; how a fuel cell works; how supersonic velocities are produced; howto use a dynamometer to predict the gas mileage of a car; how to match pumps and fans to pipingsystems and ducts and how to cool hot objects effectively. They also learn to apply thefundamental principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer in an

Conference Session

Freshman Design and Other Novel Programs

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul King, Vanderbilt University; Mark Richter, MaxMobility

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

, wheelchair setup, adaptive exercise equipment and recreational technologies. He has taught several project-based courses where student teams designed assistive devices for clients with disabilities Page 12.431.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Current Topics in Rehabilitation EngineeringAbstractThis paper describes a new introductory one hour freshman module developed to cover currenttopics in Rehabilitation Engineering. The course was team taught by an engineer/owner of alocal mobility aids firm and by a biomedical engineering design instructor. Students whoenrolled for the course were

Conference Session

TC2K Methods and Models

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gregory Watkins, University of North Carolina-Charlotte; Nan Byars, University of North Carolina-Charlotte; Deborah Sharer, University of North Carolina-Charlotte

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

from Clemson University and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia University. She has been a Professor of Engineering Technology at UNC Charlotte since 1993. She taught at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo CA for eight years and has worked as a project and research engineer in industry. She became a registered professional engineer in 1981.Deborah Sharer, University of North Carolina-Charlotte Deborah Sharer is an Assistant Professor in the Engineering Technology Department at UNC Charlotte. She was the first woman PhD graduate from the Lee College of Engineering, with a research emphasis in microelectronic devices and solid state materials. She has served

Conference Session

New Trends in Engineering Graduate Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel Walsh, California Polytechnic State University; Stacey Breitenbach, California Polytechnic State University; Robert Crocket, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

University of California, Berkeley. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Dr. Crockett is a specialist in technology development and commercialization of advanced materials and manufacturing processes. Prior to joining Cal Poly, he was founder and President of Xeragen, Inc., a San Luis Obispo-based biotechnology startup company. He has also served as an Assistant Professor at Milwaukee School of Engineering and was employed by McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Company, where he was a lead engineer and Principal Investigator on projects to develop technology evolution plans for the Space Station

Conference Session

Assessing Design Coursework I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Phillip du Plessix, University of Calgary; Graham Armitage, University of Calgary; Kara Chomistek, University of Calgary; Clifton Johnston, University of Calgary; Daryl Caswell, University of Calgary; Mohamed Nazir, University of Calgary; Marjan Eggermont, University of Calgary; Diane Douglas, University of Calgary; Brigit Knecht, University of Calgary

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

University ofCalgary, Schulich School of Engineering for the first year design and communication courses.These courses promote a hands-on, inquiry based learning environment where students build andtest a variety of projects in a dynamic, open-ended curriculum. To allow for a truly hands-ondesign experience, the laboratories are equipped with tool chests containing various hand andpower tools, available for student use during the construction and testing of their projects.Despite the fact that there have been few injuries in the design laboratories, it became clearthrough observations of students and instructors that many of the tools were being usedincorrectly. Allowing for student use of hand tools in the laboratory comes with inherent

Conference Session

Effective Learning Innovations in Civil Engineering Courses

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brock Barry, Purdue University; Sybil Sharvelle, Purdue University; M Katherine Banks, Purdue University; Sean Brophy, Purdue University; William Oakes, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

Graduate Competencies through an Authentic Design Experience in a Wastewater Treatment CourseAbstractDeveloping professional competencies require learning experiences that simulate authenticpractice. A wastewater treatment course at a large, research university converted a portion of itstraditional lecture and homework model of instruction to a challenge-based model of instructionculminating in a redesign project. The course used a series of challenge-based modules as aprecursor to learners’ synthesis of a design report and presentation to a corporate client. Anearby pharmaceutical company acted as a “perspective client” and issued a formal request forproposal (RFP) to the students, who were organized into “consulting companies.” In

Conference Session

EMD Program Design

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carmo D'Cruz, Florida Tech; Muzaffar Shaikh, Florida Tech; Wade Shaw, Florida Tech

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

. These experiential activitiesinclude the monthly “Engineering Entrepreneur in the Spotlight” seminar series – wherepromising engineers-turned- entrepreneurs visit Florida Tech and share their experiences;the judging of the Brevard School Science Fair Projects for their commercialization value;collaborating with the city, government and private organizations in the community tocommercialize innovative student-developed technologies; etc. Students work in E-Teamson their entrepreneurial class projects and write NCIIA/SBIR grant proposals forfunding and also present at the regional/state-level Business Plan Competitions. They arealso members of the Florida Tech Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Club and theyparticipate in local and national SIFE

Conference Session

Mobile Robotics in Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eric Wang, University of Nevada-Reno; Jeffrey LaCombe, University of Nevada-Reno; Ann-Marie Vollstedt, University of Nevada-Reno

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Teaching Structured Programming Using LEGO Programmable BricksAbstractFor the first time in nearly a decade, the LEGO programmable brick has undergone a majorhardware revision. The LEGO programmable brick has been adopted for a variety of uses inprimary, secondary, and higher education. With the introduction of the new hardware, thereappears to be a growing interest in using the programmable brick for teaching computerprogramming to college students. The goal of this project was to develop a set of instructionalworkshops, online tutorials, and accompanying project-based learning exercises that, combined,teach the basics of structured computer

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chia-Jeng Tseng, Bucknell University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

contain a number of combinational logicblocks, flip-flops, counters, finite state machines, embedded finite state machines, andregister-transfer-level function blocks such as registers, multiplexers as well as arithmeticand logic units. The VHDL description of a module can be written in dataflow,behavioral, or structural style. These module descriptions can be bundled together andrandomly placed in a design description.Based on the basic digital components, the issues of writing a VHDL description tospecify a digital system are addressed in Section 2. Section 3 discusses system-leveldesign issues. Section 4 describes laboratory and project assignments for students topractice digital design methodologies using VHDL. Section 5 presents common

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Chang, USMA; Grant Jacoby, USMA; Lisa Shay, U.S. Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

requirements.As the practicality of using robotics in this manner and many others continues to rise, so dostudents’ (and educators’) aspirations to learn and apply them in a variety of ways. This paper Page 12.1174.2outlines a successful approach to readily marry the interests of a commercial client andundergraduate education in robotics as well as how to establish a vision and supportingcurriculum for a robotics program that engages students in innovative and meaningful challengesthat sustains enthusiasm and helps meet expectations of all sides. This paper outlines thepartnership agreement, the project creation and the positive impacts of this endeavor

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephen Thompson, University of South Carolina; Jed Lyons, University of South Carolina

collection and analysis rather than preceding them.Analysis of the data indicated that participation in this type of outreach significantlyimproved the GK-12 Fellows’ understanding of contemporary notions of teaching andlearning, especially as they relate to Science and math instruction. At the end of theoutreach experience the GK-12 Fellows expressed greater confidence in their ability tocreate and implement problem-solving activities that incorporate math andScienceconcepts. The GK-12 Fellows also held more complete understanding of inquiry-based teaching practices, as well as improved abilities to help students design andimplement their own research projects as a result of this outreach. The outreach alsoenhanced GK-12 Fellows’ understanding of

Conference Session

Programming for Engineering Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tammy VanDeGrift, University of Portland

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

completeprogramming assignments to learn the skills of problem-solving, translating ideas into computercode, debugging programs, and testing programs. Much of the learning takes place whilestudents complete programming assignments. In order to keep students’ interest and provide ameans of ownership, creative and open-ended programming assignments were used in anintroductory Java course.Most introductory programming courses include a series of programming assignments to ensurestudents learn programming fundamentals. A typical introductory programming assignmentrequires all students to complete the same program. Instead of stating project specifications sothat all students’ projects tackle exactly the same task, assignments for an introductory coursewere

Conference Session

New Tools in Teaching and Learning Biomedical Engineering Concepts

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Vikki Hazelwood, Stevens Institute of Technology; Arthur Ritter, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

AC 2007-1194: 75 UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OBTAIN MOTIVATINGEXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION BY PARTICIPATING IN A HUMAN CLINICALTRIAL WHILE PERFORMING BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING RESEARCHVikki Hazelwood, Stevens Institute of TechnologyArthur Ritter, Stevens Institute of Technology Page 12.7.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 54 Undergraduate Students Obtain Clinical Experiential Education as Participants in Biomedical Engineering ResearchAuthor Block: Vikki Hazelwood, Arthur Ritter Biomedical Engineering, Stevens Institute ofTechnology, Hoboken, NJ.Objective: To implement an effective experiential education research project designed to educateundergraduate students

Conference Session

Distance, Remote, and Virtual Experiments

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John White, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Leo Bobek, University of Massachusetts- Lowell

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

illustration, two specific cases are then highlighted: an introductory energy balancelaboratory that has been conducted for several groups of freshman Chemical Engineeringstudents, and a pool heat-up experiment that was used as the basis for a project in an EngineeringDifferential Equations course. Both these examples focus on the energy transfer and transportmechanisms that are an integral part of the reactor facility. The readily available data allow oneto illustrate a number of fundamental concepts of interest to each course using real informationfrom an operating facility -- and the real-world nature of these applications seems to really Page

Conference Session

Hands-on Materials Science and Engineering

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Griffin, Texas A&M University; Ibrahim Karaman, Texas A&M University; Ji Ma, Texas A&M University; Jeffrey Froyd, Texas A&M University; Jaime Grunlan, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Materials

project, but separate from the certificate program, we are developing aseries of experiments that will be introduced in the first-year engineering program at a large,research-intensive university. The goal of the experiments is to help students determine howdifferences in concentrations of nano-sized particles, which are added to common materials, canchange physical properties. In this exercise, student teams will fabricate composite films filledwith different concentrations of carbon black in two different types of polymers: 1. latex-basedcomposite with poly (vinyl acetate), and 2. solution-based composite with poly(vinylpyrrolidone). The concentrations vary from about 2 wt% to 15 wt%. For mechanicalproperties, the students will determine the

Conference Session

FPD5 -- Placement & Early Success

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Beverly Jaeger, Northeastern University; Susan Freeman, Northeastern University; Richard Whalen, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

learning modes used to overcome thelearning-style mismatch include active learning, collaborative and cooperative learning, and Page 12.560.3problem- or project-based learning7,1.Table 1. Dimensions of Learning Styles6 (Felder & Brent, 2004) Dimension Types of Learners within each Dimension Perception Sensing/Sensors Intuitive/Intuitors Input Modality Visual(s) Verbal(s) Processing Active(s) Reflective(s) Understanding Sequential(s

Conference Session

ChE: Bioengineering, nanotechnology, and systems engineering in the Classroom

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Marlin, McMaster University; Andrew Hrymak, McMaster University; John MacGregor, McMaster University; Vladimir Mahalec, McMaster University; Prashant Mhaskar, McMaster University; Christopher Swartz, McMaster University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

policy systems. Whilethe opportunities are unlimited, PSE is initially introduced with examples of greatest importanceto chemical engineering undergraduates, with course projects and enrichment readings providingextensions to other applications. The decision support methods we include in PSE are modeling (first principlesfundamental and data-based), simulation, process control, applied statistics, optimization,synthesis and design. These topics overlap with many existing courses in engineering,operations research and applied mathematics, so that much excellent teaching and learningmaterial is available. However, a great challenge exists in teaching them at the appropriateundergraduate level, linking to practical engineering applications