Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Redekopp, University of Southern California; Cauligi Raghavendra, University of Southern California; Allan Weber, University of Southern California; Gisele Ragusa, University of Southern California; Therese Wilbur, University of Southern California

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

courses. In engineering, capstone designcourses were natural candidates and the embedded system design course within the Ming HsiehDepartment of Electrical Engineering was selected for the pilot program. On the business side,the marketing department created a follow-on practicum course to its “New ProductDevelopment and Branding” theory course. Run once in spring 2008, the program is runningagain in spring 2009, with a third collaborator in the Roski School of Fine Arts. The “AdvancedDesign Projects” provides product design, packaging, and artistic input and expertise. Thefollowing sections summary the approach to teaching these courses along with lessons learnedthroughout the pilot experience.3. ApproachInterdisciplinary engineering capstone

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yanfei Liu, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne; Jiaxin Zhao, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

AC 2009-1908: A KICKING MECHANISM FOR A SOCCER-PLAYING ROBOT: AMULTIDISCIPLINARY SENIOR DESIGN PROJECTYanfei Liu, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort WayneJiaxin Zhao, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne Page 14.35.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 A Kicking Mechanism for a Soccer Playing Robot – a Multidisciplinary Senior Design ProjectAbstractThis paper describes a multidisciplinary capstone senior design project that involves the design,build and test stages1. It is a two-semester project that was conducted by five senior students inthe Department of Engineering at Indiana University - Purdue

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sarel Lavy, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

spreadover a number of disciplines, among them engineering, architecture, management, business, andconstruction. This paper presents a case study of a project completed by teams of undergraduateand graduate students in the courses “Specialty Capstone” and “Introduction to FacilityManagement,” offered by a large university in the US in the spring 2008 semester.Facility management, if well-organized and well-structured, has the potential to not only improvethe physical performance and appearance of a building and its systems, but also to increase theusers’ level of satisfaction, and to improve the efficiency with which buildings are maintained,operated, and managed along their service lives. These two courses offered students anopportunity to

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Josef Rojter, Victoria University of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

which cover identified. The content is then presented epistemic professional in terms of sequences of problems. discourses.PBL PedagogiesThe acronym PBL, unfortunately, encompasses both project and problem-based learningpedagogies. In order to avoid confusion it is important to distinguish between these twolearning approaches. Project-based learning is concerned with the application of existingknowledge to new situations which leads to the acquisition of practical skills. Problem-basedlearning requires the acquisition of knowledge to address a particular problem. In reality thereis an overlap between both project and problem based learning.Both PBL approaches have some commonality because they both

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Josef Rojter, Victoria University of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

the team members’ individual reflective journals. This component also required student oral presentations in weeks 4 and 12. Table 6. Problems allocated to student team Project title 1 Energy and Environmental Audit and Assessment of various fuels and mixture of fuels operating at various and efficiencies and excess air. Fuels in question are: Methanol; Methane; Propane; Butane; Butane-propane mixtures; and Ethanol-octane mixtures. 2 An environmental assessment and LCA (life cycle assessment) of three selected bio- degradable polymers 3 Examination of the feasibility of production of ethanol, methanol and diesels from

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Course Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

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

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

University. His interest include image and video processing, communication systems, digital signal processing, and cryptographic theory and applications.Min-Sung Koh, Eastern Washington University Page 14.67.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 A Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Project Implementing a Robotic Arm for the Artificial Insemination of Endangered Amphibian SpeciesAbstractThis paper presents a pilot undergraduate project started in fall 2007 and completed in spring2008 at Eastern Washington University. The goal of the project was to expose

Conference Session

Engineering and Other Disciplines

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mahmoud Quweider, University of Texas, Brownsville; Adriana Perez, University of Texas, Brownsville; Gabriala Oropeza, University of Texas, Brownsville; Juan Iglesias, University of Texas, Brownsville

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

. Perez, sought steps to reproduce similar collaborative outcomes in the futurein a methodical way. Since the CIS students are required to finish a capstone project during theirsenior year, it was thought very useful to allow interested student to pursue a similar experiencewhile earning credit for graduation. While taking the senior project, students who pursue thispath will be asked to follow the steps.Project Selection: Student(s) will be given a range of projects to choose from. The selection will becoordinated by a joint faculty from the CIS and the Public Health departments.Project Presentation: Student(s) will be required to present the project upon its completion to the rest ofthe class; they will detail their experience and point out any

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Course Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Ciaraldi, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Eben Cobb, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Fred Looft, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Robert Norton, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Taskin Padir, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

engineering and advised capstone design projects within the robotics and automation option. He received his PhD and M.S. degrees from Purdue University, both in electrical engineering. He received his BS in electrical and electronics engineering from Middle East Technical University. Dr. Padir currently teaches undergraduate robotics engineering courses at WPI, advises student projects and participates in curriculum development activities for WPI's robotics engineering BS degree. Page 14.428.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Designing an Undergraduate Robotics Engineering

Conference Session

Engineering and Other Disciplines

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carlotta Berry, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Matthew Boutell, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Steve Chenoweth, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; David Fisher, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

robotics certificate will help withrecruitment efforts3. In addition, faculty and students enrolled in the certificate program willparticipate in K-12 outreach such as mentoring middle school and high school robotics programs.Students in the program will also demonstrate their robotics projects to tour groups, increasingvisibility and attracting students to our institution. In fact, the final project robotics competitionfor one of the early courses in the robotics curriculum has already been featured on the campusweb site and in the local newspaper. Additionally, faculty with an expertise in robotics will beattracted to a school with a visible, established robotics education program and research.Multidisciplinary TeamworkRobots are mechanical

Conference Session

Engineering and Other Disciplines

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Chang, United States Military Academy; Peter Hanlon, United States Military Academy; Kirk Ingold, United States Military Academy; Robert Rabb, United States Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

munitions, detect and disable ordnance in hazardous environments, maneuver inrelatively small areas, be used as a decoy or be sent to draw out opponent fires without riskingthe life of the operator. There have also been various universities that have integrated roboticsinto their curriculum or developed new courses that use robotic platforms as the center piece.Weingarten, et. al. used robotics as a vehicle to engineering education and to propel the studentsinto research and life-long learning5. Chung and Anneberg6 summarized how to use contests tostimulate learning in computer science and engineering education. Mehrl et. al.7 used anautonomous robotics capstone design project to enable students to used their preferred learningstyle to learn how to

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Course Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Geoff Wright; Paul Skaggs; Richard Fry, Brigham Young University; C. Richard Helps, Brigham Young University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

with activities to helpthem semantically encode the primary principles of innovation, and b) to help them prepare forthe final two innovation activities: a formative ideation project, and a summative capstoneexperience.Both the formative ideation project, and the innovation capstone experience required the studentsto demonstrate how they came to their solutions as a result of using/engaging the principles andprocesses of innovation. The participants were assigned and completed the ideation projectduring the first day of instruction. It provided the participants with the opportunity toimmediately put into action the principles and processes they had experienced in the innovationmini-activities. The ideation project required the participants to

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Curriculum Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Salah Badjou, Wentworth Institute of Technology; Loutfallah Georges Chedid, Wentworth Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

theirBachelor of Science in Electromechanical Engineering but with added strength in biomedicalengineering--the student’s transcripts will indicate the student’s completion of the biomedicalsystems engineering concentration.Historically, many of our Electromechanical Engineering students have shown an interest inbiomedical engineering by choosing their junior and capstone design projects in biomedicalengineering. Some of these projects were outstanding and won top regional awards from ASEE,ASME, and IEEE. There was a clear interest by the electromechanical engineering students inexpanding their knowledge into biomedical applications. In addition, a number of facultymembers have an interest in biomedical engineering, and had conducted research in

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Design Constituents

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dugan Um, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi; Bahram Asiabanpour, Texas State University; Jesus Jimenez, Texas State University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

Engineering major, Texas A&M University.Bahram Asiabanpour, Texas State University Dr. Asiabanpour is an assistant professor of manufacturing engineering at Texas State University since 2003. He has published several journal and conference papers in Rapid Prototyping and CAD/CAM. He designed and has taught four new senior-level courses in manufacturing engineering program including capstone senior design. He has been very successful in involving undergraduate students in his research in rapid prototyping and in his publications. He has also enlisted the support of local industries in his teaching and research activities.Jesus Jimenez, Texas State University JESUS A. JIMENEZ received the B.S. and

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Curriculum Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Moderick Greenfield, Eastern Michigan University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

Capstone Project 3Total 18-21* OPTION: Students must select PHY 420 or ELEC 450.REQUIRED ENGINEERING MECHANICS COURSESPHY 229 Strength and Elasticity of Materials 4PHY 230 Engineering Dynamics 4PHY 485 Fluid Dynamics 3Total 11The above courses were selected from Engineering Physics because they provide thebasic foundation in Engineering. The student completing these courses will have a strongbackground in Engineering Mechanics. For instance, PHY 229, 230, 360, and 485 are allbasic components administered on the FE Exam. Today, all engineers are required tounderstand Ethnics

Conference Session

Sustainability and Environmental Issues

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Catherine Skokan, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

synthetic fuels. The course isdesigned to inform and prepare students who could enter energy fields as engineers. ColoradoSchool of Mines is responsible for preparing the curriculum at the lecture level and for trainingthe college staff through a summer workshop to offer the courses. We are also available duringthe academic year as content consultants as well as visitors to present special topics to thecollege students. The process of curriculum development has resulted in challenges as well assuccesses. This paper will describe the overall IEED project and, specifically, the Overview ofEnergy Resources course, discuss the assessment of both the teachers and the studentsparticipating in the course, and will detail the challenges and successes of

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Curriculum Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Ruhala, University of Southern Indiana; Paul Kuban, University of Southern Indiana

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

needed. Page 14.74.5ENGR 471 then sets up Senior Design, a capstone course were a real engineering project with amechatronics emphasis will be sought. Fall Semester – 1st Year Spring Semester – 1st YearENGR 101 – Engineering Orientation ENGR 108 – Introduction to Design (2dh)ENGR 107 – Introduction to Engineering MATH 330 – Calculus IIMATH 230 – Calculus I PHYS 205 – Intermediate Physics ICHEM 261 – General Chemistry ENG 201 – Rhetoric & Composition IENG 101 - Rhetoric & Composition I PED 1XX

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Course Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Michalson, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Gregory Fischer, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Taskin Padir, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Gary Pollice, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

the crux of the problem. Students tend to learn facts in their, inthis case Physics, classes but, like the researchers referred to in the above quote, they don’tnecessarily learn how those facts are relevant to their chosen discipline. This phenomenon wasactually observed during an internal bi-annual review of the capstone design projects in theElectrical and Computer Engineering Department at WPI where it was observed that studentswere having a difficult time synthesizing designs.3 To correct this problem, a radically differentcourse in ECE Design was developed to teach the fundamentals of designing electrical systemsto students at the end of their sophomore year. With this course we were able to reach studentsimmediately after foundational

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Curriculum Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Ciaraldi, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Eben Cobb, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; David Cyganski, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Michael Demetriou; Greg Fischer; Michael Gennert, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Fred Looft, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; William Michalson, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Bradley Miller, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Taskin Padir, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Yiming Rong, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Kenneth Stafford, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Gretar Tryggvason, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; James Van de Ven, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

designs and the various technical topics are introduced as needed. Each ofthese courses includes elements of CS, ECE and ME. To add cohesion within courses, eachcourse in the unified sequence has its own focus, such as locomotion, sensing, manipulation, andnavigation. Students in the Robotics program also take other required and elective courses,selected from courses already offered by the various engineering departments. In addition, theprogram includes an entrepreneurship component to prepare future “entrepreneurial engineers.”6Like all majors at WPI, the program culminates in a capstone design experience wherein studentssynthesize their accumulated knowledge in a major project. The RBE program is designed sothat it can be accredited under the

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Course Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Rabb, United States Military Academy; Andrew Biaglow, United States Military Academy; David Chang, United States Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

science and 1.0 credit hour to engineering design. Thecourse builds upon the foundations from the basic engineering mechanics course in statics anddynamics, and the basic electrical engineering course covering electrical circuits andcomponents. The course provides the background, experience, and fundamental designknowledge to complete capstone design projects requiring dynamic modeling and controlexpertise. The course is multidisciplinary and is conducted as a joint offering with theDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Department of Civil andMechanical Engineering.The course provides an overview of classical control theory as the foundation for controlapplications in electrical, mechanical, chemical and aeronautical