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

were significantly more committed about attendingthe graduate program at the end of the REU program compared to the beginning of the program.However they reported statistically no significant change in students’ career plan and interest inbecoming research scientist. The objective of the NSF REU Site “Micro/nano Assembly Workcell via Micro Visual Page 14.1195.2Sensing” is to provide hands-on training in micro-manufacturing research to a total of 20 studentparticipants over a two-year period from June, 2008 to August, 2009. This is a part of an on-going research effort to develop prototypes of a micro assembly system that can

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Design Constituents

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Phillip Wankat, Purdue University; Kamyar Haghighi, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

premedicalengineering or prelaw engineering. The non-ABET accredited program was a good fit for thesestudents. The other group of students was interested in pursuing an engineering career inprograms such as acoustical engineering, biomedical engineering, and engineering management.Graduates who followed careers that did not require them to become registered professionalengineers had few complaints about their educational preparation. On the other hand, graduateswho wanted to become professional engineers often had considerable difficulty in being allowedto take the professional engineering examination because they had not graduated from an ABET Page

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

Loutfallah Georges Chedid received the B.S. degree in electronics engineering technology from Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT), Boston, MA, the M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Tufts University, Medford, MA, the Master’s degree in education from Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, and the Ph.D. degree in manufacturing engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Worcester, MA. He is on the faculty of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering of WIT, and he has taught in the interdisciplinary electromechanical engineering program for the last twelve years. He has more than 20 years of combined teaching and industry experience. During his teaching career, he

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

employees with deep exposure in their chosen discipline but also broadexposure to related disciplines. Industry requires scientists and engineers who are specialists intheir fields, who know enough about another field to apply their knowledge and can work as partof a team of people from multiple disciplines. Students in the certificate program will learninvaluable skills with the multidisciplinary teamwork and the application of their conceptualcontent knowledge to various tasks even if their career path does not include robotics. Althoughsome technical degrees and graduate programs in robotics engineering exist, there are very fewcross disciplinary programs at the undergraduate level. The U.S. Department of Labor hasidentified several key growth

Conference Session

Sustainability and Environmental Issues

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Belle Wei, San Jose State University; Patricia Backer, San Jose State University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

pressing humanproblems, and fosters students’ moral commitment to use their education in a way that benefitsnot only themselves, but also the society and the world.Besides exemplifying the college’s vision, the field of green and sustainability engineeringpromises career opportunities for engineering graduates. For instance, the three largest cities inthe San Francisco-San Jose Metropolitan area have recently established the Climate ChangeCompact1. The compact has ten goals that include reducing the gasoline usage by 3% from 2008 Page 14.1277.2to 2013 as well as increasing the number of electric cars. Another goal is to place 20,000 newgraduates in

Conference Session

Sustainability and Environmental Issues

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Catherine Skokan, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

for careers in the energy industry and/orbuild expertise in managing and developing energy and mineral resources that would beavailable to their respective tribes. The developed curriculum is to be presented to faculty atTribal Colleges, Colorado School of Mines faculty will be available to team-teach some portionsof the curriculum, and Colorado School of Mines faculty will serve as a source of technicalexpertise for the Tribal Colleges. The Navajo Technical College in Crownpoint, New Mexico,and the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, North Dakota, were chosen by IEED asthe prototype testing locations.United Tribes Technical CollegeLocated in Bismarck, North Dakota, United Tribes Technical College4 serves to provide a two-year

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

started the project was to test if thecourses offered were preparing students adequately for their future career in industry.Interestingly enough, because of the fact that students often ended up addressing some of theproject’s challenges before taking the relevant course, when asked whether they felt their coursework prepared them adequately for the project they participated in, students suggested that it wasthe other way around. They saw participating in the project instrumental for them to succeed intheir course work, because it kept them more motivated and interested than they usually wouldhave been. Finally, by closely monitoring the unfolding of the project we noticed that we had nosystematic approach for addressing multidisciplinarity and

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

Page 14.1034.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Robotics Engineering: A New Discipline for a New CenturyAbstractIn the spring of 2007, Worcester Polytechnic Institute introduced a BS degree program inRobotics Engineering. The motivation for the program was two-fold: it addresses the needs ofthe rapidly growing robotics industry and provides a professional career path matched togrowing student interest as demonstrated by numerous high school robotics competitions. Theprogram is a collaborative effort between the departments of Computer Science, Electrical andComputer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering and relies in part on already existingcourses. The core curriculum, however, consists of five new “unified

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

particular attack on a problem) (1 = not willing, 4 = very willing).13. Rate your willingness to change as change is required (1 = not willing, 4 = very willing).14. Rate you willingness and ability to work laterally (switching your thinking from one way or one direction to another) in contrast with vertical work (always driving forward to finish a project without deviation) (1 = not willing, 4 = very willing).15. Rate how well you believe you can form association between distinctly different objects, careers, etc. (1 = not at all, 4 = above average).16. Rate how adept you are at putting judgment on hold (1 = not willing, 4 = very willing).17. Rate how well you incorporate innovative ideas into action (1 = not at all, 4 = above average

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Josef Rojter, Victoria University of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

, Washington, DC: American Society for Engineering.[13]. Grinter, S. (1955), (chair), “Final Report of the Committee on Evaluation of Engineering Education”, Journal of Engineering Education, 46 p.25-60.[14]. Ashby, E.[1966], Technology and the Academics- An essay on Universities and the Scientific Revolution, London: Macmillan.[15]. Guthrie, B.(1994), The Higher Education Experience Survey : An Examination of the Higher Education Experience of 1982, 1987 and 1992, Canberra: Graduate Careers Council of Australia.[16]. Yorke, M. (1999). “ The skills of graduates: a small enterprise perspective” . in O’Reilly, D., Cunningham, L., & Lester, S. (eds). Developing the Capable Practitioner, pp.174-183, London: Kogan Page..[17]. Harvey

Conference Session

Sustainability and Environmental Issues

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bradley Striebig, James Madison University; Susan Norwood, Gonzaga University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

components of the course, but this is no surprise considering the applied nature of theparticipants’ majors. The most valuable evaluation input, however, came from narrativecomments to open-ended questions on the survey tool and from excerpts from student journals.These comments confirm that the experience is life-changing:“I have gained perspective into my major.”“I was pushed outside of my comfort zone and had to learn to solve problems and think aboutthings differently.”“Paradigm shift – we are all one world.”“[The most meaningful part was] taking information and using it to improve lives.”“I learned about myself and new career paths.”“I need/want to go back in the Peace Corps.”To date, evaluation of other dimensions of the WATER program has been