Conference Session

Assessing the Efficacy of Nontraditional Programs

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charles Baukal, John Zink Institute; Wes Bussman, John Zink Institute

Tagged Divisions

Continuing Professional Development

AC 2009-308: INCORPORATING LEARNING STYLES INTO CONTINUINGENGINEERING EDUCATION: A PROCESS HEATER CASE STUDYCharles Baukal, John Zink InstituteWes Bussman, John Zink Institute Page 14.721.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Incorporating Learning Styles into Continuing Engineering Education: A Process Heater Case StudyAbstractLifelong learning is critical to an engineer’s success over the course of their career. Some topicsare too specialized to be covered in the typical engineering program and need to be learned aftergraduation. One specific example considered here is process heaters used in the hydrocarbonand chemical processing

Conference Session

Industry Collaborations in Engineering Technology

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jorge Alvarado, Texas A&M University; Michael Golla, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

to hire entry-levelengineers that have been exposed to their products or processes, but also have already shown a significantlevel of personal interest in the company’s field or area of expertise. Many companies seek for personnelwilling to make their careers in specific technical areas that could help sustain their long-term strategicgoals. Page 14.121.4Informal and formal discussions on how each party can be beneficial to each otherOnce each party has had the opportunity to get to know each other, and to identify each other’s needs,informal and formal discussions start taking place to elaborate a collaboration plan. Informal

Conference Session

Innovative Teaching Strategies in Engineering Graphics

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Bedward, North Carolina State University; Eric Wiebe, North Carolina State University; Lauren Madden, North Carolina State University; James Minogue, North Carolina State University; Mike Carter, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Design Graphics

(EiE), an NSF funded engineeringcurriculum project focused on integrating engineering, reading literacy and elementary sciencetopics2,3. Another engineering education initiative is Project Lead The Way (PLTW), whichpromotes technology education in the classroom for middle and high school students4. As well,the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) has provided guidelines for hands-on,standards-based, interdisciplinary engineering activities5, and the National Academy ofEngineering with their publication Technically Speaking encourages technological literacy6.These curriculum initiatives and publications promote engineering as a career choice. But thereare opportunities in elementary science education where engineering design and

Conference Session

Engineering Education in India, Central and Eastern Asia

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Creese, West Virginia University; M. Adithan, Vellore Institue of Technology

Tagged Divisions

International

Degree inEconomics in 1959 and was the first in his family to graduate from college. He then obtained anMA Degree in Economics from Loyola College in 1961 and a Bachelor of Law Degree in 1963from the University of Madras. He enjoyed his education and participated in debates in bothEnglish and Tamil throughout his college career. He is an eloquent speaker both in Tamil andEnglish, even now. He practiced law for three years, but he was very much interested in politics and waselected to parliament in 1967. He served for ten years and visited many countries as a Memberof Parliament. He later won an election to the state legislature for 1980-84 in Tamil Nadu andthis was when the goal of starting a university began. He worked with Prof. N

Conference Session

Design Cognition

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jonathan Evans, MIT; Konstantinos Katsikopoulos, Max Planck Institute for Human Development; Chad Foster, MIT

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

evaluating theperformance of alternative designs. This situation was created to favor the intuitivemethodology, and it was shown through student surveys that they were more accurate when inthe intuitive mode versus the analytic mode. On the other hand, there was a lack of consensusamong instructors about the performance difference when asked which mode would be moreeffective.Engineering curriculum should include aspects of intuition-based decisions and help studentsidentify situations where they are more effective rather than solely relying on analytical decision-making methods.BackgroundEngineers must make decisions repeatedly throughout their careers. They are confronted withmultiple design, material, or manufacturing alternatives and must decide

Conference Session

Engineering Education in Africa, Asia and the Mid-East Region

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bahawodin Baha, University of Brighton; Tim Katz, University of Brighton

Tagged Divisions

International

shown inappendix 1. The course description for these subjects in the curriculum does not exist andthe teaching material has been based on old notes that were translated from Russian tolocal languages, i.e. Pashto and Dari over thirty years ago. Furthermore, the curriculum isnot supported by any experimental work because of the lack of proper laboratory andequipment. This archaic curriculum is not compatible with the needs of the nation or thestudents’ career development. It has very limited or no balance between theoretical andexperimental knowledge and approaches, out of step with most universities across theworld, providing little context or practice into the learning. Furthermore, the level ofsome subjects in the curriculum may not be

Conference Session

Best Zone Paper Competition

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rashmi Jain, Stevens Institute of Technology; Keith Sheppard, Stevens Institute of Technology; Elisabeth McGrath, Stevens Institute of Technology; Bernard Gallois, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Council of Sections

numbers of students choosing STEM fields.Providing engineering experiences and curriculum components in middle and high schools is seen as ameans to engage students and excite them about the opportunities for an engineering career. Given thatsystems thinking and perspective are now seen as playing an important role in educating engineers for thefuture, it follows that coupling these concepts to the engineering elements of the pre-college program hasmerit. Stevens, through its Center for Innovation in Engineering & Science Education (CIESE), has beenvery active in promoting the introduction of engineering into K-12 curricula in the State of New Jersey aspart of a broader approach to increasing the STEM pipeline. As part of this pre-engineering

Conference Session

Measuring Success of Graduate Program Components

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lokesh Padhye, Georgia Institute of Technology; Gretchen Goldman, Georgia Institute of Technology; Nadia Szeinbaum, Georgia Institute of Technology; Scott Rogers, Georgia Institute of Technology; Recep Goktas, Georgia Institute of Technology; Zohre Kurt, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

from asking the participation of the entirefaculty in the seminar course, making the seminar topics more diverse and less detailed, toincluding discussion of current relevant topics in the field and inclusion of alumni talks in theseminar about their career experiences.B. Graduate Coursework. Survey questions 21 to 30 were formulated to address studentconcerns about graduate coursework in the program. Question 21 was aimed at determiningfactors motivating students’ decisions to register for courses. Relevance to the PhDcomprehensive examination and applicability to research and job prospects were the significantfactors influencing students to choose a particular class. Also the advisor’s recommendation andcore course requirements to obtain a

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics: Using Case Studies

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy Skvarenina, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

mystudents were surveyed after a 50 to 75 minute class, while the reported groups participated in asix-week program, involving a three-hour case study and three writing assignments.Finally, near the end of the semester, I gave a survey to get the students’ opinion of whether theoutcomes of the course had been accomplished. Answers were again on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1indicating strongly disagree and 5 indicating strongly agree. The response to the question, “Thematerial covered in the ethics case study discussion helped me to understand the ethicalresponsibilities of a career in engineering technology,” has yielded an average score over 4.0each semester, indicating the students did believe the class discussion was useful

Conference Session

Implementation of the Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge and Recent ABET Experiences

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ronald Welch, University of Texas, Tyler

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

fall completed and presented their course assessments to theentire faculty team. Table 2: UT Tyler Program Educational Objectives1. Graduates have the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to become engineeringleaders and assume responsibility for multidisciplinary engineering design; project,construction, and asset management; and ethical decision making in professional practice.2. Graduates continue to grow intellectually and professionally through participation inprofessional society activities, continuing engineering education, graduate studies, and/orself study during their professional career.3. Graduates have effective oral, written, and graphical communication skills.4. Graduates become registered engineers.The

Conference Session

Goal Specific First-Year Courses

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Lewis, University of Louisville; Jeffrey Hieb, University of Louisville; David Wheatley, University of Louisville

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

thatstudents understood critical thinking and its role in the practice of engineering. Subsequentinterviews with incoming engineering students found a limited understanding of critical thinking.In an effort to help students become better critical thinkers and appreciate the importance of itspractice throughout their education and careers, critical thinking and engineering reasoning arenow explicit parts of the engineering school’s recently introduced, ―Introduction to Engineering‖(ENGR 100) course.To maintain consistency with the University’s overall QEP, the Paul-Elder model of criticalthinking is used to define and operationalize critical thinking. Critical thinking is now both anexplicit and implicit component of the ―Introduction to Engineering

Conference Session

Innovations in Manufacturing Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Darrell Wallace, Youngstown State University

Tagged Divisions

Manufacturing

isspecifically designed to guide the hazard evaluation for a particular machine has been shown tobe effective, 1, 2 but the underlying problem of compliance seems to be a lack of adequateunderstanding of the applicable laws and standards. The apparent lack of understanding of thesesafety requirements seems to suggest a deficiency in relevant education and training.The role of the manufacturing engineer in machine safety practices is somewhat unclear. Mostmanufacturing engineers, from a variety of manufacturing backgrounds (manufacturing,mechanical, industrial, etc.), will have some direct interaction with manufacturing equipment intheir professional careers. In many cases, the manufacturing engineer is given some level ofresponsibility for the safe

Conference Session

Computer Education Innovations

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Claudia E. Vergara, Michigan State University; Mark Urban-Lurain, Michigan State University; Cindee Dresen, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce; Tammy Coxen, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce; Taryn MacFarlane, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce; Kysha Frazier, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce; Daina Briedis, Michigan State University; Neeraj Buch, Michigan State University; Louise Paquette, Lansing Community College; Jon Sticklen, Michigan State University; Jeannine LaPrad, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce; Thomas Wolff, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

and Residential Experience program at Michigan State University. He earned his M.S. degree in pavement Page 14.848.1 engineering in 1988 from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and his Ph.D. in pavement and materials engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, in 1995. Dr. Buch began his academic career at Michigan State University in 1996. Dr. Buch teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in concrete materials and pavement engineering. He is also involved in teaching© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 short courses on pavement design and

Conference Session

BME Laboratory Courses and Experiences

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy Allen, University of Virginia; Jeffrey Saucerman, University of Virginia; Jason Papin, University of Virginia; Shayn Peirce-Cottler, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

where you perform the following skills? In other words, which of the following skill sets would you prefer to use your future career? Page 14.462.15 a. Computer modeling b. Experimental analysis c. High-throughput data analysis d. Integrating heterogeneous datasets e. None of these Rank-order the skills that you would be most interesting in using in your future career. Fill in numbers 10-14 with one of the letters above, where 10 is your top preference, and 14 is your lowest preference.In the second round of the survey given January 2009, two questions were added: 15. How much does your

Conference Session

Early Engineering Design Experiences

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

M. Reza Emami, University of Toronto

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

following six questions:Q1: To what extent did you enjoy the learning experience?Q2: To what extent was the workload worth the learning outcome?Q3: To what extent do you think this course would be useful for your future career?Q4: To what extent did teamwork help you develop the design skills?Q5: Overall, how satisfied are you with the teaching/ learning process in this course?Q6: Do you think that you could obtain similar learning experience in one semester (instead of two semesters)?The ranking was based on a five-grade Likert ordinal scale [33], with the following codes:1: Not at all2: To a limited extent3: To a fair extent4: To a great extent5: To a very great extent Table 5. Students’ feedback Rank 1 2

Conference Session

High-School Engineering Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mitchell Nathan, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Kyle Oliver, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Amy Prevost, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Natalie Tran, California State University, Bakersfield; Allen Phelps, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

14.328.2Pre-Engineering as an Integrative CurriculumIn Rising Above the Gathering Storm, the National Research Council3 calls for educationalleaders to optimize the knowledge-based resources and energize the STEM career pipeline. Thereport repeatedly emphasizes the importance of science and math achievement as a precursor fortechnical advancement, and relates the poor international showing of US students in math andscience to the declining impact of the US in research, patent issuance and economic andtechnological standing.The primacy of math and science to engineering is a common view that can, in educationalsettings, at least, clash with the objectives of engineering. The Nobel laureate Herbert Simon4observed in the late 1960’s that “Engineering

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Georgios Anagnostopoulos, Florida Institute of Technology; Michael Georgiopoulos, University of Central Florida; Veton Kepuska, Florida Institute of Technology; Kenneth Stanley, University of Central Florida; Alison Morrison-Shetlar, University of Central Florida; Pat Lancey, University of Central Florida; Paula Krist, University of Central Florida; Tace Crouse, University of Central Florida

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

-lifeproblems, thus exposing participants to both theory and applications.As mentioned earlier, the AMALTHEA effort is funded and supported under the NSF’s REUprogram2 which states that it “…supports active research participation by undergraduatestudents in any of the areas of research funded by the National Science Foundation” andconstitutes one of the several NSF programs that aim to develop a diverse and globally-competitive workforce of future US engineers and scientists. Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL)3 aninformal alliance of faculty, focuses on building learning environments that attract and sustainundergraduate students to the study of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fieldsand motivate them to consider careers in related fields

Conference Session

Innovative Methods to Teach Engineering to URMs

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wei Zheng, Jackson State University; Gordon Skelton, Jackson State University; HuiRu Shih, Jackson State University; Evelyn Leggette, Jackson State University; Tzusheng Pei, Jackson State University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

Page 14.917.5teams; hands-on and integrative experience in the first year; and emphasis on social relevance,service learning, and collaboration16.For example, the Colorado School of Mines allows freshmen to discover important connectionsamong multi-disciplines, and to acquire a deeper appreciation of the importance of theirEngineering studies and their interrelation with upper-level courses, their careers and life. Itincludes extensive use of active and cooperative learning strategies for interdisciplinary topicsthrough student peer study group17. The evaluation of the program indicates that the interventionimprove students' academic performance. Interactions with faculty and peers were the mostpositive aspect of students' experience. Turf

Conference Session

Tree-huggers, Diggers, and Queers--Oh my!

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dean Nieusma, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education

interdisciplinary collaboration. The conceptualgrounding in interdisciplinarity not only makes sense theoretically; it also facilitates orienting theminor toward a variety of undergraduate major disciplines. Thus, in developing the minor,faculty participants agreed on the importance of connecting sustainability education withstudents’ disciplinary interests and career aspirations. And luckily, despite pedagogicalshortcomings with the electives approach to big-picture education for most engineering students,the curricular format makes it easy for engineering undergraduates to elect the sustainabilitystudies minor in STS within their existing curricular templates. H&SS electives are simplyreplaced with specific courses that meet the sustainability

Conference Session

Best Practices in K-12 Engineering Panel

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stacy Klein-Gardner; Michele Dischino; Manjit Khosla, HALS Academy; Patrick Foster, Central Connecticut State University; Carol Shields, Stevens Institute of Technology; Dan Fagan, Wallace Primary School; Martha Cyr, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; John Staley, Doherty Memorial High School

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

prepared toenter STEM careers. The introduction of engineering into the K-12 classroom, which may befacilitated by partnerships between universities and K-12 schools, is a promising means toaccomplish this goal. This abstract describes one such partnership between an eighth-grade science teacher at anurban middle school and faculty from the Technology and Engineering Education Department ofa neighboring university. Technology and Engineering Education, K-12, a program housed in theSchool of Engineering and Technology of the university partner, is a comprehensive pre-engineering undergraduate program that prepares students for teacher certification, grades K-12.Throughout the program, emphasis is placed on designing, developing and using

Conference Session

Special Session: 19 years of NETI-- A Tribute to Jim Stice

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Felder, North Carolina State University; Rebecca Brent, Education Designs Inc.

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

attended by 935 professors from 209 different schools (Appendix A).Information about the NETI can be found at . Topics covered in the NETI include designing instruction to address the full spectrum ofstudent learning styles; planning courses (including writing learning objectives covering allcognitive levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy); assessing and evaluating learning; effective lecturing;active learning; teaching problem-solving skills; time management; and dealing with a variety ofproblems that commonly arise in the careers of engineering educators. Cooperative learning andinductive teaching methods such as inquiry-based learning and problem-based learning areintroduced but minimal instruction in them is given. During the afternoon of the

Conference Session

Knowing Our Students, Faculty, and Profession

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kevin Anderson, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Sandra Courter, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Thomas McGlamery, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Traci Nathans-Kelly, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Christine Nicometo, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

where a school of engineering and aschool of business create a systemic partnership37. Faculty from both schools collaborated toidentify core business knowledge that engineering students should have. In this program abusiness faculty member began teaching a project management course for engineers, where theydeveloped a product and a business plan for it. The plan for this program is to develop Page 14.1297.14“graduates who can see the big picture and integrate solid technical skill and real businessunderstanding early in their professional careers” 38. In addition to real-world business skills, engineers also need more real-world

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Trey Shirley, Clemson University; John Wagner, Clemson University; Randy Collins, Clemson University; Anand Gramopadhye, Clemson University

better prepare studentsfor successful careers in the workplace. As shown in Figure 2, some of these topics include teambuilding, collaborative learning, leadership, communication skills, project management,procurement, and ethics. The first lecture cluster focuses on team dynamics such as teambuilding activities, project management, proper communication techniques, and leadership. Next,students learn how to properly procure materials and equipment, and review general ethics.Finally, the classroom introduction of professional skills can be practiced and utilized in theteam-based laboratory experiments and projects.To reinforce the learning concepts, periodic multi-week homework assignments have beenassigned for completion by student teams

Conference Session

The Ever-Changing Course

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gretchen Hein, Michigan Technological University; Jean Kampe, Michigan Technological University; Amber Kemppainen, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

-yearengineering program. Within this program, entering students learn basic engineering andtechnical skills that are applicable to their engineering and professional careers. Through thecompletion of the first-year engineering courses, students gain, develop, and improve their skillsin:• Teamwork• Written and oral technical communication (memos, reports, technical posters, technical Page 14.852.2 presentations, etc.)• Problem solving• Engineering design• Engineering modeling (numerical, graphical, 3-D)• Engineering analysis (data collection, analysis, description)• Computer software• Interpersonal communication with respect to teammates

Conference Session

ERM Potpourri

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bruce Murray, State University of New York, Binghamton; Roy McGrann, State University of New York, Binghamton

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

AC 2009-902: IMPROVING AN ABET COURSE ASSESSMENT PROCESS THATINVOLVES MARKER PROBLEMS AND PROJECTSBruce Murray, State University of New York, Binghamton Bruce T. Murray is a professor of mechanical engineering at the State University of New York at Binghamton and is the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the ME Department. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in ME from Rutgers University in 1978 and 1980, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in ME from the University of Arizona in 1986. Earlier in his career he was a Member of Technical Staff at Bell Laboratories where he was involved in system thermal management and reliability. He also was a research engineer at the National Institute of

Conference Session

Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tony Jones, United States Army; Daisie Boettner, United States Military Academy; Anna Lambert, University of Memphis; Brian Novoselich, United States Military Academy; Stephanie Ivey

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

the experience but it was tempered with some regret thatmight have been avoided with additional faculty intervention.The engineering design processes used by engineering students in problem solving situations canbe a source of professional development and an introduction to a career as a practicing engineer.At the same time it also can be an extremely frustrating experience that can leave a graduatingstudent with a poor impression of problem solving. In this study, the framework’s design ofdual-categorization made it possible to examine problem solving processes at individual andgroup levels, and to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses that occurred consistently atspecific points in the problem solving process. Such information also

Conference Session

Technology Integration in the Classroom

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ann Goebel, Minnesota State University, Mankato; Harry Petersen, Minnesota State University, Mankato; William Peterson, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Tagged Divisions

Manufacturing

locations ≠ the attraction of industry to capture “hit the ground running” students ready to move seamlessly into career positions based on more rigorous internship exposure30% of this award was to also develop online customized training to meet the growing needs ofLean curriculum demand for the incumbent workforce. While only 12% of the funds wouldeventually be expended to the incumbent workforce e-curriculum, the remainder was directed tosupport related online infrastructure with the system’s approval. This paper attempts to deal withthe credit based experience only. The grant formative life was 18 months for the conversion of15 credits or 79% of the senior year face-to-face course work and 11 credits of graduate 500level coursework

Conference Session

Attitudes, Self-Confidence, and Self-Efficacy of Women Engineering Students

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carmen Villa, Texas A&M University; Carolyn Clark, Texas A&M University; Jennifer Sandlin, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

. Grant, H., & Dweck, C. S. (2003). Clarifying achievement goals and their impact. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 541-553.15. Dweck, C.S. (2006). Is math a gift? Beliefs that put females at risk. In S. J. Ceci & W. Williams (Eds.), Are sex differences in cognition responsible for the underrepresentation of women in scientific careers? (pp. 47- 55). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.16. Tinto, V. (2005). College student retention: Formula for student success. . In A. Seidman (Ed.), College Student Retention. Formula for student success (pp. ix-x). American Council on Education CT: Praeger.17. Lincoln, Y. S., Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park, CA:Sage.18

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

Introduction to Materials Courses

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jonathan Stolk, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Materials

-creativitylinkages do not suggest that provision of autonomy necessarily results in creative output amongundergraduate students, the research may indicate that if engineering students are allowedincreased autonomy and supported in self-directed efforts, creative expression will follow.Autonomy and Creativity in Engineering ProgramsThe Importance of EnvironmentGiven the correlation between personal autonomy and creativity, should engineering educatorssimply run out and find the most autonomy-oriented individuals, and attempt to convince them topursue a glorious career in engineering? Perhaps. Engineering faculty could work with collegeadmission teams to devise strategies to target students who have creative traits or experience increative processes