Conference Session

Embedded System Design

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Weber, Lake Superior State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

business majors as part of the teams if possible and/or consult other students/faculty withbackgrounds in environmental and social issues. The effects of such inclusions could then also beanalyzed.6. SummaryHelping students understand broader, non-technical issues, providing opportunities for them todevelop “soft” skills such as researching and presenting information, and facilitating makingconnections between class information and current technology are crucial to student success.This paper has described marketing-based presentations that are designed to do just that. Studentperceptions of the presentations were also summarized in terms of levels of agreement and classconsensus. Based on these results, for the given courses the presentations did

Conference Session

Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brian Vuksanovich, Youngstown State University; Darrell Wallace, Youngstown State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

-produce the worldduring WWII. Innovation put us on the moon and fueled the computer and internet boom of the1990’s. Studies going back as far as 1959 have identified engineering creativity as a vitalcontributor to industry competitiveness and the national welfare. 1 A preponderance of literaturepublished in the past five years points to a lack of soft skills, including creative innovation, asfactors in declining global competitiveness. 2,3,4,5 At the root of this problem is a deeplyentrenched educational paradigm that does not encourage creative thinkers.This innovation was possible because there were people that not only understood engineeringprinciples; they also knew how to apply them in ways that satisfied a human need. Theseengineers were

Conference Session

Preparing Engineers for the Global Workplace and Successful Graduates for a Flat World: What Does It Take?

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lueny Morell, Hewlett-Packard; Martina Trucco, Hewlett-Packard; Rich Friedrich, Hewlett Packard

Tagged Divisions

International

required to develop a comprehensive work plan and training program for each of the research fellows under their guidance. Work plans must address the research goals and expected outcomes of the proposed research, and address how the research fellows will be provided with on-the-job hard and soft skills training to be prepared for the shifting industry mix in science and innovation. Semi-annual progress reports will be required of both the research fellow and the corporate mentors. Mentor reports are to be submitted to ASEE and should include a report on the interactions with the research fellows, address their assessment of the progress of the research plan, list the publications and presentations in process, and address how they

Conference Session

Teaching Mechanical Systems: What's New

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ashok Kumar Manoharan, Auburn University; P.K. Raju, Auburn University; Chetan Sankar, Auburn University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

thestudents involved obtained a thorough understanding of the engineering concepts and alsoimproved their soft skills, including team working, communication, and ethical and problemsolving skills. In-depth information about the evaluation results, course map and instructionalstrategy are provided in this paper.IntroductionEngineering curricula have experimented with multiple methodologies that expose students toreal-world problems. There are also deep concerns about American internationalcompetitiveness, amid indications that the U.S. is doing a relatively poor job at retaining andtraining students in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines14.Too many talented students get the impression from introductory courses that

Conference Session

College-Industry Partnerships: Bringing Industry into the Curriculum Development and Design Cycle

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J. Shelley, United States Air Force; Kenneth Santarelli, Cal State Fresno

Tagged Divisions

College-Industry Partnerships

leadership may be particularlyeffective because of it conscious and deliberate application of “soft skills”. The effects ofthis observation will unfold during the course of this case study. Another observation of the coalition pyramid is that it is bereft of large private donors.The pyramid is led and motivated by people with a vested interest in local engineeringeducation who lack the fiduciary flexibility of private parties. It was observed in referencefour that local philanthropists suffer from donor fatigue. The need, and ability of theimplementers, to attract private donors will be captured as part of the case study. Evidence of the influence of the grass-roots partners in the local educational communityis noticeable. The high school

Conference Session

College-Industry Partnerships: Bringing Industry into the Curriculum Development and Design Cycle

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Osman Cekic, Purdue University; Monica Cox, Purdue University; Jiabin Zhu, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

College-Industry Partnerships

groups, the industry that employs individualswith a college degree has also brought many criticisms and claimed that the higher educationenterprise is not educating the engineers they need. Among those were the reports from ABET3,the National Academy of Engineering4 and the National Research Council 5. These reports alsocriticized higher education institutions for their lack of success in instilling leadership abilitiesalong with other skills needed within recent engineering graduates. Some of these concerns fromthe industry focused on “soft skills”, what was called earlier, or “professional skills” ofengineers. Among the professional skills one of the most studied attribute or skill is theengineers’ leadership abilities.Although there has been

Conference Session

Capstone Design Pedagogy I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew Trivett, University of Prince Edward Island

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

result of this, many authors have argued for moreteaching of the “soft skills” in engineering. Studies like this continue to fuel the see-sawbetween highly “scientific” engineering education and highly “social”. Ultimately, theargument comes down to the question of which side of the balance is sacrificed in favour of theother.The “structural” design of most engineering programs in Canada is, in accordance with theCanadian Engineering Accreditation Board guidelines 2, based on separate distinct courses. Eachcourse in a student’s degree program has a weight in “academic units” (AU’s) which roughlycorrespond to faculty contact hours for each course per week semester. Comparing thisaccreditation standard with current educational literature, there is

Conference Session

Online and Web-based Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bridget Smyser, Northeastern University; David DiBiasio, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

face-to-face courses.IntroductionChemical Materials Science is typically taught as a 4 lecture per week course. Studentperformance is evaluated via weekly homework and 2-3 exams per quarter. Past offerings of thisand other similar materials science courses have included features such as lab experiments andopen ended materials selection projects done in groups. These group projects typically involvedwritten and/or oral reports in order to improve soft skills and allow promotive interactionbetween the students. Collaborative learning has been a key feature of many courses at our Page 15.321.2university, and has been used extensively in other

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Engineering Technology Courses

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rocio Alba-Flores, Georgia Southern University; Youakim Al Kalaani, Georgia Southern University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

of AC vector analysis, transientresponse, and resonant RLC circuits were expanded to allow students to grasp a betterunderstanding of these concepts. However, major changes were made to the laboratorycomponent of this course for which a lab manual was developed with a completely new set ofexperimentations dealing with renewable energy and instrumentation.Since this course is used in the assessment process for ABET accreditation, the learningoutcomes were also expanded to include soft skills such as commitment to quality, timeless, andcontinuous improvement. These new learning objectives and summary of topics are listed inTable 1 and Table 2 respectively

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Palmer, Louisiana Tech University; Hisham Hegab, Louisiana Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

. describes a course to teach softskills applicable to all students but little training on tackling open-ended problems. Rogge andLivesay presents a course to prepare biomedical engineering students using mini-design projects,however no details of the projects are given in the paper. Csavina and Seeney discuss a productdesign course for biomedical engineering students to prepare of open ended constraints bydesigning a Home Lift Position and Rehabilitation chair. Co et. al. write about a pre-capstonecourse for electrical engineers where teams work on various subsystems of an overall electricaldevice. A number of team and soft skills were also reinforced in the course to provide bettermanagement and integration of efforts. The course described in this

Conference Session

Teams and Teamwork in Design

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wael Mokhtar, Grand Valley State University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

environment to develop soft skills needed for engineers. Theyare distributed throughout the two semesters to give the students a line of guidance. Page 15.259.7Two examples of capstone projects will be discussed in the following sections. The methodexplained above is applied to them with some changes based on the nature of the project.Project 1: Mini Baja vehicleThe Society of Mechanical Engineering (SAE) organizes a design competition for off- roadvehicles each year (Mini Baja). Each team is given the same engine, a set of rules for generalvehicle dimensions, and a list of minimum safety requirements. The technical challenge is todesign and build a

Conference Session

Design in BME Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Goldberg, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Robert Dennis, University of North Carolina; Charles Finley, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

at Chapel Hill, we have a small but growing program in Page 15.765.2Biomedical Engineering (graduating 32 students in May 2010). When the faculty first developedthe curriculum, we incorporated a typical two-semester senior design course. However, we soonrealized that the students were entering senior design without the skills needed to be productivein that experience. As a result, we decided to enhance the design component of the curriculum.The design process involves many components, including identifying the need; proposingsolutions; developing prototypes; testing and evaluating prototypes; and building a finisheddevice.10 Other “soft

Conference Session

Preparing Engineers for the Global Workplace and Successful Graduates for a Flat World: What Does It Take?

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sarah Zappe, Pennsylvania State University; Thomas Litzinger, Pennsylvania State University; Hien Nguyen, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

International

, learning communities, online discussions, instructional design for online learning, and innovative technology for learning. She can be reached at htn126@psu.edu. Page 15.169.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 An Investigation of First Year Students’ Perceptions of Global AwarenessAbstractMost engineering educators recognize the importance of emphasizing the so-called “soft-skills”in the undergraduate curriculum in order for graduates to be competitive in the global workforce.Of increasing interest for many engineering programs is engaging students in

Conference Session

Capstone and Senior Design in Engineering Technology: Part II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Leonard, Rochester Institute of Technology; Robert Merrill, Roch Inst of Tech; Elizabeth Dell, Rochester Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

experienceCurrently, there are a series of core courses in which our integrating experience has beenimplemented with enough detail as to ascertain a reasonable experience as to the effectiveness ofthis new ‘backbone’ process.Benefits: 1. Can cover more and have more face time with instructor. Capstones are usually 20 weeks with minimal student/ instructor time and a great deal of independent/group time. 2. Exposure to several instructors through several courses. 3. Allows greater detail of topics such as the student being responsible for independently designing an experiment, statistically validating the results and presenting their findings. 4. Integrates not only the technology of the courses but also greatly enhances the soft skills. 5. Gives

Conference Session

Engineering Technology Progress Reports: Part I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kenneth Stier, Illinois State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

program outcomes. This provides the possibility of gettingdisciplinary norms on the group summary report that is provided for each course. The secondassessment instrument under consideration for addressing the sustainability issue was a Page 15.1280.12questionnaire survey given to the graduating seniors in the capstone course. Additionalquestions with regard to the soft skills or professional outcomes could be added to this surveywithout increasing the work involved in the data collection process.Summary and lessons learnedThis paper overviews how Engineering Technology faculty at a university in the Midwest (calledMU in the paper) transitioned

Conference Session

Importance of Technical & Professional Writing in Engineering Technology Curriculum

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peilin Fu, National University; Shekar Viswanathan, National University, San Diego; Ronald Uhlig, National University, San Diego; Howard Evans, National University, San Diego

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

Graduates,” IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 43.2 (June 2000), 137-1524. http://abet.org/Linked%20Documents-UPDATE/Criteria%20and%20PP/E001%2010- 11%20EAC%20Criteria%2011-03-09.pdf5. Silyn-Roberts, H. “Using Engineers’ Characteristics to Improve Report Writing Instruction,” Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, vol. 124, no. 1, January 1998, pp 12-166. Tharp, H.S. “Improving Writing Skills through an Upper-Division Course,” 28th Annual Frontiers in Education Conference, 1998. FIE '98, Nov 19987. Sinha, B. private communication8. Platt, J.R. “Eight Unusual Ways to Improve Your Soft Skills,” http://www.todaysengineer.org/2008/Aug/soft_skills.asp9. Fenton, N. “Improving Your technical

Conference Session

SE Curriculum and Projects

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kevin Gary, Arizona State University; Harry Koehnemann, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Software Engineering Constituent Committee

implementation is given in [8][9].Figure 1. The Software Enterprise pedagogical modelEnterprise projects use an iterative SDLC model. Originally the Rational Unified Process (RUP[12]) was employed at the team level with elements of the PSP [11] at an individual level.However in the last two years teams have been asked to use the agile Scrum methodology [14].Local industry participates in the Enterprise by sponsoring projects and serving as customers.Projects are team-oriented, ongoing and use an iterative process to deliver code every threeweeks to customers in “sprints.” Teams must cope not only with technical issues but also withsocial or soft-skill issues including changing requirements, changing business models, changes inteam membership, and

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kuntinee Maneeratana, Chulalongkorn University; Angkee Sripakagorn, Chulalongkorn University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

course (no. 43), an obviousindicator of the importance of the communication and other soft skills that should be looked at. Page 15.825.12 Correlation with Graduate/Current GPA 1.00 Semester 3 4 5 6 7 8 0.75 Plot 8 2002 0.50

Conference Session

Research on the First Year I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chirag Variawa, University of Toronto; Susan McCahan, University of Toronto

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

importance ofengineering competencies is subconsciously influenced by gendered assumptions. Engineeringcompetencies that are perceived as “feminine” are regarded as soft skills that are less valued. Asa mitigation strategy, they and others 35,36 suggest emphasizing the value and importance of awide variety of competencies in engineering, and being careful not to reinforce stereotypes. Tobe effective, they contend improvement strategies should be structural rather than individualistic.In general, the literature on gender issues in engineering education shows that the currentpopulation of women in STEM education is low relative to the general population and theinclusion of feminine identity plays a key role in the formation of an inclusive

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ashley Clayson, Laboratory for Innovative Technology and Engineering Education; P K Raju, Auburn University; Chetan Sankar, Auburn University

learning skills into the learning experience14. Active, integrative project-based learning is needed to replace the passive lecture-based instruction that is so common in ourclassrooms 9, 19, 7, 15. Engineering students are increasingly being asked by potential employers todemonstrate “soft” skills (such as problem solving, communication, and teamwork skills) inaddition to their “hard” technical skills. Reflecting these expectations, the Accreditation Boardfor Engineering Education adopted new accreditation criteria, which identify in Criterion 3 (a)through (k), eleven outcomes expected of engineering graduates1.Faculty and administrators across the nation have come to reassess the values of variousinstructional methods, seeking the best ways to

Conference Session

The New ABET CE Criteria - Program Development

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ronald Welch, University of Texas, Tyler

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

critical“soft” skills called for by ASCE. CENG 4341 Multi-Year Assessment College/Inst. Level Scale (1-5) 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4.0 4.2 4.4 4.6 4.8 5.0 A1. Instructor encouraged being responsible for learning. A2. Instructor used effective techniques A3. Instructor cared about my learning. A4. Instructor demonstrated respect. A5. Students contributed to my learning. A6. Motivation to learn has increased. A7. Instructor stimulated my thinking

Conference Session

Effective Methods for Recruiting Women to Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sara Atwood, University of California, Berkeley; Eli Patten, University of California at Berkeley; Lisa Pruitt, University of California, Berkeley

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

in primary and secondary grades toward science, they founda common more positive attitude towards life sciences explained by the girls as a common desireto care for people and animals.It has also been suggested that women’s choice to enter a particular field of engineering is relatedto their perceived strengths in certain areas,16 such as communication and interpersonal skills.Women in engineering often report lower confidence in science and math skills than men despitehigher or equivalent grades,8,16 or women’s confidence and performance decrease throughout anengineering program18. However, women are often perceived to have better communication andinterpersonal skills, but these so-called “soft skills” are not as emphasized in

Conference Session

Aerospace Technical Session

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kenneth Van Treuren, Baylor University; Daniel Kirk, Florida Institute of Technology; Tein-min Tan, Drexel University; Sridhar Santhanam, Villanova University

Tagged Divisions

Aerospace

employees to develop asense of personal satisfaction for a job well done without receiving any recognition or praise.New Employees are generally pleased with their career path but to be fully satisfied, their jobmust be challenging. Programs such as Learning Together, REACH, ONE, and Mentorships areavailable for the new employees; however, people are often unaware of these opportunities.New employees perceive the following skills are important in their jobs: • Technical Skills – Strong Technical Skills – Analysis Skills • Soft Skills – Creative Mindset – Strong Work Ethic – Clear Communication Skills – Critical Thinking – Team work – PatienceCareer DevelopmentManagers have a desire

Conference Session

Technological Literacy and the Educated Person

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

R. William Graff, LeTourneau University; Paul Leiffer, LeTouneau University; Martin Batts, Le Tourneau University; Maria J. Leiffer, LeTouneau University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

engineering education in order to make a “whole person” of the graduate.Engineering faculty largely agree that engineering students (and faculty) can learn agreat deal from liberal arts faculty and their publications, particularly in the valuablearea of “soft skills.” Through our interactions on campus and the ABET 2000 Criteriawe have certainly seen that engineers benefit from interaction with arts/humanitiesfaculty and the materials they develop. Examples include dealing with team membersand clients, interpersonal communications, understanding one’s abilities and growthareas, communicating concepts to a wide audience, understanding ethical theories,wrestling with ambiguity in those situations which are not clearly black and white, andunderstanding

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Engineering Technology Courses

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Cottrell, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

criteria for engineering technology1 into a junior-level seminar course. Withenrollment open to electrical, mechanical, and civil engineering technology as well asconstruction management students, this course provides a unique, multi-disciplined atmosphereto address the many aspects of engineering “soft” skills both as a student and as a futurepracticing engineer. In particular, this paper will discuss innovative, strategic teaching initiativesfor assessment and evaluation of specific Program Outcomes noted under TC2K Criterion 3 andrecognized throughout the engineering community as essential skills that allow engineers toeffectively function and grow as members of the society that they serve. These outcomes arenoted below lettered appropriately

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cheryl West, UMass Lowell; John Duffy, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Manuel Heredia, University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Linda Barrington, University of Massachusetts Lowell

from our mixed method approach of student surveys, interviews, andfocus groups. Comparison of survey, interview, and focus group findings indicate primarily thefollowing themes with major outcomes associated with S-L experiences, students reported thatthey: • agree in principle with combining academic subject matter with service • are more motivated to learn subject matter and work harder with S-L • achieve more research/ information gathering and learning more with S-L • experience a preference for and gains in soft skills while working as S-L teams • are more engaged with learning due to S-L • like the benefits of a mix of required to optional S-L experiencesAdditional findings emerging from qualitative interview and

Conference Session

Case Studies, Engineering Education and Outcome Assessment Around the Globe

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dan Baker, The University of Vermont; John Merrill, The Ohio State University; David Munoz, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

International

summarizes the experience of three university service-learning programsengaging in community development in rural and peri-urban Honduras from differentdisciplinary starting points and who have shared information along the way. The program at theUniversity of Vermont started as a series of community development and added engineeringcomponents and expertise over time. The Ohio State University and Colorado School of Minesbegan their respective work through the College of Engineering and encountered challengesrequiring the “soft-skills” of community development disciplines. The latter developed a minorcalled humanitarian engineering to help prepare interested students for the practicum to follow.Over time the programs have sought to learn from each

Conference Session

Normative Commitments and Public Engagement in Engineering

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gary Downey, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education