Collection

2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

the integration of engineering design education into any engineering class without loss of a significant amount of class time. This makes the application of these projects feasible, even in engineering science classes where course schedules leave little time for design education [3].Furthermore, this works represents one of the first efforts to systematically assess the value ofimpromptu design as a vehicle for engineering design education.The rationale for including impromptu design projects in multiple courses is grounded inBruner’s theory of a spiral curriculum. Reference [13] provides a helpful definition of spiralcurriculum as, “an iterative revisiting of topics, subjects or themes throughout the course

Collection

2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Andrea L. Welker; Leslie McCarthy; John Komlos; Alfred Fry

Engineering department and to quantify the extent to which the studentsattain these skills, information literacy modules were introduced into the civil and environmentalengineering curriculum at Villanova University. These modules, which were first introduced in2005 and are integrated throughout the curriculum, were developed by faculty in the Civil andEnvironmental Engineering Department with librarians from Falvey Library at VillanovaUniversity. Prior research has shown that information literacy instruction is most successfulwhen it is associated with an assignment within a course as opposed to a stand-alone subject.Since the initial development of these modules, there have been several changes to thecurriculum and the faculty teaching the courses

Collection

2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Keith M. Gardiner

catalog entrymade available alternate spring semesters to remote, and on campus graduate students in theManufacturing Systems Engineering MS Program and other programs in engineering andbusiness. Examples of student projects, course philosophy and management strategies aredescribed.IntroductionThere is an increasing focus on conservation. Looking in the rear view mirror we may posit thatthe Industrial Revolution left us with many ills, brown fields together with social and workforcedeprivations. Now “Green” is coming to the fore accompanied by “Sustainability.” Are ideas ofthis nature germane for consideration in an engineering curriculum, or are they obsolescent butfashionable passing fads?In fact, a review of economics history reveals many

Collection

2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Ani Ural; Joseph Yost

common in engineering practice, therefore, the integration of finite element modeling as acomplementary tool to various courses throughout the engineering curriculum is expected toenhance the students' understanding of mechanical concepts as well as increase their familiaritywith computational modeling. Being exposed to an integrated approach such as in this project isexpected to provide the students with a broader perspective in solving engineering problems, tofacilitate their critical thinking, and to improve their development as engineers. In this paper, we will focus on the components of the freshman project, Analytical andExperimental Evaluation of a SMARTBEAM, that are related to understanding of themechanical behavior of structures

Collection

2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Donald D. Joye

A LIFELONG LEARNING EXERCISE (ABET REQUIRED) IN AN UNDERGRADUATE FLUIDS COURSE by Donald D. Joye Professor, Chemical Engineering Villanova UniversityAbstract Students were asked to investigate pump designs that would accommodate the pumpingof maraschino cherries from a tank into the container in which they would be sold. This is acomplex mixture of low viscosity liquid and large, soft solids whose integrity must bemaintained. The only pumps students knew about at the time were centrifugal and positivedisplacement (piston/gear) pumps typically used in the

Collection

2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Edward F. Glynn; Frank E. Falcone

Professional Practices in Engineering, An Introduction for Second Year Civil Engineering Students Edward F. Glynn and Frank E. Falcone Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Villanova Universityrecently introduced a new required course, Civil Engineering Fundamentals, inthe fall semester of the sophomore year of its civil engineering curriculum. Oneof the primary objectives in the course is to introduce students to the professionalpractice of civil engineering. This paper focuses on the professional practicescomponent of the course. In particular, the paper

Collection

2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Frank T. Fisher; Hong Man

other academic settings is envisioned. The goals of this effort include: 1) invigoratingthe first year engineering curriculum with dynamic and engaging real-world examples of cuttingedge research in the area of nanotechnology; 2) introducing undergraduates at the earliest stagesto the enthusiasm, creativity, and excitement of the academic research environment; and 3)developing a methodology and mechanism with which faculty can utilize multimedia technologyto further integrate their research and teaching efforts. The modules under development will formthe basis of a sustainable and scalable library of materials documenting undergraduatenanotechnology research and readily available to all students. It is hoped that exposure toacademic research at

Collection

2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Shawn P. Gross; David W. Dinehart; Aleksandra Radlinska; Joseph Robert Yost

associated with the use of overarching problems are discussed,and initial assessment results are described. Fall 2010 Mid-Atlantic ASEE Conference, October 15-16, 2010, Villanova UniversityIntroduction: curriculum restructuringAfter two years of intense committee work, discussion, and course development, the Departmentof Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Villanova University began offering itsrequired mechanics sequence in a new integrated format to sophomores beginning with the Fall2009 semester. As shown in Table 1, the classical sequence of coursework in subjects of Statics,Dynamics, Mechanics of Solids, Fluid Mechanics, and Civil Engineering Materials was replacedwith a series of three four credit courses. An overview of

Collection

2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Amit Bandyopadhyay

, their preferred methodof research most frequently has been that of naturalistic observation or some other formFall 2010 Mid-Atlantic ASEE Conference, October 15-16, 2010, Villanova Universityof observation in a more controlled or contrived situation. There is some suggestion thatthe behavioristic or neobehavioristic theories may provide some interesting facets ofintegration in new theories along with the information-processing conception which hasbecome more and more popular in recent years. On the other hand, we could defineinstructional theory as an integrated set of principles which prescribe guidelines forarranging conditions to achieve educational objectives. It is assumed that these principleswill be applicable to educational situations

Collection

2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Dennis Silage

communications seems to be alaggard. An undergraduate curriculum in digital communications has been developed thatcouples the traditional analytical approach with the simulation of the system for further design,analysis, insight and motivation.Bit by Bit CommunicationDigital communication systems convey information from a source or transmitter over a channelto a sink or receiver. Modern communication systems often do so in the presence of additivechannel noise and mild to severe channel and system non-linearities which tend to corrupt thetransmission. Traditionally examining the performance of a digital communication system asonly a set of analytical expressions, even if noise and non-linearities can somehow be describedadequately, seems to provide

Collection

2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Allison L. Felix; Joel Z. Bandstra; William H.J. Strosnider

). Middle-school science through design-based learning versus scripted inquiry: Better overall science concept learning and equity gap reduction. Journal of Engineering Education. 97(1): 71-85.7. Satchwell, R. and Loepp, F. (2002). Designing and implementing an integrated mathematics, science, and technology curriculum for the middle school. Journal of Industrial Teacher Education. 39(3): 41-66. Available from: http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JITE/v39n3/satchwell.html.8. Barnett, M. (2005). Engaging inner city students in learning through designing remote operated vehicles. Journal of Science Education and Technology. 14(1): 87-100.9. Bottoms, G. and Anthony, K. (2005). Project Lead the Way: A pre-engineering

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2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Bill Lorenz; Pritpal Singh

. The concept behind the program is to broaden students’ outlooks from narrow, silo viewpointsto consider holistic potential engineering solutions centered on the sustainability theme.A novel three course core curriculum has been designed to give every MS student an integrated andcomprehensive understanding of Sustainable Engineering.The core curriculum starts with an introductory course entitled “Sustainability and Climate Change:Challenges and Opportunities” in which the students gain a comprehensive understanding of theframework for practical sustainable solutions for Products, Processes and Infrastructure. The secondcore course entitled “Impact Assessment, Life Cycle Evaluations and Industrial Ecology” is centeredon the central concept of

Collection

2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Kevin Dahm

subsequently outlinedstrategies for writing instructional objectives for courses and pedagogical strategies fordelivering courses that were consistent with meeting the ABET A-K criteria.5This paper presents an example of a programmatic assessment strategy that integrates thecourse and program levels as follows:1) Identify courses that offer a culminating experience in the curriculum2) Identify essential elements for each of these courses3) Prepare grading rubrics that evaluate student achievement with respect to each element4) Map the elements of the courses to the programmatic objectives; verify that eachprogrammatic objective is well represented5) Evaluate student design reports and final presentations using the grading rubrics6) Use the data

Collection

2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Amy Fleischer; Aaron Wemhoff; James O'Brien; Ani Ural; LeRoy Alaways

the societal and environmental influence of a career inengineering. This message should also have a beneficial impact on minority enrollment whilenot negatively affecting white male enrollment.Villanova University, an Catholic university founded by the Augustinian order of priests in 1842,has a long standing tradition of community service and outreach with an Augustinian vision ofpeople living in community united in "mind and heart" in the ardent search of Wisdom. Thistradition is manifested in the University’s mission statement which explicitly encourage students,faculty and staff to engage in service experiences and research, both locally and globally, so theylearn from others, provide public service to the community and help create a more

Collection

2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Jaime D. Alava; Keith M. Gardiner

their professional career. The fundamentals and theory of project Fall 2010 Mid-Atlantic ASEE Conference, October 15-16, 2010, Villanova Universitymanagement is discussed in class, which can be applied in the lab sessions and in future projectwork. Some lecture sessions are reserved to explain the limitless opportunities available forengineers at Lehigh University. Programs such as Integrated Product Development (IPD),supporting entrepreneurship, and working with Fortune 500 companies in the Co-Op program,are only some things that make a Lehigh engineering education unique. Many lectures focus onthe programs of the engineering departments. Representatives from the seven departmentsprovide information on topics such as curriculum, salary

Collection

2010 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

James C. Peyton Jones; Connor McArthur; Tyler Young

code is actually running on thetarget. This development cycle is both practical and educational and is widely used in industry.Specifically, these tools include MicroSoft Robotics Studio (MSRS), LabView from NationalInstruments, and Matlab / Simulink from the Mathworks. The Matlab / Simulink environmentwhich is arguably the most pervasive in the STEM community, is already tightly integrated intothe research activities and educational curriculum at Villanova and other institutions. Simulinkwas therefore chosen as the design environment for the project.The advantages of Matlab for developing educational robotics applications has not goneunrecognized. Dr. Behrens, from the Institute of Imaging and Computer Vision, in Aachen,Germany developed the