Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Yanwu Ding

Integrating Matlab into Graduate Courses in Digital Signal Processing Yanwu DingAbstractDigital signal processing has been widely used in various disciplines of engineering. Students areexpected to be competent, not only in fundamental digital signal processing concepts andtheories but also in practical signal processing techniques for achieving broader applications. Inthe graduate curriculum of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science(EECS) at Wichita State University (WSU), a graduate course, EE782 Discrete Time SignalProcessing, is offered. This course focuses on fundamental concepts and techniques of digitalsignal processing in

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Amaka Waturuocha; Laura Ford; Christi Patton Luks

Pursuing a Personalized Program to Prepare for an Academic Career at an Engineering Department without a Formal Teaching Curriculum Amaka Waturuocha1, Laura Ford1, Christi Patton Luks1 1 University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USAAbstractTypically, when applying to graduate school for doctoral programs, students are not 100%certain of the route their careers will take: industry, academia or both. Most times though, theylean more towards one of these options. In such a case the potential graduate student tailors theirapplications /interests to schools with the kind of curriculum that fits their particular needs. Oncein graduate school

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Julia L. Morse

variation, measurementoptions, and other process options seem an integral part of an engineering or engineeringtechnology student’s introduction.Introduction and discussion of engineering concerns at the equipment is meant to link the processoperation to the deeper learning objectives. However, we found that students are increasinglyimpatient with demonstration discussion on engineering considerations and tend to disregard asirrelevant topics beyond what they think they need immediately to operate that equipment.Certainly those of us instructing in the lab (instructor and lab technician) were also frustrated atthe time it seemed to take to introduce important processes, tooling, and the processconsiderations. We were already examining ways to use

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

John L. Krohn

Lab II is a required course in the MEprogram at Arkansas Tech University and is typically taken during the senior year, often duringthe last semester of a student’s curriculum. The course currently contains experiments in fluidsand has the senior level course in Fluid Mechanics as its primary pre-requisite. Mechanical LabII was one of the first courses the author was assigned upon joining the faculty 20-some yearsago and he has continued to teach it, although not consistently every year, since that time. Ininitial offerings of the course, the author followed the traditional methodology that he had beenexposed to as an undergraduate: a fairly well prescribed experiment with clearly stated goals andprocedures that the students were expected to

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Andrew Braham; Ashlea Milburn Bennett; Jeton McClinton

lives and do not want their teachers andinstructors using Facebook for class related activities. A natural alternative to Facebook forclassroom use is LinkedIn, the professional networking website.LinkedIn was created in 2003 (www.linkedin.com) as an online professional network. It wasdesigned to allow users to access other professionals, jobs, and organization opportunities in aprofessional online setting. With more than 150 million members, it is a growing community forprofessionals. Therefore, LinkedIn was chosen as the social networking tool to be used in thisstudy. Using LinkedIn allows not only for the use of social media transfer of course-relatedinformation, but also introduces the students to a professional social network they can

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Abu S. Asaduzzaman; Ramazan Asmatulu; Ravi Pendse

in aparallel version compared to the sequential version of the same problem, etc. can be done mosteffectively when students observe these factors in a hands-on laboratory environment.Beyond this point is also the philosophy of rethinking the computer science curriculum forteaching students to start with parallel programs. Some of the questions to keep in mind as weintroduce the concepts of parallelism and parallel programming to the students include: • How can one analyze an application to determine what operations can be done in parallel? • What aspects of a particular algorithm influence what can be done in parallel? • What aspects of a particular algorithm influence what cannot be done in parallel? • Is there a way

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Lin Wang; Si Ma; Haifeng Yan

Developing a Practicum Plan for Undergraduate Students in Railway Design and Operation Major of Transportation Engineering Lin Wang, Si Ma and Haifeng YanSchool of Transportation & Logistics, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, Sichuan, P. R. ChinaAbstractBecause of the increasing complexity and advancements in the area of railwayindustry, there is a growing demand for graduates to be specialists with systematicviews, specialized skills and innovative abilities. This paper presents an overview ofthe present typical arrangements of practicum curricula in railway design andoperation major in transportation engineering education for the rapid development ofrailway industry in China

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Stephen A. Dyer; Frederick Burrack; Craig Weston; Kenneth Medema; Linda Head; Philip Mease

those classes, I got a lot from those discussions. It solidified some things that I wasn’t quite sure about. Now I understand the frequency domain . . . .” (KC:EE) “I can get straight A’s in my classes without using a lot of creativity because that is the way the engineering curriculum is set up. They want to make sure we can follow a process. But in order to be a good engineer, we will have to break from the established lines of thought. Although this is something important to my greater success as an engineer, it has not explicitly been taught or developed in my engineering training. I have had some teachers say that in order to be really good you are going to have to do something more than

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Muhammet Ceylan; Aybala Usta; Fatma Barut; Ramazan Asmatulu

engagement.  Information, advice, and guidance in making informed higher education (HE) choices.  Preparation, including developing realistic expectations and skills.  Induction and transition support.  Social engagement with peers and HE staff.  Integrated or aligned academic development.  A range of student services.  Monitoring and data using.  Comprehensive curriculum design, learning, teaching, and related assessments.Another study also showed that the most effective freshmen student retention programs addressseveral major components, including financial aid packages; course and laboratory availabilityand content; and the implementation of support mechanisms such as tutoring, mentoring,engagement, and

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Charles McIntyre

knowledge related to first-year “construction management experience” courses and to disseminate that knowledge to all Construction Management programs that are accredited by the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE).2  To use a construction “toy” (Tektōn Hotel Plaza Set) in innovative ways in the classroom that introduces students to the entire array of construction management functions and responsibilities1,9,11 that are required for a typical construction project, i.e., a “construction management experience.”  To promote team building skills and team work15 in an environment that mimics the actual construction management process.  To integrate within the revised course the following topics

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Kellie Schneider; Heath A. Schluterman; Candace Rainwater

then verify their calculations in a laboratorysetting. This theme concludes with the implementation of a Button Hero game that involves theuse of buttons, LEDs, wires, and resistors.RoboticsRobotics plays an integral role in many aspects of engineering including manufacturing,medicine, space exploration, and more. The use of robotics contributes to the National Academyof Engineering’s grand challenge to engineer tools of scientific discovery2. In this theme,students use the Lego Mindstorm kits to build and program a simple robot. Though a series oftutorials, students learn about basic programming paradigms including loops and conditionalstatements. Students then apply their programming and problem-solving skills to solveengineering challenges

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Stephen A. Dyer

Thinking via Pictures: Getting Students Started through Graphing Stephen A. Dyer Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506 USAAbstractVisual languages are among the most important to the STEM disciplines, but most students en-tering a STEM curriculum seem to have little ability to think or converse in any visual language.Further, there are few curricula that include a formal course in either basic graphics or the art ofapproximation. One foundational visual language is that of two-dimensional presentation of quan-titative information and mathematical relationships. This paper offers some topics to

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Garth V. Crosby

Low Cost Collaborative & Portable Electronics Lab Kit Garth V. Crosby Department of Technology, College of Engineering, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleAbstractThe current growth in online program is exponential. However, undergraduate programs inengineering and engineering technology has not benefited from this growth as otherprograms. One of the main factors that encourage this disparity is the difficulty andinfeasibility of incorporating the required laboratory experiences into an online/distanceeducation program. In this paper, an attempt is made to provide a potential solution for