Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Kevin R. Lewelling

1 Integration of First-Year Engineering Students into Research: 4 Year Data from the Electrical Vehicle Project (EVP) Kevin R. Lewelling University of Arkansas - Fort Smith 5210 Grand Avenue, Fort Smith, AR 72913-3649AbstractThis paper describes how to integrate first-year engineering students into an ongoing researchproject to further promote education and enthusiasm for the realities of the engineeringprofession. The two methods used were (1) parallel process and (2) self contained process. Aparallel process is used when

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

George E. Meyer

research projects and instrumentation to the classroom. Student teamsalso develop their own semester projects starting at midterm. Those projects are presented aspapers and posters during an annual department open house. A summary of selected studentprojects for the past five years and student assessments will be discussed. Examples are presentedin a draft book written by the instructor, who has taught this class for twenty-one years.Keywords: Courseware, biological systems, sensors, electronics, measurements, controls.Course ConceptModern agricultural, biological, and biomedical instrumentation all use electronic sensors, analogand digital circuits, computers and microcontrollers for scientific measurements and processcontrol. Instrumentation is

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Viacheslav Adamchuk; Gwen Nugent; Bradley Barker; Neal Grandgenett

Science Foundation, the particular program described in this paperfocuses on middle school youth in non-formal learning environments. The program integrateseducational robotics, Global Positioning System (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS)technologies to provide educational experiences through summer camps, 4-H clubs andafterschool programs. The project’s impact was assessed in terms of: a) youth learning ofcomputer programming, mathematics, geospatial concepts, and engineering/robotics conceptsand b) youth attitudes and motivation towards STEM-related disciplines. An increase inrobotics/GPS/GIS learning questionnaire scores and a stronger self-efficacy in relevant STEMareas have been found through a set of project-related assessment

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Christopher C. Ibeh

functionalized with projects. A 9.3 participants’satisfaction index indicates that course is desirable. IntroductionA paper entitled: “Nanocomposites Entrepreneurial Education” presented at SPE-ANTEC 20081,indicated CNCMM’s entrepreneurial education initiative and efforts to develop ananotechnology entrepreneurship three course series at Pittsburg State University. This paperdiscusses the second of this course series. The course focuses on product design anddevelopment with emphases on the entrepreneurial elements of team-based design,benchmarking for competiveness and cost-effectiveness, specifications, design optimization, on-time market entry, life cycle cost analysis [LCCA], data mining, patenting, safety

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Dennis Audo; Seth O'Brien

”, and a piece of aluminumfoil no bigger than 18”x 18”. The foil can be ripped into smaller pieces if desired by the student,but no scissors are allowed. Students are asked to build a construction project from the materialsprovided, and they are given one hour to construct their project. All parents or guardians areasked to leave the room while the students are constructing their projects. All building projectsmust in some way relate to the construction industry. (Examples include: bridges, houses,skyscrapers, retail shops, etc.) After the one-hour time limit, students are then judged by collegestudents, industry persons and faculty volunteers. Each judge is given 3 to 4 students to review,usually in the same grade level. The judges are given a

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

R. Asmatulu

, • Understand the processes and cost analysis, and • Demonstrate effective communication and teamwork skills through technical presentations and reports in term projects. 5Figure 4: Metallic corrosion on a hip joint (left) and degraded polymeric knee joint (below).3.2 Course Textbook Two books are required for the present course, which are given below. In addition tothese books, we also prepared and posted our own PowerPoint lecture notes on blackboard usinginformation in the books and other sources. 1. Wong, J.Y. and Bronzino, J.D. “Biomaterials,” CRC Press, 2007 2. Sih, D. “Introduction to Biomaterials,” World Scientific, 2006. A number of

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Crystal A. Powers; Donald M. Edwards; Dennis D. Schulte

car design and give a “rally cheer.”  Give a team-based poster presentation to a diverse audience.  Compete in the Incredible Edible Car Competition for points based on: distance, durability, design, creativity, edibility.  Write a team-based Executive Summary of their design project.The Edible Car Competition occurs during “E-Day,” an open house atthe end of the Fall semester where freshmen, senior, graduatestudents, faculty, and industry representatives participate. BSEN andAGEN alumni are present with their company/agency displays,seniors show their capstone design projects, and graduate studentspresent posters on their research projects. Faculty, staff, parents, highschool students, and the media provide a

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Kaylea Dunn

they can graduate from a large Midwesternuniversity. The hypothesis of the project was: Engineering employers surveyed will validate theimportance of each of the introductory leadership course goals as it relates to what they areseeking in potential hires. The research question of the project was: How important are formalleadership education coursework and opportunities in college to the engineering workforce? Theweb-based survey was sent to over 200 engineering employers that recruit at the MidwesternUniversity with 53 responses equating 26.5% response.The survey administered to employers in this project was created by faculty from the ElectricalEngineering and Leadership Education departments and the author, a graduate student in

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Douglas R. Carroll

tuition sharply and by increasing enrollment. Sharp raises intuition and increasing enrollment are not going to be options for this recession.Universities will need their faculty to begin thinking about the cost effectivenessof their teaching and research efforts. Proceedings of the 2009 Midwest Section Conference of the American Society for Engineering EducationUniversity BudgetLike most large institutions, universities have two budgets. The larger budget isthe total budget, which includes restricted funds. Restricted funds flow throughthe institution, but are designated for specific projects. The institution cannot useany portion of the restricted funds for other purposes. At a university, therestricted

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Waleed K. Al-Assadi; Scott Smith

, lecture notes, exam problem group p mple ms, projects, and libraries of fundamen asynchr d ntal ronous gates an compone were de nd ents eveloped. T educatio materia were dev The onal als veloped as Modules, M such tha portions o the mater at of rials could b easily int be tegrated into a variety o courses, as

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Kellie Schneider; Heath A. Schluterman; C. Richard Cassady

, the FEP staff works closely with the Fulbright College toimplement block scheduling for the Fall Semester. In the block scheduling system, each FEPstudent is assigned to a block consisting of 22–25 students. All students in a given block havesimilar class schedules.The Freshman Engineering Student Services ProgramThe FESSP provides proactive support to FEP students through summer orientation, academicskills and personal wellness workshops, academic advising, peer mentoring, supplementalinstruction and tutoring, and extracurricular activities. The FESSP is housed in the 5500 sq ftFreshman Engineering Center. The Freshman Engineering Center includes faculty and staffoffices, a peer mentoring center, a tutoring room, a project room, a 60-seat

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Nicholas C. Vanderslice; Thomas R. Marrero

Impact of Bio-Char on Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere Nicholas C. Vanderslice and Thomas R. Marrero Department of Chemical Engineering University of Missouri Columbia, Missouri 65211AbstractA review. A study of Terra Preta do Indio and bio-char was conducted to determine the technicalfeasibility of their use in sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide as a summer undergraduateproject for Dr. Tom R. Marrero. Properties of new and old Terra Preta were used. Literature ofthe last 40 years, including the electronic database SciFinder, was used. The educationalcomponent of this project included an assessment of

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Greg Stephens

andorganizational role. The paper will include results from a survey taken during the TilfordDiversity Storytelling project, provide examples and strategies for using stories, and include areview of literature to show how storytelling can be an effective mode of communication.Storytelling in Organizations TodayIn an age of ever new technologies to enhance classroom teaching, the “sage on the stage” maybe making a comeback through the power of stories and the technique of storytelling.Once thought to be mostly for children, or for library programs, storytelling is now appliedwidely in the business and corporate world by management and human relations departments foremployee training, knowledge transfer, and cultural change and in academic settings by

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Colin D. Paul; Melinda B. O'Neil; W. Roy Penney; Bernard J. Van Wie; Paul B. Golter; Robert R. Beitle; Edgar C. Clausen

,” European Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 31-37. 4. Bjorklund, S.A., Parente, J.M., Sathianathan, D., 2004, “Effects of Faculty Interaction and Feedback on Gains in Student Skills,” Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 93, No. 2, pp. 153-160. 5. Colbeck, C.L., Campbell, S.E., Bjorklund, S.A., 2000, “Grouping in the Dark: What College Students Learn from Group Projects,” Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 71, No. 1, pp. 60-83. 6. Blair, B.F., Millea, M., Hammer, J., 2004, “The Impact of Cooperative Education on Academic Performance and Compensation of Engineering Majors,” Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 93, No. 4, pp. 333-338

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Robert D. Homolka

LOThypothesis determines the strategy the fielder uses to catch a fly ball by following a path thatwill keep the optical trajectory projection angle constant, this is equivalent to keeping the ration(tan cx)/(tan B) constant.13Carol Rodino, a New Jersey mathematics instructor and author of the book Fantasy Baseball andMathematics: A Resource Guide for Teachers, Parents contains hundreds of math formulas thatcover algebra, measurement, data analysis, probability and problem solving to calculate thenumber of points and the team with the most wins.14Mathematician Michael J. Bradley, Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass spent timestudying the geometry dimensions in baseball including the five sided home base and thebaseball “diamond” which is a square

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Shannon G. Davis; Bryan W. Hill; Carol S. Gattis; Bradley M. Dearing; Christa N. Hestekin; Edgar C. Clausen

of the 2009 Midwest Section Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education 4Table 3 summarizes the features and shortcomings of the Year 1 institute. The teachers enjoyedthe hands-on experimentation, rated the workshop as a great learning experience and invitedseveral of the professors from the U of A for follow-up visits to their classrooms. While thesummer institute gave the teachers eight hands-on experiments for use in their classrooms (notbad for last minute work due to late funding of the project), the teachers did not actually usemany of the experiments in their classrooms because they did not feel comfortable with

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Bruce Dvorak; Dennis Schulte; Mary Garbacz; Shari Aldrich; David Admiraal; Julia Soulakova

) 28.3 (4.5) 28.8 (3.6) 76 All Freshmen 21 26.8 25.8 88 All Seniors 16 26.4 25.6 83Basic Writing Skills TestFor a similar basic writing skills test, the UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communicationshas used a score of 80 (out of 100) as the minimum proficiency standard for entry into theEngineering College. The basic writing skills data are presented in Table 3 for each class, listingthe percentage of each group which scored above an 80, above 70 (another possible minimumproficiency standard considered by the project team), and the average and standard deviation ofeach group. Proceedings of the

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Lawrence Whitman; Zulma Toro-Ramos; John Watkins

research ideas, manage projects, manage students, direct student research,develop strong classes, teach effectively, advise undergraduate students, facilitatestudent success, and serve on various committees. Typically, there is littleassistance or even formal advice given as faculty endeavor to be effective andefficient in these roles.The tenure and promotion journey is not clear to many new faculty. Frequently,not only is the path unclear, but the terms change during midcourse. Sometimesthe bar is continually raised to a point that become difficult to achieve. “Mostcampuses set expectations higher than can be attained without effectivementoring” (1) (Boice 2000, p. 247). The hiring of new faculty is costly and timeconsuming. Just as colleges