Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

James R. Sherrard

nuclear engineering technology degree program, forexample, in June 1996 had 12 graduates from the 78-credit curriculum with markedly more localjob offers than graduates and an average starting annual base salary of $35,000. With the sole exception of the nursing degree program at 68 credits, most all other communitycollege-based associate degree programs exist at 60 credit. All technical associate degree programsare high credit, comprehensive programs averaging 78 credits. With continuing reduced publicfunding from the state legislature coupled to the algorithm-based management mentality of thecentral office bureaucracy, it was readily discernible that essentially all technology programs were a"financial burden" to operate. In reviewing options

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Nicholas Tsoulfanidis

extremely valuable. What means do we have in our disposal to accomplish this objective? The“traditional” or “classical” approach is what we call teaching consisting of classroom instruction exams & HW special readings, discussion etc.In this mode of operation, the students are for the most part passive participants,at various degrees, I admit, depending on the style of the instructor. It is mypersonal belief that the students’ ability to think will increase if we incorporateresearch as an active component of teaching. Yes, to me, research is not anappendix of the book of teaching but an integral part of it. This is particularly trueif one believes that the purpose of a

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Mary Ann McCartney; Maria A. Reyes; Mary Anderson-Rowland

approaches thatwe have found to be successful tools for recruitment and retention are under threat. Institutionsof higher learning must demand clear evaluations of progress being made through minoritystudent support programs. We must challenge ourselves to develop only “results orientedprogram”. We must work with faculty, who are predominately non-minority, in their approachesin working with targeted minority students. We must develop funding patterns and strategiesthat are not “here one day and gone tomorrow”. Long term results are difficult to obtain iffunding is not equalized and sustained. We must institutionalize minority student supportprograms within universities so that they are viewed as an integral part of academic units.ConclusionsDuring

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Randall Guensler; Christopher Conklin; Paul S. Chinowsky

, and midterm and finalexaminations. Additionally, lecture overheads and instructor’s notes, prepared in MicrosoftPowerPoint, are provided over the Web for use as speaking notes in the classroom. This paperoutlines the integration of computer technology in the classroom and the development of theelectronic version of the syllabus and course readings.IntroductionOver the past ten years, university and professional extension engineering education programshave increasingly offered environmental education. Scores of Civil Engineering programsthroughout the nation have expanded their curriculum focus to become Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering programs during this period. When the University of California at Davis changedthe name of their program

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Michael L. Mavrovouniotis

life, customs, and habits ishelpful. Simple steps such as reading the student newspapers are a good start. The more familiaryou become with their culture, the easier your interactions with students become, giving you aclearer view of their problems.You might even seek familiarity with specific student groups or activities that your advisees areinvolved in. If one of your advisees is on the swimming team, make it a point to follow theresults of the swimming competitions and find out a little about the grueling training and travelschedule.RecappingThe advising process should be treated as an integral educational activity, not just a purelyclerical task. Faculty advisors should strive to improve the strategies they follow in encouragingstudent

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Anthony J. Muscat; Evan D. H. Green; Emily L Allen; Linda Vanasupa

introductory session, thesemester is divided into a sequence of six 2-week periods for the processing part of thelaboratory. The final two weeks of the semester are devoted to testing the devices made. Duringeach of the 2-week device processing sessions, one team is assigned to build integrated circuitdevices and the other is involved in a process development experiment. The teams switch rolesevery two weeks. The Fabrication and Test team (the FATs) are the device builders. Theirobjective each week is to take the wafers through a section of the pmos process which consists ofapproximately 150 total steps. They communicate the status of the batch of device wafers at theend of the two weeks in an Oral Status Report before passing this job on to the other

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Christopher G. Braun

result, theyend up with a higher level of design skills because they can implement their higher levelelectronics designs. Lastly, the setup, use and curriculum for this facility has been disseminatedamong a wide group of educators. With a new educational emphasis towards concurrentengineering that combines an understanding of design and production, other institutions will beable to use this prototyping facility as a model in developing their own approach.Based on my discussions with industry employers and my own experience, I believe it isimportant for students to graduate with the knowledge on how to make their designs become areality. Without sacrificing other aspects of their education, we are able to improve our studentslearning experience

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

K.A. Forland

the mechanical properties of the hard, brittlematerials. They learn that ceramics require specialized machining equipment and longermachining times than required for ductile materials. Furthermore, they see that cracking andchipping sometimes cannot be avoided and may significantly reduce the structural integrity ofthe ceramic. In the course, Properties and Processing of Ceramics, taught at GMI Engineering &Management Institute, undergraduates use an ultrasonic drill to machine alumina after differentlevels of sintering and after final firing. All parts are then fired to maximum density. The threeparameters, machining time, dimensional control and level of pre-firing, as well as theirinterdependency are examined. Machining rate is

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Sub Ramakrishnan; Mohammad B. Dadfar

surge in enrollment in datacommunications courses offered at the undergraduate level. Students realize that mostemployers expect computer science graduates to have a good understanding of datacommunications and networking concepts. The curriculum for the data communications andcomputer networking courses are also revised often to integrate evolving technologies in thisarea. Page 2.103.1Like other computer science departments around the country, we at Bowling Green StateUniversity have offered a data communications and networks course (CS 429) in ourundergraduate program since early 1980s. This course is offered as a one semester course inwhich

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

John Tuttle

half the workinglife of an engineer. Another, is our professional organization, new design is a very small fractionof the work load. The reward system is also an important factor. Young engineers seem to berewarded more for their management then engineering skills. Many, excellent engineeringcollege curriculum lack courses in systems engineering and design integration. Graduatestherefore, receive little training in the development of the skills needed to be a member of amulti-disciplinary design team, conducting design tradeoffs, consider factors such as cost, oroperational use. There is little research in such areas and few papers on this subject arepublished. My feeling is that Engineering departments are more likely to view such skills as

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

John E. Mayer

. Written and oral reports are made by the students. Eachteam works on an industrial manufacturing problem with an industry sponsor, therefore theprojects are industry driven. Example projects are described.INTRODUCTION This paper focuses on the senior projects course as it is taught in the manufacturingengineering technology curriculum at Texas A&M University. TAC/ABET requires a capstoneprojects course in the final year of the baccalaureate program which draws together majorelements of both design and manufacturing processes 1. It should be project oriented andcomprehensive in utilizing prior course work.METHODOLOGY The primary emphasis of the manufacturing engineering technology projects course is toprepare senior students to face the

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

David J. Lilja

ability to dogood research may in fact require personal traits and characteristics that are beyond thecapability to teach, such as creativity and persistence, there are some fundamental skills that arenecessary (although not sufficient) to become a successful engineering researcher. These skillsinclude the ability to critically evaluate the work of others, a facility with the standard tools andtechniques of the given field of study, an understanding of appropriate statistical methods, andthe ability to clearly present new ideas and results through written and spoken communication. Since research is an integral component of the engineering design process, engineeringdegree programs should make a concerted effort to teach students how to

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Kenneth Belanus; John Hartin

akand bk, are found by formal integration if an analytic function for the signal is known. For asampled data signal, x(t) is known only by its discrete time series approximation, and the periodof the signal is not known. To calculate the coefficients for a sampled data set, the total sampletime is assumed to be the period so that T=N∆, and the integrals are replaced by finite sums.This means that integration is replaced by a summation over the sample. Using the principle oforthogonality, the coefficients can be determined by summations over the data in the formThe coefficients ak and bk are the components of the signal in a frequency bin centered at thefrequency fcent = k/T. In a typical presentation, the magnitude ck and phase φk are plotted

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Thomas F. Hess; Shulin Chen; Robert F. Rynk; Larry G. King; Ann L. Kenimer

wetlands, aquatic plant systems and land treatment systems. Natural systemshave gained attention and acceptance in recent years because they integrate waste treatment intothe environment in a positive fashion. Recent research and applications of natural systems havegenerated considerable information for management of potential pollutants from industrial,municipal and agricultural materials.Natural systems are the most widely used of waste treatment process for agriculturalapplications. These systems typically require fewer operational personnel, consume less energyand produce less excess biomass than conventional wastewater treatment systems. Wheresufficient land of suitable character is available, natural systems are often the most cost

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Bahador Ghahramani

particular andengineering as a whole. Besides required courses, students are also encouraged to register forelectives in management and technical areas that most effectively satisfy their personal andprofessional careers. NTU students are assigned an academic advisor from the faculty. Advisors assiststudents in selection of the academic programs, planning their curriculum, registration, and otherpertinent information. Students are responsible for interfacing with their advisors and addressingtheir academic problems and issues.US ARMY ENGINEERING SCHOOL AND OTHER PROGRAMS The US Army Engineering School at Ft. Leonard Wood (USAES) is located to the southof Rolla, Missouri. USAES is a training school for the Army’s Engineering Officer

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Deran Hanesian; Angelo J. Perna

forward by the formation ofnumerous NSF sponsored Educational Coalitions the Freshman Engineering Design programshave become an integral part of the curriculum. The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT),as part of the NSF sponsored Gateway Coalition, a consortium of ten engineering institutions,has instituted such a program and developed numerous discipline and interdisciplinary courses.The basic intent of these programs is to move the traditional exposure to design concepts fromsenior year capstone courses into the entire undergraduate curriculum, beginning with enteringfreshmen. The overall objective is to introduce freshmen to the open-ended nature of designproblems, to give students “hands-on” experience, to expose students to teamwork

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

James E. Simon

constructed object must be appropriate. Structures that have beenbig enough for adults to stand under with arms outstretched in every direction have proven farmore successful than the alternatives. Second, since few students have experienced the entireprocess of designing and building an object larger than themselves, with others, as a courseassignment, the uniqueness of such a task must be balanced by a limited scope of statedrequirements. These are the types of projects wherein integrated experience is the greatestreward for the students and positive accounts from “veterans” of earlier years are the mostconvincing evaluations for the instructor. Third, the assignment is, in itself, a design task for theinstructor that requires thoughtful

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Lisa A. Wipplinger; Charles R. Bissey

recognized andaccepted by codes and material specifications, and became an important element in the education Page 2.373.2of engineering students.During the next couple of decades, there were only minor additions to the field of analysistechniques and methods. Most of the emphasis was placed on how the material could be betterand more efficiently taught, how the content was to be formed into courses, and where it wouldappear in an undergraduate curriculum. However, one significant analysis technique did appearduring this time. This technique focused on the stiffness matrix and the realization that thecomputer could aid in the analysis of structural

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Ali Behagi

and the software more effectively new courses and several newlaboratory experiments have been developed.1.0 Introduction In the US and other industrialized countries, wireless and satellite communicationsystems such as cellular phone, mobile radio, paging, and satellite radio and TV have becomepart of peoples’ everyday life. In these systems most signal processing is done digitally at lowfrequencies. However, the small number of unavoidable high frequency analog circuits are thedesign bottlenecks of an entire system. Three reasons have contributed to this bottleneck. First,the high frequency analog circuit design requires a good understanding of several core courses inthe electrical engineering curriculum such as; electromagnetic field

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Robert Engelken

to prove/“establish” himself/herself in his/herdiscipline and hop on the treadmill in a mad rush toward the “life and death” (or so they seem atthe time) goals of promotion, tenure, merit raises, and national/international professionalreputation [1-4]. In many instances, the intensity of the effort and associated time and energydemands outweigh even those of graduate school. The new professor often is totally dedicated toand immersed in this effort, essentially placing all other priorities, even family, on the “backburner”, as an “investment” in the future that will pay dividends after the above goals arereached, say in roughly a decade. As a relatively new/young professor (during my fifth academic year), I presented“Development

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Heather Nachtmann Umphred; Kim LaScola Needy; Jerome P. Lavelle

likely to mention problems(negative comments) as opposed to successes (positive comments). On the positive side,respondents most frequently cited that engineering economy has an important/essential place inthe engineering curriculum. In addition, respondents feel satisfied that the body of knowledgehas reached a state of maturity and stability. In contrast, the most frequently cited negativecomment is that the body of knowledge needs expanding and updating. Clearly, thisinconsistency needs to be examined in greater detail. Respondents also feel that availablematerials are inadequate. In future work, the authors would like to examine this concern moreclosely. Although there are a large number of text books on engineering economics, perhaps

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Michael J. Brandemuehl; Lawrence E. Carlson

Session 3226 A LIVING LABORATORY Lawrence E. Carlson, Michael J. Brandemuehl Integrated Teaching and Learning Program College of Engineering and Applied Science University of Colorado at Boulder“BUILDING-AS-LAB” CONCEPTThe College of Engineering and Applied Science has recently built a new laboratoryfacility designed to facilitate hands-on, team-oriented learning across all of its sixdepartments. The three-story, 34,400 sq. ft. Integrated Teaching and Learning (ITL)Laboratory opened its doors in January 1997. Its curriculum-driven

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Sr., Buck F. Brown; Jr., Buck F. Brown

contributed to the foundations of thismethod as an outgrowth of cognitive and later, constructivist learning theory dealing with theproblem-solving process. Problem-based learning has modern origins in medical education. Inparticular, Barrows and Tamblyn [4] in the mid 1970’s began exploring its use at McMasterUniversity as part of the medical school’s curriculum. Within more recent times, HarvardMedical School completely revised its pre-clinical curriculum from a lecture-based approach to aproblem-based format [5]. Problem-based education has a growing number of supporters from a variety ofdisciplines, learning settings and levels. [6] For instance, the problem-based approach has beengaining popularity in the areas of administration

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Wils L. Cooley

the demand for moreand more specialized higher education is increasing in the rural areas. If we are to meetour mandate in a cost-effective manner, new ways must be found to deliver engineeringclasses to widely scattered students at home or at facilities which do not have engineeringlaboratory equipment. It is in this context that the department of Electrical and ComputerEngineering has attempted to develop a quality electronics laboratory experience forplace-bound and equipment-poor students.THE PRESENT COURSE STRUCTUREThe presently required traditional laboratory is entitled "Digital Electronics Laboratory."The catalog description is "Design, fabrication, and measurement of digital electroniccircuits. Use of discrete devices, integrated

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

W. Ernst Eder

recognized that the curriculum changes introduced in the 1960's, asa result of the Grinter Report 1, were in some ways counter-productive. Quoting from Grinter(Appendix): "The Committee considers that scientifically oriented engineering curricula areessential to achieve these ends and recommends the following means of implementation." Thismajor report then recommended ten "means of implementation" (something helpful in achievinga desired end, Merriam-Webster Dictionary) of which the third is interesting in the context of thispaper, it reads: "3. An integrated study of engineering analysis, design, and engineering systems for professional background, planned and carried out to stimulate creative and imagina- tive thinking

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

John A. Orr; David Cyganski; Richard Vaz

curriculum,• It is intended be a complement to, and very different from, our traditional “EE for non-EEs” course,• We hope it is an example of engineering as the “new liberal arts.”A previous paper [2] has provided details on the background and topical content of the course.This paper will focus on the materials which have been prepared for the course, and on lessonslearned to date.Overview of the CourseBecause of the wide potential audience for this course, a primary objective is to develop it insuch a way that it is easily transportable, not only to other institutions, but also to different typesof student audiences. This can be achieved by development of new and different modulescustomized to provide the applications exposure central to the

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

T.R. Hsu; P. Reischl; P. Hsu; J.C. Wang; F. Barez; B.J. Furman

application of electronics,microprocessors and software in designing electro-mechanical systems , mechatronicsproducts and process control systems. The laboratory development is a principal part ofan award for “ Undergraduate Curriculum Development on Mechatronics SystemEngineering ” by the division of undergraduate education of the National ScienceFoundation (NSF). Major task of the new laboratory is to support instruction and providehands-on study of two of the five new courses : ME106 Fundamentals of MechatronicsSystem Engineering and ME 190 Mechatronics System Design. This paper presents theprogress made in developing the new mechatronics engineering laboratory.1. Introduction The rapid advances of microprocessor and microcomputer technologies

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Denny C. Davis; Richard W. Crain; Michael S. Trevisan; Kenneth L. Gentili; Dale E. Calkins

Educational OutcomesThis categories-levels structure also provides a basis for integrating design across a curriculum,as required for accreditation of engineering degree programs (ABET, 1995). Design integrationfrequently means integrating learning from multiple instructors, degree programs, andinstitutions. This can be achieved more widely if design education outcomes rather than specificcourses become the basis for integration. This approach allows different institutions andinstructors to employ methods and courses that meet their needs while also ensuring that requirededucational outcomes are achieved. However, for an outcomes-based approach to exist, targetlevels of achievement must be identified at intermediate and end points in an

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Virleen M. Carlson; Susan C. Roberts; Kathryn A. Hollar

certified each year in both a fall and spring program. This workshop series wasinitiated in 1987 when the numerous complaints about TAs received by the Engineering Officeof Undergraduate Programs indicated a definite need for TA training. Additionally, a 1992survey of Cornell’s College of Engineering undergraduates shows that at Cornell, TAs are an 1important source of undergraduate instruction . Since the program was founded, the number ofcomplaints has become practically zero. The goals of our program have matured through theyears to include not only training TAs for their specific duties, but also giving them timemanagement skills, an understanding of University policies, and diversity awareness

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

N. Yu; Peter K. Liaw

by the National Science Foundation tointegrate the long-standing research advances, achieved by the University of Tennessee (UT),Knoxville, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), on ceramic-matrix composites(CMCs) into the interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate level curricula of Materials andMechanics at UT.PROJECT COMPONENTSResearch Significant high-quality and innovative research progress covering a broad class oftechnologically important areas of CMCs, including fabrication, characterization, modeling anddesign, has been accomplished at ORNL as well as at UT since early 80's[1-39]. The researchadvances of CMCs are ready for being integrated into curriculum development. The continuedresearch efforts are currently being