Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

N. Fang; L. McNeill; Robert Spall; P. Barr

engineering graduation and retentionrates at U.S. universities are not keeping up with the nation’s increasing demands for engineeringtalent. In 2000, less than 5% of all undergraduate degrees were awarded to engineers.Engineering bachelor’s degrees have grown only 1% since 2005.This presentation describes the overall framework of a project that has been recently funded bythe Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Program (S-STEM) ofthe National Science Foundation. The goal of the project is to provide S-STEM scholarshipsupport for academically-talented, financially-needy engineering students, and to train thesestudents to become effective scientific and technological contributors when entering theengineering workforce. The

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Liz Cox; Barbra Sobhani

generation is acategory which intersects with other underrepresented categories in STEM such asgender, race, ethnicity and persons with disabilities, yet is often an invisible category inmost educational programs. Red Rocks Community College, Lakewood, CO, inpartnership with Colorado School of Mines, is piloting a multifaceted approach to makethis invisible minority visible through engineering projects that are relevant to the lives ofLIFG students.This paper describes a larger project to go beyond the deficiency model (lens used todefine LIFG students by what they lack) in order to create spaces for LIFG students tovalidate their funds of knowledge (those skills, abilities and experiences developedthrough manual labor, military, non white-collar

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

John M. Santiago; Jing Guo

2016 ASEE Rocky Mountain Section Conference A System Engineering Approach for Implementing An Electrical or Computer Engineering Master’s Capstone Course John M. Santiago, Jr., Ph.D. and Jing Guo, D.Eng. Colorado Technical University (CTU), College of Engineering Colorado Springs, COAbstractThe paper presents how an electrical or computer engineering Master’s capstone courseincorporates system engineering concepts. The project in the capstone course attempts toprovide a balance among technical merit, system-level thinking, and improved communicationskills. The student has an opportunity to integrate

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Mark B. Colton; Timothy W. McLain

2016 ASEE Rocky Mountain Section Conference Mechatronics at BYU: A New Course for Undergraduate Mechanical Engineers Mark B. Colton and Timothy W. McLain Department of Mechanical Engineering, Brigham Young UniversityAbstract In Fall 2015 a required mechatronics course was introduced in the Department of MechanicalEngineering at Brigham Young University as part of a broader curriculum redesign. The courseis designed to prepare students to develop smart, microcontroller-enabled products and work ininterdisciplinary teams on projects involving mechanical hardware, electronics, and software.Although mechatronics courses often

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Jeffrey S. Bates; Taylor D. Sparks

request, two faculty membersgained approval for a new course entitled Materials Innovation. The purpose of this course was tointroduce MSE students to problem solving, the engineering design process, and technologycommercialization. Students designed a project based on design constraints, materialrequirements, and user needs. Students made team decisions, developed prototypes, and presentedtheir solutions to Industrial Advisory Board members to receive expert feedback. This paperdiscusses what worked well in the course, and lessons learned from our first attempt.KeywordsTeaching innovation, materials science and engineering, engineering design process, creativeproblem solvingIntroductionMany undergraduate students choose to study engineering

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Dina Battaglia; Krishna Sampigethaya; Akhan Almagambetov; Mehran Andalibi; Tyrone Groh; Kaela Martin; Matt Pavlina; Sam Siewert; Anne Boettcher

togetherin groups of 8 to 12.1 Each FLC engages in an active, collaborative, year long program with thegoal of enhancing teaching and learning. Participants in FLCs may select projects that allow forexperimenting with teaching innovations and assessing resultant student learning. FLCs increasefaculty interest in teaching and learning, and provide safety and support for faculty to investigate,attempt, assess, and adopt new (to them) teaching and learning methods. After participation in anFLC, faculty report using new pedagogies, while also seeing improvements in students’ criticalthinking and ability to synthesize and integrate information and ideas, often in an holisticmanner.1 Additionally, FLC participants in one study reported improved teaching

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Dixon Y. Nielson

skills and focus on their interpersonal and communications abilities when making the hiring decision.” Project Manager of a large Aerospace Company “We tend not to focus that much on their GPA. In fact if they have a GPA above 3.7 we usually sort out those candidates and focus on the other applicants. Our experience has been students with a lower GPA are more likely to have the broader skills that make for better employees.” Program Manager, National Lab “I have been told by several hiring managers and company executives that, in general, engineering students are technically very capable but experience shows they lack the © American Society for Engineering Education, 2016

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Clifton B. Farnsworth; Evan Bingham; Justin E. Weidman

-course collegeprogram. These other courses included China megastructures7,8, China megacities, and Chinamegawater, each course focusing on a different discipline within the context of the same studyabroad trip. This integration included a culminating design project that required the constructionmanagement and civil engineering students to work together on the initial design of a skyscraper,including the tentative cost, scheduling, and conceptual design renderings. Key course elementsfor this study abroad program included China, mega, ideas and innovation, sustainability,teamwork and leadership, global awareness, character development, and technical excellence.These will be discussed in greater detail later in this paper.Part I: Course

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Nebojsa Jaksic; Nikolas D'Angelo; Gabriele Vigano

are included as a part of Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM)topics in the Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) course. The above three courses aremandatory for both undergraduate programs. Graduate students often take Engineering ofManufacturing Processes and CIM courses at the graduate level. While undergraduate studentsexperiences with 3D printers culminate in their senior design projects, for graduate students, thetwo graduate level courses coupled with available 3D printers often result in inspiration for furtherstudies and research in these areas.Current Metal 3D Printing TechnologiesMetal parts produced by 3D printers are used in the aero-space industry, medical industry,automotive industry, and jewelry industry9. In general

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

John M. Santiago; Jing Guo

can also include demonstrations of real-world applications. Forexample, in the capstone design courses and projects, students can use relatively inexpensivemicrocontrollers such as Arduino, Raspberry PI, and Beaglebone to serve as complementaryhardware with the myDAQ from National Instruments. These affordable microcontrollers havebeen investigated or used by past student group projects. Instructors can also use myDAQ andthe microcontrollers to demonstrate key concepts found in circuit analysis and electronicscourses. To further promote user engagement, any student questions raised from the interactiveand multimedia content can be addressed in the online and required interactive chat sessions.From an online perspective, synchronous delivery

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Susan M. Reynolds

development of engineeringjudgment.Open-ended problems may certainly be related to design projects and project-based-learning, butare also readily incorporated in lower-level courses traditionally taught with closed-endedproblems. Table 1 contrasts closed-ended and open-ended problems that are appropriate for asophomore-level Mechanics of Materials course. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 139 2016 ASEE Rocky Mountain Section ConferenceTable 1. Sample Closed-Ended and Open-Ended Problems in a Foundational Engineering CourseSample closed-ended problem Sample open-ended

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Evan Bingham; Clifton Farnsworth; Justin Weidman

of the project they were working on. Figure 4 shows these locations. Theinstructor was able to use this information to improve the discussion in this case to includediscussions involving international topics and applications relevant to those areas. Figure 4. Descriptive QuestioningAs a part of the classroom experience, and in anticipation of this paper, participants were askedabout their experience using this form of questioning. Figure 5 gives the results of this survey.The majority of the participants felt that using the interactive questioning improved learning.Thirty-four percent, however, did not think it improved learning. Some of the reasons for this arediscussed later in the paper

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Reza Kamali-Sarvestani; Ephraim Nielson; Jared Laufiso

the drop diameter6,7.For this project we used Diamond Jet Silver Nano Ink printed on to Epson paper. Usingthe DMP-2800 fiducial camera the drop diameter was measured to be 30 µm. If the dropspacing is to close, then the ink tends to pool up causing inconsistent print quality. If thedrop spacing is too large then the ink may not be continuous. We found that using a dropspacing of 25 µm provided sufficient overlap and avoided pooling up of the ink. In one ofthe samples it was observed that the resistivity was not uniform on the x and y axis. Inthe x direction the resistivity measures about 0.5 Ω/cm, however in the y direction itmeasured 100 KΩ. This is due to drop spacing being too large and the tendency of theink to flow in the direction of

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Angela R. Bielefeldt; Daniel Knight; Christopher Swan; Nathan Canney

, % discipline, % Professional practice issues Curricular 18 Societal impacts of engineering and technology Engineering decisions in the face of uncertainty Chemical 64 Computer 39 Safety Chemical 72 Computer 37 Engineering code of ethics Curricular 14 Civil 59 Biomed 41 Sustainability and/or sustainable development Civil 63 Biomed 24 Ethical failures/disasters Curricular 17 Chemical 54 Mech 43 Ethics in design projects Environmental protection issues Chemical 57 Computer 16 Responsible

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Keith E. Holbert

following questions and answer options.Part 1: Student Evaluation of the Course Response Options1. Textbook/supplementary material in support of the course.2. Value of assigned homework in support of course topics. 5. Very good3. Value of laboratory assignments/projects in support of the course topics. 4. Good4. Reasonableness of exams and quizzes in covering course material. 3. Fair5. Weight given to labs or projects, relative to exams and quizzes. 2. Poor6. Weight given to homework assignments, relative to exams and quizzes. 0. Not applicable7. Definition and application of criteria for grading.Part 2: Student Evaluation of Instructor

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Jackson J. Graham; Randy C. Hurd; Tadd T. Truscott

necessary prerequisite courses and student confidence in their ownunderstanding, we feel it safe to assume that students have already been exposed to two-dimensional heat transfer and have a reasonable understanding of the material.Questions three, four, and eight focus on whether the lab provided students with an increasedunderstanding of two-dimensional heat transfer and a greater ability to visualize the process.Students generally agreed with this notion, especially in terms of visualization. Additionally, inquestion five, students generally agree that participating in a numerical and experimental heattransfer project was more instructional than a similar project performed on paper. Questions 6and 7 indicate that the lab setting not only helped

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Audrianna Rodriguez; Maria-Isabel Carnasciali; Shannon Ciston; Melissa L. Whitson; Viktoria Zelenak Berendt

blue-collar oriented jobs to white-collar service relatedprofessions” 2 education becomes essential in providing career readiness. In consequence, manyhigher learning institutions have experienced an influx in enrollment rates among a variety ofstudent populations. Adult learners are one of many student groups expected to proliferate withinhigher education. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) 2009 report,by the year 2018, it is projected that the number of students 25 to 34 years old will increase by © American Society for Engineering Education, 2016 9 2016 ASEE Rocky

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Hugh Smith

processing course and their senior project). Also a number of alumni have reportedusing this technique in the jobs after graduation.The instructor notes that this process has made a noticeable change in student participation whendiscussing the selective repeat assignment in lecture. During these discussion, student questions Value (1-5) Survey Question 5 = strongly agree with the statement “I learned a lot from the two design assignments” 4.0/5 “I feel that the design assignments helped me to break down my

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Jing Guo; Kathy Kasley; John M. Santiago

classroom.Keywordsengineering lab, online flipped lab, online laboratory experiments, flipped classroom,introduction to engineeringIntroductionFaculty members in the Colorado Technical University College of Engineering started to developonline courses since April of 2015. Because the undergraduate degrees in electrical engineeringand computer engineering at CTU are ABET-accredited, the online courses that need to bedeveloped have to meet ABET standards as well. In addition, the courses must meet the samelearning outcomes whether delivered online or traditional face-to-face instruction. This paperpresents faculty experiences in developing and conducting engineering laboratory experiences tobe completed remotely for an online course. The project attempts to convert a

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Jing Guo; John M. Santiago

addressing lab questions. Four full-time faculty createdmultimedia content and follow-up exercises for assessment of student learning outcomes. Duringthe asynchronous lab session, students are required to read the lab instructions and watch shortvideos before beginning the lab exercise or project. A pilot class simulates the online course withthe newly developed content. The flipped classroom method shows promise based on studentfeedback and comparing student learning outcomes between the pilot class and the face-to-facecourse. The feedback from student surveys is discussed as well as suggested improvements ofonline course instruction.KeywordsOnline, Flipped Classroom, Short Videos, Adaptive LearningIntroductionCTU is a private for-profit university