Collection

2012 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Nicole C. Corbiere; Laurel Kuxhaus

discussions improvedknowledge and critical appraisal skills.1 The present study examines results from a structuredJournal Club that has been implemented for three years in a biomechanics course ofapproximately 31 students per year. Typically 36% were Chemical Engineering majors, 45%were Mechanical Engineering majors, and 19% were other engineering/science majors. Onaverage, 6% were graduate students. Each group of students chose and read an article from thepeer-reviewed biomechanics literature and evaluated its scientific merit and interpretation ofresults in a guided discussion. This process was repeated approximately weekly. Studentsconsistently recognized Journal Club as a significant learning experience, with annual averagesof 3.8, 3.3, and 3.7

Collection

2012 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Johanna Comanzo; Chris Normile

Collection

2012 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Navarun Gupta; Manan Joshi; Bhushan Dharmadhikari; Lawrence V. Hmurcik

are small – of the order ofmilliamps to start with and gradually increasing to as much as 7 amps. Since the smallest fuse orcircuit breaker generally trips at 15 amps, the proper fusing of an aquarium will be of no use inpreventing an electric fire. The process for the ignition of an aquarium fire happens according tothe following sequence of events. (1) Water vapor condenses between line and ground, forming athin film. A small current flows (maybe milliamps) through this film. This is hardly noticeablesince the average large aquarium my draw 10 or more amps safely. (2) The water film will dryup but leave behind salts and dirt that can conduct. (3) New water droplets will condense on inthe same spot between the ground and line voltages. The

Collection

2012 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Junichi Kanai; Mark Anderson

project objective. An open sourceweb-based bulletin board system was introduced for enhancing the design program in the springof 2005 and made significant impact on the outcome of the project results2. Although the systemprovided many benefits to our program, better collaboration tools have been developed. Hence,we migrated from the bulletin board system to an open source bug tracking system calledRedmine5 in the fall of 2010.Learning to use the system and manage a design project effectively also contributes to thefollowing ABET student outcomes1:1. (k) an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.2. (g) an ability to communicate effectively3. (d) an ability to

Collection

2012 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

R. John Milne

notes on the board is helpful for these situations. For instance, I may write on the boardthe following steps to conduct a (single) sensitivity analysis immediately prior to using thespreadsheet GUI: Parametric Sensitivity Analysis 1. Click New Cell to vary Parameter 2. [click] Risk Solver Æ [click] Parameter Æ [click] Sensitivity 3. Link Old Cell to Varying Cell 4. Click on Output Cell 5. [click] Risk Solver Æ [click] Reports Æ [click] Sensitivity Î [click] Parameters (Use “>” twice)Although the students enter their model into spreadsheets, often the problems are too difficult forthem to proceed from word problem statement to spreadsheet

Collection

2012 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Patrick H. Oosthuizen

its environmental impact1-4. The industry is also dealing with limitations based onenvironmental considerations imposed by various governmental organizations. The majorenvironmental effects of civil aviation are related mainly to: 1. The generation of noise particularly near airports: The type of noise produced by an aircraft can be aerodynamic noise arising from the flow over and near the aircraft or noise arising from the engines and other mechanical devices. Both the noise level produced and the distribution of the noise over the ground (the noise footprint) are important considerations.5 2. Local air and ground pollution around and downwind of airports: Such pollution arises mainly as the result of

Collection

2012 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

J. A. Rozzi-Ochs; C. J. Egelhoff; H.V. Jackson; S. Zelmanowitz

Coast Guard Academy and correspond to ABET-student outcomes a-k. In years past, the ME faculty embarked on the use of Barometric Assignments (BAs) as ameans to assess student outcomes (Appendix A shows the process). The relevant BAs used toassess the outcomes related to IL are listed in Table 1. These BAs were selected “near the end”of the program of study and therefore each BA focused on a single outcome. The OutcomeAchievement Levels (OALs) are deliberately considered to be summaries of the effectiveness ofthe program as a whole (and not as a report card for the effectiveness of a single course in whichthe BA is used). Table 1: Mechanical Engineering Program Barometric Assignments Outcome

Collection

2012 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Brian Surgenor

the mechatronics course has left the instructors with oneoft repeated question: “can we continue to afford such courses, given that they are expensive interms of both time and money ?” This paper reviews the offering of the course in Mechatronicsand discusses the underlying resource issues and future implications.IntroductionA recent article in ASEE Prism extolled the virtues of courses with the “wow factor”1. These arethe courses that are oversubscribed and sustain their popularity from year to year through wordof mouth. It’s no surprise that the majority of such courses are hands-on and project based. TheASEE Prism article wasn’t the first appearance of the phrase. For example, Simcock talkedabout the need to reintroduce the “wow factor” to

Collection

2012 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Bridgette Valencia; Shouling He

, developing intelligent walkers2, adding an easy-used basket andembedding a braking device in a walker3,4 and controlling the level of a four-legged walker usinghand-controlled levers5. As a result, these improvements have enhanced the safety andindependent life style of elderly persons.In this paper, we will present an approach to design an adjustable four-legged walker. Theessential idea of the design is to install two inclinometers along the level bars on two sides of thewalker (see Fig.1 for detail). When the walker is placed in ascending/descending stair or unevenwalking ground, the sensors, i.e. inclinometers, will send a measured angle signal to themicrocontroller which is installed at the front frame of the walker. The microcontroller

Collection

2012 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Erin Zeqja; Rachael Ashton

chosen fromSyracuse University CIE Department.Additionally, four male students werechosen from Lebanese AmericanUniversity (LAU) and one malestudent from the American Universityof Sharjah. The most notable changefrom the first internship was theaddition of two students from the2008 DSIP internship who served as Figure 1: DSIP 2008 student interns on a construction site visitteaching assistants. The addition oftwo teaching assistants from Syracuse University served to enhance the overall learningexperience for the 2009 interns. The 2009 curriculum was revised extensively. All lectures wereprovided from DCC staff members. Lecture topics in contracts and change orders, mechanical,electrical and plumbing management, and finance were added to the