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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Aaron S. Bradshaw; Gary N. McCloskey; Franklin Miguel

Development of a Civil Engineering Design Course Based On Reflective Action Aaron S. Bradshaw, Merrimack College Gary N. McCloskey, O.S.A. Merrimack College Franklin Miguel, Merrimack CollegeAbstractAdded to solid technical skills, there are a number of “soft” skills that a civil engineer must possess to besuccessful in practice. A concept for a course is proposed where students can develop technical and non-technical practice skills using the learning approach of reflective action which was first introduced byDonald Schon in the 1980’s. Reflective action is demonstrated through a design problem involving

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

R. Radharamanan; Ha Van Vo

this paper clearly indicate the learning opportunities provided to the students at MUSE. Thestudents also participate in the multidisciplinary senior design projects in their final year. Theeffective use of theory classes, design and manufacturing lab facilities, multidisciplinary seniordesign projects, and co-op opportunities provide the students the needed expertise and preparethem well to meet the challenges in the industrial workplace.References[1] Davis, D. C., Gentili, K. L., Trevisa, M. S., and Calkins, D. E., “Engineering Design Assessment Processes and Scoring Scales for Program Improvement and Accountability,” Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 91 (No. 2), 2002, pp. 211-221.[2] Dym, C. L., Sheppard, S. D., and

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Wei Cao; Yanqing Gao; Jason Robert Mace

different operation platforms work together as aswarming group; the organization and function of a swarming team is just like bees or ants. Theindividual intelligent robot can run in either autonomous mode or cooperative mode. Normally, there isone or more ground station(s) to coordinate and initiate the swarming team. The path planning andobstacle avoidance will become a part of formatted cooperative team work. The communication between the ground station(s) and individual intelligent robots has beendeveloped in a systematic manner in the past decade. However, there is no convinced and reliablephysical communication means between individual robots available. And the fact of that there isn’t anymethodology of information exchanging between

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Dean M. Aslam; Zongliang Cao; Cyrous Rostamzadeh

paper is based on teaching at theundergraduate/graduate (formal) and K-12 (informal) levels. It may be pointed out that no formal educationresearch was conducted to generate the Table 1. Thus, the data provided here is qualitative and is based on theassessment of instructors, parents and other professional observers (one of the observers had a doctorate ineducation) during 2006-07. Table 1 Learning level (Basic, Intermediate, Advance), underlying STEMS areas (S, T, E, M), expected impact (Low, Normal,High), learner interest (Low, Normal, High), possible audience types (Families, Children, Adults, College Students, Teachers,Professionals, Underserved, Retired, Boy Scouts, Hobbyists and Explorers), and possible locations (Museum, Science &

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Elif Kongar; Paul Kontogiorgis; Nancy L. Russo; Tarek Sobh

most girls reporting a loss ofinterest in STEM around the age of twelve 9, there are now many studies reporting cases10 where womenenrollment is much higher than men in engineering societies. The collaborative environment of theactivities arranged by these societies may be a contributing factor in the change.Historically, about one-third of all bachelor’s degrees have been awarded in science and engineering.Even though women are 56% of the college population, women earned only 19.5% of engineeringbachelor's degrees in 200511. Despite this high retention rate, in the long run we observe an increasingtrend: Since 1970, the number of bachelor’s degrees in science and engineering (S&E) awarded annuallyto men has fluctuated around 200,000

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

David I. Schwartz

internal measure) can represent a gamestate9. By dynamically adjusting difficulty, a game can adapt to different player abilities9, 10.Adapting the formalism and state4, 9, a score function at time t assigns a score s to a temporal game stateg: s: g →ℤ (3)where s ∊ Z and g = G(t). Thus, a score can provide a basic measure of temporal game state. FromSection 2, G(t) represents an abstract measure of temporal game state—state is an arbitrary representationof G’s components (Equation 1) at a specific time t. Thus, in Figure 2, state can replace score, usingEquation 3.For discrete systems (e.g., turn-based play), we can instead refer to time ti, score si

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

M.G. Guvench

fact the junior electronics courses (ELE342and ELE343) constituting prerequisites for this course also emphasize design but at a smaller scale andusing discrete BJT and off-the-shelf ICs rather than at the chip level using CMOS technology. Thisemphasis on “design” in our electronics sequence of courses has been implemented starting with an NSFgrant to establish and develop a “Computer-Integrated-Electronics” Laboratory (C.I.E. Lab) in the early1990’s. The concept of “Computer-Integrated-Electronics Laboratory” simply brings computers into theelectronics lab where designs implemented are tested for verification. Availability of PC-basedcomputational and graphics software along with inexpensive circuit simulation tools like “PSpice

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Bassem Alhalabi; M. K. Hamza; Ali Abu-El Humos

experiment’s parameters and Components control points, such as motors, solenoids, heating Figure 1. Remote Lab Environment (RLE) Components element, switches, etc.• Data acquisition & control unit (DAQ): an interface between the sensors and actuators, other instrument devices and computer- server(s). This module’s chief functionality is to communicate the computer commands to actuators as well as communicate the data measurements to the computer.• Computer (microcontroller): this component basically runs the experiment software and goes through the experiment steps and interacts with the user via the DAQ and sensors/actuators. Many controllers are available in the market. The National

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Matt Armstrong; Richard L. Comitz; Andrew Biaglow; Russ Lachance; Joseph Sloop

Engineering Design Process Environment: Technological Design & Economic Analysis Political Alternatives Social Generation Modeling & Analysi s Problem Decision Definition Making EngineeringCurrent Status: Needs Design Comparison of

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Linda Ann Riley; Charles Thomas

establish a bridge that we hope in time will ultimately affect the pipeline ofentering engineering freshmen. At the very least, the partnership has provided the authors with a deeperappreciation of the challenges and opportunities associated with middle and secondary education systemsin Rhode Island and the nation.ReferencesAmerican Society for Engineering Education. (2007). Profiles of Engineering and Engineering TechnologyColleges. Washington D.C.: American Society for Engineering Education.Jefers, A. S. (2004). Understanding K-12 Engineering Outreach Programs. Journal of Professional Issues inEngineering Education and Practice (138), 95-108.National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Statistics. (2006). The Nations Report

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

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) is one of the nation’s four federalservice academies. CGA focuses on the academic, military and physical development ofyoung men and women as leaders in service to our nation. CGA provides the U. S. CoastGuard (USCG) with approximately 190 new Coast Guard officers each year. Upongraduation, each graduate receives a commission as an Ensign in the Coast Guard and aBachelors of Science degree in one of eight fields. The Civil Engineering program, one offour engineering majors at CGA, averages 30 graduates per year. The CGA Civilprogram has taken advantage of the small class size in its development of the capstonedesign course. Students work in teams on several projects each year with clients in theCoast Guard or the local community.In the late

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Shih-Liang Wang

force. Rather, it can bedetermined after the force directions have been determined. The driven gear will be rotating inthe direction of the tangential component of the force. This is especially helpful to determine thedirection of rotation of worm gear, as most textbooks do not present a concise way in doing so.References:[1] M. F. Spotts, T. E. Shoup, and L. E. Hornberger "Design of Machine Elements", 8th ed., Prentice- Hall, 2003.[2] R. L. Mott, "Machine Elements in Mechanical Design", Prentice Hall; 4th ed., 2003.[3] R. Budynas and J. K. Nisbett, “Shigley's Mechanical Engineering Design”, 8th ed., McGraw- Hill, 2008.[4] R. L. Norton, Machine Design: An Integrated Approach 3rd ed, Prentice Hall, 2005.[5] C. R. Thomas and V. S. Hillsman

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Arthur Heinricher; Brian Savilonis; David Spanagel; Robert Traver; Kristin Wobbe

mission, and others build first-year seminars connecting students withfaculty research interests. (See Upcraft, et al, 2006.)WPI made project-based learning the core of its academic program in the early 1970’s when itdefined graduation requirements that included two major projects (Grogan, 1988). One is in themajor and is usually completed in the senior year. The second project is usually completed in thejunior year and challenges students to work on a problem at the interface of science, technology,and societal needs.Today, about half of WPI’s students (about 400 students each year) complete their junior-yearproject at one of 23 project centers around the world. For example, a team of three students (onechemical engineer, one civil engineer and

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Christopher W. Swan; Julia Carroll

A Brighter Economic Future. National Academies of Sciences, National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.4. ABET (2007). Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs. The Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. http://www.abet.org/.5. Goldberg, D.E. (2006), The Entrepreneurial Engineer. John Wiley and Sons, New Jersey.6. Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions at IIT. http://ethics.iit.edu/codes/engineer.html (Accessed March 14, 2008).7. Freeman, S.; Matson, D.; Sharpe, G.; and Swan, C. (2006) “International Citizenship and Global Service Leadership – The Role of Interdisciplinary Teams in Engineering Education”, ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago IL

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Eileen M. Kowalski; Joe D. Manous

Education and Practice. 131:4, 218-222.7. Friesen, Marcia, K. Lynn Taylor, and M.G. Britton (2005) “A Qualitative Study of a Course Trilogy in Biosystems Engineering Design”. Journal of Engineering Education. 94:3, 287-296.8. Grigg, Neil S., Marvin E. Criswell, Darrell G. Fontane, Laurel Saito, Thomas J. Siller, and Daniel K. Sunada (2004) “Integrated Civil Engineering Curriculum: Five-Year Review”. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice. 130:3, 160-165.9. Light, Richard J., Judith D. Singer, and John B. Willett (1990) By Design, Planning Research on Higher Education. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 296p.10. Newstetter, Wendy C. (2005) “Designing Cognitive Apprenticeships for

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Elif Kongar; Tarek Sobh

22Max Faculty professional development funding $125K $87K $75K 23Max #GA’s and RA’s offered per semester (credit hours) 1170 360 300 24Max Student professional development funding $65K $26K $25K 25Max Staff salaries (current average, all without Dean) $65K $61K $61K 26Max Session Chairmanships 42 24 21 27Max Tech-related expenditure (s/w, h/w, etc.) $4M $2.7M $2.0M 28Max # online courses offered/year

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Hudson V. Jackson; Evelyn A. Ellis

Career Choice Practical Figure 1.0: Schematics of Proposed StrategyEmphasis is placed on encouraging students to recognize the relevance of engineering to their own lives,as they now know it. Key points that would be highlighted in both examples include: • What led to the development of such principles? • How was society impacted then, as well as now? • Was there any technological/engineering advancement as a result of this? • Who were the key players? • How has or how can this be applied? • Example application(s)/events specific to each grade level. • Relevance to present day--making it personal. • Are the right connections being made? Putting it all together.It is

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Ismail I. Orabi

how well existing material will translate online, creating new approaches tocommunicating with students, and evaluating and rebuilding the course as problems arise.AcknowledgmentI would like to thank all the students that took part in the survey.Bibliography1. Charp, S. (1998). Any time, any place learning. T H E Journal, 25(8), 6.2. Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1991). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduateeducation. In3. A. W. Chickering & Z. F. Gamson (Eds.), Applying the Seven Principles for Good Practice inUndergraduate Education, New Directions for Teaching and Learning (pp. 63-69). San Francisco:Jossey-Bass.4. Green, K. (1997). Drawn to the light, burned by the flame? Money, technology and distance

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Bahram Nassersharif

classroom). Each projector screen will cover two of the flat screen LCD monitors when inuse. Therefore, the visual system in the room can be operated in one of three modes: 1. Four projectors 2. Two projectors and four LCD monitors 3. Eight LCD monitorsThe instructor station is an Intel Quadcore PC with a quad-port video board, 1 terabyte of disk storage,and 4 gigabytes of memory. The instructor station is also equipped with two WACOM pen screensallowing the instructor to write on the computer screen. We chose the Synchroneyes software to controlthe student workstations. With this software the instructor can broadcast their screen(s) to all studentscreens or project any student’s screen to their own screen.The technology environment for

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Richard J.H. Gash; David Fedroff

standard undergraduate courses of study.1. U.S. Green Building Council, LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations, Version 2.2, October, 2005.2. Kosmatka, S., Kerkhoff, B., and Panarese, W.; Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures, 14th Edition, PortlandCement Association, Skokie, Illinois, 2002. 6

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

the average studentperforms 2% better than predicted and the distribution of this difference is negatively skewed (-0.64) indicating the bulk of the students outperform the prediction.Also notice in Figure 1 that no students were predicted to finish with above a 93%. This is likelydue to the fact that few students earn all A’s and A+’s in previous coursework, so very few havea GPA higher than 4.0. This prediction, therefore, fails to predict that students will score an A+in a future course. 100% 95% 90% Actual Performance (in CE300) 85% 80% 75

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Saikat Ray

U.S.A. The primary avenue of getting a job in the U.S.A. for a person who is not a citizen or a permanent resident is the H1-B visa (work visa).2 Due to immigration policies, it is easier to get the F-1 (student) visa and convert the status into H1-B after completion of the degree than directly getting the H1-B1 . Anecdotes tell that in the flourishing dot-com era of late 1990’s, many post-bachelor’s Ph.D. students would belured away by the companies. That may be the reason that in some schools it is difficult, de jure or de facto, for afunded post-bachelor’s student to get an M.S. diploma even after completing the equivalent course works.2 Obtaining employment based permanent residency (the “green card”) for getting a

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Richard B. Mindek

the PLC and switching functions, making the operation of turning the fan on safer.(5) Next, flip the toggle switch “1” of the 1796 SIM1500 Input Simulator to the up position. Note that theblinking red light turns on. This occurs because output 0 (O:0/0) of the PLC is activated from 0, OFF to1, ON. Referencing rung 2 of the ladder logic diagram in Appendix A, it is seen that O:0/0 (portrayed asa load on the right side of rung 1 of the ladder logic diagram) is activated when input 5 (I:0/5, a ladderlogic switch) is activated to 1, ON. This is done by physically moving toggle switch 1 of the 1796SIM1500 Input Simulator in the up position, completing the 24 VDC circuit. The ladder logic also showsa time base switch, or timing delay, S:4/13, in