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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

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end of course surveys, constituent focus groups, senior exit surveys, and facultyobservations.The current capstone design course, Civil Engineering Design (CED), was developed tomimic the civil engineering experiences students will face when they enter theengineering workforce after graduation. While this capstone course model continues todevelop with each successive semester, the Civil Engineering Faculty at CGA feel thenew course is better able to achieve the course objectives of graduating students who can“plan, design, execute, and manage a complex open-ended civil engineering project”.1 Inaccomplishing this goal, students produce engineering design documents, constructiondrawings, cost estimates, construction schedules, and any other

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Ali Setoodehnia; Kamal Shahrabi; Anthony Manno

personal problems, not academic problem. For this reasonall those involved need to understand the policies and procedures that affect students'financial aid as well as have a clear understanding of how to effectively advise thosestudents in financial need.The career development center on campus needs to go beyond their traditional role aswell. They need to help students understand how their chosen study plan will learn aninteresting career that pays well. If they understand their career options/goals then theywill have a better focus on their classes. Career services should also organize shortseminars to help students better make the connection between their academic planningand their career goals.Another way to help make that connection is by

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

David A. Gray

of Lloyd S.Nelson as quoted by W. Edwards Deming. 3. The question is, “If you can improve productivity, or sale, orquality, or anything else, by (e.g.) 5 percent next year without a rational plan for improvement, then whywere you not doing it last year?” A student cannot just sit and do nothing and expect grades to improve.That student has to evaluate his or her process and change it. The rational plan may be as simple as notwaiting until the last minute to study for a test. That is a process change, and implementation of the planshould result in improvement.Once students have bought into the idea that each is the principle owner of a process, we need to placethem in a position to manage it. Such management is their responsibility. Most

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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

John Adams; Charles Kochakian

although ABET1Criteria 3 (d), (f) and (h) are being achieved, morecoursework addressing these criteria could prove highly valuable. The decision was made thatincluding RFID in the curriculum, and crafting it in such a way that business students can take itat the same time, would significantly strengthen the curriculum in addressing those outcomes.The department’s overall assessment process, the assessment results leading to decisions onincluding the course and what to include in the course, and planned course assessment are alldiscussed below.First Offering of RFIDThe course was offered as a 3-credit advanced elective in the spring semester 2007. There wasone lead instructor, with lectures taught by one other EE department instructor and experts

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Richard J.H. Gash; David Fedroff

Getting Students to Think Green: Incorporating Green Building Rating Systems into Undergraduate Reinforced Concrete Education Major Richard J.H. Gash, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY Major David Fedroff, United States Military Academy, West Point, NYAbstract This paper presents a plan for introducing undergraduate students studying reinforced concretedesign to sustainable engineering. As increased emphasis on sustainable development initiatives continueto gain popularity it is imperative that young engineers entering into the design and constructionindustries understand the potential that concrete has for building green. Beginning

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

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Linda Ann Riley; Charles Thomas

three year grants guarantee that 90% ofmathematics and science teachers in the applying school districts fully participate in the conditions of thegrant. Those conditions involved engaging in common planning times, participating in 100 hours ofprofessional development each year of the grant, providing programs in an “extended day” format,acquiring increased content knowledge in mathematics and science and demonstrating improvedpedagogical curriculum plans in the classroom. The latter two requirements are externally validatedthrough the ETS Mathematics and Science Teacher tests and consultant observations of classroompractices.As the higher education partner, faculty members from mathematics, science and engineering departmentshad to agree to

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Richard B. Mindek

toexperiment with the program structure needed to control particular output devices. Student feedback todate suggests the availability of this platform, which encourages self-exploration, has had a very positiveimpact on student learning in a recently run graduate course. Plans for implementing an experientiallearning approach using an updated version of the same platform in the undergraduate engineeringcurriculum are also discussed.1.0 IntroductionA programmable logic controller (PLC) is a microprocessor-based control system used by industry tocommunicate with other process control components. It is used in process control for simple switchingtasks, proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control, complex data manipulation, arithmetic operations

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

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

science class. As you can see from Figures 7 and 8, both processes first define theproblem or the mission by examining facts, assumptions, and specified/implied/critical tasks. Bothprocesses then design alternatives and model or test those alternatives so they can be analyzed andcompared. Finally, both processes enable us to arrive at a reasonable decision and both are iterative innature with feedback loops to further refine the design or plan. While this interdisciplinary project wasdesigned to show our students the connections between organic chemistry, reaction engineering andseparations, but we were able to draw multiple connections across many aspects of our curriculum like thecase of engineering design and military science. The

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

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

one biomedical engineer) recently lived and worked inWindhoek, Namibia for seven weeks and developed a plan for erosion and flood control in theinformal settlements there. (See Vaz, 2000 and the WPI Global Perspectives web site.) This kindof project work has not been available to first-year students. Perhaps just as important, traditionalcourses in the first year have not always prepared students for project work in the junior andsenior years.When do students have enough background to start working on something interesting andimportant? Tryggvason and Apelian (2006) have argued that the engineer of the 21st century“knows everything” in the very real sense that advances in information technology have made all

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Christopher W. Swan; Julia Carroll

installation, with agoal of construction to begin as early as Summer 2008. The team had to address the design ofthe bio-digester within the physical, operational, and economic constraints of the farm. Duringthe project, the team became familiar with the construction process in the rural Vermont area andhow it pertains to this project. For the team, the learning objectives included designing thevarious components of the bio-digester unit, evaluating input alternatives to optimize methaneproduction, and developing an implementation plan for the digester considering a new KISSprinciple (Knowledge + Innovation = Sustainable Systems). Public Communication of Longfellow Bridge Rehabilitation This project required developing an effective

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

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

responsibilities have minimal effects. Collaborative Competitive Similar proportions of men and women science and engineering doctorates plan to enter postdoctoral study or academic employment. Not very good at Good at math Female performance in high school mathematics now math matches that of males. Ignorant of [Aware of Although scientists like to believe that they “choose the opportunities opportunities] best” based on objective criteria, decisions are influenced by factors—including biases about race, sex

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

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. Statistical tests were conducted and results were documented on the power of simulation.Development of Finite Element AnalysisA computer program was developed by idealizing the flexible pavement into a finite element continuum.In this investigation a layered pavement system was idealized as an axisymmetric solid with finiteboundaries in both radial and axial directions, as shown in Fig 1. The axisymmetric body was thendivided into a set of ring elements, rectangular in section and connected along their nodal circles. Thefinite elements are actually complete rings in the circumferential direction, and the nodal points at whichthey are connected are circular lines in plan view. Because of axisymmetry, the three-dimensionalproblem reduces to a two

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Abdelrahman M. Rabie; Rahman Haleem

. These preparations attempt to change the students’speaking habits so that presentations and discussions are conducted in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA).The ratio of colloquial and foreign words in normal and academic conversations is one of the basic issuestackled in the sequence. So is planning for writing, researching and critical thinking. The latter issues arenew to students and are significantly important in developing their abilities to communicate their ideas inan effective manner.In the colleges, a different scheme has been devised; Arabic Labs were attached to at least two coursestaught in each college. The content was driven by the English courses under the control of the college.The Arabic Lab simply shadowed the main course and used

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Dean M. Aslam; Zongliang Cao; Cyrous Rostamzadeh

All Generators A switches/gates Coputer Switches All M, T, C, S, L, Lego VDG I, A S, T, E M M, H A & Sensors Generators VDG Design A S, T, E L M A, S, T, P, U, E T, C, W Use of LegosConclusions and Future Plans Focusing on technology innovations

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

M. Ali Montazer

regardless of size, budget and product mix.More recently, as a decision support tool, simulation modeling has also become aneffective and easy-to-use tool in implementing Lean / Six sigma programs. West Point, NY - ASEE Zone I 2008 ConferenceLean / Six Sigma ConceptsThe concepts of Lean / Six Sigma trace their origins in Industrial Engineering whereunderstanding the basics of production systems for planning, scheduling, and controllingproduction amounts and timing are fundamental to the discipline. In its simplestmeaning, Lean refers to efforts to eliminate waste in a system or a process, maintainingcontinuous improvement, and bringing greater efficiencies to the production operation.The paperback book by Womack et al (1991

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

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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

research associate in the Laboratory for Responsible Manufacturing(LRM) at Northeastern University since September 1999. She has also been employed as an Assistant Professor byYildiz Technical University till February 2006. Dr. Kongar is currently an Assistant Professor at BridgeportUniversity. Her research interests include the areas of supply chain management, logistics, environmentallyconscious manufacturing, product recovery, disassembly systems, production planning and scheduling and multiplecriteria decision making.Dr. Tarek M. Sobh received the B.Sc. in Engineering degree with honors in Computer Science and AutomaticControl from the Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Egypt in 1988, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees inComputer and

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Hudson V. Jackson; Evelyn A. Ellis

futurepublications.ConclusionThe opportunities for PK-12 students to be exposed to engineering and its benefits to the world in generaland to each individual in particular are infinite. Through strategic planning and the creation of real-worldconnections, students can be inspired to consider engineering as a “normal” part of everyday living whichprovides a pathway for the development of creative ideas that can impact the world in both positive andnegative ways. Through “career imprinting,” PK-12 students can be encouraged to fully connect learningand living so they more intimately understand why what they are learning really matters. They will then,hopefully, choose to become engineers who are committed to making the world a better place to live,work, and play now as

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Bahram Nassersharif

publications.ConclusionThe design and implementation of this classroom has been both an exciting and challenging experience.We have stretched the limits of some the technologies for use in a classroom; for example, the number ofvisual displays, the distances for transmission high definition digital signals from the computer source tothe screens, etc.The response by professors and students has been very positive. Some faculty will be using all of thetechnology available to them as they change their instructional techniques while some will probably useonly the basic features of the classroom. One workshop has already been offered for faculty andadditional workshops are planned during the spring semester for faculty to maximize their use of thisclassroom.Many students

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2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Roy T.R. McGrann

which collection of assessment data is requiredby our ABET Criteria Matrix (Table I).The ME 481 Project #3 Assignment (Marker Problem)As an example of a marker assignment, the project assignment for Fall 2007 is given here: “Design and analyze the landing gear assembly shown in Figure 1. 4 1. Create the seven components and five pins as parts using Pro/E. Use the dimensions given on the drawings provided. Note: these dimensions are approximate dimensions only. Design the final dimensions so that there are no improper interferences in the assembly. Changes cannot be made to the plan-view location of the ground points (D, A), the dimensions of the tire and wheel, the location of