Conference Session

Why Industry Says that our Engineering Students Cannot Write

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William K. Durfee, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Benjamin Adams, University of Minnesota; Audrey J. Appelsies, University of Minnesota; Pamela Flash, University of Minnesota

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Mechanical Engineering

three-phase WEC process is (1) to develop awriting plan based on discipline-specific writing outcomes desired for graduating majors, (2)implement the plan and (2) assess the plan and revise based on the assessment. The plan formechanical engineering defined nine attributes of mechanical engineering writing and 14 desiredwriting ability outcomes for graduating majors. Stakeholders agreed that problem sets were thenumber one form of writing for engineering students and that attention paid to writing a problemset would help students to learn the material. The plan was implemented by targeting three corecourses for explicit writing instruction and raising the awareness of writing in other requiredcourses in the program. Assessment is on-going and

Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donald Wroblewski, Boston University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

CAT-related content or activities, and provided a 15-minute introductory talk, describing the concept of CATs. • All problems, examples, etc., were “branded” with the CAT logo (see upper left corner of Fig. 2), so students could easily identify a thread-related activity. • More hands on activities were planned, focusing on several mini-wind turbines that could be operated inside using room fans. • A new website was planned for coordinating CATs, aimed at providing a more engaging on-line presence, though this was not developed until the summer of 2010, after the first year. • Meetings would be held at the beginning of each semester with all faculty who teach courses with CAT-related

Conference Session

Active and Project-Based Learning

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lynn Albers, North Carolina State University; Laura Bottomley, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

defines as,“Active learning is anything course-related that all students in a class session are calledupon to do other than simply watching, listening and taking notes.” He does not proposeto entirely eliminate the act of lecturing, however highly encourages that active learningbe incorporated into the classroom experience. He proposes that teachers engagestudents in relevant activities involving problem solving that last 30 seconds to a minute.One of the things he suggests that the instructor do is have the students explain a complexconcept in terms a high school student could understand. [2] This lends itself well tosupport the objective of the Lesson Plan project whose underlying goal is to teach theconcept by forcing the student to teach the

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wayne E. Whiteman, Georgia Institute of Technology; William J. Wepfer, Georgia Institute of Technology; Jeffrey A. Donnell, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Ph.D. students tocomplete a Teaching Practicum course during their doctoral studies. Students work closely withfaculty mentors in teaching a course. While the focus of the class is on pedagogy, the goal is forstudents to find the experience useful regardless of whether they are going into academia,industry, a research laboratory, or other career pursuits. In addition to issues dealing withteaching engineering, sessions are organized for career planning, success in both academia andindustry, ethics, and basic counseling and mentoring skills. This paper is a study of theeffectiveness of the Teaching Practicum experience. Survey responses are analyzed from nearly100 Ph.D. alumni for the period from the summer of 1996 to the spring of 2009. The

Conference Session

Active and Project-Based Learning

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eric Constans, Rowan University; Jennifer Kadlowec, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

: students felt very uncomfortable having to write evensimple programs without having had any prior programming experience. The author (with somemisgivings) plans to remove the MATLAB content from the course and have the students usemore familiar tools (e.g. Excel) for computation.Finally, students were asked about the homework assignments, which were largely identical tothe ones given to third-year students in the past. Fully 100% found the assignments challenging,but only 28.7% found them to be too challenging. As before, the students exhibited a markeddislike for the homework assignments that required MATLAB. Given that MATLAB is popularand much-loved tool of practicing engineers, these students will eventually become accustomedto it.As to the

Conference Session

Mechanical Engineering Laboratories I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charles Forsberg, Hofstra University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

enhance the students’ comprehension of the usefulness of dimensionalanalysis in the planning of experimental programs and the interpretation of the experimentaldata. The intent is to have students actively participate in the performance of the demonstrationsand the gathering of data. They would also correlate the data during the class period usingsoftware such as Excel, Matlab, or MathCad. The class session would be lively, with muchincreased student participation and active learning.Accordingly, we have developed a fluid mechanics experiment dealing with the flow of fluids(i. e., water and air) through nozzles of different sizes. The pressure drops across the nozzles aremeasured for a variety of flow rates. Using dimensional analysis, the

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Raghu Echempati, Kettering University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

part of thisworkshop, it was expected that the faculty should propose plans to implement any ideas andinnovation principles learned during this workshop and bring those to the classroom.As one of the outcomes of the workshop, namely, the implementation plan, the author discusseda few case studies on innovation and entrepreneurship and how those topics can be related to theregular course material. Practically every course can include a discussion of these topics Page 22.924.2(innovation and entrepreneurship) to promote the mindset in students. The course that the authorattempted is Machine Design, which usually involves open-endedness and

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ahmed Cherif Megri, University of Wyoming

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Page 22.306.2four weeks into the course) with formal oral presentations delivered by the students that include 2011 ASEE Annual Conferencetheir recommendation for a system, based on the evaluation of at least two different systemdesigns. This oral presentation is delivered to fellow students, faculty and practicing engineers.The final design phase requires students to prepare a design packet comprised of a set of finalcalculations, drawings (including mechanical plans – with specific assignments to be determinedat a later date) with selected sections and details for the mechanical systems, and a notebookdetailing their project’s design process.The mechanical section of the Architectural Engineering program at

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Laila Guessous, Oakland University; Qian Zou, Oakland University; Brian P. Sangeorzan, Oakland University; Xia Wang, Oakland University; Gary Barber, Oakland University; Lorenzo M. Smith, Oakland University; LianXiang Yang, Oakland University; David Schall, Oakland University, Department of Mechanical Engineering; Michael A. Latcha, Oakland University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

and math (STEM). Student participants work in teams onautomotive and energy-related research projects in mechanical engineering and also take part inother activities such as industrial research lab and facilities tours, meetings with workingengineers, conferences and seminars. To date, a total of 37 students– more than half of whomwere female - from 30 different universities have taken part in the program since its inception in2006.The purpose of this paper is to present some of the lessons learned from the first four years of theprogram. Some of the planning, logistics, procedures and outcomes will be described andanalyzed based on the results from the pre- and post-surveys conducted to assess the program.We believe that this type of

Conference Session

Active and Project-Based Learning

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John S. Lamancusa, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Laura L. Pauley, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

 (verbal, written, electronic)  5) Reinforce and improve CAD/Solid Modeling skills  6) Develop and practice skills in project planning, budget management, resource allocation  and scheduling  7) Instill a philosophy of professional and ethical behavior  8) Provide guidance in applying engineering principles to open‐ended problems  9) Provide an introductory knowledge of business practices, economic viability,  environmental sustainability, and the social consequences of technology  Most of our students are not as abstract or reflective as the typical professor, and learn moreeffectively in more active modes. Dale 6 reports that after two weeks, people generallyremember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amy C. Bradshaw, University of Oklahoma; Zahed Siddique, University of Oklahoma; Patricia Lea Hardre, University of Oklahoma; Farrokh Mistree, University of Oklahoma

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Conference Session

Mechanical Engineering Laboratories II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John M Mativo, University of Georgia; Natasha Smith, University of Southern Indiana

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

suggestions for improvement.A summary of responses to the open ended question is provided in Table 1, while the Likertresults are given in Table 2. From Table 1, it is evident students felt the experience enhancedtheir mastery of the subject matter (see summary of answers to questions 1, 2a, and 3). Theyalso indicated a significant level of preparation and planning (question 5). As predicted byAristotle and proponents of active learning, students easily made the connection between anincrease in ownership of the process (or more doing) and an increase in understanding. Inaddition, students appeared to have made the connections between concepts required for transferand practical application. For example, responses to question 4 (regarding

Conference Session

Engineering Mechanics Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jefferey E. Froyd, Texas A&M University; Christian J. Schwartz P.E., Texas A&M University; Kumbakonam Ramamani Rajagopal, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

failureprevention and experiences in offering the redesigned course for three semesters: fall 2009,spring 2010, and fall 2010. Redesign follows the framework suggested in Wiggins andMcTighe1:  First, develop the learning outcomes for the course. Learning outcomes state expectations for learning in terms of what students will be expected to demonstrate.  After the learning outcomes are developed, the faculty member designs the plan through which student achievement of the learning outcomes will be assessed and evaluated.  Finally, after the assessment plan is developed, the faculty member designs the learning activities and content delivery that will support student development with respect to the learning

Conference Session

Mechatronics in the Curriculum

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yang Cao, University of British Columbia

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

more, the virtual simulator development gains students interest andmotivates student in learning robotics. It allows more lab-type of learning. Some homework canalso be readily verified using the virtual robot. For future teaching plan, the developenvironment will be open to students‟ choice. Other engineering tools, such as simMechanics,ADAMS will be considered for dynamics and control design purpose.References[1] T., Hakan; G, Metin; B, Seta, “Hardware in the Loop Robot Simulators for On-site and Remote Education in Robotics”, International Journal of Engineering Education, Volume 22, Number 4, August 2006 , pp. 815- 828(14).[2] Costas S. Tzafestas, Nektaria Palaiologou, “Virtual and Remote Robotic Laboratory: Comparative

Conference Session

Mechatronics in the Curriculum

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yunfeng Wang, College of New Jersey; Christopher Ault, College of New Jersey; Teresa Marrin Nakra, College of New Jersey; Andrea Salgian, College of New Jersey; Meredith K. Stone, Independent Evaluator

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

were you able to make a contribution to the project in a discipline outside your own? Students reported making only moderate contributions in disciplines outside their own. Average rating was 6.0, while the mode was 4, the median was 6. Page 22.1484.6 A multidisciplinary approach modifies this scenario through the participation of specialists from different fields who have the necessary skills to communicate with each other and produce a collaborative solution through a common perspective(9) How MUCH IMPACT has participating in this course had on what you plan to do after you graduate? Students reported that the course had only

Conference Session

Outstanding Contributions: Mechanical Engineering Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bobby G. Crawford, U.S. Military Academy; Daisie D. Boettner, U.S. Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Principle Experiment Planning External Flow / Boundary Layers 19 Steady Flow Devices Review Page 22.917.3 20 EES Workshop Wind Tunnel Lab 21 Vapor Power Cycles Drag 22 Steam Turbine Lab Lift Differential Approach: Conservation of 23 Improved Vapor Power Cycles Mass Differential

Conference Session

Engineering Mechanics Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peter Schuster, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

contribute to global deflection of a structure.  Use U Castigliaano’s method d to calculatee redundant forces and ddeflection off a structure.  Perform simpple beam and d 2-D solid stress s analyses with a commmercial FE EM code.  Compare C resu ults of analyttical, experim mental, and numerical aanalyses of sttructures.  Use U both stress and deflecction predicttions to speccify the desiggn of a struccture. Two T alternatiive suspendeed conveyor systems havve been desiggned to transsfer prrocessed maaterial in a reecycling plan

Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amir Karimi, University of Texas, San Antonio; Randall D. Manteufel, University of Texas, San Antonio

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

agree that students should not have access to the problem solutions.Homework helps students prepare for engineering employment and practice where they areexpected to solve new problems on their own. As students spend time and struggle throughsolving new problems they develop a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Page 22.512.2Students have always been interested in gaining access to the solutions of their homeworkassignments. Copies of solutions to homework assignments and exam were collected andhanded out to students planning to take the same course in the future.A decade or more before, all solution manuals were in a hard copy format

Conference Session

Why Industry Says that our Engineering Students Cannot Write

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Scott Duncan, Valparaiso University; Mark M. Budnik, Valparaiso University; Jeffrey Will, Valparaiso University; Peter E. Johnson, Valparaiso University; Shahin S. Nudehi, Valparaiso University

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Mechanical Engineering

criticalsubsystem.Oral Progress Reports: As individuals, students provide a five minute presentation that updatesthe course participants on the status of their team's project. A question and answer periodfollows the presentation.Semester 2Project Status Reports: As individuals, students write and review a one page technical report thatsummarizes the status of their project.Milestone Demonstration: As a team, students manufacture and present a prototype of a criticalsubsystem.Final Test Plan: As a team, students develop a test plan for their system that assures all systemdesign requirements have been met if the system passes all tests.Video: As a team, students develop a five minute video that summarizes their entire project.Poster: As a team, students create a

Conference Session

Design Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel D. Jensen, U.S. Air Force Academy; Kristin L. Wood, University of Texas, Austin; Joseph J. Rencis, University of Arkansas; Ashland O. Brown P.E., University of the Pacific; Christina Kay White, Columbia University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

involvesstudying and analyzing active learning tools and techniques, along with the assessment methodsfor determining their efficacy. When Felder investigated learning and teaching styles in engineering education duringthe late 1980s, there was quite a response from the community [10]. Felder sought to explaincommon pitfalls in engineering classrooms and propose a plan to improve engineering educationas a whole. Drawing on the research of Kolb, Myers, and Piaget [11], Felder looked toimplement educational psychology research for his own practical purposes and for direct use inthe classroom. He recognized divergences between the way most engineering students tend tolearn and the way most instructors tend to teach. As early as the 1990s, engineering

Conference Session

Capstone Courses and Design Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Trian M. Georgeou, Arizona State University; Scott Danielson, Arizona State University, Polytechnic campus; Chell A. Roberts, Arizona State University, Polytechnic campus

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

fallsemester, the projects are staffed; teams develop a complete problem/project description, developa project schedule, and complete a formalized design process to select a solution to the problem.During the second semester, the students do detailed design of their chosen solution, create amanufacturing plan (make/buy decisions and component manufacturing), and complete aprofessional level prototype. Deliverables include an extensive design report, engineeringdrawings and the prototype.Staffing teams with students from a variety of engineering education programs with distinct skillsets yields significant benefits for both the students and project solution quality. In addition tothe mix of technical skills, the students have a mix of professional

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eric C. Dierks, University of Texas, Austin; Jason M. Weaver, University of Texas, Austin; Kristin L. Wood, University of Texas, Austin; Kendra Crider, U.S. Air Force Academy; Daniel D. Jensen, U.S. Air Force Academy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

necessitates frequentand costly inspection to monitor deterioration, and thus has wide-ranging consequences. The inclusion of an energy harvesting project into the Capstone Design course met no Page 22.565.15notable challenges to implementation and was well received by other faculty. The specificlearning objectives of the course include working through a typical engineering design process,including background research, concept generation and selection, embodiment, formulation andaccomplishment of an analysis plan, prototype construction, and formulation andaccomplishment of a test plan. Along the way, students are to present their work to

Conference Session

Capstone Courses and Design Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bobby G. Crawford, U.S. Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

and fuel. It did requiresignificant planning and preparation on the part of the faculty advisors. It also required severaldedicated lessons out of the beginning of the capstone design. While the cost in time wassignificant, both the faculty advisors and the students agreed that it allowed the design team toachieve greater efficiencies of learning and produce a much better final product.The structured learning experience at the beginning was initially viewed by the students asencroaching on their design time. Once they became involved with working on the hardware,they quickly realized how valuable the experience was. The lab experience relieved some of theanxiety and later frustration that had been experienced in the past.This year, the

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

K. Hodge, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

students ask for additional information about assignments developedin the fashion explored in this paper. Many have visited the systems and are able toadd person experiences. Overall, the technique discussed in this paper is a usefulapproach and a good addition to an engineering educator’s tool kit.References1. http://www.enwave.com/downloads.html  2. http://www.enwave.com/district_cooling_system.html 3. http://maps.canurb.com/cases/toronto.pdf 4. http://www.toronto.ca/environment/initiatives/cooling.htm 5. http://www.canadianconsultingengineer.com 6. http://www.mytorontomeeting.com/Visitor/Plan-Your-Trip/A-Green-City.aspx 7. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0830/p13s01-stgn.htm 8. http://www.toronto.ca/environment/initiatives/cooling.htm 9. http

Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anca L. Sala, Baker College; Raghu Echempati, Kettering University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

performance.- the large time gap between the two courses for a few of the students. It is known that in generalthe retention of course material by students is not great, so after a couple of years even if astudent did very well in a course, he/she might have difficulty applying the previously acquiredknowledge to a present course.To increase the reliability of the data interpretation we plan to continue collecting this data in thefuture. Having larger populations of students included in the study will allow for a better controlof the variables.The motivation of this study is to determine one approach that can contribute to increasedstudent learning in the upper level courses of “Vibrations” and “Dynamics Systems andControl”. Student grades are a

Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Pamela Renee Lockwood-Cooke, West Texas A&M University ; Freddie J Davis P.E., West Texas A&M University; Emily M. Hunt P.E., West Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

were: When students were asked if they planned to complete a degree in engineering, 16% of freshmen engineering students not enrolled in a learning community either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement as compared to 8% for those in the learning communities. When asked how much the ENGR 1201 course had added to their skills involving working on a team, 63% of those not enrolled in the learning community responded either “a great deal” or “a lot” as compared to 93% for those enrolled in the learning community When asked how much the ENGR 1201 course added to their skills in identifying and formulating an engineering problem, 85% of those in the learning community responded

Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anca L. Sala, Baker College; Tom Spendlove, Baker College, Flint; James Riddell, Baker College, Flint

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

can also be used to assess students’ communication Page 22.252.8and life-long learning skills. Future work will include assessment of Program Outcomes (g) and(i) using the tools described. In addition, one of the Program Educational Objectives of theMechanical Engineering program is “To produce graduates who maintain awareness of societaland contemporary issues and fulfill community and society’s needs”. We plan to study the effectof the assignments described in this paper on the achievement of this Program EducationalObjective.Bibliography1. ABET’s 2009-10 EAC (a)-(k) Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs.2. E. Koehn, K.G. Vaska , K

Conference Session

Mechatronics in the Curriculum

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bingen Yang, University of Southern California; Cheng-Yuan Jerry Chen, University of Southern California

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

design and system-level analysis via MATLAB and SIMULINK;and experimental verification. Two sets of control experiments are to be performed to Page 22.480.2demonstrate control system development for robotic manipulators: open-loop inverse kinematiccontrol design, and basic joint space control design, which is a combination of open-loop torquescomputed using inverse kinematic and closed-loop PD and PID controllers. Figure 1. A FANUC robotic platformThese modified lab courses and related precursor courses, expose students to different aspects ofmodeling and simulation at an early stage of their studies. We plan to continue

Conference Session

Why Industry Says that our Engineering Students Cannot Write

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Conrad, Portland State University; Timothy James Pfeiffer P.E., Foundation Engineering, Inc.

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Mechanical Engineering

. Student PractitionerMain GenresReports 86 74 Cover letters with reports 18 18Technical memoranda 51 27Proposals 20 20Project-related e-mails 16 120Lab reports 105 N/AEssays on an engr topic 42 N/ASite visit reports 44 20Additional practitioner genres: Plan sheet notes, Special provisionsTable 1. Corpus of Student and Workplace Texts in Civil Engineering as of January 2011 Page 22.1169.4The passive voice analysis was

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brent A Nelson, Northern Arizona University; Constantin Ciocanel, Northern Arizona University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

previous experiences at the rate expected by the professors. Accordingly, it may berequired that in future implementations, at the beginning of the open-ended assignments eachgroup will discuss with the faculty their plan of action and where necessary, supplementaryguidance will be provided.4.3 Survey ResultsRegarding learning in ME450, the survey results were largely consistent between the currentiteration and the previous implementation of the design project, as shown in Tables 4 and 5. Theincreased number of students identifying the lecture as the most impactful on their learning maybe due to increased experience of the instructor in the course, who was teaching it for the firsttime during the first implementation of the design project