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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Christian Dietz; Dennis Sugrue

REMODELING CLASS PREPARATION ACTIVITIES TO LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY Christian Dietz1 Dennis Sugrue2 Engineering instructors should pursue creative ways to promote preparation prior to class to include videos,reading, as well as analyzing charts and figures. At the U.S. Military Academy, instructors of EnvironmentalDecision Making (EV450) used a series of class preparation exercises to achieve this goal. The cadet curriculum isdemanding and motivating cadets to prepare for ungraded events can be a challenge. Students were given a 5-pointassignment before half of all lessons throughout the semester. Utilizing Blackboard Learn® as the delivery method,students were given three questions

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Jacob Cox; Jason Cody; Jesse Fleming; Matthew Miller

possible that greater interaction with their peers, coupled with improved interaction with their teacher, mayprovide for an increased improvement in our low-performing students. Neha et al. [9] already pointed out that toolarge a gap in performance levels of students can potentially hinder student involvement and interaction in peergroup settings. It may be of value to replace or shuffle the high-performance students in the center aisles so thatstudents with the lowest performance record are not paired with the students possessing the highest.With the shortage of students opting to study science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) type courses, wehope to follow up on this work to determine if strategic seating can be utilized to improve a

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

John W. Duggan; Michael Davidson; Leonard Anderson

Promoting Intra-Disciplinary Design in Civil Engineering Technology: An Approach to Comprehensive Capstone Design Through Faculty and Practitioner Mentorship John W. Duggan, Ph.D., P.E.(1), Michael Davidson, P.E.(2), Leonard Anderson, Ph.D., C.P.C.(3)Abstract - Working in teams, civil engineering technology students develop an open-ended design on a project of theirchoosing. The design integrates several design and engineering concepts including design alternatives, designassumptions, value engineering, cost, safety, construction feasibility, construction scheduling, engineering ethics andengineering economy. All projects include elements of civil engineering sub-disciplines, including structural, hydraulic,site

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Yakov Cherner; Gary Mullett

Simulation-based Customizable Virtual Laboratories for Teaching Alternative Energy, Smart Grid and Energy Conservation in Engineering & Technology Programs Yakov Cherner 1 and Gary Mullett 2Abstract – The paper presents multilayered, highly interactive, simulation-based, integrated, and adjustablevirtual laboratories for engineering and technology education in the areas of renewable energy, sensors, smart grid,and energy conservation. These labs are designed to enhance the understanding of technical concepts and underlyingfundamental principles, as well as to help students master certain performance-based skills online. The virtual labscan be

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

David Kazmer; Katie Bardaro

resources across educational institutions. At the federal level, Congress seeks to provide guidanceto state legislatures through incentives and related policies offered through the U.S. Department of Education(DoED). Furthermore, state and federal governments have a significant impact on public and private educationthrough directed program development and technology research grants. Some recent examples of federal investmentinclude initiatives in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs, info/nano/biotechnology research, and more recently advanced manufacturing. Once again, government agents are explicitly orimplicitly performing economic calculus to justify budget allocations.At the global level, ethicists suggest the need

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Gonca Altuger-Genc

Social Network-based Self-Regulated Learning for Engineers: Is it possible? Gonca Altuger-Genc1Lifelong learning gained more importance as the Accreditation Board for Engineering Education and Technology(ABET) criteria require that engineering programs demonstrate that their students attain “a recognition of the needfor, and an ability to engage in lifelong learning”. Universities across the nation are implementing modules,projects, case studies, and online set-ups to meet the lifelong learning criterion. The concept of lifelong learningdiffers than the traditional in-class learning in being self-regulated and voluntary. These two characteristics oflifelong learning make it

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Zhiyong Gu; Bridgette Budhlall; Hongwei Sun; Carol Barry; Alfred Donatelli; Jill Lohmeier

course better prepares undergraduates for employment focused on designing andmanufacturing nano/microfluidic systems, lab-on-a-chip devices, electronics devices, medical devices, and otheremerging technologies. The impact of this senior-level course will significantly enhance the “Nanomaterials 1 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA01854, USA; Zhiyong_Gu@uml.edu 2 Department of Plastics Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA01854, USA; Bridgette_Buhdlall@uml.edu 3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA01854, USA; Hongwei_Sun@uml.edu 4 Department of Plastics Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Ethan Danahy; Morgan Hynes; Leslie Schneider; Danielle Dowling

The Aggregation Tool: Toward Collaborative Inquiry in Design-Based Science and Engineering Projects Ethan Danahy, Ph.D.1 [Morgan Hynes, Ph.D.,2 Leslie Schneider, Ph.D., Danielle Dowling]Abstract – A growing body of research has shown two things: (1) collaborative design-based inquiry activitiesshow remarkable gains in students’ understanding of science and (2) such activities are largely absent in theclassroom because they can be challenging to implement. In order to rectify the current situation, the InteractiveLearning and Collaboration Environment, or InterLACE, project seeks to design a suite of technological tools thatfacilitates class-wide collaborative sense-making. To that end, we have created an idea aggregation tool that

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

A. Ieta; R. Manseur; M. Hromalik

, “Electrical Engineering Freshmen Practicum.” Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, 2003.[6] A. B. Carlson, W. C. Jennings, and P. M. Schoch, “Teaching circuit analysis in the studio format: a comparison with conventional instruction.” Frontiers in Education Annual Conference, pp. 967-970, 1998.2012 ASEE Northeast Section Conference University of Massachusetts LowellReviewed Paper April 27-28, 2012[7] Maarij M. Syed, and Sudipa Mitra-Kirtley, “Studio Style of Teaching at Rose Hulman Institute of Technology.” ASEE Annual Conference, 2000

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Christopher Swan; Xinyu Wang; Kurt Paterson; Krissy Guzak

practices and outcomes, beneficial and otherwise, are lagging 4. Howservice efforts affect the developmental processes of engineering students requires a coordinated, comprehensive,and longer-term examination.The ISES project, also termed the Engineering Pathways Study, is the first step in this desired, long-termexamination. The project aims to evaluate what desired attributes of future engineers are impacted by a student’sinvolvement in LTS efforts and how these attributes develop over the time of a students’ undergraduate education.The project consists of a sequential, but staggered longitudinal study of engineering students at four institutions;namely Michigan Technological University, Tufts University, University of Colorado Boulder, and James

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Richard Harris; Hameed Metghalchi; Claire Duggan; Emanuel Mason; Rachelle Reisberg; Deepti Dutt

, Practice-Oriented, Experiential Education, Self-Efficacy Under-Representation in EngineeringIn the next fifty years, the minority population in the United States will continue to increase at a much faster ratethan the non-minority population. In fact, data derived from the U.S. Census Bureau 2000 & EngineeringWorkforce Commission 2000 shows that “underrepresented minorities now comprise over 25% of the U.S.Population, yet still comprise only 6.4% of total engineering labor force.”According to the 2010 [8] report issued by the National Academies titled „Expanding Underrepresented MinorityParticipation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads’, the U.S. must involve under-represented minorities

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Sujata K. Bhatia; Brad Crane; David Goligorsky; Joseph P. Zinter; Gu-Yeon Wei

LowellExtended Abstract April 27-28, 2012Students additionally demonstrated a strong excitement regarding future studies of engineering, and future careers inengineering. Importantly, students strongly agreed that “Technology plays an important role in solving society’sproblems,” and that “Engineers have contributed greatly to fixing problems of the world.” Students displayedoverall excitement for the future. Further, students’ comments revealed the positive impact of the course. Onefreshman student stated, “It was awesome to see that there’s this whole world out there just meant to empowerpeople to build stuff. I really like that we had ideas and made them right away

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Joseph J. Helble; Carolyn E. Fraser; Eric R. Fossum

corporate world, academia, andgovernment, argued that for the US to maintain technological and economic leadership, a substantial investment inthe development of a technically competent workforce was required. As the report articulates, nations that are ableto provide conditions favorable to innovation and entrepreneurship, including a strong technically-trainedworkforce, stable government, culture that accepts and rewards risk taking, and the availability of early stage capitalare those most likely to claim positions of leadership in the 21st century. While this report and others appearing atthat time [2, 3] described the need for developing more engineering talent within the U.S., and an overall need forchanges in engineering education to

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Vijay Kanabar

. Programs must satisfy these curriculum elements – Project Management Foundation, Technology &Management Theory and Concepts, and Specialization. The specialization block includes capstone courses andcareer track electives. A minimum foundation of pre-requisite knowledge and practical experience is also needed.A practical illustration of the model would be the Boston University PM core – covering the following courses:Project management (PM foundation), Project cost and risk management, Communications Management Program(Technology & Management) and Program & Portfolio management (Specialization). The University of MarylandGraduate Certificate in Project Management for Engineers also fits the model: Introduction to Project Management(PM

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Keith M. Gardiner

Virtual and Collaborative Project-Based Learning Keith M. Gardiner1Abstract – Project-Based Learning (PBL) methods have been used together with a digitized course managementsystem to enable small numbers of first year engineering students to collaborate, communicate, organize and work ingroups to plan, research and develop information for two-page status reports on a wide range of local, national, andglobal societal and technological issues. A large class comprising 331 first year engineering students wasadministered, managed and successfully guided through a whole semester of practical ‘hands-on’ laboratoryactivities culminating in student presentations to explain their practical lab

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Jani Pallis; Neal Lewis; Ravi Mishra; Navarun Gupta; Arthur McAdams; Richard Yelle

commercialization. 1. University of Bridgeport, Mechanical Engineering, 221 University Avenue, Bridgeport, CT, 06604, jpallis@bridgeport.edu 2. University of Bridgeport, Technology Management, 221 University Avenue, Bridgeport, CT, 06604, lewisn@bridgeport.edu 3. University of Bridgeport, Technology Management, 221 University Avenue, Bridgeport, CT, 06604, rmishra@bridgeport.edu 4. University of Bridgeport, Electrical Engineering, 221 University Avenue, Bridgeport, CT, 06604, navarung@bridgeport.edu 5. University of Bridgeport, School of Business, Mandeville Hall, 230 Park Avenue, Bridgeport, CT, 06604, amcadams@bridgeport.edu 6. University of Bridgeport, Shintaro Akatsu School of

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Francis J. Hopcroft

sorely tested by theirnewly formed alliances. Those who bring the strongest personalities to the table, typically high school athletes,honor students, or those who held a meaningful job during high school, will dominate the group. Self-confidence,physical strength or size, an air of worldly knowledge, and similar characteristics tend to allow some students tobecome group leaders by default. 1. Civil Engineering and Technology Department, Wentworth Institute of Technology, 550 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA2012 ASEE Northeast Section Conference University of Massachusetts LowellReviewed Paper April

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

James A. Lee; Michael J. D'Agostino

Designing a Zero-Waste Concrete Mix Testing Lab James A. Lee1 Michael J. D’Agostino2Abstract – A zero waste laboratory to mix and test the engineering and performance properties of concrete wasdesigned and tested at Wentworth Institute of Technology. To achieve the design, recycling and reuse opportunitieswere developed for both plastic and hardened concrete used from testing as well as other residual aggregate solids.Processed water waste was minimized by the design of a settling and filtration recycling system. Both reductions inraw material consumption and economic savings realized by avoiding waste streams were measured in the study.The laboratory is used extensively by students preparing for

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Jessica Dawn Ventura

for overseas consumers, American engineers will come in contactwith foreign cultures.In view of the high impact globalization is having on engineering, many engineering schools have integrated globalexperiences into their undergraduate programs. Purdue University’s Global Engineering Program aims to give eachengineering student at least one meaningful international experience during their years at the university [6]. Thevariety of opportunities provided to students include work and study abroad, service learning projects, researchopportunities, and on-campus programs. The Projects for Under-served Communities academic program at TheUniversity of Texas at Austin [7] and the Global Village Project at Massachusetts Institute of Technology [8

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Basile Panoutsopoulos

  u VS dt L dt LC LCThe solution is examined for three cases: an over damped, a critically damped, and an under dampedcase by changing the value of the resistor R.Over damped solution   0 :  uC  U S  U1e s1t  U 2e s2t Critically damped solution   0 : uC  U S  U1  U 2t  e st 1 Central Connecticut State University, School of Engineering and Technology, Departmentof Computer Electronics and Graphics Technology, 1615 Stanley Street, New Britain, CT 06050.Basile.Panoutsopoulos@ccsu.edu2012 ASEE Northeast Section Conference

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Sanjay R. Arwade; Vicki V. May; Benjamin W. Schafer; Stephen G. Buonopane; George Deodatis

analysis into thecourse. All this must be done while maintaining broad accessibility of the course since at each institution the courseenrolls a substantial fraction of non-engineering majors. Associated with these themes are substantial pedagogicalchallenges that we will describe: Managing a classroom that may have students with backgrounds as diverse as afreshman English major and senior student of civil engineering; developing quantitative assignments that are simpleyet accurate and enriching; guiding students in writing about the built environment in unaccustomed to ways;integrating technology into the learning experience.The authors have formed a close collaboration that is aimed at achieving the goals outlined in the previous packagein a

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

John Finnie

Retracing the Path of a Street Railway John Finnie1Abstract – The history of technology can stimulate student interest and provide an important historical andcultural prospective for engineering courses. This paper presents the results of historical research about a localstreet railway, and discusses the use of history of technology topics for freshman and senior courses.Electric street railways played an important part in the development of cities and towns in the early twentiethcentury. Many of them operated for only a few decades, and often became obsolete as automobiles and roadwaysimproved.New Bedford and Onset Street Railway operated electric trolleys between the

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Brian Savilonis; Kent Rissmiller

Great Problem Seminars: Engaging First Year Students in Project-Based Learning Brian Savilonis,1 Kent Rissmiller 2In the early 1970’s, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) promoted project-based learning to the core of itsacademic program. At that time, WPI redesigned its graduation requirements to include two required projects [2].One project is undertaken within the student’s major field of study is completed during the senior year. A secondproject is usually completed during the junior year and challenges students to work on an interdisciplinary problemat the interface of science, technology, and societal needs [4]. For both projects, effective teamwork is a key skillemphasized

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Cullen A. Jones

A. JonesCullen A. Jones is a Major in the U.S. Army and an Instructor of Civil Engineering at the United States MilitaryAcademy at West Point, NY. He is the director for Design of Reinforced Concrete & Masonry Structures and alsoteaches Protective Design, Engineering Mechanics and Design, and the Civil Engineering Capstone Course. He hasa BS in Civil Engineering from the United States Military Academy, an SM in Civil and Environmental Engineeringfrom the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a professional engineer in Delaware. He is the faculty advisorfor United States Military Academy’s ASCE & ACI Student Chapters.2012 ASEE Northeast Section Conference University of Massachusetts

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Valeria Matinuzzi; Danielle Peterson; Sean Iacobone; Salah Badjou

Technology, Boston,Massachusetts. Contact: Valeria Matinuzzi matinuzziv1@wit.ed. , Danielle Peterson:petersond2@wit.edu, Sean Iacabone: Iacobones@wit.edu4- Salah Badjou is professor of electromechanical and biomedical engineering at Wentworth Institute ofTechnology, Boston, Massachusetts. Contact: badjous@wit.edu2012 ASEE Northeast Section Conference University of Massachusetts LowellReviewed Paper April 27-28, 2012

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Brian Davis; Chris Dorchester; Ted Geldmacher; Tim William; Salah Badjou

on pollution and energy costs. This project was completed in a semester-longjunior-level Electromechanical Design course of the interdisciplinary electromechanical engineering program atWentworth Institute of Technology. All goals were met, a functioning prototype developed, and the finalcalculations made for the installation of a turbine in Keene, New Hampshire with a power output estimation of 71kW.Keywords: Renewable energy, turbine, generator, electric grid INTRODUCTIONWith the growing concern of a cleaner living environment, renewable energy has generated a large interest andmarket [9]. With a high potential energy stored in water towers through the pressure caused by gravity, there

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2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Olga Lepsky; Michael Werner

) Memory space requirements are hardly mentioned in algorithms texts, yet we found that problems inbioinformatics were often constrained by lack of memory. 1 Wentworth Institute of Technology, 550 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115,lepskyo@wit.edu 2 Wentworth Institute of Technology, 550 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115,wernerm@wit.edu2012 ASEE Northeast Section Conference University of Massachusetts LowellReviewed Paper April 27-28, 20126) Tweaking the problem may work even when there is no room to tweak the algorithm. For example, a companywhich