Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Learning, Evaluation, and Assessment

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lawrence E. Whitman, Wichita State University; Cindi Mason, Wichita State University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

experience isto expand the student perspective that engineers can have a positive impact on their communityand the world. Students from all engineering disciplines at WSU take this course and work as ateam on several course requirements. This paper describes the existing service-learning courseand presents the motivation behind its development with a review of the literature on servicelearning and the content of the course. The paper then focuses on the structured reflectioncomponent of the class. The reflective component of the class instills the broad aspects desiredby industry.MOTIVATIONThe primary goal of the Wichita State University (WSU) College of Engineering (CoE) is toeducate and prepare students to succeed in the engineering field upon

Conference Session

Micro-Technology and Nanotechnology

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hisham Hegab P.E., Louisiana Tech University; James D Palmer, Louisiana Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

credit hours of approved humanities, arts, and social science courses.An additional six credit hours including an additional English course and a speech course arerequired. NSE students are required to take a technical writing course and technical presentationscourse to satisfy this requirement.Assessment and Continuous Improvement of the ProgramSince the initial establishment of the degree program, the program education objectives haveundergone multiple revisions to better reflect the needs of the program’s constituents as well asmeet refinements in ABET’s definition of program educational objectives. The current ProgramEducation Objectives (PEOs) of the NSE degree program are:Graduates of the NSE Program are expected to within a few year of

Conference Session

Integrating Art, Humanities, and Engineering

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John J. Marshall PhD, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

of traditional disciplinary structures withinuniversities in the context of broader social, technological and economic contexts, arguing for amode of knowledge production that is context-driven, problem-focused and interdisciplinary.3They argue that this newly emerging mode reflects the need to accomplish tasks at theboundaries and in the spaces between different communities.4 This new mode has brought abouta need for increased collaboration, integrative problem solving, and the development of newhybrid fields. The Association of American Colleges and Universities have argued thatuniversities need to change their practices to develop students as “...integrative thinkers who cansee connections in seemingly disparate information and draw on a

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Learning, Evaluation, and Assessment

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

K.S. Krishnamoorthi, Bradley University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

202 1 220 250 245 243 251 235 3 2 240 225 230 241 251 204Case 4: Blood all over the placeA huge consignment of castings, cylinder heads for automotive engines, was returned to a foundry bythe machine shop because of blisters found when the castings were machined. The returned castingswere stacked all over the floor in the plant, in the aisles and hall ways, and the night-shift inspectordescribed the scene as “blood all over the place,” reflecting the seriousness of the problem. Thecustomer’s machining and assembly operations needed the castings badly; the foundry could lose thecustomer if the problem

Conference Session

Robotics, Mechatronics, and Control Systems - Multidisciplinary Perspectives

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael A. Gennert, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Taskin Padir, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

collective best guess atcurriculum and courses, understanding that updates would be needed as experience accumulated.The basic structure of the curriculum remains unchanged; however some content, courses, andprojects have changed.Unified Robotics I-IV have been tweaked, with a few minor topic additions, deletions orshifting of material; none serious enough to merit a change in course description.Robotics hardware and languages have been changed to reflect changes in robotics platformsused for homework, labs, and projects. Four of the five core courses originally used the VEXplatform with RBE 3001 Unified Robotics III using a custom-designed processor board based onthe Atmel AVR644P microcontroller. Neuron Robotics DyIO controllers and associated

Conference Session

Robotics, Mechatronics, and Control Systems - Multidisciplinary Perspectives

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jose Antonio Riofrio, Western New England University; Steven G Northrup, Western New England University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

the course. A conceptual final exam was given at the end which coveredmaterial both from the lectures and the hand-on activities. The grade distribution of the course –40% homework and labs, 45% project and 15% final exam – reflect the importance of hands-onlearning as a key approach to this subject. A list of components purchased by each student at the beginning of the semester is shown inTable 1. It should be noted that a textbook was not required, and the lecture content came fromvarious academic and non-academic sources. A basic solderless breadboard is used for all circuit Page 23.1154.5making; LEDs are used for various Arduino

Conference Session

Capstone Projects, Design Projects, and Teamwork

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael W. Prairie, Norwich University; Gregory Wight P.E., Norwich University; Peter Kjeer, Harvard University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

, he said “are you kidding?” and then explained how he doubtedhe could get better hands-on engineering learning than what he was already getting. Assessmentfor the next implementation of this project will be more formalized, and formative assessmentthrough a reflection assignment will likely be the instrument used. This appears to be anappropriate instrument for assessing the professional or “soft” skills within the small sample size(N ~ 80) that spans the three disciplines at Norwich University. Questions will be formulated toevoke responses regarding the communication process between teams, the allocation of (or“negotiation” for) requirements between the subsystems, and the role of individual contributionsto the larger project.Another

Conference Session

Integrating Art, Humanities, and Engineering

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy W. Simpson, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Marcus Shaffer, Penn State Architecture; Elisha Clark Halpin, Penn State University, School of Theatre, Dance Program; Amy Dupain Vashaw, Center for the Performing Arts @ Penn State; Dorothy H. Evensen, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

along with reflections from the faculty“client”. Discussions of the other two capstone design projects, which both involved “dancevehicles” that emerged in the second year of the grant, follow in subsequent sections.3.1. Spring 2011 Capstone Design Project: A Portable, Cost-Effective Motion Capture SystemThe objective in this first capstone design project was to design a portable and cost-effectivesystem to capture people’s movement through different public spaces on/near the Penn Statecampus. The intent was to design a system that could capture the gross/macro-level movementsof people through a large open space, not necessarily the fine/micro-level movements ofindividuals. The system also needed to be easy to set up, move, calibrate, and

Conference Session

Intercollegiate and Cross-disciplinary Collaboration

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Barbara Burks Fasse PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology; James William Schwoebel, Georgia Institute of Technology; Ethan James Craig, Georgia Institute of Technology; Anish Joseph, Georgia Institute of Technology; Ajit Vakharia, Georgia Institute of Technology; Steve M. Potter PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology; Kim Dooley, Texas A&M University; James DUPE Linder, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

participants to reflect on their experience in real-timebecause accuracy of memories tend to be heavily influenced by the final experiences thusintroducing three of Schacter (23 seven memory flaws: transience (decreasing accessibility ofinformation over time), absent-mindedness (inattentive or shallow processing that contributes toweak memories), and blocking (temporary inaccessibility of information that is stored inmemory). To control for this, the structured journal was designed to serve as a series of in-the-minute, real-time surveys in which students were given a prompt as a topic for focusing eachweek’s reflection as well as to report their engagement as it developed over time. Its utility as atool is to increase the validity of the data by

Conference Session

Micro-Technology and Nanotechnology

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Maher E. Rizkalla, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis; Mangilal Agarwal, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis; Sudhir Shrestha, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis; Hazim A El-Mounayri, Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis; Kody Varahramyan, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

23.691.106.2 Upper Elective Course within the TrackThe assessment data in Table III reflects the impact on the junior/senior students within the ECE,ME, BME, Physics, and Chemistry. Scores of 5 indicate that students “strongly agree,” while ascore of 1 indicates that they “strongly disagree”. The scores shown in the table are highercompare to the scores of courses on the same level and disciplines at IUPUI. The data collectedreflects the students’ satisfaction of the course and shows how well it meets their expectations.TABLE III: Junior/Senior Engineering/Science Student Feedback. The scores shown in the tableare higher compare to the scores of courses on the same level and disciplines at IUPUI. Survey Questions

Conference Session

Micro-Technology and Nanotechnology

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Harold T. Evensen, University of Wisconsin, Platteville

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

fortunatestudent.Week Nine: Principles of Atomic Force MicroscopyIn this week, students were presented the basics of scanning probe microscopy and carried out a“Move a Wall” experiment, which was developed by the University of Illinois and illustratesseveral aspects of the operation of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM).14 In this experiment,the small deflection that results from pushing on a brick wall is translated into sideways motionof a rod, which leads to the rotational motion of a mirror. By using the reflection of a laser off ofthe mirror onto a distant surface, students were able to determine that they had deflected the wallby mere micrometers. We then reconvened in the classroom to discuss results, and discussedmore AFM operating modes, exploring the

Conference Session

Capstone Projects, Design Projects, and Teamwork

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tomas Enrique Estrada, Elizabethtown College

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

provide guidance andmentorship in capstone experiences that reflect these changes.However, notwithstanding the changes mentioned above, one thing that remains unchanged isthat small engineering departments, particularly departments housed in small liberal artscolleges, are faced with additional challenges. These challenges include working with limitedresources (budget, laboratory space, equipment) and the necessity for the instructor to superviseprojects outside of his or her area of expertise. Thus, it can be difficult to develop capstoneproject ideas that are realizable in this setting.Thus, for faculty members working in small engineering departments housed in small liberal artscolleges, it is a central goal to offer or help develop an array

Conference Session

Intercollegiate and Cross-disciplinary Collaboration

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brian P. Self, California Polytechnic State University; James M Widmann, California Polytechnic State University; Lynne A Slivovsky, California Polytechnic State University; J.Kevin Taylor; David W. Hey, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

priorcoursework and new research related to their projects. In most cases, this is a student’s firstsignificant open-ended design experience in a team environment. While many students encountergrowing pains during the design class, later reflection indicates a sense of pride in the personaldevelopment that occurs.As expected, a focus of the class is on the end product and the deliverables to the customer.However, the process the students follow is equally important as we are teaching our studentsfundamental skills, such as critical thinking and lifelong learning, which will be necessary forthem to be successful in today’s world. To nurture both, a number of activities and classmilestones have been developed to enhance team building, the design process

Conference Session

Capstone Projects, Design Projects, and Teamwork

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Emil H Salib, James Madison University; Joshua Alfred Erney, James Madison University; Matthew Edwin Schumaker

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

to be interconnected, and therefore collaboration and interactions amongthe other three sub-teams suffered significantly and reflected negatively on the entire project.The real solution “glue” and those who had to be “separated”This lack of leadership from the integration team resulted in other members stepping up to takethe integration of the project into their own hands. These members bypassed the integrationteam to work with other sub-teams directly. This direct communication created a situation wheresome members were no longer bound to their sub-teams and was viewed as the “real” integrationsub-team at least from a technical perspective. In specific case, there was one student, who wasvery skilled in his area as well as in other areas

Conference Session

Robotics, Mechatronics, and Control Systems - Multidisciplinary Perspectives

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chad Eric Davis P.E., University of Oklahoma; Pakize S. Pulat, University of Oklahoma

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

sensor, and 1 ultrasound sensor. Many additional sensors are also available from LEGO.The LEGO Mindstorm kit also includes an adequate supply of LEGO pieces. Additionally, anLED flashlight is purchased separately and included in the toolbox. The light sensors can beused in reflective mode with an internal LED source or in ambient mode, where a flashlight orother form of external lighting can be used to control the robot. The students are then required toinstall LabView and the NXT Robotics module on their laptops, both of which can bedownloaded from NI.com. More advanced projects can also be implemented with this 10platform. For example, we used these NXT kits in the Fall 2012 semester in an upper division

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Learning, Evaluation, and Assessment

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Matthew E. McFarland, University of Virginia; Reid Bailey, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering