Conference Session

Community Engagement Division Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chris Swan, Tufts University; Angela R Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder; Kurt Paterson P.E., Michigan Technological University; David O Kazmer, University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Olga Pierrakos, James Madison University; Annie Soisson, Tufts University; Bowa George Tucker, University of Massachusetts, Lowell

Tagged Divisions

Community Engagement Division

withthe community; 3) a project planning phase; 4) site visits; and 5) a number of implementationchallenges including regulations, liability, local constraints, and sustainability. The focus of theEFELTS project is to evaluate LTS’s positive attributes and challenges as they relate toengineering faculty. The EFELTS workshops were an attempt to not only bring thesecharacteristics of LTS to the fore, but to also highlight the need for proper design, management,and assessment of LTS efforts; in a method appropriate for both novice and experienced faculty.Goals and AimsIn addition to workshops, the EFELTS project consists of three other major components – aSeptember 2011 summit of faculty experienced with LTS, an on-line survey, and interviews

Conference Session

Undergraduate Student Issues: Culture

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marie C Paretti, Virginia Tech; Courtney S Smith-Orr, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

-efficacy. In 2010, Joneset al. found mixed results in a study of first-year engineering students, with no statisticallysignificant differences associated with attainment, interest, utility, identification, or career-plans;although men did score higher with respect to self-efficacy and expectancy, the difference wassignificant only for expectancy10.In a related study, Jones et al. found few differences between men and women with respect toengineering identification, gender identification, GPA, or likelihood of changing major, andwomen reported higher perceptions of engineering ability11. The analysis also indicated noeffects for stereotype threat; notably, however, although both men and women scored relativelylow with respect to endorsing negative

Conference Session

NSF Grantees' Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kathleen Alfano, College of the Canyons

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

planned for April 2013. • Kid Wind Teacher Workshops were presented at Central and Southern California locations for middle and high school teachers and the resulting pre and post evaluation data showed a high degree of improvement in teacher content knowledge and attitude toward wind energy curriculum and teaching. • Kid Wind Student Regional Competitions were hosted with co-sponsorship from public schools and the wind industry and the highest performing student teams competed at the Kid Wind Student finals co-supported by CREATE, AWEA, industry and KidWind at the AWEA national conference in Atlanta, CA in June of 2012 and CREATE-trained teams won both the middle school and high school divisions

Conference Session

Sustainability and engineering education

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kim LaScola Needy, University of Arkansas; TAHAR MESSADI, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS; John Henry Kester III, University of Arkansas

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

process of combining concepts ormethods from different disciplines.34 The precursor of “multi” suggests a simple mixing withoutany additional integrative efforts of planning and coordination. This represented the start ofcrossing disciplines and focused on adding rather than integrating methods. The conscious stepof concerted inclusion occurs in the onset of interdisciplinary research.Interdisciplinary research expands upon multidisciplinary research because of the inclusion ofintegration. There is an intentional and necessary coordination of the research that goes beyondsimply mixing methods. Drawing from the general education movements arising post World WarI and from the cultural revolution of the 1960s, interdisciplinarity arose to show a

Conference Session

Engineering Economy Division Technical Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lizabeth T Schlemer, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy

price model was developed when I worked for Unocal Corporation in the1980’s. It is based on theories developed in finance and engineering economy that are similar tothe “discounted cashflow” method of stock evaluation (Rahgozar, 2008, Becchetti et all, 2004,Rawley et al 2006). When at Unocal, my colleagues and I in the strategic planning departmentbuilt a model to forecast the stock price of Unocal during the take over fight with T. BoonePickens (McCoy, 1985). We used the model to predict the change in the stock price asinformation was relayed to the investment community. It was very accurate and was extremelyhelpful in the take over defense.The point of this project, as it was in the case of Unocal’s stock price model, is not to develop amodel

Conference Session

ECE Curriculum Improvement

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

JianJian Song, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Deborah Walter, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Edward Wheeler, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

. While the former is pure digital the latter isan integrated part of a system that may have analog and RF circuits as well as sensors andactuators. It is time that digital circuit implementation is considered as a fundamental subject andtaught as a required course because it is what digital design engineers must deal with at work.Digital system implementation has become complex and critical due to a number ofimplementation choices such as small floor plans, high-speed and mixed-signal design,integration of sensors and actuators and minimum power consumption. One key issue at chip orPCB level implementation is signal and power integrity (SI, PI), which holds the key to successor failure of a digital system implementation. This topic has become so

Conference Session

Laboratory Development in ECE II

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dale N. Buechler, University of Wisconsin, Platteville; Phil J Sealy Jr., University of Wisconsin, Platteville; John R Goomey, University of Wisconsin, Platteville

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

increased enrollment in their on-sitecourses. Industry near the host sites benefit from the increased number of well-qualified UW- Page 23.1023.5Platteville BSEE graduates who have ties to the host university area.Lab managers from UW-Platteville handle all lab logistics at the remote sites. They arrange labschedules with the students and travel to the two-year campuses at the assigned times. Sincethey cover locations throughout the state, the two lab managers usually create a biweekly siteschedule which both students and faculty can plan around. The current lab managers travel anaverage of four days each week and spend a whole day at one site or

Conference Session

Computers and Learning

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Pramod Rajan, Laboratory for Innovative Technology & Engineering Education (LITEE); P.K. Raju, Auburn University; Chetan S Sankar, Auburn University College of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

instrument, studentsentered a four digit identification code that was created and distributed by the course instructor.The code was used during data analysis to match multiple surveys and course grades fromrespondents. The resulting data allowed the evaluation team to conduct the analyses required totest the relationships in the 4P model. We conducted both qualitative and quantitative analysis tofind out the effectiveness of the serious game. The detailed quantitative analysis results will bediscussed in the journal paper titled "Teaching Engineering Design Principles through a SeriousGame," and we are planning to submit this to the Computers in Education(CoED) journal. Somepreliminary qualitative results are presented here.ResultsStudents learned

Conference Session

NSF Grantees' Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brian J Skromme, Arizona State University; Qiao Wang, Arizona State University; Paul Rayes, Arizona State University; John M Quick, Arizona State University; Robert Kenneth Atkinson, Arizona State University; Tim Frank, South Mountain Community College

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

performed if it is not valid.The ability to store circuits to disc or load them is also included. This facility can be used byinstructors or tutorial writers to create specific circuits. This initial version of the circuit editorallows editing on a PowerPoint slide. We plan however to revise this system so that editing isperformed on a form instead, which will enable a greater degree of control over the userinteractions. We are further in the process of developing the ability to check edited circuits as Page 23.1146.4 Fig. 1. Interactive circuit editor implemented in PowerPoint.part of the problem-solving process, to determine

Conference Session

Design Methodology and Evaluation 1

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tamecia R. Jones, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Monica E Cardella, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Senay Purzer, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

twelve major interaction behavior categories are question, mind change,reasoning, identify problem, decision, choice, action plan, fix, checklist, reflection, uncertainty,and cancel, and we share our definitions. There were multiple types of questions, from bothteacher (usually redirecting) and students, so there are subcategories. Question subcategoriesinclude: interrogatives of why, what, how, when, or where; redirecting back to task or a topic,clarifying for understanding meaning, and reconsidering alternatives or missing pieces. A mindchange occurs when a student is going in one direction with a thought but switches for a statedreason. Reasoning happens when an idea is evolving, through expanding to make it larger,deepening a specific aspect

Conference Session

Secondary (6-12) Outreach

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ethan Alexander Peritz, Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach; Morgan M Hynes, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

creative license that engineering students should be encouraged to take.The projects that form the foundation of this curriculum are meant to provide a diverse array ofengineering knowledge and practice. We hope that students will find their engineering passionin one of these challenges. Students can then assume different roles based on their interests andstrengths in the coming years as they engage in multidimensional engineering projects in theircommunity. Further, this curriculum provides a week-by-week breakdown of the concepts andlearning objectives, but it does not provide explicit lesson plans. Teachers are meant to bringtheir own expertise and nuanced instruction style to supplement this curriculum. In SomervilleHigh School, teachers have

Conference Session

Novel Teaching Methods In Engineering Technology

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charles J Lesko Jr., East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

Page 23.1359.2expectations.12,13 In order to ensure that these teams are successful, a critical first step isdetermining the virtual media and tools that the offering will use. The technology planning forthe course offering must account for everything from basic infrastructure to innovative tools thatenhance frequent communications.Many organizations are also using team collaboration tools, such as online white boarding,shared applications, and team workspaces, enabling dispersed employees to work together moreeffectively.14,15 Furthermore, forward-looking organizations are adopting social media tools,such as blogs, podcasts, and wikis to help teams collaborate and gain a sense ofcommunity.16,17,18 A virtual team requires not only the right

Conference Session

Undergraduate Student Issues II

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nadia M Alhasani, The Petroelum Institute

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

% 73 45% 69 50% Senior - 0% - 0% - 0% 9 4% 73 31% 86 44% 94 44% Total 104 11% 211 20% 283 26% 335 33% 375 35% 382 36% 423 35% StudentsThe Context of the UAETo better assess the level of conviction the founders and supporters of this Program have, it isnecessary to study the context within which it was planned, developed, and supported. Over thepast decade, the United Arab Emirates has pushed for a rapid development in both itsinfrastructure and its human capabilities. Two public documents are worth analyzing within thiscontext, the UAE National Charter for 2021, and the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030.The UAE National Charter for 20211

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics Division Technical Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brittney Hope Jimerson, North Carolina A&T State University ; Eui Hyun Park, North Carolina A&T State University; Vinod K Lohani, Virginia Tech; Steven M. Culver, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

they understandethical issues, particularly as they relate to global differences, issues of advocacy and ethicalleadership, and ethics and emerging technologies. 2. To identify areas to improve studentperceptions regarding their ethics training and provide some directions for curricular planning forthe college of engineering at NC A&T. VPI investigators consisted of an interdisciplinary groupof engineering faculty, assessment professionals, and survey practitioners, to generate item poolsfor each of the two sections.The survey consisted of two sections. The first was focused on “perceptions of the curriculum”and included 11 items. For each item, students were asked their level of agreement ordisagreement according to a five-point scale: 1

Conference Session

Undergraduate Student Issues II

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Melissa A Dagley, University of Central Florida; Nirmala Ramlakhan, Nee-Moh, Inc; Cynthia Y. Young, University of Central Florida; Michael Georgiopoulos, University of Central Florida

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

for setting goals andchoosing a career path, (3) academic subject knowledge support aimed at advancing a student’sknowledge relevant to their chosen field, and (4) specification of a role model. One approach toaddressing these variables, and potentially closing the gender retention gap, was to create anetwork of mentors where each participant in the women’s mentorship network would receive anumber of mentors at various stages of their college experience including two structuredmentoring opportunities which occur in the freshman and sophomore years. Figure 1 details therelationship to EXCEL as well as the management plans and structure of the mentoring network.Haring57, 58 refered to this type of mentoring model as a networking mentorship

Conference Session

Novel Pedagogies 1

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

M. Razi Nalim P.E., Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis; Manikanda K Rajagopal, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis; Robert J Helfenbein, Indiana University-IUPUI, School of Education

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

in three different American states. These wereIndiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), and University of Illinois –Chicago.One group of participants all agreed to attempt PEL, and some had begun implementation ofPEL in their courses. The team conducted interviews focused on instructional planning andreflections on PEL as a pedagogical strategy. In addition, these instructors were recruited toparticipate in a series of professional development activities and focus group discussionsoccurring at various points throughout the ongoing project. The participants in interviews andfocus group discussion did not include instructors who declined to attempt PEL.All individual participants in this group were contacted initially by a

Conference Session

Socio-cultural Dimensions of Community Engagement

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brent K Jesiek, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Anne Elizabeth Dare, Purdue University; Julia D Thompson, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Tiago R Forin, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Community Engagement Division

international partner organizations.22 The projects are identifiedby community organizations, businesses, or other research institutions, and students are recruitedto work closely with end users to accomplish three primary goals: 1) provide students with real-world, full-cycle design experiences, 2) raise the global awareness of students through globalexperiences, and 3) increase global humanitarian impact. Depending on the size and scope of agiven project, teams may range from two to twenty students, typically under the guidance of onefaculty member. The most intensive period of GDT activity is Spring semester, with recruitmentand planning the main focus during Summer and Fall. Students who travel in support of GDTprojects typically do so during

Conference Session

FPD 5: Transitions and Student Success, Part I

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth Anne Stephan, Clemson University; Christine C Murphy, Clemson University Academic Success Center

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

information at 4.21 (Likert scale: 1 strongly disagree, 5strongly agree), and the facilitator’s presentation at 4.72. For the Fall 2012 semester, 98% ofattendees plan to use strategies presented in the workshop, and 96.4% would recommend theworkshop to a friend.Figure 1. Percentage of students who participated in ASC workshops during first-yearengineering courses. Page 23.658.4Figure 2. Average number of workshops attended by students during first-year engineeringcourses.Impact on Grades and RetentionSince the inception of this program, the ASC has seen a large increase in the number of studentsparticipating in workshops. In Fall 2011, GE students

Conference Session

Outreach Along the K-12 Pathways to Engineering

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Janet L. Yowell, University of Colorado Boulder; Malinda S Zarske, University of Colorado, Boulder; Daniel Knight, University of Colorado, Boulder; Jacquelyn F. Sullivan, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

Leaders Leaders Oral Communication Skills 85% 85% Fundamental Engineering Skills 39% 55% Future Career Plans 39% 35% Satisfaction w/Engineering Studies 85% 75% Undergraduate Course Selections 15% 0%Analysis indicated that the main impacts of leading TEAMS clubs were in the development oforal communication skills and fostering satisfaction with engineering studies. One leadercommented on oral communication skills development: “I was previously not a very good publicspeaker, but after having to go up and teach tough concepts to

Conference Session

Real and Virtual - "New" Approaches to Teaching "Old" Courses

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel D. Burkey, University of Connecticut; Daniel D. Anastasio, University of Connecticut; Aravind Suresh, University of Connecticut

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

external references in their writing, and performing dataanalysis during the course of the experiment and using that information to modify theirexperimental plan. Both pre- and post-course surveys were carried out, which collected data on the students’experience with a multitude of game types, as well as their personal habits. Additionally, theirattitude and perceptions about gamification and our particular implementation were surveyedboth prior to the start of the class and after the semester ended to compare differences. After onesemester of implementation, comparison of scores on lab reports from a non-gamified offering ofthe class with the gamified version showed no statistical difference. However, the studentparticipation in

Conference Session

Capstone and Senior Design Projects Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Martin William Weiser, Eastern Washington University; Hani Serhal Saad, Eastern Washington University; N.M. Awlad HOSSAIN, Eastern Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

Capstone final report is required from each team at the time of presentation. Thisreport goes beyond a simple chronological review of the process to include a study of theavailability of comparable products on the market, financial viability, layout design of an idealproduction line, company bylaws, safety, and training, as well as the necessary technical data ofthe product itself (drawings, plans, parts description and numbers, inventory, workflow etc.).This should ensure that the students are familiar with the many aspects of production that gobeyond the manufacturing process.The teams present their work to fellow students, faculty andindustry members. The students’ final grade is a combination of their performance in tests, thequality of the

Conference Session

Introducing New Methodologies and the Incoming Students to Engineering Programs

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Salahuddin Qazi, State University of New York, Institute of Tech.; Adeel Khalid, Southern Polytechnic State University (ENG); Qaiser H Malik, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) Pakistan University

Tagged Divisions

International

education, water andrenewable energy by pledging additional funds by each partner.14, 15To further the cause of engineering education in Pakistan, NUST (National University of Scienceand Technology) has introduced a new discipline of engineering education research (EER) inAugust 2011 which will be followed by the establishment of a full department in 2014 within theNUST Institute of leadership in Education. The purpose of such a department will be first to useit as a catalyst in transforming engineering students into active learners with the aim toproduces world class engineers and second to offer graduate programs for engineers to becomeprofessional engineering educators. These objectives are planned to be accomplished as part oftheir respective

Conference Session

Best of DEED

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer Wang, University of California, Berkeley

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

challenges returning visitors previously attended, according to survey responses.Visitors EngineeringThe survey responses to “What did you do today that made you feel like an engineer?” indicatevisitors’ perceptions of engineering as related to the challenge. The majority by far (37responses; 38.6%) indicated that building or making made them feel like engineers (see Figure4). Only one explicitly stated optimizing, while others indicated the content of the challenge(26), refining (8), and creating a working design (6). Survey comments highlighted iteration andrefinement (see Table 4). Other common responses mentioned problem-solving, scienceconcepts, testing, materials, variables, goals, planning and thinking, ideas, experimenting,recording data

Conference Session

Problem- and project-based learning in environmental engineering

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew Ross Pfluger, P.E., United States Military Academy; Matthew P. Baideme, United States Military Academy; Katie E Matthew, United States Army; Stephen A. Lewandowski, United States Military Academy; Jeffrey A. Starke P.E., United States Military Academy; Michael A. Butkus P.E., U.S. Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

marketing plan to the class and the outstanding projects have theopportunity to pitch to clients.Table 3: Course enrollment in EV301 by student‟s chosen academic major for the first semester ofacademic year 2012-2013. Academic Major Number Enrolled Percent of EnrollmentEnvironmental Engineering 14 42%Environmental Science 9 27%Environmental Geography 6 18%Engineering Management 3 9%Life Science 1 3% Total: 33Table 4: Course enrollment in EV300 by student‟s chosen academic major for the first

Conference Session

Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Leticia Anaya, University of North Texas

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

associated software packages in engineering educationresearch. LDA extracted Software in Education, CAE Process Design, University Computersand Integrated Technology Tools , while LSA extracted Integrated Design Technologies,Computer CAD Design, Industrial Software, Computer Programming and Control, ComputerEngineering. Engineering training was also part of the engineering education research area.LDA extracted Teaching Engineering Courses and LSA extracted Teaching Engineering andEngineering Programs. Emphasis on the systems concept was noted in this period. LDAextracted Systems Research and Industrial Systems while LSA extracted System Planning. Onefield that seems to have come into play is the Management Science field, a topic that wasextracted by

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David H Hoe, University of Texas, Tyler

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

specific classes at themore advanced level devoted to nanotechnology. For example Pai et al. discuss the introductionof two graduate-level classes that cover the growth and characterization of emergingnanomaterials.4 Uddin and Chowdhury describe a comprehensive plan for integrating a set ofcourses into the undergraduate engineering curriculum.5This paper advocates an approach that integrates nanoelectronics material into an existingintegrated circuits design course. This is a viable approach for several reasons. First, it is anattractive approach for a smaller-sized institution that may not have the resources forimplementing a full set of separate nanoelectronics courses. Second, it is often not easy to makewholesale changes in the curriculum to

Conference Session

Educational Research and Methods (ERM) Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeremi S London, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

acompromise on every design choice to accommodate every new suggestion. However, this doesmean that developers should be confident about their core idea(s) –for example, a theoreticalframework or target audience- and be open to modifying details that are not related to the team’score idea(s) to ensure that the resource meets the needs of the users. Lastly, the highlighted awards illuminate one key idea as it relates to sustainability: beginplanning for long-term sustainability early. Although coming up with a plan for long-termsustainability is one of the developers’ biggest struggles, many are overcoming these challengesand generating plans that promote success. Some of these plans include commercialization.Others involve seeking support from

Conference Session

NSF Grantees' Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shane A. Brown P.E., Washington State University

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

prepared to be productive and innovativeengineers in the workforce.Research Objective and Specific Aims The research objective is to develop a situated cognitive model of conceptualunderstanding in civil engineering practice, including misconceptions. The educationalobjective is to develop and implement curricula targeted at core engineering concepts thatare situated in and relevant to engineering design contexts in sophomore through graduatelevel engineering courses. The three specific aims of the Research and Educational Plans are to: Research Aim I: Characterize practicing engineers’ cognitive models of civilengineering concepts. About 400 practicing civil engineers across the country willcomplete existing concept

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics Division Technical Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rigoberto Chinchilla, Eastern Illinois University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

, universities might become simple machines in aline of production; however well-planned and thoroughly discussed partnerships might not bedangerous to the university mission. To subordinate the whole university mission, to purelymarket needs is intuitively and ethically wrong, if we believe the university mission is todemocratize knowledge impartially for the people in a way that the people‟s critical thinking andgeneral education is the priority. Businesses‟ priorities and needs might not be always in linewith the general mission of the university. In general, the goals and results of superior educationare not immediately quantifiable. It may take a few years to evaluate the results of changes madein the curriculum if the MME is implemented. It is

Conference Session

New Approaches in Engineering

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Audrey Lynn LaVallie, Turtle Mountain Community College; Eric Asa, North Dakota State University; G. Padmanabhan P.E., North Dakota State University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

, and had more visible integrity problems,particularly discontinuities of floor and wall structures. Student interns elected to continue thestudy to include feasibility of constructing radon mitigation structures in several high-radonresidences.Abatement strategies were researched mostly through commercial and homeowner web sites andseveral plans were considered. Student interns had background knowledge in power tool use andsome construction ability, but found it necessary to research abatement strategies closely; sub-slab depressurization directly through the basement floor or through sump holes was the methoddecided on and construction of the systems on four houses began in late October 2007. Materialsincluded model RP-145 radon ventilation