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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Srboljub R. Masala; Kevin W. Biggar; Colin Geissler

Session 2793 The Geotechnical Virtual Laboratory Srboljub Masala, Kevin Biggar, Colin Geissler University of AlbertaAbstractThe Geotechnical Virtual Laboratory is a computer based instructional package intended tocomplement, and potentially replace, some physical testing in a real geotechnical laboratory. Thefocus of this software is toward active learning and development of critical thinking skills,including data interpretation, understanding of the processes and influential factors, and problemsolving. This paper is a progress report for a software development project, which

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

William F. Horton; Thomas Agayoff; Saul Goldberg

Session 3532 A Virtual Power Laboratory Saul Goldberg, William F. Horton, Thomas Agayoff Electrical Engineering Department California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, California 93407AbstractThis paper describes VPLab, a virtual power laboratory designed to offer a virtual laboratoryexperience to students in the area of power conversion. Power conversion is a standard course inthe electrical engineering curricula of many colleges of engineering. It deals with the conversionof electrical to mechanical power (motors); electrical

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Otto Fucik; Michael McKenna; Bogdan M. Wilamowski

Laboratory for the Introductory Digital Course Otto Fucik, Penn State University at Erie Bodgan Wilamowski, University of Wyoming Michael McKenna, University of WyomingAbstract This lab entails practical studying and designing of simple logic gates, combinationallogic circuits (adders, multiplexers, decoders, etc.), memory elements (flip-flops), and sequentiallogic circuits (state machines). The student will design, build, and use his/her own logic circuits.Logic designs will be done using computer-aided design (CAD) tools and implemented usingcomplex programmable logic devices (CPLD). In this laboratory, digital logic circuits will

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Jawaharlal Mariappan; Ravi Ramachandran; Stephanie Farrell

Session 1526 A MULTIDISCPLINARY CONTROL SYSTEMS LABORATORY Ravi P. Ramachandran1, Stephanie Farrell1 and Jawaharlal Mariappan2 1. Faculty of Engineering, Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey 08028 2. Aplusstudent Inc., Sewell, New Jersey 08080Abstract - The hallmark of the newly configured Rowan College of Engineering undergraduateprogram is multidisciplinary education with a laboratory emphasis. The development of a newmultidisciplinary control laboratory upholds our hallmark very well. We attempt to address thedemand of industry for acquiring control engineers (1) with a broad set of skills and acomprehension of

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

William G. Fahrenholtz; Mohamed N Rahaman

Session 3464 Undergraduate Laboratory Experience for Ceramics Mohamed N. Rahaman, William G. Fahrenholtz Department of Ceramic Engineering University of Missouri-RollaAbstractAn appreciation for experimental work and the development of laboratory skills are essentialparts of undergraduate materials education. To develop effective laboratory courses in materials,the unique characteristics and properties of ceramics must be considered. Normally, ceramicscannot be produced by the methods commonly used for metals and polymers because ceramicsare more refractory and

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Eric A. Stueber; Chiang Lin; Susan M. Morgan

Session 1554 Web-Based Database for Laboratory Courses Chiang Lin, Susan M. Morgan, Eric A. Stueber Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleAbstractAs many other departments are doing, the Department of Civil Engineering at Southern IllinoisUniversity Edwardsville is in the process of incorporating the Internet into courses. Inconjunction with a project to develop course web pages, it was determined that there was a needin laboratory courses to find a method for students to share data more readily. In the past, thestudents posted their laboratory data on a hall bulletin board. However, these

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Edward F. Young; Jeffrey Morehouse; Jed Lyons

Session 1526 Capstone Mechanical Engineering Laboratory Uses Racecar Jed Lyons, Edward F. Young, Jeffrey Morehouse University of South CarolinaAbstractA capstone mechanical engineering laboratory course is being implemented at the University ofSouth Carolina that develops the student's abilities to analyze complex mechanical and thermalsystems, to design experiments, and to develop their professional skills. The course is basedupon an integrated sequence of laboratory experiments on a Legends-class racecar. This vehicleis chosen as the system of study because it provides opportunities for

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Prawit Potsawatsuk; Mohammed Enamul Haque; Amarneethi Vamadevan

Session 1426 JAVA Simulation based Soil Mechanics Laboratory Course Studio Mohammed E. Haque, Amarneethi Vamadevan, Prawit Rotsawatsuk Western Michigan University, Michigan 49008AbstractIn the field of civil/geotechnical engineering, students conduct a variety of soil tests to fulfillundergraduate soil mechanics course requirement. There is a range of problems in soil laboratoryinstruction, such as, some students not getting hands on experience of conducting tests becauseof inadequate number of apparatus, time constraints and inability in exciting students to seriouslyconduct the experiments. However when these laboratory

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Yi Shang; Michael Jurczyk; Hongchi Shi; Anupam Joshi

Session 1526 Laboratory-Oriented Teaching in Web and Distributed Computing∗ Hongchi Shi, Yi Shang, Michael Jurczyk, and Anupam Joshi♣ University of Missouri-Columbia AbstractIn this paper, we present our experiences in teaching two laboratory-oriented courses in the Weband distributed computing area using our NSF-sponsored Distributed Systems Laboratory (DSL).The DSL consists of one Sun Enterprise 3500 server and 12 Sun Ultra 10 workstations connectedthrough fast Ethernet and ATM networks. The computer systems in

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

William J. Hutzel

2333 Leveraging Campus Resources for HVAC Laboratory Development William J. Hutzel Purdue University, West Lafayette, INAbstractThe purpose of this paper is to explore innovative opportunities for stretching limited universityresources for laboratory development. The context of this discussion is an ongoing renovationproject in the Applied Energy Laboratory, which is part of the Mechanical EngineeringTechnology Department at Purdue University. A relatively small initial capital investment bythe University has been leveraged to provide more than $150,000 worth of heating

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Theodore E. Fahlsing

Session 3226 Monolithic Integrated Circuit Function Generator Lab Procedure Theodore E. Fahlsing Purdue UniversityAbstractThis laboratory exercise will use the XR2206 monolithic IC function generator. Theapproach will place emphasis on the evaluation of specifications from Exar’s data sheetsin comparison to laboratory measured data. The exercise will explore the parameters forsetting frequency, amplitude, and waveform shape. The use of the function generator toproduce amplitude modulation and frequency modulation signals will

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Marehalli G. Prasad; Consantin Chassapis; Sven Esche

Session 3220 Remotely Accessible Laboratory Approach for Undergraduate Education Sven K. Esche, Marehalli G. Prasad, Constantin Chassapis Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stevens Institute of TechnologyIntroductionToday, the hands-on activities typically associated with educational laboratories are widelyrecognized by all constituents of academia as imperative and integral elements of modernengineering curricula. This trend is evidenced through the new review criteria applied byeducational accreditation boards such as ABET and recent funding initiatives of governmental,charitable and

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Maurice F Aburdene; Jaskeerat S. Baweja; Richard J. Kozick

Session 1620 Interactive Signals and Systems Laboratories Using Notebooks Maurice F. Aburdene, Richard J. Kozick, Jaskeerat S. Baweja Bucknell UniversityAbstractThis paper presents three interactive signal processing laboratories that use Matlab programslinked to a Microsoft Word document (a “notebook”). The active filter analysis and design,convolution and concert halls, and spectral analysis labs are designed for third-year students in asignals and systems course. These labs engage the students in the learning process by providingthem with the opportunity to experiment and ask “what if” questions

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Nickolas S. Jovanovic

Session 2633 The Virtual Classroom and Laboratory for Thermodynamics Education Nickolas S. Jovanovic University of Arkansas at Little Rock1. IntroductionMechanical engineering technology (MET) students at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock(UALR) are using World Wide Web Course Tools (WebCT) and CyclePad software to enhancetheir understanding of the thermodynamic cycles employed in important technologies such asrefrigeration equipment, automobile engines, and power plants. WebCT is a commercial, web-based software package for designing and

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Joseph R.V. Flora

Session 2451 Asking Students to Design their Own Laboratory Experiments Joseph R.V. Flora University of South Carolina – ColumbiaAbstractAn undergraduate environmental engineering laboratory class was revised to include an openexperiment in addition to traditional experiments. Each student group identified a problem,designed an experiment to address the problem, performed the experiment, and documented theresults with a laboratory report. The topics selected were remediation of acid mine drainage,evaluating different absorbents for oil spills, evaluating water quality of campus

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Susan M. Lord; Jose A. Macedo; Rick T. Olson

Session 2553 A "NIFTY" Laboratory for First-Year Engineering Students Jose A. Macedo, Susan M. Lord, and Rick T. Olson University of San DiegoAbstractThis paper describes an innovative first-year engineering laboratory in which students design andbuild electromechanical models of systems by applying methods used by practicing engineers.At the University of San Diego (USD), the project is known as the eNgineering Improvement ina FirsT Year (NIFTY) Design Project. The main objective of this laboratory is to help studentsstart developing several key engineering skills early in the curriculum. This

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Paul F. Hadala; Freddy Roberts; David Hall

Session 3268 Laboratory Exercises for Statics and Mechanics of Materials on a Shoestring David Hall, Paul Hadala, Freddy Roberts Louisiana Tech UniversityAbstractThis paper outlines the design, construction, and fabrication of seven laboratory exercises and adesign project for a sophomore level integrated statics and mechanics of materials course. Theacademic setting in which the course was created is given along with an overview of the coursecontent. Each laboratory and design project is described in detail, including photographs,drawings of the

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Stephen C. Crist

Session 2559 A Laboratory-Based Instrumentation Course for Non-EE Majors Stephen C. Crist Department of Electrical Engineering Western New England CollegeAbstract An instrumentation course that is required of second semester sophomores majoring inmechanical and industrial engineering at Western New England College is described. It isintended that students completing this course can easily learn to use more sophisticatedelectrical and computer-based measuring systems in junior and senior level mechanical andindustrial engineering labs, and if

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Behnam Kamali

Session 3432 A Novel Structure for Electrical Engineering Senior Capstone Laboratory Behnam Kamali Mercer University School of EngineeringAbstractThe electrical engineering senior capstone laboratory course is meant “to provide the electricalengineering senior student with additional and varied experiences in creating and designingworking electrical/ electronic/ electromechanical systems, from specifications to prototypeproduct”. At Mercer University we have structured this course such that in addition to designstipulations, it addresses a number of other EC 2000 requirements, specially, those

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

James A. Reising

Session 2793 Sophomore Circuits Course Sequence Revision An Integrated Laboratory/Lecture Approach James A. Reising University of EvansvilleAbstractThis paper describes a major revision of the sophomore circuits sequence in electricalengineering at the University of Evansville. The revision was made in an effort to improvestudent learning. The former sequence of courses consisted of two three-hour lecture courses(EE 251 and EE 253) and two independent one-hour lab courses (EE 280 and EE 281). Thesecourses were required of all engineering majors and

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Dennis J. Miller

Session 2213 The Student Consultant: Enhancing Communication Skills in the Undergraduate Laboratory Dennis J. Miller Department of Chemical Engineering Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan 48824I. IntroductionThe ability to effectively communicate is an ever more frequently echoed requirement for thegraduating engineering student. Industries and accreditation agencies both send the clearmessage that the need for communication skills rivals that for technical skills in the

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

James Rehg; Jamie Rowe; Donald Lambing

Session 1620 Development of a Virtual Production Machine for a PLC Laboratory Don Lambing, James A. Rehg, Jamie Rowe Cambria Systems Inc./Penn State University Altoona College/ABB Robotics Inc.AbstractThe programmable logic controller (PLC) as become the de facto standard for control ofproduction machines, work cells, and flexible manufacturing systems. As a result, colleges anduniversities have added PLC systems in manufacturing and automation laboratories to teachmachine control using PLCs. In most implementations the laboratory has multiple studentstations, each equipped with a PLC system and computer for programming. This

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Jacek Jarzynski; Sheldon M. Jeter

Session 2566 Development of an Innovative Engineering Sciences and Systems Laboratory Course Sheldon M. Jeter and Jacek Jarzynski Georgia Institute of Technology INTRODUCTION In the fall of 1999 Georgia Tech changed from a ten week quarter to a fifteenweek semester schedule. This change created the need and opportunity to revise theundergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum. An important overall curriculumchange was to discontinue the dual track curriculum that featured some concentration oneither mechanical systems or thermal energy and fluid systems. The curriculum

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Richard L. Martin; Michael Morrow; Thad Welch

Session 3532 Development of an Instructor Station for Electrical Engineering Laboratories Richard L. Martin, Michael G. Morrow, and Thad B. Welch United States Naval AcademyAbstractAn individually laboratory-based Centralized Signal Distribution System has been developed toprovide known signals in labs for undergraduate core electrical engineering and technologycourses. The system consists of a general purpose PC running LABVIEW software whichcontrols three Arbitrary Waveform Generators. LABVIEW, a graphical programming language,allows easy programming of the instruments. The

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Debbie T. Brown; Masoud Rais-Rohani

Session 2520 Development of a Virtual Laboratory for the Study of Mechanics Masoud Rais-Rohani, Debbie T. Brown Mississippi State UniversityAbstractVirtual Laboratory for the Study of Mechanics (VLSM) is a Web-based educational tool beingdeveloped to support Statics and Mechanics of Materials instruction at Mississippi StateUniversity. It is designed to serve as an asynchronous tutorial tool with ten modules devoted totopics of interest in these two courses. A typical module consists of concise theoreticaldiscussions, interactive MathView® examples, a Java-enabled design modeling and analysis

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Kevin LaFerriere; John M. Spinelli

Session 2532 A Discovery Based Systems Laboratory using LabVIEW and MATLAB John M. Spinelli, Kevin LaFerriere Union CollegeAbstractThe development of a discovery based learning laboratory for Systems is described.Sophomore Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering students are introduced toconcepts such as linearity, time invariance, frequency response, transient response, delay,and filtering by analyzing "black boxes" containing unknown electrical systems.LabVIEW is used to control programmable function generators which provide inputs tothe systems and to

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2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Peter J. Shull

Session 2559 Formal Laboratory Reports Pros and Cons: An Interim Report Peter J. Shull Penn State University, AltoonaI. IntroductionEngineering programs have historically faced the major challenge of providing engineeringstudents with a solid foundation in written communication skills. In response, most engineeringcurricula include fundamental writing courses focused on developing and improving writtenperformance. With this emphasis in mind, the use of writing exercises in the classroom providesan opportunity for engineering

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Greg Smith; Richard E. Pfile

Session 1526 A Fuzzy Logic Control Project For a Real-time Microprocessor Laboratory Richard E. Pfile Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis Greg Smith Cummins Engine CompanyAbstract An advanced microprocessor course was revised to use the new Motorola M-Core 32-bitRISC processor. A series of laboratories were developed for the course that implements fuzzylogic control of an inverted pendulum. The interface hardware was intentionally kept very simpleto force the

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Craig W. Somerton

Session 3268 Incorporating a Team Building Experiment into a Senior Level Laboratory Course Craig W. Somerton Department of Mechanical Engineering, Michigan State UniversityI. IntroductionIn spring of 1995 Ford Motor Company established a continuous quality improvement (CQI)partnership with the colleges of business and engineering at Michigan State University. Toinitiate the program, Ford held workshops for the faculty and staff that focused on CQIprinciples and their implementation. During these workshops there was considerable interactionamong personnel from the two

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Jeffrey A. Jalkio

Session 1359 Incorporating Design, Communications, Teamwork, and Modeling in a Controls Laboratory Experience Jeffrey A. Jalkio Department of Engineering University of St. Thomas St. Paul, MN 55105AbstractIt is now widely recognized that engineering education must include training incommunication and teamwork skills in addition to traditional engineering science anddesign topics. This paper presents a control laboratory experience designed to providesuch training in a realistic manner. This experience centers on the