Conference Session

Engineering Economy Classroom Tips

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Robert Mayer

Session 1339 Rate of Return – Must We Bother? Robert H. Mayer United States Naval AcademyAbstractRate of return (ROR) is a widely accepted criterion for determining the economic viability of anengineering project or other investment alternative. Similarly, incremental rate of return (IROR)is often used to choose the best alternative among several. Accordingly, most engineeringeconomy textbooks provide appreciable instruction in ROR and IROR applications, oftencovering one or two chapters of text. As a result, computation of the ROR is certainly

Conference Session

Design in the Engineering Core

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Josue Njock-Libii

. This paper discusses the main reason that led to the introduction of design in this course, the process that was followed to achieve integration of design, examples of projects that were carried out by students, the benefits and disadvantages that have been identified, and the author’s assessment of the whole experience. 1. Reason for adding design into the course: Need for reform Design was added to the first course in fluid mechanics to respond to the criticisms of engineering education that were prevalent in the literature at the end of the 1980's and the beginning of the 1990's. People who wanted reform criticized engineering education. They charged that graduates of American Engineering

Conference Session

Innovations in Teaching Mechanics

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Nick Salamon; Gautam Wagle; Cliff Lissenden

should be. Furthermore, it is verydifficult to get consensus from any one of these three groups. Should the focus be on usingcommercial software? On writing software? On the finite element method itself? Onunderstanding finite element results? Our course objectives are to produce students capable ofundertaking linear finite element modeling, who understand the basics of how commer cialsoftware packages work and the results they give, and what errors could be present. We describethe course content, which includes a mix between the finite element method and applicationsusing a commercial software package. Special attention is given to each of the four projects thatare assigned during a semester, with emphasis on learning objectives, project

Conference Session

Integrating Math and Engineering

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Marie Vanisko; John Scharf

Criteria 2000),both in Carroll’s mathematics and engineering programs. The mathematics curriculum atCarroll supports satisfaction of the ABET criteria, while at the same time, engineeringapplications enrich the study of mathematics, not only for engineering majors, but alsofor mathematics, mathematics education, science, and computer science majors.Interdisciplinary student team projects, written reports and oral presentations, and theextensive use of computing and information technologies are all part and parcel ofCarroll’s mathematics curriculum. These features support EC2000 beyond the basicrequirement for a sequence of courses to satisfy the mathematics content requirements ofthe engineering program. In particular, the mathematics curriculum

Conference Session

Graphics Applications in ME

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Richard Wilk

teaching a given course must apply for and receivecertification. With respect to the overall WAC requirement, the current ME curriculum hasseveral WAC-certified courses with the senior project satisfying the senior writing experiencerequirement.The College supports the writing activities by maintaining a Writing Center. This center isstaffed by student writing consultants. The student tutors are available to help writers in gettingstarted, writing drafts, and final editing -- in academic and nonacademic writing tasks. Uponrecommendation by faculty, the Writing Center hires some engineering students who can serveas consultants for technical writing.We feel it is important for students to have a broad exposure to different types of writing.Students

Conference Session

CAD Applications in MET Courses

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Mukasa Ssemakula

for selecting particular processes. Thelaboratory portion involves team projects that help students gain hands-on experience withselected manufacturing processes. The projects start with simple components that can be madeon a single machine such as a lathe or a mill, and progress to the manufacture and assembly of afully operational model engine. This approach introduces students to the issues involved inputting together a non-trivial assembly. The projects also expose students to the idea of workingin teams, a skill that is highly sought by industry.IntroductionThe high cost of setting up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility means that universitiesusually have to make difficult choices about the resources they dedicate to courses

Conference Session

Trends in Construction Engr. Educ. II

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Eric Lachance; Allen Estes

Session 2121 K’NEXERCISE: INTRODUCING STUDENTS TO THE KEY PARTICIPANTS IN THE DESIGN-CONSTRUCTION PROCESS Allen C. Estes, Eric M. Lachance, and Stephen J. Ressler United States Military AcademyABSTRACT The design-construction process is complex and involves key players who mustcommunicate and work together for a project to be successful. The owner, architect, projectmanager, construction contractor, sub-contractors, vendors, and lawyers all have key roles,unique perspectives, individual motivations and vested (but sometimes competing) interests in agiven project. Without first

Conference Session

ASEE Multimedia Session

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Ahmad Smaili

needed to envision, design, and build mechatronic devices. Thisarticle presents a model used in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the AmericanUniversity of Beirut (AUB) to educate mechanical engineers to become mechatronicsgeneralists. The various elements of the model are not necessarily new 4, but the way they are tiedis believed to be. The model also satisfies many of the educational outcomes stated in the ABETEC2000 Criterion 35.Mechatronic Education at AUBGoals and ObjectivesTraditionally, ME students receive primarily discipline specific training and have very fewopportunities to work on interdisciplinary team projects. They are trained to design mechanicalsystems for motion, strength, and other criteria, but receive little or no

Conference Session

Inquiring MINDs

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Freya Toledo; Antonio Gonzalez-Quevedo; Didier Valdes-Diaz

summer of 2001. The objective of this program was to expose a group ofhigh school students to a variety of academic experiences designed to motivate them towardprofessions in the field of transportation. High school students soon to enter their Junior Yearwere eligible to participate on our first Summer Transportation Institute in Puerto Rico. Theactivities were very diverse and included two trips to San Juan, the capital city of Puerto Rico,each time with an overnight stay. Besides these and other day-long field trips, our instituteprovided class sessions in transportation related topics, as well as participatory working sessionsfor the students to develop their projects. The participants also learned to write technical reportsand prepare

Conference Session

Teaching Teaming Skills Through Design

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Steve York

Session 2525 TEAM BUILDING THROUGH EARLY DESIGN/BUILD OPPORTUNITIES FOR FRESHMAN ENGINEERING STUDENTS Steven C. York and Katharine Davenport Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University ABSTRACTTeamwork is crucial to the success of any large engineering project. The AccreditationBoard for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and employers have stressed theimportance of incorporating teamwork skills within the engineering curriculum. AtVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, this is being implemented using aseries of hands-on and early-design projects during

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Philip Carpenter; Harvey Smith; Murali Krishnamurthi

appreciation of environmental issuesby engaging them in an integrated approach to learning math, science, business, law, social, andengineering concepts. Environmental management systems are “next generation” responses toenvironmental problems that go beyond regulatory compliance by integrating interdisciplinaryscience, quality management and systems engineering practices to redress point, non-point andprocess aspects of pollution. A significant challenge of the project is to design the learningmodules so that students can better understand and experience first hand the benefits ofenvironmental management in real-world settings by interacting with students from diversedisciplines and professionals. The project team is assisted by an advisory team

Conference Session

Real-World Manufacturing Education

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Donald Falkenburg; Tina Harkin

framework focuses on the articulation of clearand consistent goals and objectives for learning in work-related activities. The academic coursewe created to frame this learning experience is entitled: The Management of ManufactuirngEngineering Projects. There are nine learning objectives that describe the learning. Page 7.969.4 Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright Ó 2002, American Society for Engineering Education Table 1: Objectives: Management of Manufacturing Projects O1 Prepare and maintain project

Conference Session

Graphics Applications in ME

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Holly Ault

engineering.2 Writing in the humanities does notdepend heavily upon graphics. Mechanical design, in particular, requires extensive use ofgraphics, not only conventional orthographic drawings, but also sketches, solid models, graphicalrepresentations of various analyses and experiments, prototypes, and other graphical andphysical models to communicate design concepts and outcomes effectively. This paper willpresent a review of the use of graphics tools by students in a sophomore level introductorymechanical design course and senior design projects with a focus on the use of graphicalcommunication techniques and physical objects to develop and communicate design concepts.BackgroundEngineering design graphics has been taught traditionally as the

Conference Session

The Computer, the Web, and the ChE

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

John Bell; Scott Fogler

Session 3413 No Food Allowed – The Latest Virtual Reality Laboratory Accident John T. Bell and H. Scott Fogler University of Illinois Chicago / University of Michigan Ann ArborThe authors of this paper are in the middle of a multi-year project to create, distribute, andevaluate a series of virtual reality based laboratory accidents, with the dual goals of promotinglab safety and determining the optimal applicability of this medium for this purpose. This paperdescribes the current status of the project, with special emphasis on the most recently developedaccident, involving food in a

Conference Session

Marketing Engineering Technology

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Kathy Franck; George Sehi; Surinder Jain

IMAGE & MARKETING OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION: A Follow-up to A National Agenda for the Future of Engineering Technician Education (Funded by National Science Foundation Grant, NSF 99 – 53) George H. Sehi, Kathy L. Franck, Surinder M. Jain Sinclair Community College 444 West Third Street, Dayton, OH 45402-1460The Engineering and Industrial Technology Division of Sinclair Community College (Dayton,Ohio) administered a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) from January 1, 1995through December 31, 1996. The grant project sponsored a workshop at Sinclair CommunityCollege held on October 26 - 28, 1995 to

Conference Session

Understanding Students: Cognition

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Durward Sobek

Session 1330 Preliminary Findings from Coding Student Design Journals Durward K. Sobek, II Montana State UniversityAbstractSince Fall 2000, mechanical engineering students at Montana State University have been requiredto keep design journals of their senior design projects. We have now accumulated over 70journals on 21 design projects. We developed a coding scheme to code the journal data by designactivity (problem definition, idea generation, engineering analysis, and design refinement), designlevel (concept, system, detail), planning, and formal reporting. The

Conference Session

Practice/Industry Partnership

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

William Badger; Geraldine Peten; Anil Sawhney

nation and imparted research training to them through a focused and well-supported ten-week on-site research program. The Research Experience of Undergraduates (REU) included anorientation workshop, participating faculty presentations, nine week individual research program,interaction with current graduate students, workshops on construction management, bimonthlyresearch seminars, final research presentation, and final technical report. In addition the studentsparticipated in two construction project site visits, and a panel discussion of construction industryexperts describing the current status of the industry and its research needs. Through well-designedgroup and individual research training, the participating undergraduate students were

Conference Session

Introduction to Engineering Courses

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Brenda Henry Groff; Carlos Pomalaza-Raez

Computer Science (ETCS). The mainobjective of this course is to help students find a successful career path early in their studies, i.e.increase retention. The course aims to provide students with sufficient computer and personaldevelopment skills and to help them develop the right mental attitude conducive for academicsuccess. Features of the course include projects of software and hardware nature, extensive use ofthe Internet and Web software tools, and a team-teaching format. As the main project of this course,small teams of students design, build, program, and test an autonomous mobile robot using LEGO®parts, sensors, and the Robotic Command eXplorer (RCX) controller. This is a multidisciplinary,project-driven learning process that encourages

Conference Session

Teaching Teaming Skills Through Design

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Reid Bailey

Session 2525 Effectively Using Quantitative Indices of Conative Ability to Guide Teams Reid Bailey Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering University of Arizona rrbailey@u.arizona.eduABSTRACTThe success of an engineering design project is reliant upon individuals working effectively inteams. Due to this importance, quantitative indices of interpersonal behaviors are frequentlyused to form teams with a diverse set of qualities. In this paper, the focus is not on formingteams with indices but instead on the

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Ralph Budwig; Beyerlein Steve; Matthew Cunnington; Levi Westra; Donald Elger

Session 1526 Design of a Wind Tunnel Facility for Hands-on Use by Beginning Engineering Students J. Matthew Cunnington, Levi J. Westra, Steven W. Beyerlein, Ralph S. Budwig, Donald F. Elger University of Idaho Mechanical Engineering Moscow, ID 83844-0902AbstractThe best way to learn engineering is by doing engineering. To foster appropriate types ofexperiential learning, we have created a unique project called a Design for Lifetime Learning(DL2) project. This paper addresses

Conference Session

ASEE Multimedia Session

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Stephen Williams; Robert Doty

Session 2793 A Practice-Based Senior Design Experience Robert T. Doty, Stephen M. Williams Baylor UniversityAbstractThis paper presents an overview of a practice-based capstone design experience. Informationabout past industrial sponsorship of course projects, course structure and requirements,professional practice integration, and assessment results is provided. A primary objective of theexperience is to transition students from their classroom roles into their professional roles aspracticing engineers. Details of how the course facilitates this transition

Conference Session

Introduction to Engineering Courses

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Thomas Fuja; Stephen Batill; Jay Brockman

Session 2253 A Multidisciplinary Course Sequence for First-Year Engineering Students Jay B. Brockman, Thomas E. Fuja, Stephen M. Batill University of Notre DameAbstractThe University of Notre Dame has developed a new first year engineering program, and centralto that program is a two-course sequence entitled “Introduction to Engineering Systems.” Thesecourses use a sequence of team-based, multidisciplinary projects to introduce students to theengineering profession and to assist them in developing fundamental problem-solving skillscommon to all engineering

Conference Session

Professional Practice in CE Education

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Enno Koehn

understanding of various subject areas required by ABET has been enhanced byattendance at and/or participation in class field trips in addition to lectures and seminarspresented by practicing professional engineers. In particular, the findings suggest that bothundergraduate and graduate students believe that three areas have been greatly enhanced withthis activity. They include environmental engineering, project management/scheduling andestimating, and team work. In addition, undergraduates perceive that their understanding ofhealth and safety issues, and ethical considerations has also been increased at a high percentage.In contrast, graduate students believe that their knowledge of hydraulics/hydrology/waterresources and geotechnical engineering has

Conference Session

Computers in Education Poster Session

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Michael Karweit

Copyright ã 2002, American Society for Engineering Education” university setting. The question is: can these elements be integrated into universitycurricula in a different way. Engineering educators agree that laboratory and project work can provide some ofthese elements. Experiments provide hands-on experienced for validating or discoveringphysical principles; projects provide contexts in which to exercise these principles.These projects should require students to synthesize and apply their theoreticalknowledge. Performing experiments and carrying projects are examples of “contextuallearning”. But, simply assigning a contextual problem does not ensure that the learning gapwill be spanned. How the project is presented and taught can

Conference Session

Effective Energy Laboratory Ideas

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Ronald Nelson; David Flegel; Brian Johnson; Herbert Hess

with a solid funded followup serves as ameans to leverage the creation of such large research tools. Details of ideas for design,implementation, projects, and data collection are presented.IntroductionA Transient Network Analyzer (TNA) is a controlled hardware environment with whichengineers can intentionally create and observe real electrical faults on a scale model powerdistribution system. A TNA has the main elements of a section of the commercial electrical grid,such as lines, sources, transformers, loads, instrumentation, and protection. There is a significantdegree of flexibility for interconnection and instrumentation. Appropriate scaling of voltages,currents, impedances, and other quantities permit its behavior to safely mimic the

Conference Session

Trends in Construction Engr. Educ. II

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Wilson Barnes; Gouranga Banik

requirements. Construction industry today ismoving to fully integrated/automated project processes. This has caused outsourcing, alliances,contractor consolidation, and experimentation. These events present both challenges andopportunities for the construction community. This article highlights the existing and futureissues and challenges for the construction industry from the perspective of trends and newtechnology development. The authors have explained qualitatively what steps industry shouldtake to minimize these future challenges. The paper describes the role of management,technology, clients, industry and academia to address the challenges. This paper also identifiesthe qualities or abilities construction students should achieve during their

Conference Session

Undergraduate Research and New Directions

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Daphne Chang

Matlab/Simulink, a required software for the EE undergraduate curriculum. A series of lab sessions are introduced to the class to complement the lecture materials and to guide the students into the design project. The use of animation provides many advantages: better visual effects, improved communications, and higher interest levels. Student response has been very positive. A number of recommendations are made in this work based on instructor observation and course evaluations.(I) IntroductionSystem analysis is a multidisciplinary subject encompassing all fields of engineering applications.However, the traditional treatment (in the sense of teaching pedagogy) of this subject tends to behighly

Conference Session

ASEE Multimedia Session

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Leroy Oberto; Sheryl Sorby

: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday FridayIntroduction to the Introduction to LEGO project-- Mechanics of Project Schedulingcourse and to the Spatial Visualization, Phase II Materials and Trussprogram, Pre-testing Graphics, and Analysis Engineering DrawingsEngineering history, LEGO project-- Basic Statics and Guest Speaker Engineering Econ andprofession, and Phase I Mechanics of Design Project Assigned discussion of the non-disciplines Materials

Conference Session

Mobile Robotics in Education

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

David Ahlgren; Igor Verner

Analysis of Team Learning Experiences and Educational Outcomes in Robotics David J. Ahlgren1/Igor M. Verner2 Trinity College/Technion—Israel Institute of TechnologyAbstractThis paper argues that educational research, which assesses learning and instruction inintroductory robotics courses, is essential to the evaluation, improvement, anddissemination of robotics programs. The authors consider their experiences in teachingrobotics as an introductory engineering subject at Trinity College in the United States,and as a graduation project course at the Mevohot E’ron High School in Israel. Bothprograms focus on team-based design of fire-fighting mobile robots to compete in theTrinity College Fire

Conference Session

Design for Community

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Tarek Shraibati; Ahmad Sarfaraz

. Thus, in the spring of 2001, community service-learning concept was introduced into two Manufacturing Systems Engineering senior courses atCalifornia State University, Northridge (CSUN). In the first community service-learning project,students shared their knowledge and skills gained in a senior level course, Facilities Planning andDesign, with a small company located within a federal enterprise zone. The second communityservice-learning project integrated a senior design class with a local high school as part of theFIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics organization.Engineering students mentored Granada Hills High School (GHHS) senior students in building arobot to compete in both regional and national