Conference Session

Biological & Agricultural Technical Session II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Leigh Wolfe, Virginia Tech; Nicholas M Holden, University College Dublin; Demetres Briassoulis, Agricultural University of Athens; Francisco Ayuga, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, BIPREE Research Group; Giacomo Scarascia Mugnozza, University of Bari, Italy

Tagged Divisions

Biological & Agricultural

Page 22.1540.3exchanged information via Scholar and email about their own programs relative to the team’sassignment. The teams are at various stages of developing and implementing work plans. Theprogress and plans of the various teams are described in the following paragraphs.Activity 1. Common Threads of the Biosystems Engineering Discipline The core concepts, or threads, of BE are variously understood by those within thediscipline, but have never been unequivocally defined due to the comparative youth of thediscipline. This makes communication and teaching difficult compared to other well establishedengineering subjects. The Atlantis POMSEBES project and Erasmus Network “ERABEE” haveworked towards defining a core curriculum for the

Conference Session

Biological & Agricultural Technical Session II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cindy Waters, North Carolina A&T State University; Sanjiv Sarin, North Carolina A&T State University

Tagged Divisions

Biological & Agricultural

c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Integrating Biology and EngineeringAbstract:This paper presents planned activities and some recent successes related to collaborative effortsbetween engineering and biology at North Carolina A&T State University. For many years,faculty in engineering and biology have teamed up to submit research proposals, much of thiscollaboration has occurred through personal relationships among faculty members. Morerecently, the university has encouraged a formal and intentional cooperation between the twodisciplines in an effort to find mutual benefits. Spurred by the establishment of newbioengineering degree programs and helped by the NSF Engineering Research Center

Conference Session

Biological & Agricultural Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Josue Orellana, Washington State University; Fabiola Quiroa, Washington State University; Ala' Ibrahim Abu-Lail; Nehal I. Abu-lail, Washington State University

Tagged Divisions

Biological & Agricultural

stimulate the interests ofother instructors to introduce such active-learning hands-on modules in their classrooms for bothgraduate and undergraduate students.Future PlansOur future plans include implementing these modules in the classroom again next year. One ofthe main concerns addressed by the students is the time commitment to such hands-on moduleswithin a 3 credit-hours lecture course. Currently, the BE faculty are addressing the need to add acellular bioengineering laboratory to the curriculum. If approved, these hands-on modules will beimplemented in a three hours lab period that will be added to the 3 credit-hours lecture course.The course will be assigned 4 credit hours. If a lab was added to the curriculum, two additionalhands-on modules

Conference Session

Biological & Agricultural Technical Session II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Frankie Santos Laanan, Iowa State University; Balaji Narasimhan, Iowa State University; Monica H. Lamm, Iowa State University; Carlos Lopez, Iowa State University ; Dimitra Lynette Jackson, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Biological & Agricultural

meaningful research with facultymembers as being one of the most powerful instructional tools4. Furthermore, Morley found that92% of the participants in a summer research program in electrical engineering for minorities atGeorgia Tech were either enrolled in graduate school or were planning to enroll within the nexttwo years5. Thus, the literature makes clear the benefits of research experiences in science andengineering, revealing a win-win program for undergraduate students, graduate student mentorsand faculty mentors.Theoretical Framework Astin’s theory of involvement is perhaps the most appropriate when investigating andinterpreting student involvement6. Astin defines involvement as the amount of physical andpsychological energy that a student

Conference Session

Biological & Agricultural Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

lourdes gazca, American University, Puebla, Mexico; Aurelio Lopez-Malo, American University, Puebla, Mexico; Enrique Palou, American University, Puebla, Mexico

Tagged Divisions

Biological & Agricultural

section). EI-100 goal isto introduce students to the Engineering Method, this is accomplished by focusing on six courseobjectives: self-regulation, communication, working cooperatively and collaboratively, problemsolving, modeling, and quality. The “Modeling” section initiates students in the process ofengineering modeling, using several software including spreadsheets. “Concepts” introducestudents to the engineering design process, problem-solving techniques, working in teams,engineering as a profession, and planning for success that students then apply in “Laboratory” ontwo actual design projects. The “Concepts” section uses quizzes given in nearly every session toascertain whether students have understood the material in their pre-class