Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eric Freudenthal, University of Texas, El Paso; Mary Kay Roy, University of Texas, El Paso; Alexandria Ogrey, University of Texas, El Paso; Ann Gates, University of Texas, El Paso

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

plan at UTEP (“CS-1”), a large fraction of incoming freshmen mustattend several semesters of preparatory “pre calculus” math courses. Most of these students willhave limited if any prior exposure to programming or engineering. The initial implementation ofour course was intended solely to provide an engaging first experience with programming, andfollowed Mark Guzdial’s “Media Computation” curriculum. Dr. Guzdial’s curriculum hassuccessfully engaged Liberal Arts students in programming through the creation of aestheticallymotivated multimedia projects. Attendees in pre-engineering and pre-professional programsreported lack of interest in these aesthetically- focused projects and requested more practicalprojects and assignments. The course has

Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mustafa Guvench, University of Southern Maine

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

constraintssuch as the maximum chip area available as well as the design rules specified by the Page 14.410.2company. Designs covered a range from about 3 g’s to 15 g’s. (“g” is the unit of accelerationmeasured equivalent to Earth’s acceleration of gravity, i.e. 9.81 m/s2.)Thanks to the availability of funds from the instructor’s NASA and MSGC grants, thestudent designs, after several feedback and corrections on them by the instructor to increaseprobability of success, were sent out for fabrication in the form of a multi-project chip whichcontains a total of nine such designs. In this way the cost of fabrication could be split amongall nine. Figure 1 gives

Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gregory Bucks, Purdue University; William Oakes, Purdue University; Jeffrey Richardson, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

, Charlotte, NC, June 1999.3. Dahir, M. (1993). Educating engineers for the real world, in Technology Review, Aug./Sept. 1993, pp. 14-16.4. Dym, C.L., Agogino, A.M., Eris, O., Frey, D.D., Leifer, L. J., (2005) “Design Thinking, Teaching, and Learning” Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 94, No. 1, pp. 103-1205. Felder, R. M., Felder , G. N., Mauney, M., Hamrin, C. E., & Dietz, E. J. (1995). A Longitudinal Study of Engineering Student Performance and Retention. III. Gender Differences in Student Performance and Attitudes. Journal of Engineering Education, 84(2), 151-163.6. Newton, E., & Linda, W.-G. (1999). Mentors for Undergraduates in Technical Disciplines: A Collaborative Effort by Faculty, Student Development Professionals

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hetal Jasani, Northern Kentucky University; Wei Hao, Northern Kentucky University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

improve and update the assignments for coming semesters. Students foundthis course along with lab assignments helpful to them in understanding the theory of networksecurity, and gaining practical experience. In the future, more lab assignments would bedeveloped involving more advanced security tools. Moreover, simulation experiments usingOPNET will be designed to enhance the learning of the network security concepts. Page 14.738.11Bibliography 1. CIT Program at NKU, http://informatics.nku.edu/csc/undergraduate/cit/index.php, last accessed January 29, 2009. 2. Department of Computer Science at NKU http://informatics.nku.edu/csc/programs

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Bowles, University of South Carolina; Caitlin Buchhaults, University of South Carolina; Donald Griffith, University of South Carolina

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

optimizing their code.Implementing the robot and the contest environment in a simulator such as Microsoft RoboticsDeveloper Studio allows the students to develop their software and hardware concurrently. Thisgreatly improves individual team performance in the competition and provides students withincreased exposure to software design, which should result in increased numbers of studentsentering into computing careers.1. IntroductionEach year in January, the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)organization releases the rules and specifications for its annual Robotics Competition. Teams ofhigh school students have six weeks from the time the challenge is issued until the finished robotmust be shipped to the contest site

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Aaron St. Leger, United States Military Academy; Anthony Deese, Drexel University; Chikaodinaka Nwankpa, Drexel University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

thissoftware package is robust power system emulation hardware. This hardware models powersystem dynamics and emulates system behavior faster than real time. As a result, it providestransient response of the system, steady-state solutions, and stability analysis instantaneously tothe user. Once configured, the hardware runs constantly and behaves similar to a power system.The student can adjust parameters and make changes to the hardware during operation andobserve the response of the system. It is analogous to operating a small scale power system.Table 1 enumerates and compares the performance of an analog emulator as a laboratory tool totraditional technologies.Table 1. Comparison of Software, Hardware, and Analog Emulation as Laboratory Tools

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education III

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cordelia Brown, Purdue University; Yung-Hsiang Lu, Purdue University; Melissa Yale, Purdue University; Deborah Bennett, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

course on object oriented programming. It has been observed that traditional paperexaminations do not necessarily reflect students' programming skills. We study whether on-lineexaminations are more appropriate for a programming course. The examinations can be takenon-line or on paper in a classroom. Both formats are open-book and open-note and have the sameamount of time. This study considers the following questions: (1) Do students perform better inon-line examinations because they can type, instead of writing, code and have access tocompilers? (2) Do students prefer on-line examinations to traditional paper-based examinations?What are the reasons? (3) How can appropriate technology be used to maintain honesty? Wemeasured the appropriateness of

Conference Session

Pedagogy and Assessment I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ehsan Sheybani; Singli Garcia-Otero; Keith Williamson

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

(EBI) for gathering a significant amount of data that can provide meaningful andreliable information about the quality of programs. In addition to data gathering, the system inplace also performs some preliminary evaluation of data, both in the quality of data beinggathered and in the effectiveness of the process. There are four easily developed sources of data:(1) student exit interview; (2) an external advisory committee; (3) alumni interview for programobjectives (3-5 years after graduation); and (4) corporate feedback requests.Additionally, every semester and in every course, feedback from students is gathered where theyare asked to rate how well they have mastered the ABET Program Outcomes in their respectiveprograms. While ABET has

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education III

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jiecai Luo, Southern University; Fred Lacy, Southern University; Pradeep Bhattacharya, Southern University & A&M College; Perry Daniels, Texas Instruments

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Page 14.1173.2parameters. Mixed signal IC tests are very sensitive to structural details and hence tofabrication techniques. The course combines educational elements to produce a uniqueclass environment. These elements include the use of industrially sponsored design andbuild projects, a fabricated design approach and its modification, the integration ofproducts and manufacturing process design, and emphasis on engineering and peopleskills. In this paper, the innovative design and testing parameters, the course teachingprocedures, and some course materials will be discussed. 1. Introduction Currently, mixed-signal IC test and measurement has grown into a highlyspecialized field of electrical

Conference Session

Embedded System Design

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wagdy Mahmoud, University of the District of Columbia

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

processors arelow-cost processors that are optimized to perform a specific function. Embedded processors areextensively used in wide verities of applications such as mobile phone systems, automotiveapplications, office and home equipments, aerospace applications, and defense systems.Therefore, embedded system design courses are used to teach interdisciplinary designs.The MicroBlazeTM ArchitectureThe MicroBlaze is a 32-bit RISC Harvard soft processor core that can be embedded in thereconfigurable logic of an FPGA chip [1]. The MicroBlaze processor is based on the IBMCoreConnect bus architecture. The user can instantiate as many MicroBlaze soft cores inside theFPGA fabric as required by the application [4]. Associated peripheral devices for each

Conference Session

ECE Pedagogy and Assessment II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dale Buechler, University of Wisconsin, Platteville; Phillip Sealy, University of Wisconsin, Platteville; David Drury, University of Wisconsin, Platteville; Mesut Muslu, University of Wisconsin, Platteville

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

earlier in the semester. This has been demonstrated by their poorperformance on comprehensive final exams. These students try to memorize things for themidterm exams instead of learning content in depth. A significant amount of scientific researchhas been completed about how the human mind works and how we learn. A 1999 study by theNational Research Council has discussed this issue in detail1. The study stated that “transfer isaffected by the degree to which people learn with understanding rather than merely memorizesets of facts”1.The findings of the above National Research Council study can help us improve the long-termretention of key concepts by our students. Active learning environments can improve transfer instudents1. At UW – Platteville

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Georgios Anagnostopoulos, Florida Institute of Technology; Michael Georgiopoulos, University of Central Florida; Veton Kepuska, Florida Institute of Technology; Kenneth Stanley, University of Central Florida; Alison Morrison-Shetlar, University of Central Florida; Pat Lancey, University of Central Florida; Paula Krist, University of Central Florida; Tace Crouse, University of Central Florida

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

program, its uniquecharacteristics, and the structure and organization of our collaborative site. Furthermore, wewould like to give an informative account of our activities across the various aspects of theprogram, such as marketing of the experience, recruiting of student participants, the summerexperience itself and our dissemination efforts. Finally, we report on our outcomes accomplishedso far, which include research products and evaluation results.While our program is only entering into its third year of operation, we do hope that, by sharingour experiences and promising strategies to date, we will encourage and aid prospective REUSite directors to successfully plan for and operate collaborative sites.1. IntroductionThe AMALTHEA REU Program1

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eugene Ressler, United States Military Academy; Michael Miller, United States Military Academy; Christa Chewar, United States Military Academy; Jean Blair, United States Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

traditional disciplines. Our methodology forformulating intracourses naturally provides measurement opportunities for assessment ofprogram outcomes. Thus, a single intracourse can be designed to accomplish more than the sumof its parts. We give examples of intracourses formulated over the last several years along withsuccesses and pitfalls encountered.1. Introduction—Change In Engineering ProgramsRelentless change characterizes undergraduate curricula in the engineering disciplines that aresubject to rapid technology advances. Entirely new technologies appear regularly. Moore’sLaw—the empirical observation that the number of transistors that fit in a given chip arearoughly doubles every two years —leads to dramatic shifts in basic assumptions. What

Conference Session

ECE Pedagogy and Assessment II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ozdemir Gol; Jan Machotka; Zorica Nedic; Andrew Nafalski

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

plagiarism. Yet, it seems hard to deny that there is a disturbing trend indicating thatplagiarism is on the increase. Examples range from the use of circuit designs to adoptingcomputational code without giving any credit whatsoever to the source.What is plagiarism?Plagiarism is variously defined as “a piece of writing that has been copied from someone elseand is presented as being your own work” 1 . The on-line Encarta Dictionary: English (U.K.)unmistakably gives it as “stealing somebody’s work or idea: the process of copying anotherperson's idea or written work and claiming it as original” 2 .The University of South Australia defines plagiarism as “a specific form and serious act ofacademic misconduct”. Acts constituting plagiarism are declared to

Conference Session

Project-Based Learning in ECE Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ed Doering, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Sam Shearman, National Instruments

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

LabVIEW communication systemsprojects with the toolkit.ExamplesExample 1: Intersymbol Interference (ISI) and the Eye DiagramRectangular pulses familiar to students from earlier digital logic courses seem intuitively obviousfor the signaling waveform of a digital communications system. However, finite channelbandwidth smears the pulses into adjacent time slots, a phenomenon known as intersymbolinterference (ISI). This interference reduces noise margin and increases the bit error rate (BER)in the received message. An eye diagram plot visualizes the time-domain signaling waveform atthe receiver; it illustrates the ISI effect and also facilitates direct measurement of optimum

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eric Freudenthal, University of Texas, El Paso; Frederick Kautz, University of Texas, El Paso; Bivas Das, University of Texas, El Paso; Luc Longpre, University of Texas, El Paso

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

the capabilities of the lab. For institutionswith limited budgets, it may be impractical to purchase all the devices necessary for each student.Equipment that students have access to are often shared with other students. Usually, students areput into teams and the team must spend time allocated time slots when the lab is available. Once ateam has worked in the lab, it may be time consuming and sometimes not obvious how to resetthe lab to an appropriate configuration. This effectively restricts the kind of assignments given tothe students.Approaches to use virtualizationAlthough not specifically designed for a teaching lab, an approach to simplify the management ofnetworks was proposed by Chandra, Zeldovich, Sapuntzakis and Lam.1 They proposed

Conference Session

Pedagogy and Assessment III

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tokunbo Ogunfunmi, Santa Clara University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

whether we meet our assessmentgoals and on the efficacy of the SSCI CT Tests. Page 14.606.2IntroductionA course in linear (signals and) systems is a core component of undergraduate curricula inelectrical engineering programs worldwide. Typically the course is offered at the junior level [1].At Santa Clara University, the course is titled “Linear Systems” and taken by all juniors in theFall term/semester.Over the last two years when the author has taught the course, an assessment of the studentlearning outcomes have been done using primarily a standard test known as the SSCI.The Signals and Systems Concept Inventory (SSCI) [2-3] is a set of multiple

Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark McDermott, University of Texas, Austin; Jacob Abraham, University of Texas, Austin; Mihir Ravel, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

design and embedded system-on-chip (SoC)design.Background and MotivationA sequence of four graduate level courses was chosen for this analysis for three reasons: 1) thedependencies the courses have on laboratory based instruction, 2) applicability to thesemiconductor industry and 3) each course builds upon the previous course culminating in acapstone course that unifies the systematic design competencies that are needed to build complexsilicon systems. These silicon systems are composed of both hardware and software componentsthat implement complex algorithms and functions, and these functions determine thecompetencies required by the student.The four courses in the sequence are described in detail in the next section and include: 1) Basic

Conference Session

Embedded System Design

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Zaydoun Rawashdeh, Wayne State University; Syed Masud Mahmud, Wayne State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

globally. This global industry standardization did notcome about until around 10 years ago. After a decade of preferred usage across Europe, Bosch’sCAN protocol [1] finally won widespread acceptance in the US auto industry during the late1990s. Worldwide usage brings certain advantages with it. Standardization of components drivesdown manufacturing costs; it also reduces maintenance costs when replacements are easy toobtain. In addition, auto mechanics and repair personnel only have to learn one electronicscommunication protocol to diagnose and repair faulty systems. In this entire situation, the onlyweak link is the educational system. Page

Conference Session

Laboratory Development in ECE Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dietmar Moeller, University of Hamburg; Hamid Vakilzadian, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

dedicated for performing specifictasks and are produced in large quantities, it makes sense their design to be optimized. Theoptimization not only will reduce the size and cost of the product, it will also increase itsreliability and performance.In the traditional design approach, on the onset, the system is portioned into HW unit, SWunit, and the interface unit, as shown in Fig. 1 [1-3]. Integration of these units takes place atthe end when these units are developed. In this practice, the loop L2 corresponding to designof software depends on design of hardware and the loop L1 [1-3]. However, completion ofloop L1 can be slow and expensive due to fabrication and verification cost of hardware.In addition, during the integration phase, the design

Conference Session

Laboratory Development in ECE Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Prakash Ranganathan, University of North Dakota; Richard Schultz, University of North Dakota

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

AC 2009-2513: A BLOOM’S ONLINE ASSESSMENT TEST (BOAT) TO ASSESSSTUDENT LEARNING OUTCOME IN A DISTANCE ENGINEERINGEDUCATION COURSEPrakash Ranganathan, University of North DakotaRichard Schultz, University of North Dakota Page 14.4.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Using DAQ boards to communicate with NXT in measurements and Instrumentation applications Prakash Ranganathan 1, Richard Schultz 2 Department of Electrical Engineering University of North Dakota Grand Forks, North Dakota 58202 email:1prakash.ranganathan@mail.und.edu 2

Conference Session

Pedagogy and Assessment III

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peter Osterberg, University of Portland; Aziz Inan, University of Portland

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

configuration are usedto provoke student’s motivation and curiosity and to engage them in the subject matter. Onesuch well-known problem is finding the effective resistance seen between opposite corners of acubic resistor network1 comprised of twelve equal resistors each of value R resulting in aneffective resistance given by Reff = 5R/6. Another well-known problem is finding the effectiveresistance of the one-dimensional, semi-infinite resistive-ladder network1 comprised of equalresistors each of value R which is found to be Reff = R(1+50.5)/2. Although two-dimensional (2D) network problems are generally considered to be moredifficult and challenging for undergraduate EE education, there are exceptions to this view. Forexample, Aitchison2

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jeff Jalkio, University of St. Thomas

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

covered 1. ( x ) * ( x ) = x y z y+zmost of the learning outcomes for the course. Tothese 25 questions, we added our own internallydeveloped assessment for basic math skills. 2. x2 + y2 = x + yOur math skills assessment was based on previous x x xwork that identified math skills needed in 3. = + y+z y zengineering6. This assessment consisted of 5multiple choice questions with 5 choices each, 15 4. log(a + b) = log(a) + log(b)true and false questions, and 3 questions requiringnumerical answers. The multiple

Conference Session

Laboratory Development in ECE Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mukul Shirvaikar, University of Texas, Tyler; Karthik Somaraju, University of Texas, Tyler

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

use for an external ICD unit. QSK26A contains an installation CD-ROM thatincludes a complete Integrated Development Environment (IDE) called High-performanceEmbedded Workshop (HEW4). This is a powerful real-time source-level debug environmentsupplied with the QSK26A. This IDE contains the compiler, linker, assembler and debugger.Easy to use flash programming software called “Flash over USB (FoUSB)” allows the student toeasily program the on-board flash. Figure 1 Renesas QSK26A Educational Board (adapted from Quick start guide for QSK26A1) Page 14.829.3Past workMost electrical and computer engineering programs have a course in microprocessors

Conference Session

Embedded System Design

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

matt gallagher, Vermont Technical College; Andre St. Denis, Vermont Technical College; John Murphy, Vermont Technical College

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

2 Parallel Ports 3 Stack and subroutines 3 Interrupts 3 C programming 3 Timer module 2 Analog to digital conversion 2 Liquid crystal display 2 Keypad 2 Low power modes 2 Seven segment display 3 Pulse width modulation 1

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rachid Manseur, State University of New York, Oswego; Adrian Ieta, State University of New York, Oswego

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

degreeprogram rather than offer an electrical engineering degree. The objective is to use existingcomputer science courses, faculty, and facilities to complement the computer hardware coursesin the engineering degree. Due to curriculum content limitations taking into considerationgeneral education requirements to insure a broad grounding in the arts, social and naturalsciences, and humanities, the curriculum is implemented with different tracks that ECE majorscan choose to follow in the completion of their own degree program. Figure 1 shows theenvisioned organization of the core courses and the two EE and CE tracks.Teaching methodsIt stands to reason to seek modern and effective teaching methods for a new program. Studieshave shown that project-based

Conference Session

Project-Based Learning in ECE Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Archibald, Brigham Young University; Doran Wilde, Brigham Young University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

conditions and backgrounds, and it resulted in asignificant improvement in the robustness and reliability of vision techniques employedon the vehicles. Test Images for the Image Competition Page 14.1247.11Required ResourcesEach team is provided with a complete and operational truck assembly, along with allresources required for the project. The total cost of provided equipment is about $2000per team, not including labor or assembly costs. The specific hardware we use issummarized in the table below.Hardware Manufacture/Model DescriptionRC Truck Traxxas Stampede XL-5 1/10 Scale 2WD monster truckCamera

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education III

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Buket Barkana, University of Bridgeport; Navarun Gupta, University of Bridgeport; Lawrence Hmurcik, University of Bridgeport

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

performance that are related not to abilities butrather how people prefer to use their abilities8.Our MI test results show that 42% of graduate engineering students have strong visual/spatialintelligence, 17% have strong linguistic intelligence, 17% have strong kinesthetic intelligence,and 24% have strong logical-mathematical intelligence. Students with strong linguisticintelligence have highly developed auditory skills. They have the ability to use words andlanguage. Interpersonal and intrapersonal preferences of the students are to be found 50-50.According to the VAK learning styles test, 50% prefer the auditory learning style, 35% prefer thevisual/spatial learning style, and 15% prefer the kinesthetic learning style.Figure 1: MI and VAK test

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Burkett, University of Alabama; Charles Snead, University of Alabama

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

important in today’s competitive environment.The goal of the laboratory was to exercise and enhance the creative process in lower level ECEstudents. This trait, creativity, is considered to impact globalization1 yet most engineeringprograms do not emphasize this skill. Globalization is stressed as a critical issue for the successof future STEM professionals in The Engineer of 20202 and Educating the Engineer of 2020.3 Adisadvantage in de-emphasizing creativity is that functionality may dominate the design processwith little regard to visual considerations.1 Project objectives include: 1) Making ECE more appealing to students early in their academic career

Conference Session

Pedagogy and Assessment III

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Egbert, Missouri State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Missouri State University (MSU) signed aMemorandum of Understanding that allowed Missouri S&T to offer bachelor’s degrees in Civiland Electrical Engineering on the MSU campus.Memorandum of UnderstandingKey issues in the Memorandum of Understanding were: 1. The degrees in both Civil and Electrical Engineering will be Missouri S&T degrees and will be the same degree programs as are already offered on the Rolla campus. The diplomas will read Missouri University of Science and Technology in cooperation with Missouri State University. 2. The degree programs will be ABET accredited. Page 14.1072.2 3. Courses in the program