Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Cambron, Western Kentucky University; Walter Collett, Western Kentucky University; Stacy Wilson, Western Kentucky University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

AC 2008-2104: RECENT CAPSTONE DESIGN PROJECTS AT WESTERNKENTUCKY UNIVERSITYMark Cambron, Western Kentucky University Dr. Mark Cambron is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering in the Department of Engineering at Western Kentucky University. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Kentucky, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. He is a registered engineer in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. His current research interest include: engineering education, bio-sensing devices, machine vision, robotics, learning systems, neural networks, and controls.Walter Collett, Western Kentucky University Walter Collett

Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jin-Hwan Lee, University of Cincinnati; Ali Asgar Bhagat, University of Cincinnati; Karen Davis, University of Cincinnati; Ian Papautsky, University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

graduate level, due to its multidisciplinary nature. At the University ofCincinnati we have developed a number of courses in order to introduce graduate students to thistopic. However, little focus has been given to the undergraduate experience. To address thisconcern, graduate students along with their faculty advisor in the Electrical and ComputerEngineering Department have been using the required senior project to teach research methods inorder to give undergraduate students a chance to experience BioMEMS-related research. Thispaper will discuss some of the research-oriented senior projects in the BioMEMS field asexamples. A unique aspect of these projects is the focus on extended problem-based real-worldlearning examples.The senior design

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Saeed Monemi, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona; Zekeriya Aliyazicioglu, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

AC 2008-2072: TEACHING AND USING GPS/GIS IN ELECTRICALENGINEERING PROJECTSSaeed Monemi, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Dr. Saeed Sean Monemi is a professor of Electrical and Computer engineering at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He has published many papers and currently conducting projects in the areas of embedded systems, software engineering, and operating systems.Zekeriya Aliyazicioglu, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Dr. Zekeriya Aliyazicioglu is a professor of Electrical and Computer engineering at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He has published many papers and currently conducting projects in the area of signals and

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Vicky Fang, Cedarville University; Clinton Kohl, Cedarville University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

AC 2008-80: A SIMULATED MANO MACHINE--AN NOVEL PROJECT FORCOMPUTER ARCHITECTURE CLASSVicky Fang, Cedarville University assistant professorClinton Kohl, Cedarville University associate professor Page 13.103.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 A Simulated MANO Machine -- A Novel Project for Undergraduate Computer Architecture ClassAbstract:Hands-on experience and visualization are both crucial to enhance undergraduate engineeringeducation. This paper will describe a novel project that we feel meets both of these key elementsfor a first undergraduate computer architecture class. Instruction level simulation, though helpful,does

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education I

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Klein, University of Idaho; Herbert Hess, University of Idaho; Brian Johnson, University of Idaho

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Wisconsin and Idaho. Page 13.337.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Cooperative Methodology for Successful Integration of Undergraduate and Graduate Research ProjectsAbstractThe effectiveness of integrating a structured undergraduate senior design course with the relativefreedom of an individual graduate research project is presented in this paper. A cooperativemethodology is outlined which serves to ensure that the project is appropriately distributedthroughout the entire research team. Benefits of this team integration technique are documentedand it is shown that all parties involved are

Conference Session

Project-Based Learning in ECE Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Saeed Khan, Kansas State University-Salina; Greory Spaulding, Kansas State University-Salina

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

include antennas and propagation, novel materials for microwave application, and electromagnetic scattering.Greory Spaulding, Kansas State University-Salina GREG SPAULDING in an Professor of mechanical engineering technology joined Kansas State University at Salina in 1996. Spaulding, a licensed professional engineer, also is the faculty adviser for the Mini Baja club, which simulates a real-world engineering design project. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from Kansas State University. Spaulding holds a patent for a belt drive tensioning system and for an automatic dispensing system for prescriptions

Conference Session

Project-Based Learning in ECE Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Arif Uluagac; Douglas Williams, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Conference Session

Project-Based Learning in ECE Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peter Schubert, Packer Engineering; Matthew Beatty, Naperville North High School

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

AC 2008-2364: HARVESTING OF LUNAR IRON: COMPETITIVE HANDS-ONLEARNINGPeter Schubert, Packer Engineering Dr. Schubert conducts research into alternate energy, space-based manufacturing, and engineering education at Packer Engineering in Naperville, IL. He is Senior Director, and has served as PI on projects from DOE, NASA and the GSA. He has published 47 technical papers, has 25 US patents, and is an instructor with the Society of Automotive Engineers. Prior experience includes 21 years in automotive electronics with Delphi Corporation, where he was a Technical Fellow. His doctorate in EE from Purdue was sponsored by a GM Fellowship. His MSEE is from U. of Cincinnati on a Whirlpool

Conference Session

Project-Based Learning in ECE Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Albert Liddicoat, California Polytechnic State University; Jianbiao Pan, California Polytechnic State University; James Harris, California Polytechnic State University; Lynne Slivovsky, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

AC 2008-2186: CURRICULAR ENHANCEMENT TO SUPPORT PROJECT-BASEDLEARNING IN COMPUTER AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERINGAlbert Liddicoat, California Polytechnic State University Albert A. Liddicoat received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering and his M.S. degree in Engineering Management from Stanford University in 1996, 2002 and 1999, respectively. Dr. Liddicoat worked for IBM’s Storage Technology Division from 1990 until 2002 where he held many positions in disk drive development including: servo system test and integration, ASIC development, system electronics and architecture, program management, and business line management. Currently, he is the Forbes Associate Professor and the

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education I

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wookwon Lee, Gannon University; Fong Mak, Gannon University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

and development projects for more than 10 years in industry.Fong Mak, Gannon University FONG MAK, P.E. received his B.S.E.E. degree from West Virginia University in 1983, M.S.E.E. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1986 and 1990. He is currently the Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Gannon University. He is also the Program Director for the professional-track Gannon/GE Transportation Embedded System Graduate Program. Page 13.12.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 A Case Study: A New Course on Engineering Project and

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rosemarie Guzman, University of the Pacific; Michael Golanbari, University of the Pacific

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

AC 2008-103: ENHANCING ONE STUDENTS’ DESIGN SKILLS IN ANELECTRICAL ENGINEERING CAPSTONE SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT BYLEARNING FROM THE DESIGN AND HARDWARE CONSTRUCTION OF ANANNUNCIATORRosemarie Guzman, University of the Pacific Rosemarie Guzman is a an undergraduate electrical engineering student (senior standing) at the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering and Comptuer Science, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA, USA. Her research interests span a wide range of topics in electrical engineering, with special emphasis on the design and development of various instruments for practical applications.Michael Golanbari, University of the Pacific Michael Golanbari received

Conference Session

Embedded System Design

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daren Wilcox, Southern Polytechnic State University; Steve Wilson, Southern Polytechnic State University; Gerd Wöstenkühler

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Embedded Design in a Sophomore CourseAbstractRecently in academia, a push has emerged to include engineering design early in a student’s coursesequence. The desired result is to captivate the student’s interest in engineering before the student hashad a chance to change majors. Otherwise, the student would not experience the design process until thecapstone courses in the senior year. In this paper, an embedded design project in a sophomore course ispresented. The design project is based on the USB Toolstick from Silicon Laboratories. The USBToolstick is an 8051 series microcontroller that is self contained, economical, and very student friendly.What follows is a discussion of the sophomore course, an overview of the USB Toolstick, and examplesof

Conference Session

Laboratory Development in ECE Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peter Mark Jansson, Rowan University; Ulrich Schwabe, Rowan University; Andrew Hak, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

for Engineering Education, 2008Medium Voltage Switchgear, Transformer and Interconnection Specification in an ECE ClinicI. AbstractWorking on real world engineering technology projects with industry is a key component ofRowan University’s engineering clinics. Our College of Engineering has Industrial affiliates whoregularly act as sponsors of the ECE curriculum by bringing important and diverse real worldengineering design challenges to ECE students. This paper discusses how undergraduate ECEstudents were called upon to first learn about the proposed renewable energy system (in this casea 3MW photovoltaic system – the largest of its kind east of Arizona in the U.S.) optimize thearray field and the DC wiring, and then

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education I

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew O'Fallon, Washington State University; Jack R Hagemeister, Washington State University; Clint Cole, Washington State University, Pullman; Joseph Harris, Digilent Inc.

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

free developmenttools now allow each student to have access to state of the art development tools and hardware.Students must be provided access to these industry leading tools to be competent and competitivein the marketplace.A study to be conducted at Washington State University will measure changes in studentperformance and retention when first year engineering students have exposure and unlimitedaccess to state of the art development tools and hardware. Data will be collected from surveys,exams, project reports, laboratory assignments, and homework.Quantitative data will be analyzed by comparison to historical data gathered from studentgroups that did not have exposure to and unlimited access to development tools.Qualitative data will be

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education I

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Baker, Texas Tech University; Brian Nutter, Texas Tech University; Mohammed Saed, Texas Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

(ECE) projects. Teams of 4 to 5 students were formed, with atleast one ECE freshman, a high school student (or recent graduate), a junior or seniorlevel ECE student, and a community college student. Students were paid as interns for asix-week summer session. An industry or community mentor and an ECE facultymember were assigned to each team. Projects included: re-engineering an adaptivebicycle to enable use by a physically disabled child; designing a fall detector toautomatically detect a fall in an elderly person; and, implementing smart sensors tomeasure energy and water use in a residential environment. Students were required togive weekly presentations to the faculty members and other teams in a formal setting. Inassessing the success of

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education I

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christopher Anderson, U.S. Naval Academy; Richard Buehrer, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

TRANSACTIONS ON VEHICULAR TECHNOLOGY, and the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SIGNAL PROCESSING. Page 13.200.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 An Undergraduate Research Experience: Wireless Propagation and Position Location in a Forest EnvironmentAbstractOver the past several years, the undergraduate curriculum at many universities has been evolvingto incorporate laboratory exercises and research projects to reinforce and support traditionalclassroom lectures. In particular, involving undergraduates in meaningful research projects is akey to providing them with the hands-on activities students are

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education I

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sandra Yost, University of Detroit Mercy; Mohan Krishnan, University of Detroit Mercy; Mark Paulik, University of Detroit Mercy

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Engineering Education, 2008 Development of an Integrated Spiral Curriculum in Electrical and Computer Engineering1 AbstractThis paper discusses the development and assessment of an integrated curriculum in electricalengineering (EE). The underlying spiral curriculum philosophy seeks to reduce thecompartmentalizing of sub-disciplines within EE by creating courses that integrate material fromdifferent areas and that revisit concepts with deeper complexity in subsequent courses.The paper describes adaptation and implementation of this paradigm in an EE program, andpresents some preliminary results from the first two and one half years of effort. Multiple robotplatforms provide a thematic project continuity across

Conference Session

Embedded System Design

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alex Doboli, State University of New York-Stony Brook; Eddie Currie, Resonance Publications, Inc.; Patrick Kane, Cypress Semiconductor Corporation; Dave Van Ess, Cypress Semiconductor Corporation

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

development of newteaching material and activities (courses, student design projects, and research) related to mixed-signal embedded system design11,12. The developed material includes the following: • Complete course material for a one-semester course on embedded mixed-signal systems. The course is designed for senior undergraduate students and first-year graduate students in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). This material is due to be published as a textbook and is available at www.cypress.com . For an evaluation copy please contact cuap@cypress.com. Page 13.927.3 • Related laboratory material was

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alyssa Magleby, University of Utah; Cynthia Furse, University of Utah

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

communications systems in aircraft, including intra-vehicle MIMO performance. She has been involved in the Society of Women Engineers and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers chapter government and activities. She is presently involved in the TA Scholar Program at the University of Utah working on a project to improve teaching and learning in her department.Cynthia Furse, University of Utah Dr. Cynthia Furse is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Utah and the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies. She is the PI of an NSF DLR project – Integrated System Level Design -- and an NSF STEP program -- Utah’s Engineers: A Statewide Initiative

Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Frank Kragh; Jeffrey Reed; Carl Dietrich; Donna Miller

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

systemsengineering methodologies, design architecture, and hardware issues. The SoftwareCommunications Architecture (SCA), a military SDR design standard, is used as anillustrative example of smart systems engineering through establishment of a well-definedarchitecture. Software topics include software architectures, object oriented programming,the SCA and other relevant software standards, multi-rate signal processing, and softwareengineering. Hardware topics include the radio frequency front end, analog-to-digital anddigital-to-analog converters, microprocessors, digital signal processors, and fieldprogrammable gate arrays. Hands-on SDR laboratories undergird project-based learning.Laboratories include development of SCA-based modular signal processing

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Cavicchi, Grove City College

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

AC 2008-3: INTEGRATION OF PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLLERPROGRAMMING EXPERIENCE INTO CONTROL SYSTEMS COURSESThomas Cavicchi, Grove City College Thomas J. Cavicchi received the B. S. degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, in 1982, and the M. S. and Ph. D. degrees in electrical engineering from University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1984 and 1988, respectively. He is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Grove City College, Grove City, PA, where he teaches year-long courses on digital communication systems, digital and analog control systems, and the senior labs (including co-teaching the senior capstone design projects). He also has recently taught

Conference Session

ECE Pedagogy and Assessment II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Suk Kim Chin, Australian Catholic University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Education, 2008 A Structured Assessment Framework for TeamworkAbstractAnecdotal evidence from students shows that ACU undergraduates have difficulty managingtheir time due to various commitments and responsibility outside university. As such, this paperproposes a cooperative learning model which endeavors to help students utilize their timeoptimally in a first year programming course in MATLAB. Included in this model is a structuredassessment framework, as well as teamwork training to facilitate effective teamwork strategy.This model also places emphasis on strong alignment of curriculum objectives to progressiveassessment tasks.To deploy this framework, a MATLAB programming project is designed to be just large enoughfor a group of 3

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Meyer, Purdue University; Mark Johnson, Purdue University School of ECE; Cordelia Brown, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Laboratories with the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Purdue University since July 1999. He received his PhD in 1998 from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. He teaches Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) design, advises senior design project teams, supervises teaching assistants in several laboratories, develops computer engineering laboratory curricula, manages design automation software for instruction and research, and is chair of an ECE committee for instructional innovation. Dr. Johnson served as proceedings chair for Microelectronic Systems Education 2003, program chair for Microelectronic Systems

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Harris, California Polytechnic State University; Dominic Dalbello, Allan Hancock College; Jianbiao Pan, California Polytechnic State University; Albert Liddicoat, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

Engineering Program from 1993-97, and starting in January 2008, he is serving as Director of the Computer Engineering Program. From 1990-92, he was a Program Director in the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. He worked for TRW in Redondo Beach, CA for 11 years, primarily on signal processing projects. He is a member of IEEE, ASEE, ACM, AAAS, and SHOT.Dominic Dalbello, Allan Hancock College Dominic J. Dal Bello received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from UC Santa Barbara. He is currently Assistant Professor of Engineering at Allan Hancock College, a California community college in Santa Maria, where he teaches Statics

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education III

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Soonghwan Ro, Kongju University, Rep. of Korea

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

material. However, notmany students could have completed the above term project during the period when this subjectwas taught. Those who succeeded learned a lot, but others maintained a lack of understanding ofthe subject regardless of the time they invested.DigiCom, which operates in the same manner as the system introduced in the teaching material,was designed. DigiCom was developed with VHDL using the ALTERA design software QuartusII and implemented on the ALTERA Cyclone FPGA. This kit is a not general digital design kit,but it has the same features that “A Simple Computer” introduced in Computer SystemArchitecture.DigiCom was utilized in the 2007 term. The learning performance and improvements of thestudents were analyzed by comparing the

Conference Session

ECE Pedagogy and Assessment II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dorian Yeager, Grove City College

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

sourcecode or using the solutions posted by the author.The first phase was not due until the fifth week of class and was preceded by lectures fromStroustrup’s C++ book3 and by supplementary lectures on using threads in a Microsoft Windowssetting, as well as by problem-solving activities which exercised their skills at analysis, design,and coding. To complete Project 1 the students were given a very simple thread function andtold to tabulate and graph the time consumed while doing the equivalent amount of work withone, two, four, five, eight, ten, and sixteen threads. Students who did not own a multiprocessorlaptop were told to use a lab machine. Linear speedups were observed and noted by the students,and all were surprised to see that the overhead

Conference Session

Laboratory Development in ECE Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

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

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

forstudents to study digital signal processing (DSP). Hands-on project activities encourage deeperunderstanding of DSP concepts, and are used regularly in ECE481, a course that covers musicsynthesis for engineering majors at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Students implementand experiment with music synthesis algorithms on a computer to gain a better appreciation forrelationships between theory, sound, and visual representation of signals (time series, spectrum,and spectrogram). The LabVIEW graphical programming platform provides extensive supportfor DSP programming and soundcard operations, enabling students to quickly implementalgorithms using graphical dataflow programming. The interactive user interface elements(controls and indicators

Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mihaela Radu, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Clint Cole, Washington State University, Pullman; Mircea Alexandru Dabacan, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Shannon Sexton, Rose Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

assessment projects and provides faculty with professional development opportunities in the area of assessment. Page 13.601.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Extensive Use of Advanced FPGA Technology in Digital Design EducationAbstractThe design tools, methods, and technologies used in industry to design digital hardware evolvequickly and continuously. Since the inception of wide-spread CAD tool use to define digitalcircuits around 40 years ago, revolutionary tool changes have occurred every 5 to 10 years.Although many of the foundational concepts are relatively unchanged

Conference Session

ECE Pedagogy and Assessment II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dale Buechler, University of Wisconsin-Platteville

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

-graduate electricalengineering degree on a part-time basis without having to travel to the main campus located 90miles and 180 miles away respectively. Students in the program typically take two engineeringcourses per semester from the on-site faculty supplemented by distance course offerings asneeded. Each of these courses has the same content as the ones offered at the main campus,including laboratory work and semester design projects. Courses in Math, Science, English, andthe Humanities are offered by the local two-year school. The specific needs of our non-traditional students and the ways the course offerings at our site have been adapted to meet thoseneeds are discussed. The unique challenges of this type of program are also

Conference Session

Laboratory Development in ECE Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Arlen Planting, Boise State University; Sin Ming Loo, Boise State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

curriculum with a soft-core processor. All ofthe work does not need to be done ahead of time and developed on a dedicated board formonths/years into the future. Minor changes to labs can be made each year without requiringmajor redesign of dedicated boards. The configuration of the soft-core processor can grow orshrink as the needs dictate. Simple configurations can be used at the beginning so students canmore easily grasp the big picture; more complex configurations can be generated as theirunderstanding increases. If a project requires multiple UARTs, it is easy to add them.The Nios II processor was used for software development on the Altera DE2 for this course.Though the soft-core processor was considered the best instructional platform, it