Conference Session

Curricular Developments in Energy Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patrick Cunningham, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

fuel cell course has three 1-hour lecture periods per week and one 3-hour lab period perweek to make a 4 credit-hour course. One lecture period per week is devoted to discussion ofrelevant papers, which serves to reinforce the technical content and facilitate discussion of thebroader social, economic, and technical issues. The lab periods are used alternately for additionalclassroom instruction, experiments, recitation time, and modeling or project work. This adds adegree of flexibility to administering the course and provides the students with extra time toengage and reflect on what they are learning.Student learning assessment is based on homework, experimental lab write-ups, a midterm exam,a nonlinear dynamic fuel cell model, and student

Conference Session

Sustainable Energy Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Shepard, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Camille George, University of St. Thomas

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

analysiswhich included Solid Works drawings, a bill of materials, a user manual for safeoperation of the cooker as well as a discussion on how the team reached its final designdecision and compromises made. A lab analysis section incorporated the processing ofdata collected during the lab as well as theoretical calculations based on material learnedin class. The final section called on students to reflect on the lessons learned throughoutthe process, suggest potential directions for future studies with the solar cookers anddiscuss the practicality of widespread solar cooker use.The project appealed to a variety of learning styles and exposing the potential for globalimpact which can come from applying lessons in new or alternative ways added

Conference Session

Project-based Education in Energy Courses

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Faruk Yildiz, Sam Houston State University; Keith Coogler, Sam Houston State University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

paperwork. A sun path calculator is used to view the solar window for a particular location forassessing shading. Other means can be used to evaluate shading, but sun path calculators areusually the quickest and easiest to use. The Solar Pathfinder™ is a popular type of sun pathcalculator that consists of a latitude-specific sun path diagram covered by a transparent dome.The dome reflects the entire sky and horizon on its surface, indicating the position and extent ofshading obstructions. The sun path diagram can be seen through the dome, illustrating the solarwindow. The solar window is compared to the obstruction reflections to determine the dates and

Conference Session

Sustainable Energy Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christopher Simon, University of Nevada, Reno; Ted Batchman, University of Nevada-Reno; Christine Taylor, Lewis and Clark University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

rising energy prices create a renewed opportunityto move U.S. public policy and engineering education in a mutually beneficial direction. Callsfor change in the way energy education occurs are certainly not new, and earlier expressions ofconcern are a good source for our current reflection. Writing in 1973, the highly respectedRepublican legislator Howard Baker pondered the then-current oil supply shortage.4 Heconcluded that well-developed education programs linking environmental attitudes with energyuse could have a strong and lasting impact on energy consumption behaviors in the country. Inthe 1970‘s, President Jimmy Carter advocated the development of energy education programs tochange students‘ perceptions of energy and alter patterns of

Conference Session

Experiences in Teaching Energy Courses

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Chanley, Northern Essex Community College; Michael Pelletier, Northern Essex Community College; Linda Desjardins, Northern Essex Community College; Lori Heymans, Northern Essex Community College

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

activities are finished, time is dedicated to focus on reflection ofmaterial learned and discuss the engineering connection to the activity. Every day we aresurrounded by circuits that use parallel and series circuitry. Complicated circuits designed byelectrical/electronic engineers are composed of many simpler parallel and series circuits. Duringthe activities, students build simple circuits and explore the properties of electric circuits. Aftercompleting the section on DC electricity and its related circuits, the course moves toward thegeneration of alternating current and AC circuits. The participants are exposed to thefundamentals of magnetism, electromagnetism and Faraday’s Law (Vind = N dφ/dt) through aPowerPoint presentation, worksheets and

Conference Session

Sustainable Energy Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Faruk Yildiz, Sam Houston State University; Keith Coogler, Sam Houston State University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

oftheir job requirements. It is essential for engineering and technology students, at a minimum, tobe familiar with renewable energy technologies and their applications and implementations. Thiscourse serves as an introduction to renewable energy with an emphasis on energy harvesting,conversion, and storage systems. It is a combination of lecture, demonstrations, student inquiry,in-class problem solving, and hands-on projects. Students are required to complete a series ofexercises/projects and/or tests that reflect their knowledge of the stated objectives. A short powerelectronics section covers the major electrical equipments required for power transmission andpower conditioning. Topics include photovoltaic systems, solar thermal systems, green

Conference Session

Energy Education and Industry Needs

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Frank Falcone, Argonne National Laboratory; Terrence Davidovits, A123 Systems; Eric Schacht, The Ohio State Univeristy; Michael Wahlstrom, Argonne National Laboratory

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

electrical team members and partially the controls or software teammembers. In the EcoCAR ESS design the ESS was set as a subsystem, which includedmechanical packaging design, electrical wiring design, and controls management and faultdiagnosis. This collaboration helps to create a cohesive and unified design.Lessons LearnedWith many new processes one comes away with ideas of how to improve things for the next timeand this is no different. From the organizer perspective, it is important to reflect on the systemlevel design principles employed in all other areas of the competition and place them into contextin this new frontier of collegiate automotive design. It was realized during the past year that

Conference Session

Project-based Education in Energy Courses

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carl Spezia, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; Jason Buchanan, Southern Illinois Universaity, Carbondale

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

are a harmonic current source. An independent current sourcewith a constant value represents the 3rd harmonic current injections. Dependent current sourcesrepresent the remaining harmonic injections. The dependent sources use the regressionequations shown in Figure 4 to relate terminal voltage to the 5th, 7th, and 9th harmonic currents.The constants in the relationship reflect scaling to produce peak current values. Page 15.296.7 C = (2.9µF)NL I9(VL,NL

Conference Session

Experiences in Teaching Energy Courses

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Riddell, Baker College Of Flint; Anca Sala, Baker College Of Flint

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

. Page 15.133.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Alternative Energy, an Introduction for EngineersAbstractThe purpose of this course is to give undergraduate engineering students opportunity to exploremultiple types of alternative energy sources and reflect on the implications of the implementationof a particular energy source. Lifecycle planning, engineering and management of particularforms of alternative energy sources such as wind turbines, photovoltaic, geothermal along withmany lesser known sources were researched by the students. The format of the course wasstructured such that each student had a unique topic area to research and present to the class thebasics of a given energy source along with current

Conference Session

Curricular Developments in Energy Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ilya Grinberg, Buffalo State College; Mohammed Safiuddin, State University of New York, Buffalo; Chilukuri Mohan, Syracuse University; Steve Macho, Buffalo State College

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

participation ofsteering oversight board and steering oversight committees at each level. Figure 2 representstypical curriculum lifecycle for an individual program, such as Smart Power Engineering,Electric Power Fundamentals, etc. It has a number of program outcomes and course outlines2. Fig.2. Curriculum Development for Typical ModuleFigure 3 represents curriculum structure of interrelated modules delivered either at one or atmultiple institutions. Administration and delivery infrastructure are unified and linked toconditions in Fig. 2. Such a structure with distributed modules and unified administration anddelivery network reflects the concept of the consortium by providing flexibility, integration ofexpertise, and

Conference Session

Project-based Education in Energy Courses

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adrian Ieta, State University of New York, Oswego

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

slightdifference in the frequency of responses per score range.Fig 3 shows the distribution of scores corresponding to Q2 (Table 1). The pattern is fairly similar for thetwo data sets and reflects student confidence of having achived better understanding of energyconservation concepts. Page 15.800.9Figure 4. Distribution of student perceived improvement ratio R (post / pre course rating of energy conservationimportance)Fig. 4 shows the R distributions per ratio ranges with similar patterns for the two data sets. The figureshows that one third of the students for set 1 and slightly more for set 2 have not changed their ratings forpre and post course

Conference Session

Sustainable Energy Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Blekhman; Jason Keith; Ahmad Sleiti; Eileen Cashman; Peter Lehman; Richard Engel; Michael Mann; Hossein Salehfar

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

if they are a part of a largerorder from these vendors. US Didactic also offers a briefcase sized AE 102 Hydrogen - Fuel CellTrainer for introductory activities.The main intent of the paper is to aid other institutions in developing their strategies andapproaches to introducing HFCT practicum presented in one publication. This is the very firsteffort of such kind in fuel cells. Those interested in obtaining materials are welcome to contactthe authors. The associated HFCT curriculum development summary is reflected in a companionpaper offered through the same forum1.California State University Los AngelesHFCT practicum at CSULA has been developing in several pathways combining traditionallaboratories, senior projects, graduate student

Conference Session

Curricular Developments in Energy Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Blekhman, California State University Los Angeles; Jason Keith, Michigan Technological University; Ahmad Sleiti, University of Central Florida; Eileen Cashman, Humboldt State University; Peter Lehman, Humboldt State University; Richard Engel, Schatz Energy Research Center; Michael Mann, University of North Dakota; Hossein Salehfar, University of North Dakota

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

developing their strategies and approaches in introducingHFCT. Those interested in obtaining materials are welcome to contact the authors. Laboratorycurriculum development is reflected in a companion paper offered through the same forum12.For convenience, Table 1 illustrates a summary of the curriculum and courses developed at eachinstitution, as well as enrollment data for the most recent offering. It is expected that futureenrollments will be about the same or larger with advances in research and development inhydrogen and fuel cell technology. Table 2 illustrates the degrees, minors, or concentrations thatcan be obtained as a result of this project. We note that each institution has independentobjectives which are described in the following