Conference Session

ETD Design II: Mechanical Engineering Technology

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Janet Braun, Western Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

platform is MATLAB/Simulinksoftware developed by The Mathworks. Industry has widely adopted such platforms for productdesign, simulation and testing, driving the need for engineering educators to incorporate this intoengineering curriculums.This paper outlines the parallel processes of developing of soft skills while learning a systemsapproach to vehicle design by using MATLAB/Simulink. Coursework which was developed inpart by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and The Mathworks provided the basis for themodel based system design content of the course. A reflective journal was incorporated to fostera deeper dimension of self-learning, requiring students to step back and analyze the implicationsof a systems approach to vehicle design as well as

Conference Session

Assessment Methods and Learning Pedagogy II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Farrokh Attarzadeh, University of Houston; Deniz Gurkan, University of Houston; Mequanint A. Moges, University of Houston; Victor J. Gallardo, University of Houston; Mehrube Mehrubeoglu, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi; Morteza Sameei, Houston Community College Northeast

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

grant were students with high levels of accomplishmentsand good communication skills, hence a small increase in these soft skills have been observed asa result of mentoring experience;(iii) Due to the demographics of students at the University Houston’s College of Technology,where most students in CET work at least part-time as shown in Table 1, mentees were better offwith on-target tutoring and mentoring of courses in combination with personalized supportmechanisms; Page 22.1059.6(iv) All students agreed on the interaction with their peers as being valuable experience.Table 1. Summary of Working Hours for Students in Capstone Project Class

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology Projects and Applications

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chandra R. Sekhar, Purdue University, Calumet ; Omer Farook, Purdue University; Jai P. agrawal, Purdue University Calumet; Essaid Bouktache, Purdue University, Calumet

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

connection isrequired. The GUI Application is designed using Embarcadero’s C++ Builder XE6 , which enables studentsto rapidly build native Windows applications using the C++ language and libraries. This allowsthe students to develop applications faster with pre-built components and drag-and-drop visualdesign.6) Final System Design ProjectsThe course culminates in a Final Projects which are assessed based upon theircomprehensiveness, originality and execution. Students are required to master the soft skills ofcomprehensive report writing on a weekly basis and of technical project report writing andproject oral presentation based upon the Team’s Final Project. Typically there are 3 to 4 separatefinal projects are performed in the semester depending

Conference Session

Issues Affecting Engineering Program Development

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Miguel Angel Ramos, University of Houston; Lauren Chapman, Boston College; Mac Cannady, Boston College; Enrique Barbieri, University of Houston

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

utilization  Minority education  Support courses  Soft skills (e.g. communication)When asked whether they had taken any actions regarding any of the issues and ideas discussedin the forum, a majority of respondents (11/14) answered yes. One person stated that “[t]heforum increased my desire to enhance my scholarship of engineering teaching and assessment, toimprove the engineering courses that I teach (and perhaps influence other colleagues to do thesame)” while another suggested “the primary overall benefit was the encouragement to look tohow to be more effective in our combined work”.Although the forum evaluation found minimal impact in terms of concrete activity in support ofthe proposed models, the long-term value of

Conference Session

Capstone Projects and Experiential Learning

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chip W. Ferguson, Western Carolina University; Phillip A. Sanger, Western Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

integrated PBL curriculum to address this need. Additionally, the “soft skills” learningthat have been previously presented during the capstone sequence will now be delivered in thePBL curriculum. We have learned that faculty mentors are key role players in achieving successwith the project in terms of meeting the learning outcomes. The faculty member has to develop abalance between meeting the needs of the customer, a completed product, and the experimentallearning that must take place over the course of the project. Finally, student teams who engagethe customer frequently throughout the progression of the project meet the requirements of theproject more frequently. The 2010-2011 capstone year now requires faculty and industry mentorsto meet one

Conference Session

Graduate Education and Undergraduate Research in ET

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wei Zhan P.E., Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

Page 22.279.2something in common, as well as something unique, for REU in different majors. No study wasfound for engineering technology (ET) majors.For ET majors, only a very small percentage of students went on to get graduate degrees. MostET graduates pursue careers in engineering and technology related industries. Research skillsand soft skills such as teamwork and communication are very important for ET graduates.As Hunter pointed out8, the design of student research projects is critically important to success.This is particularly the case for ET programs. Typically, ET students have strong hands-oncapability, but they are not motivated to conduct theoretical analysis. For ET students in a twoyear program, most of them will be hired as