Conference Session

Mechanical Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kevin Schmaltz, Western Kentucky University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

temperature data for the region and physicalproperty data on the greenhouse. With this information, the amount of energy neededwas determined. The initial concept of heating the entire greenhouse airspace provedcostly and unnecessary, and a revised system is being implemented to heat plant roots inthe greenhouse through plant bed tables.A two-person 2007 – 2008 senior project team is currently implementing the heatcollection design, and is also completing the design of the heat release system into thegreenhouse plant beds and the overall system control. A representation of the overallconcept is shown in Figure 1. In brief, energy from the leaf piles will be collected usingwater circulated through cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) tubing embedded in a

Conference Session

Outstanding Contributions to ME Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephen Turns, Pennsylvania State University; Laura L. Pauley, Pennsylvania State University; Sarah Zappe, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

evidence illustrating their effectiveness inimproving student learning.IntroductionWe follow Prince1 and define active learning as a classroom activity that requires students to dosomething other than listen and take notes. In such activities, students respond to a situationpresented by the instructor by writing, sketching, discussing, formulating, solving, or respondingin some other designated way. We further adopt Prince’s1 definition of collaborative learning asan instructional method that requires students to interact in some way to achieve a common goal.A wealth of information exists showing the effectiveness of both active and collaborativelearning in achieving a wide range of educational outcomes.1-5 Prince provides an excellentsummary.1

Conference Session

Mechanical Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Horacio Vasquez, UTPA; Robert Freeman, UTPA; Gerhart Hanson, UTPA

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

; ∋ ( % ∃ ) ∗ + , − . / 0 1 . ∃ 23−# 4 ∋ 24# 4 5 4 6 ∋ 7 87 7 9:!;∋, 0 7 7 :! 3− 4 ! 5< ! 3− Page 13.328.2

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids and Heat Transfer - II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jason Christopher, Rice University; Adam Parks, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base; Vipul Sharma, Air Force Institute of Technology; Michael Maixner, U.S. Air Force Academy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

function worksheets which, when referenced by other Mathcad programs, canautomatically perform these property lookups; his paper provides some simpleapplications of these function worksheets. Dr. McClain was kind enough to provide theexisting functions for use at the Air Force Academy; these included tables for water, R22,R134a, propane, ammonia, and a variety of gases (air and 12 ideal gases). In the fall termof the 2006-7 academic year, the first three authors embarked on an independent study Page 13.987.3project to represent a combined cycle cogeneration plant within Mathcad (Figure 1)(since teaching assistants are not routinely provided at the Academy

Conference Session

Statics and Dynamics: What's New?

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kazem Abhary, University of South Australia

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

= inertia force of link i = / mi a iE Page 13.101.2F = input-/output- (external) forceEFi = normal constraint-force applied on link i by the foundationEF ij = normal force applied on link j by link iEF i¦ = frictional force applied on link (slider) i by the foundation (link 1)EF ij¦ = frictional force applied on link j by link iJ i = polar moment-of-inertia of link i about its centroid Gimi = mass of link iM = momentn = total number of links including the foundation (link 1)qi = inertia torque of link i = / J i c in2 = rpm of link 2 (+ve if ccw, and Îve if cw) EQ i = external force on link i, if anyRi = length of link i ERi

Conference Session

Improving ME Education: Trends in Mechanical Engineering I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Matthew Knudson, Oregon State University; John Schmitt, Oregon State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

introductory mechatronic course work at OregonState University. The successes, failures, and recommendations for further integrationtechniques are addressed.1. IntroductionThe complexity of dynamic systems students will face upon entering into industry is increasingquickly. Students must develop strong foundations in system analysis and control design toobtain an intuition for how these systems behave and how control can produce efficient methodsof performing required system tasks. However, as system and control complexity increasesoutside of the classroom, care must be taken to ensure that classroom theory remains connectedto the real-world application of these basics. Ensuring that the students come away from basic

Conference Session

Outstanding Contributions to ME

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Corder, Lamar University; Jiang Zhou, Lamar University; Kendrick Aung, Lamar University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

proposal acceptance, the student team andfaculty advisor are paired with a research-directed mentor. The teams then have an opportunityto engage in scientific research and hands-on design of space-related topics.Three mechanical engineering student teams from Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas had theirproject proposals accepted. The topics were: Team 1) Lunar Lander, Heat Pump for ThermalControl of Space Vehicles; Team 2) Multi-Environment Evaporative Heat Sink Design; andTeam 3) Unpressurized Manned Rover for Use on the Moon or Mars. A systematic managementmethod was developed to ensure that the TSGC projects met usual expectations for academiclevels or disciplines required by ABET. This paper surveys that TSGC-sponsored activity anddiscusses

Conference Session

Software and E-learning in the ME Curriculum

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

B.K. Hodge

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Page 12.1555.2Weibull distribution is commonly used to assess the metrics of a wind turbine. The probabilityof occurrence of a given wind speed as expressed by the Weibull distribution4 is k v k −1   v k  h (v, k , c ) =   exp−    (1) c c   c  where v is the wind speed, c is the scale parameter, and k is the shape parameter. The shapeparameter controls the shape of the distribution; the larger the shape factor, the closer thedistribution comes

Conference Session

Outstanding Contributions to ME

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peter Avitabile, University of Massachusetts-Lowell

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

progressivelyevolved over the past several years. The new approach integrates materials that are taught inDifferential Equations, Mathematical Methods for Engineers, Mechanical Laboratory courses and thenonto the Dynamic Systems course. Some novel approaches for presenting the material along withhands-on experimentally acquired data have been developed. The Response Under Basic Excitation(RUBE) online experiment along with all of the supporting analytical and virtual tools that have beendeveloped over the past several years under an NSF funded project are described in this paper. Allmaterials are available online at http://dynsys.uml.edu/.1 - PROBLEMGenerally, students do not understand the need for basic STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering andMathematics

Conference Session

Introducing Active and Inductive Learning and Improving the Learning Curve in ME

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Olga Pierrakos, Virginia Tech; John Charonko, Virginia Tech; Alicia Williams, Virginia Tech; Satyaprakash Karri, Virginia Tech; Kelley Stewart, Virginia Tech; Pavlos Vlachos, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

proudly displaying theirresearch infrastructure and state-of-the-art facilities, a vast majority of these students graduatewithout ever being exposed to these assets. Even those students who are introduced to researchoften remain oblivious to the rich research diversity and the multi-disciplinary culture ofengineering. This is an increasingly important concern because the future engineer is expected toadapt to a varying and continuously evolving environment while simultaneously being able tooperate outside the narrow limits of one discipline, crossing over boundaries and interfacingbetween different fields. In recent years, the Boyer Commission,1 the National ScienceFoundation,2 the American Association for the Advancement of Science,3 and the

Conference Session

Improving ME Education: Trends in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy Hinds, Michigan State University; Craig Somerton, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

institutions4,5 and using feedback provided by MSU Department ofMechanical Engineering faculty. Details of the development of the MSU MechanicalEngineering (ME) Freshman Program may be found in previous work by the authors6. Learningobjectives for the introduction to mechanical engineering with computer skills course wereformalized as:1. Introduce students to the mechanical engineering discipline and profession.2. Demonstrate how basic mathematics and science fits into engineering practice.3. Introduce students to the engineering design problem solving method in a rigorous fashion.4. Teach students to use computer applications such as MATLAB®, Excel® and Basic.5. Help students develop their communication, study, organizational, and teaming skills.6

Conference Session

Innovations in Mechanical Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jesse Maddren, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

to help explain design decisions. In addition, while the machinedesign track is typically focused on hands-on design tasks, the thermal system design coursestend to focus on analysis tasks that support design but maybe are not as applied.A brief review of different textbooks on thermal systems design is included in Table 1. The tableshows the relative percentage of each subject in comparison to the rest of the material in thebook. The topics that are most commonly included are: the design process, review(thermodynamics, heat transfer and fluid mechanics), system design, modeling and simulation,numerical modeling, economics, optimization, in addition to topics such as piping system designand heat exchangers. The last row in the table

Conference Session

Software and E-learning in the ME Curriculum

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ali Mohammadzadeh, Grand Valley State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

dynamics, numerical methods, andprogramming. Students’ feedback regarding this project was overwhelmingly positive.The project required students to design a, four bar, quick-return mechanism with a timeratio of 1.25 and a follower sweep angle of 50o. To check their work, students were askedto trace the paths of points on the crank, the coupler and the follower of their respectivedesigns. A motor torque Mmotor = 1+2sin (1.5t) N.m was then assumed to be applied tothe crank, and students were asked to find the angular positions, velocities, andaccelerations of each link using MATLAB and SIMULINK. Students also built theirmodel in the shop.Mechanism SynthesisThe complex number approach of Standard Dyad Form3, 4, 5 is used to perform thedimensional

Conference Session

Improving ME Instructional Laboratories

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sorin Cioc, University of Toledo; Constantin Ciocanel, University of Toledo; K Cyril Masiulaniec, University of Toledo; Douglas Oliver, University of Toledo

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

. The fact that many students did not consider this aspect was to be expected. g) Students from within each group actually worked together to do the project; they had to show what percentage of the project was done by each, and in all cases they indicated equal participation.Five weeks into the second semester, students were given an anonymous survey to gauge theiropinion about this project. They were asked to indicate the degree of agreement (with 1 =strongly agree, 2 = agree, 3= neutral, 4 = disagree, and 5 = strongly disagree) for a number of 14statements. Some of the conclusions that are most pertinent to this paper are shown in Table 1

Conference Session

Innovations in Mechanical Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Richter, Virginia Tech; Kurt Johnson, Virginia Tech; Janis Terpenny, Virginia Tech; Richard Goff, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

the mat incorporatedan idea of nanotechnology, mostly areas of current research. Figure 1 illustrates the missions theyouth were challenged to overcome. These missions include themes representing atommanipulation, stain resistant fabric, nanotube strength, smart medicine, and atomic forcemicroscopy. These missions were given as a starting point for the research portion of thecompetition and to encourage the youth to learn more about nanotechnology. Additionalemphasis about the nano scale is indicated on the mat. Figure 1: Illustration of the mat including all the missions for the 2006 nanotechnology theme.1Graduate Students’ Reasons for MentoringFor a graduate level Engineering Education class, all the students were required to choose

Conference Session

Meeting ABET Requirements

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Ward, California State University-Chico

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

in the 21st century. Regional accreditation agencies as well as theAccreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) are highlighting the importance ofassessing student learning outcomes. Problems encountered with early EC2000 assessmentprograms were noted in a study initiated by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers(ASME) titled Initial Assessment of the Impact of ABET/EC2000 Implementation UsingMechanical Engineering Programs as the Pilot Study Group 1. That study lauded the extensiveinitial involvement of faculty in defining educational objectives, and the participation of programAdvisory Boards to name a few. It also noted the shortcomings of certain assessmenttechniques, the failure of initial employer survey methods, and

Conference Session

Software and E-learning in the ME Curriculum

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rajesh Bhaskaran, Cornell University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

. Verification and validation of results are emphasized throughout.The above approach has been implemented in a fluid dynamics course using theFLUENT package and in two solid mechanics courses using the ANSYS package.“Teaching modules” based on selected case-studies are being developed for the FLUENTand ANSYS packages. Each teaching module consists of three components: (i) a web-based tutorial that takes students through the steps involved in solving the case studyproblem (with nominal parameters) using the relevant CAE package; (ii) notes describingrelated theoretical and numerical concepts that can be handed out to students; (iii)problem set with solutions.1 IntroductionWithin the last fifteen years, computer-based simulation has become an integral

Conference Session

Improving ME education: Broad Topics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amir Mobasher, Alabama A&M University; Ruben Rojas-Oviedo, Alabama A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

history of the student. Onemethod proposed here will address both the issues of increase attendance and will eliminate theneed for the instructor to take the attendance while saving a valuable class time. The methodproposed here is to prepare an attendance sheet with the format shown in Table 1.Table 1. Sample sign up sheet used in the classesPlease sign your name in the corresponding column Name Monday (1/16) Wednesday(1/18) Friday (1/20)1 Joe Brown … …20 Jack SmithThen pass on the sheet in the class and have the students sign their name in the correspondingrow. The advantage of this format is that it is easy to trace the attendance history of a studentand hence immediately be

Conference Session

Improving ME instructional laboratories

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jed Lyons, University of South Carolina

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

research project.To collect the data, each student gripped a load cell that was approximately the same size andshape as the controlled dosage device, as shown in Figure 1. Each squeezed the load cell for 2seconds to simulate delivering medicine with the device. Data from a number of squeezes by allstudents in a lab section were combined for statistical analysis. The lab handout specified that Page 11.963.3the students were to: 1. Compute and plot the histogram and frequency distribution for the lab section’s data. 2. Compute the sample statistics (sample mean, sample variance, and standard deviation of the mean) for this data set. 3

Conference Session

Introducing Active Learning into ME Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Pedro Orta, ITESM Monterrey; Ricardo Ramirez Medoza, Institute Tecnologico De Monterrey; Hugo Elizalde, Monterrey Tech; David Guerra, Monterrey Tech

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

, the student occupies a main role, revolvingaround his/her self-learning, and following fundamental principles such as constructivismand experimentation [1, 2]. The active-learning (AL) technique is specifically emphasized in this model [2],following these basic principles: • Students must discover new phenomena and concepts by themselves, and they must be able to relate these concepts with previous knowledge. • Motivation is the key driving force. • Team work is strongly promoted. • More established techniques such as Problem Based Learning (PBL) and Project Oriented Learning (POL) are incorporated into this model [3, 4]. The learning process is inductive instead of deductive, so the students can develop

Conference Session

Improving ME Education: Trends in Mechanical Engineering I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wayne Whiteman, Georgia Institute of Technology; Brian Mathews, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

. My constant challenge was to maintain an equal learning environment asthe traditional classroom and, if opportunities arose, to enhance the learning environmentwhenever possible. Classroom displayOne of the first challenges I faced was space limitations of the tablet PC. Figure 1 shows atypical classroom display using the Tegrity® system. Compared to writing on a white board orchalkboard, only one board is visible at any time. With the Tegrity® software previous boardsare viewable by using a “back” button. An advantage is that all of the material in a given lectureis retrievable. The disadvantage is that this material is not simultaneously viewable with thecurrent board. In typical engineering course work, I often found the need to

Conference Session

Innovations for the Senior Year of the ME Curriculum

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elvin Shields, Youngstown State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

broader terms and enablesthem to become more innovative in finding solutions.This research has two objectives: 1) to study the teaching of creativity in the capstone designexperience and 2) to assess the effectiveness of the creativity instruction with pre-tests and post-tests using the Torrance12,13 Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) for adults. The results of thefirst year of this three year, outcome-oriented, process study are presented and discussed in thiswork.NomenclatureABET = Accreditation Board for Engineering and TechnologyAP = Academic PerformanceNat’l %ile = National PercentileSD = Standard Deviation of data pointsTRIZ = Teoriya Resheniya Izobreatatelskikh ZadatchTTCT = Torrance Tests of Creative ThinkingIntroductionBarak2 states “The

Conference Session

Improving ME Instructional Laboratories

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Matsson, Oral Roberts University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

part made of aluminum sandwiched inbetween two polished pieces of wood, see Figure 1. The figure shows the Hurst stepper motorconnected to the airfoil with an aluminum tube that contains half of the pressure lines. Theremaining pressure lines were guided through the wind tunnel wall at the opposite side of thestepper motor. The Pitot tube located above the airfoil was used to measure the free streamvelocity in the wind tunnel.Figure 1. Clark-Y airfoil and stepper motor assembly. A Pitot tube is also shown above theairfoil.The coordinates of the Clark-Y airfoil are shown in Table 1, see also Riegels11 and Mason12.Thirty pressure fittings were connected to the middle section and Tygon tubing was connected toeach pressure tap. The pressure holes

Conference Session

Introducing Active Learning into ME Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ali Al-Bahi, King Abdulaziz University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

quality of their graduates in light ofABET EC2000 accreditation policy. In the present work a checklist was developed as adesign assistance tool for satisfying the requirements of both active/cooperative learning andABET EC2000. The checklist includes 66 YES/NO questions to address course goals, courseoutcomes, course learning objectives, students working teams, course assessment tools, andcourse evaluation. The questions also address the five pillars of cooperative learning, namelypositive interdependence, individual accountability face to face interaction, social cooperativeskills, and group processing.1. IntroductionModern teaching techniques, such as active/ cooperative learning, hold great promise forincreasing the effectiveness of

Conference Session

Introducing Active Learning into ME Courses

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gul Kremer, Pennsylvania State University; Madara Ogot, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Page 11.428.2objectives and outcomes. 1The proposed DAA framework is illustrated in Figure 1. It is composed of two dimensions: (1)guidance provided by the instructor in DAA activities, and (2) engineering knowledge(knowledge beyond high school) necessary to complete a DAA exercise. Guidance could be inthe form of oral or written instructions that explain to the student how to conduct the DAAexercise. On the low end of the knowledge dimension of the proposed framework, students areprimarily able to answer how questions (such as, How is the device put together? How can it bedisassembled? How does it work?). Activities in these quadrants should be

Conference Session

Software and e-learning in the ME curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charles Van Karsen, Michigan Technological University; Peter Avitabile, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Jason Blough, Michigan Technological University; Henry Sodano, Michigan Technological University; Harold Evensen, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

understanding of frequency domain concepts. Studentswere asked to obtain the tutorial material and Matlab code from the project's web site(http://dynsys.uml.edu) . Students were assigned this as part of their regular homework for theclass after a lecture on Fourier series and frequency domain concepts. Additionally they wereasked to comment on their experience with the material, specifically with respect to whether ornot, their understanding of Fourier series and frequency domain concepts was improved throughthis exercise.The Fourier series material consists of a tutorial which describes the concepts and mathematicsof the Fourier series, along with a Matlab GUI, Figure 1, which is based on a SIMULINK model,Figure 2. The GUI allows the user to visualize

Conference Session

Improving ME education: Broad Topics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

B.K. Hodge; Rogelio Luck, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Paradigm for Problem Solutions?AbstractMany of the “procedures” for solving engineering problems are formulations to solve analgebraic equation or a system of algebraic equations—to extract roots. Computational softwaresystems, such as Mathcad, Mathematica, Matlab, and EES, make possible “direct” solutions ofroot-finding problems in which the solution procedure is transparent to the user. Thesecomputational systems permit a unified approach, a “new” paradigm, to be used for the solutionto many engineering problems. The unified approach consists of three steps: (1) formulate awell-posed system of algebraic equations, (2) use a computational system root solver to do the“arithmetic,” and (3) verify the results. This paper explores the use of the

Conference Session

Software and e-learning in the ME curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Wedlick, The College of New Jersey; Shou Rei Chang, The College of New Jersey; Bijan Sepahpour, The College of New Jersey

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

, FEA, Undergraduate, CurriculumI - Introduction In recent years, industry-driven engineering programs nationwide place an appreciableemphasis on the proficiency of their graduates in the use and application of industry-standardengineering software for design, optimization, verification, analysis, etc. One class of suchprograms implements finite element methods. Finite element methods (FEM) 1 is a broad technique that models phenomena described by aterminable number of data points or equations. These techniques are vital when an analyticaldescription of the system either does not exist or is overwhelmingly complicated whenconducted manually. FEM is often the only applicable analysis technique to study non-standardized shapes and/ or highly

Conference Session

Incorporating Projects into the Curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

B. Terry Beck, Kansas State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

general course description is“A general introduction to aerodynamics including the analysis of lift, drag, thrust, andperformance of subsonic aircraft, and the application of aerodynamic principles to design.” Itis a three credit hour course taught in a 15-week semester format which meets three 50-minuteperiods each week. There is no formally scheduled lab time for this course; however, usually atotal of four selected laboratory experiences are integrated into the class schedule. Typicallyseveral of the students that take this course are also involved with student organization projectssuch as the national SAE Aerodynamics Design Competition, and there are also occasionalgraduate students in the course.Table 1 below illustrates the basic set of

Conference Session

Improving ME instructional laboratories

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mohammad Elahinia, University of Toledo; Constantin Ciocanel, University of Toledo

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

laboratory course consists of experiments in deformable solidmechanics including stress and deflection analysis, fatigue life evaluation, stability andmechanical vibration. Prerequisite courses for this laboratory are Mechanical Design Iand Mechanical Vibrations. In line with the program objectives of the department, thefollowing list of objectives has been defined for this course: “Upon successful completionof this course, the students should have: (1) become knowledgeable in the use of standardinstrumentation for static and dynamic structural testing, such as strain gages, loadframes, impact hammers, and spectrum analyzers; (2) reinforced material studied inprevious mechanics and vibrations courses; (3) improved data analysis skills, and (4