Conference Session

Capstone Courses and Design Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bobby G. Crawford, U.S. Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

department was the integration of graded requirements amongst the three programs.Each team had its own mechanical engineering faculty advisor, and the multi-disciplinary teamincorporated faculty advisors from the electrical engineering and computer science programs.Advisors attempted to synchronize courses milestones and minimize duplicate gradedrequirements. Despite this effort, multi-disciplinary team members on an end-of-course surveystrongly disagreed with the statement “Departmental submissions were standardized.” Due tothis, standardization was a priority for year three and accomplished before cross enrolling cadets.Advisors allocated the remaining Year 1 funding not directly spent on airplanes toward programimprovements as shown in Table 1

Conference Session

Outstanding Contributions: Mechanical Engineering Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Patrick W. Pace, University of Texas, Austin; Kristin L. Wood, University of Texas, Austin; John J. Wood, U.S. Air Force Academy; Daniel D. Jensen, U.S. Air Force Academy; Brian K Skibba, Air Force Research Laboratory

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

limited by the field oftechnology and the engineer’s or design team’s understanding of the field. Without sufficientunderstanding of an emerging technical field, ideation may be hampered by reinventing theproverbial wheel or by a lack of knowledge of the underlying physical principles and state oftechnology. When starting to solve design problems, designers may not fully benefit fromideation methods alone due to problems such as design fixation [1-6]. Pursuing flawed designsor designs that will underperform existing solutions may likewise occur from the lack ofunderstanding of the field. Existing research examines supplementing the ideation process as well, such as seekingand using analogies, fostering creativity and examining

Conference Session

Design Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James M. Widmann, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Brian P. Self, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; Lynne A. Slivovsky, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; J.Kevin Taylor, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

. Page 22.1079.4  A testing phase in which design requirements are verified and necessary modifications are made.Deliverables for this class include a Design Requirements Document, a Design Report andCritical Design Presentation and Review with the project sponsor, a Final Project Report andhardware demonstration through a tradeshow-style Senior Design Expo. Student workload istypically high due to the open ended nature of the projects, the amount of detail work necessaryand the iterative nature of the design process. Upon completion of the class, students should beable to: 1. Apply a formal engineering design process to solve an open-ended, externally supplied engineering design problem. 2. Work effectively on an

Conference Session

Capstone Courses and Design Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nihad Dukhan, University of Detroit Mercy; Mark Schumack, University of Detroit Mercy

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

. The paper attempts to determine if there is a lack of thermal-science projects in capstone courses and if so what the reasons are. A third purpose of thepaper was to probe the feelings of non-thermal faculty teaching capstone towards thermalprojects, and whether or under what conditions they would be willing to offer morethermal design projects in the future. The paper also poses a few general questionsregarding the role of thermal sciences in capstone design and suggests a strategic way forimplementing more thermal science capstone projects.IntroductionMechanical engineering emerged as a field during the industrial revolution in Europe in the 19thcentury.1 Thermal sciences is a term usually given to a group of mechanical

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew L. Gerhart, Lawrence Technological University; Philip M. Gerhart P.E., University of Evansville

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

physical understanding of energy, fluid mechanics, andheat flow are difficult to grasp. The students have observed solid mechanical kinematics anddynamics first-hand all of their lives, but energy, fluid flow, and heat flow are sometimes notreadily visualized.With this in mind, a useful method to explain the concepts is via everyday/familiar/folksyanalogies. This paper contains a sampling of some analogies that can be used to teach thermalfluid concepts as varied as entropy, the no-slip condition, velocity profiles & boundary layers,numerical marching solutions for heat flow, and more. The authors also offer advice for creatingand using your own analogies, and intend to encourage the reader to add to the growing list ofteaching analogies.1

Conference Session

Mechatronics in the Curriculum

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yunfeng Wang, College of New Jersey; Christopher Ault, College of New Jersey; Teresa Marrin Nakra, College of New Jersey; Andrea Salgian, College of New Jersey; Meredith K. Stone, Independent Evaluator

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

2010 ASEE AnnualConference and Exposition. This paper presents the outcomes of all the past three offeringsincluding evaluations and assessments, our findings, and student deliverables. These analyticalresults will improve our understanding of effective approaches to teaching interdisciplinarycourses that involve engineering and non-engineering disciplines in undergraduate collaborativeproblem-solving environments.1. IntroductionInterdisciplinary education is becoming increasingly important in preparing undergraduatestudents to be able to participate in the emerging knowledge-based economy and meet complexsocial demands in the modern world1,2,3,4. It has grown at a progressively rapid rate in recentdecades. More and more universities and

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sergio Celis, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Conference Session

Outstanding Contributions: Mechanical Engineering Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Blake M. Ashby, Grand Valley State University; Alan F. Asay, Woolley Engineering Research Corp.

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

, the students were given the opportunity to demonstrate that the principles taught in this Page 22.1221.2dynamics course can be used to effectively and accurately analyze a real-world event such as anactual on-road vehicle rollover. Figure 2 – Front view of 1994 Nissan Pathfinder with relevant cross-sectional geometry Table 1 – Vehicle Center of Gravity (CG) positions and Orientations

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

K. Hodge, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

interests of students.ProcedureAt some level most cities/states/regions are cognizant of any noteworthy infrastructuredevelopments and feature at least some mention of them in “chamber-of-commerce-like” literature or in tour-guide narrations. Once a likely and interesting engineeringsystem has been identified, the following procedure can be used to develop one ormore engineering exercises or problems: 1. Ask a tour guide or consult printed information for -the official name -additional information 2. Ascertain whether or not the system has the potential to be useful as an engineering education example 3. Using a search engine, such as Google, find out the number of hits as an indicator

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hyun W. Kim, Youngstown State University; Yogendra M. Panta, Youngstown State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

: Exergy balance: Xin – Xout - Xdestroyed = ΔX where Xin – Xout = Σ(1 – To/Tk) Qk + WuThe relationship among the useful work, entropy generation, irreversibility and reversible workis written as: Irreversibility: I = Xdestroyed = To Sgen Reversible work: Wrev,in = Wu,in - Xdestroyed for work-consuming systems Wrev,out = Wu,out + Xdestroyed for work-producing systemsSecond-law efficiency is defined as the ratio of the actual thermal efficiency to the maximumpossible thermal efficiency under the same conditions. For work-consuming systems the second-law efficiency can be written as: ηII = Wrev, in / Wu,inIt was recently noticed by the

Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anca L. Sala, Baker College; Raghu Echempati, Kettering University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Page 22.1152.2student population is diverse in terms of age and experience, with a majority of students workingfull time in technical fields and continuing their education towards an engineering bachelordegree at the same time.VibrationsThe “Vibrations” course is a 4-credit, upper level required course in the Mechanical Engineeringprogram. The textbook used in the course is “Mechanical Vibrations” by S. Rao, now in its fifthedition6. The topics covered include single- and two-degree of freedom systems, free and forcedvibrations, an introduction to multi-degree of freedom and continuous systems, determination ofnatural frequencies and mode shapes, and vibration control.The Student Learning Outcomes are:1. Formulate and solve free vibration

Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Randall D. Manteufel, University of Texas, San Antonio; Amir Karimi, University of Texas, San Antonio

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

significant grade distributions for the same coursedescription, educational objectives, and textbook. Instructors often have different standards andgrading philosophies. What is required to earn an “A” in one instructors class is different fromwhat is required by another. It appears there is little consensus regarding the value of grades andsome tend to discount the importance of grades because significant difference exist. There hasbeen a trend to issue a greater number of higher grades and this has led to discussions aboutgrade inflation and the inherent meaning of grades.1-4 Given the importance of grades and thestudent’s Grade Point Average (GPA), some have proposed that institutions report both thegrades issued by the faculty as well as

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Nicholas van Bloemen Waanders, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Mechanical Engineering; Andrew Kean, California Polytechnic State University; Brian P. Self, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

principles: 1.) Model Construction: Requires the development of a model or decision algorithm. 2.) Reality: The MEA must be set to a relevant engineering application. 3.) Generalizability: The resulting model should apply to other similar applications. 4.) Self-Assessment: The students must be able to verify the quality of their own work. 5.) Model Documentation: Requires a response or memo describing the model. 6.) Effective Prototype: Ensures the involvement of key concepts usable in future work. Page 22.1519.3These principles are maintained to ensure that the MEA research is consistent and effective. Forthe research in this paper, the

Conference Session

Capstone Courses and Design Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Trian M. Georgeou, Arizona State University; Scott Danielson, Arizona State University, Polytechnic campus; Chell A. Roberts, Arizona State University, Polytechnic campus

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

design concepts. Once severaldesign concepts meeting the constraints were developed, they were ranked according to how wellthey fulfilled the criteria.Students developed the initial project constraints for the project before traveling to visit andsurvey the customer i.e., GCROA outfitters. Table 1 shows the project’s criteria and constraints. Page 22.1225.4 Table 1. GCROA Capstone Project Criteria & Constraints Constraints Criteria1. $5000.00 budget 1. Least possible time for assembly2. Designed by end of fall semester 2. Least possible time for

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Allan T. Kirkpatrick, Colorado State University; Scott Danielson, Arizona State University, Polytechnic campus; Robert O. Warrington, Michigan Technological University; Richard N. Smith, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Karen A. Thole, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; A. Kulacki, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; William J. Wepfer, Georgia Institute of Technology; Thomas Perry, P.E., American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

the engineering profession will broaden greatly or the society will suffer because thematching will be too haphazard.”1 While some may argue that the educational system in the U.S.remains the envy of the world, others are not as sanguine. Massive investments are being madein many countries, both in Asia and the Middle East, in higher education. Multinationalcorporations have the ability to source their engineering expertise worldwide. If the mechanicalengineering profession within the United States is to remain viable, it will depend on the abilityof U.S.-based mechanical engineers to provide continued value and expertise to industry andgovernment

Conference Session

Mechanical Engineering (ME) Poster Session

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nina Robson, California State University, Fullerton, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

constantlychanging demands of our society is inductive teaching [1]. In this approach, the studentsare first presented with a challenge and they attempt to solve it. Learning takes placewhile students are trying to understand what they need to know to address that challenge.Students tackling these challenges quickly recognize the need for facts, skills, and aconceptual understanding of the task at hand. At that point, the faculty provides minimalinstruction to help students learn on their own. Bransford, Brown, and Cocking [2] surveyextensive neurological and psychological research that provides strong support forinductive teaching methods. Ramsden [3], Norman and Schmidt [4] and Coles [5] alsodemonstrate that inductive methods encourage students to adopt a

Conference Session

Capstone Courses

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Martin Edin Grimheden, Royal Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

changed the way many software developersorganize their work and projects, for example as in Scrum by delegating responsibilities,empowering individuals and delaying decisions. The main driver in most methods is“accelerated delivery” realized by focusing on small steps, incremental development,prototyping and quick feedback rather than extensive planning and documentation [1].The “Agile Manifesto” [2] is based on twelve principles to follow as an agile softwaredeveloper: from “…satisfying the customer through early and continuous delivery…”,“…welcome changing requirements…”, “…business people and developers must worktogether…”, “…face-to-face conversation…”, “…self-organizing teams…” to “…the teamreflects on how to become more effective…” [2].The

Conference Session

Active and Project-based Learning

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Isaac M. Choutapalli, University of Texas, Pan American; Robert A. Freeman, University of Texas, Pan American; Young-Gil Park, University of Texas, Pan American

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

not important enough to merit much attention to featureslike improved accuracy and precision. However, in complex measurements, when the stakesbecome greater, the selection of measurement equipment and techniques and the interpretation ofmeasured data can demand considerable attention. CBI for MECE 3320 teaches students theimportance of measurements in these complex situations. The technique helps students developan experimental test plan and use the measurement system so that the engineer can easilyinterpret the measured data and be confident in its meaning. The study by Pandy et al. [1] whichshowed that the CBI approach, as compared to a traditional approach, increased the students’conceptual knowledge and the ability to transfer the

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Govind Puttaiah P.E., West Virginia University; Timothy A. Drennen; Samuel C. Brunetti; Christopher M. Traylor

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

25.346.2*Seniors (2010) in Mechanical Engineering, **Professor of Mechanical Engineering.Currently Tim Drennen* and Sam Brunetti* are with DuPont Company.1. Problem Statement The goal of the project (originally a senior design project) was to design, install,and test a hydrogen injection system that can be used on a commercial gasoline internalcombustion engine (ICE). The factory-installed gasoline injection system would stilloperate to control gasoline injection while a separate hydrogen injection system would beadded to control injection of hydrogen. A sensor would be used as feedback in the closedloop system to cut back on gasoline as hydrogen is injected. The original plan was not to build a complete hydrogen conversion system

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering: Trends and Tools

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy A. Doughty, University of Portland; Steven O'Halloran, University of Portland

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

’ “Introduction toLabVIEW” Hands-On guide7, which provides a very general framework. The created tutorialassumes that the student has access to the equipment listed below:  Laptop computer running National Instruments LabVIEW 2009 Software  NI cDAQ-9172 (USB data acquisition chassis)  NI-9215 (analog voltage input module for DAQ)  Fluke thermocouple module with probe, model 80TK (Quantity: 2)The tutorial is broken down into five main sections which are listed below. Along the way areseveral exercises in which the students create LabVIEW programs to accomplish certain tasks.The exercises build on each other throughout the tutorial. 1. The LabVIEW Environment  Students test the data acquisition hardware, ensuring

Conference Session

Learning and Assessment III

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Craig W. Somerton, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

AC 2012-3489: DEMONSTRATING STUDENT OUTCOMES: EVIDENCEBY SAMPLINGDr. Craig W. Somerton, Michigan State University Page 25.384.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2012 Demonstrating Student Outcomes: Evidence by SamplingIntroductionCriterion 4 of the ABET Criteria For Accrediting Engineering Programs states, “The programmust regularly use appropriate, documented processes for assessing and evaluating the extent towhich both the program educational objectives and the student outcomes are being attained.” [1]A key aspect of this criterion is that the program must provide evidence demonstrating that thestudent

Conference Session

Simulations and Visualizations

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nicholas Mark Randall, University of Southern Maine ; Mehrdaad Ghorashi P.E., University of Southern Maine

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

statics course to explore the concept of equilibrium of a rigid body. In this way, mechanicalengineering students will gain an increased depth of understanding of the subject as well as someinsight about the application of the theories.2. Theoretical Analysis of Bending and Transverse LoadingIt is well-known that if a homogeneous, isotropic prismatic beam is subjected to a transversalshear force V, the resulting shear stress τ, induced in the beam can be obtained by10, (1) Page 25.395.3Where I is the cross-sectional moment of area, Q is the first moment of

Conference Session

Capstone Courses

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Raghu Echempati, Kettering University; Vipul Laddha, Kettering University; Sualp Ozel P.E., Autodesk, Inc.; James Herzing

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

. Truck stands are used for both assembly and serviceoperations of railcars. Although not a very critical component, due to the large volume ofstands used by the rail industries, optimal design is justified to minimize the costs. Thestudy and structural analysis of a car-truck stand was carried out as a part of FEA coursestudied at Kettering University. Several textbooks on FEA are available in the literature,for example Logan [1], and Carroll [2]. Earlier work done by Fox and Echempati [3]consisted of performing design of experiments (DOE) to study the effect of changing thegeometry variables of the stand structural members on the overall strength of the stand. Aconventional design of the car stand is shown in Figure 1, which is made of

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering: Curricula and Courses

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Simin Hall, Virginia Tech; Catherine T. Amelink, Virginia Tech; Deyu Hu, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

, andpractices that have been validated for adult education by cognitive science and/or empiricaleducational research1, 2 & 3 and processes used by the distance learning institute at Virginia Techthat relies on a structured life cycle methodology for online course development. End of coursesurvey indicated that the online offering is welcomed by students.1. IntroductionThere is an increasing interest in nuclear power due to growing energy needs4 with the projectedincrease in electricity demand in the United States as well as the world5 in the recent years hasled to a nuclear renaissance. One of the challenges of this nuclear renaissance is the workforcecrisis. There is significant need for educating nuclear engineers who can engage in research

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering: Curricula and Courses

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Benita M. Comeau, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Rohit Karnik, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Sang-Gook Kim, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Micro/Nano Engineering Laboratory CourseAbstractManufacturing and innovating at the micro/nano scale is a major trend in technologydevelopment. Whether in the traditional submicron manufacturing systems associated withelectronic devices or in emerging areas such as biotechnology and energy harvesting, micro/nanosystems are becoming increasingly important and prevalent.1-2 This paper describes howengineering at micro and nano length scales was brought to mechanical engineeringundergraduates through the Micro/Nano Engineering Laboratory (2.674/2.675) at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This class is a hands-on laboratory designed toinspire interest and excitement about engineering at the small scale through building, observingand

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering: Trends and Tools

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Vincent Capece, University of Kentucky

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

formal report template similar tothe paper formats currently provided by many professional societies to further supplement thewriting guide. Nevertheless, many students still had difficulty with the first few writingassignments. Thus, a two week technical writing component (writing workshop) was added tothe junior level experimentation course in spring 2010; the refresher lectures are still used for thesecond experimentation course.Writing Workshop AgendaDuring the writing workshop there was approximately eight contact hours with the junior levelmechanical engineering students. Table 1 presents an outline of the workshop. As displayed inTable 1, the workshop consists of lectures on grammar and technical report writing (figures,tables

Conference Session

Simulations and Visualizations

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Claudio Luiz Curotto, Federal University of Parana, Brazil; Kurt C. Gramoll, University of Oklahoma

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

, that includes, as much as possible, topics ofthe course content. A project includes a computational experiment where students can see how adynamics problem works by modifying various parameters and then obtaining the correspondinggraphical and numerical results. Their main task is to develop the theoretical basis of the projectcomparing their numerical results with those produced by the experiment. The assessment ispersonal and done by an exam where the student must answer questions about his or her project.Three basic premises will give the directions of that implementation, described to follows:1. A student must be able to access an experiment in any device, a computer, a smartphone, atablet, etc., by using only a web browser without any

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Zietlow, Bradley University; Jacqueline Henderson, Bradley University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

law of thermodynamics. This installation allows the visitor to stand on a platform to simulate an earthquake causing damage to a building. As this happens, a graphical representation demonstrates the level of disorder or entropy as a fan levitates ping-pong balls. The amount of disorder is decreased when the building is reconstructed. Another product of this collaboration was a 99 second video explaining entropy. The video can be used as a pedagogical tool across all disciplines to initiate discussion topics such as ethics and global issues facing society. Additionally, entropy can be a portal into some questions about deeper issues such as: 1) what is the cause of disorder, 2) do we live in an isolated system, and 3) how can

Conference Session

Learning and Assessment III

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jenna L. Gorlewicz, Vanderbilt University; Robert James Webster III, Vanderbilt University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

options: (1) at the beginning of a lab session,(2) after a pre-lab lecture, (3) immediately after completion of the lab, and (4) after completion ofthe lab report. This assessment architecture enables us to determine whether learning happened inlecture, in the lab itself, or during subsequent reflection on laboratory results during the process ofwriting the lab report. 1 Introduction A common challenge in engineering education is to develop students’ intuitive understandingof how physical systems behave, despite the fact that many students have never physically observedor interacted with the systems they are learning about. A variety of approaches have previouslybeen developed to address this, including implementation of hands-on

Conference Session

Capstone Courses

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Blair T. Allison, Grove City College; Stephen Ludwick, Aerotech, Inc., and University of Pittsburgh; William P. Birmingham, Grove City College

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

support, and input during design reviews.IntroductionGrove City College (GCC) routinely participates in the SAE Mini Baja competition and theASME Human Powered Vehicle Challenge. Frames for these vehicles are typically fabricatedfrom sections of thin-walled steel tubing that are TIG welded together (see Figures 1 and 2).Tube ends must be notched prior to welding to insure proper fit-up and to maintain small gaps inthe joint area. Figure 3 shows a typical joint – in this case a 90° intersection of tubes of the samediameter. While more complicated joints with three or more tubes intersecting at a singlelocation are occasionally required1, the most common joint involves only two tubes intersectingat a specified angle. A common method for tube