Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charles Dolan, University of Wyoming; Ovid Plumb, University of Wyoming

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

Education, 2008 Interdisciplinary Capstone Design Program A Case StudyAbstractTo advance interdisciplinary engineering, an all college multi-disciplinary senior design programwas initiated. The initial project was a two year effort to design an automated transit system forthe campus. The first semester was a planning stage to establish vehicle, route and infrastructureparameters. The planning semester was followed by three semesters of sequential design.Students enter the program at various stages of development and must complete defined portionsof the overall project. The program places emphasis on documenting work, picking up workinitiated by others and communicating design objectives

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yanfei Liu, Indiana University Purdue University, Fort Wayne (Eng); Jiaxin Zhao, Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

ProjectAbstractThis paper introduces a multidisciplinary capstone senior design project, which involves thedesign, build and test stages1. It is a two-semester project that was conducted by six seniorstudents in the Department of Engineering at Indiana University – Purdue University FortWayne. The objective of this project is to design and build an interactive sensor package unit thatcan engage dogs into playing. The whole system design is composed of the shell, mobilitymechanism, power source, control unit, sensor system, stimulator system and software. Thispaper also describes several different assessment approaches used throughout the project. Thefaculty members from the Department of Engineering and the local sponsors conduct theassessment. These

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Zachary Gutierrez, University of Wyoming; Charles Dolan, University of Wyoming

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

students were discussing theproblem long after it had been turned in for evaluation. This project assumes there is a course instructor and a student teaching assistant (TA).The general rubric for this problem is the same for all problems in the 1.8 kW wind turbine seriesand contains the background information for the project. This information is given in the“Assessment Notes” section. It informs the instructor and the TA of the project details. The“Assessment Notes” section presents the order of proceedings for the project. This lets theinstructor and the TA know their contributions to the overall project and helps them incorporatethe capstone problems into their schedules. One objective of the research is to allow the TA toconduct the

Conference Session

Experiential and Service Learning

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jim Chamberlain, Clemson University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

conducted at this university have thus farfocused on students leaving engineering rather than students staying. A finely-focusedsurvey given to participants both before involvement and after involvement with theproject is suggested as a research tool of real value.ConclusionMany institutions offer design courses (such as “capstone”) to students as upper-levelundergraduates. However, the excitement of being part of a real engineering project thatincludes requirements for sustainability, a cost estimate, and a real world application, andthat will (usually) be built or implemented is one that bears repeating outside theclassroom setting. The multidisciplinary IPD adventure is one that gives the student anactual engineering experience while engaging

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Design Constituents

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel Walsh, California Polytechnic State University; Robert Crockett, California Polytechnic State University; Zahed Sheikholeslami, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

projects at the institution. These include thecapstone design courses that are an integral part of each departmental curriculum, the seniorproject and thesis requirements for students, and the individual interests and efforts of bothstudents and faculty. In the current nascent stage of the PBLI there are a range of activitiesacross the spectrum of departments. Unit requirements for the capstone design experience rangefrom 4 to 9 quarter units, senior projects are occasionally integrated with capstone design, butmany are stand-alone classes or individual study experiences. Single student experiences are thenorm, with a few departments offering “interdisciplinary” experiences. Projects range frominstructor selected activities across an entire course

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Course Innovation II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Waldron, Grand Valley State University; Pramod Chaphalkar, Grand Valley State University; Shabbir Choudhuri, Grand Valley State University; John Farris, Grand Valley State University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

AC 2008-2172: TEACHING DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF MECHANICALSYSTEMS - PART IIWilliam Waldron, Grand Valley State UniversityPramod Chaphalkar, Grand Valley State UniversityShabbir Choudhuri, Grand Valley State UniversityJohn Farris, Grand Valley State University Page 13.1156.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Teaching design and manufacture of mechanical systems using multidisciplinary teams-Part IIIntroductionA lot of progress has been made in recent years in improving engineering education, e.g.,emphasizing communication skills, working in teams, integration of computer-aided engineering(CAE), and capstone/senior design projects

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Teams

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Samantha Jacques; Deepti Suri, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

thestudents are expected to know and accomplish at the time of graduation. Of particular interestand pertinent to the current discussion are criterions 3(d): an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams, 3(f): an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility, and 3(g): anability to communicate effectively.In most engineering programs, capstone design courses tend to be the courses where these ABETcriteria are typically addressed. Capstone courses have evolved over the years from professordefined designs to industry-sponsored projects where “real” problems are given4,5. Asconstructivist theories of learning became popular, and the academic community recognized thatthat learning is a social activity6, these capstone project-based

Conference Session

Research in Multidisciplinary Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chris Bachmann, James Madison University; Jeffrey Tang, James Madison University; Carl Puffenbarger, James Madison University; mike kauffman, James Madison University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

, human-defined problems.During the junior and senior years, students focus their studies more narrowly on one of severaltopic areas, arranged not by disciplines but by “strategic sectors.” Based on the National CriticalTechnologies list,4 the sectors are currently: biosystems, energy, engineering & manufacturing,environment, information & knowledge management, and telecommunications. After narrowingtheir coursework to three of these sectors during their junior year, students concentrate theirstudies in one area during their senior year. Every student completes a capstone senior project,most of which have strong hands-on component, fitting the departmental ethic of real-world,applied learning and work.The work of the AFV is, in several

Conference Session

Research in Multidisciplinary Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gary Halada, State University of New York at Stony Brook; Mary Frame, State University of New York at Stony Brook; Chad Korach, State University of New York at Stony Brook; David Ferguson, State University of New York-Stony Brook

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

-based, active learning environmentsfor improvement of student comprehension and engagement.1,2,3 Active-learning requires Page 13.414.2students to be involved in key activities of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. 4 For universitystudents, these activities are most clearly present in the context of directed and independentresearch.5 While certain active-learning activities can (and should) be built into the structure ofwhat would normally be a lecture class (such as group discussions, demonstrations, and groupdesign projects), the level of student engagement supported by a research project would be hardto duplicate in a classroom environment

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Course Innovation I

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brent Nelson, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

domains. This trio will be referred to as ‘the facilitators’. Page 13.253.3The goal of the course was to give the students the opportunity to practice BID, so the primaryassignment for the class was a semester-long design project, constituting 65% of the students’course grade. Students were given complete freedom to choose the topic, with the onlyrequirement being that their project had to utilize principles taken from some biological source.The teams gave a proposal presentation in the middle of the semester on their project topic, andthis allowed an opportunity to give guidance and a preliminary assessment to the students. Thefinal product

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Curriculum Innovation

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Ciaraldi, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; David Cyganski, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Michael Gennert, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Michael Demetriou; Fred Looft; William Michalson, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Bradley Miller, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Eben Cobb, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Lance Schachterle, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Kenneth Stafford, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Yiming Rong, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Gretar Tryggvason, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; James Van de Ven, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

, feasibility analysis, evaluation forappropriateness, and business plan development. Industry has reacted with great enthusiasm tothe entrepreneurship component.In addition to taking courses, WPI requires all students to complete a senior-level project in theirmajor field of study. For RBE students, this constitutes a capstone design experience in RoboticsEngineering. Students typically work in teams of two to four students, although single-personprojects and larger teams are also possible. A faculty member in the major advises the work.Students are expected to take relevant coursework before the project begins. The project workitself typically starts with a formal project proposal, including literature review, clearly definedapproach, and schedule

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Teams

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carolyn Plumb, Montana State University; Durward Sobek, Montana State University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

even moredifficult to evaluate. Over the past year, we have introduced a new course at the junior-level, “Introduction to Engineering Design.” The course focuses on the skills necessaryto complete a project in a multi-disciplinary team, and it will eventually be required forall engineering students as a precursor to their department-specific capstone designcourses. In a previous paper, we described our approach of using the engineering designprocess to determine the best solution to the problem of providing students with a multi-disciplinary educational experience in engineering at Montana State University.1In order to determine if our new course improves student performance in this area, wedeveloped a rubric for evaluating an individual’s

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Curriculum Innovation

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ronald Kander, James Madison University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

goal of preparing them for a lifetime of further learning…” (3)Indeed “reinventing undergraduate education” (not just in engineering) was the theme of theErnest L. Boyer Project of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. (4) (5) (6) (7)These reports were also considered by members of the task force as we considered “reinventing”undergraduate engineering education. The following recommendations were considered fromamong the broad conclusions in these reports: (6)• Make research-based learning the standard• Construct an inquiry-based freshman year• Build on the freshman experience• Remove barriers to interdisciplinary education• Link communication skills and course work• Culminate with a capstone experience

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Course Innovation I

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Rabb; David Chang, United States Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

topics with2.0 credit hours allotted to engineering science and 1.0 credit hour to engineering design. Thecourse builds upon the foundations from the basic engineering mechanics course in statics anddynamics, and the basic electrical engineering course covering electrical circuits andcomponents. The course provides the background, experience, and fundamental designknowledge to complete capstone design projects requiring dynamic modeling and controlexpertise. The course is multidisciplinary and is conducted as a joint offering with the Page 13.788.3Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Department of Civil andMechanical

Conference Session

Sustainability and Environmental Issues

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kurt Rosentrater, USDA-ARS; Elif Kongar, University of Bridgeport

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

described whole degreeprograms30; have explained various projects and experiences for students31, 32, 33, 34; and havediscussed educational modules35. All of these are very informative, and the reader is referred tothem for more information. Even though these articles do provide much insight, there is stillconsiderable room for innovative methods for achieving the aim of curriculum enhancement.Our goal was not to repeat these studies, but rather to provide a unique perspective on threetopics which, even though they may sound simple, can have profound implications for industrialpractice (across all engineering disciplines), and these concepts can readily be infused intoexisting curricula without adding substantial burdens to instructors.Essential