Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Redekopp, University of Southern California; Cauligi Raghavendra, University of Southern California; Allan Weber, University of Southern California; Gisele Ragusa, University of Southern California; Therese Wilbur, University of Southern California

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

courses. In engineering, capstone designcourses were natural candidates and the embedded system design course within the Ming HsiehDepartment of Electrical Engineering was selected for the pilot program. On the business side,the marketing department created a follow-on practicum course to its “New ProductDevelopment and Branding” theory course. Run once in spring 2008, the program is runningagain in spring 2009, with a third collaborator in the Roski School of Fine Arts. The “AdvancedDesign Projects” provides product design, packaging, and artistic input and expertise. Thefollowing sections summary the approach to teaching these courses along with lessons learnedthroughout the pilot experience.3. ApproachInterdisciplinary engineering capstone

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

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

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

AC 2009-1908: A KICKING MECHANISM FOR A SOCCER-PLAYING ROBOT: AMULTIDISCIPLINARY SENIOR DESIGN PROJECTYanfei Liu, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort WayneJiaxin Zhao, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne Page 14.35.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 A Kicking Mechanism for a Soccer Playing Robot – a Multidisciplinary Senior Design ProjectAbstractThis paper describes a multidisciplinary capstone senior design project that involves the design,build and test stages1. It is a two-semester project that was conducted by five senior students inthe Department of Engineering at Indiana University - Purdue

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sarel Lavy, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

spreadover a number of disciplines, among them engineering, architecture, management, business, andconstruction. This paper presents a case study of a project completed by teams of undergraduateand graduate students in the courses “Specialty Capstone” and “Introduction to FacilityManagement,” offered by a large university in the US in the spring 2008 semester.Facility management, if well-organized and well-structured, has the potential to not only improvethe physical performance and appearance of a building and its systems, but also to increase theusers’ level of satisfaction, and to improve the efficiency with which buildings are maintained,operated, and managed along their service lives. These two courses offered students anopportunity to

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Josef Rojter, Victoria University of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

which cover identified. The content is then presented epistemic professional in terms of sequences of problems. discourses.PBL PedagogiesThe acronym PBL, unfortunately, encompasses both project and problem-based learningpedagogies. In order to avoid confusion it is important to distinguish between these twolearning approaches. Project-based learning is concerned with the application of existingknowledge to new situations which leads to the acquisition of practical skills. Problem-basedlearning requires the acquisition of knowledge to address a particular problem. In reality thereis an overlap between both project and problem based learning.Both PBL approaches have some commonality because they both

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Josef Rojter, Victoria University of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

the team members’ individual reflective journals. This component also required student oral presentations in weeks 4 and 12. Table 6. Problems allocated to student team Project title 1 Energy and Environmental Audit and Assessment of various fuels and mixture of fuels operating at various and efficiencies and excess air. Fuels in question are: Methanol; Methane; Propane; Butane; Butane-propane mixtures; and Ethanol-octane mixtures. 2 An environmental assessment and LCA (life cycle assessment) of three selected bio- degradable polymers 3 Examination of the feasibility of production of ethanol, methanol and diesels from

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Course Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Claudio Talarico, Eastern Washington University; Esteban Rodriguez-Marek, Eastern Washington University; Min-Sung Koh, Eastern Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

University. His interest include image and video processing, communication systems, digital signal processing, and cryptographic theory and applications.Min-Sung Koh, Eastern Washington University Page 14.67.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 A Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Project Implementing a Robotic Arm for the Artificial Insemination of Endangered Amphibian SpeciesAbstractThis paper presents a pilot undergraduate project started in fall 2007 and completed in spring2008 at Eastern Washington University. The goal of the project was to expose

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Design Constituents

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Maher Rizkalla, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

AC 2009-358: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATIVE MODEL PROJECTEMPHASIZING ELEMENTS FROM ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING,MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, AND SCIENCE MAJORSMaher Rizkalla, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis Page 14.66.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009A Multidisciplinary Collaborative Model Project Emphasizing Elements from Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Science Majors Matt Rubin1, Tyson Fish, Luke Thomas, Maher Rizkalla, and Hasan Akay2 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at IUPUI 1. Business Development Manager Indiana University

Conference Session

Engineering and Other Disciplines

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mahmoud Quweider, University of Texas, Brownsville; Adriana Perez, University of Texas, Brownsville; Gabriala Oropeza, University of Texas, Brownsville; Juan Iglesias, University of Texas, Brownsville

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

information related to a pilot study on the effects of to Endocrine DisruptingChemicals (EDCs) exposure on pregnancy, which was conducted by the Health Center and theSchool of Public Health.Interdisciplinary in nature, the project brought together biostatisticians, medical doctors, andcomputer and information scientists (CIS). On the medical side, the team was trying to assesshuman health risks from exposures to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, measuring both theexposure level and its ramifications in pregnant women of the Rio Grande Valley. To aid in theprocess from a computational and engineering point of view, a professor and two computerscience and engineering majors were put in charge of taking the requirements and specificationsfrom the medical

Conference Session

Engineering and Other Disciplines

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carlotta Berry, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Matthew Boutell, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Steve Chenoweth, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; David Fisher, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

robotics certificate will help withrecruitment efforts3. In addition, faculty and students enrolled in the certificate program willparticipate in K-12 outreach such as mentoring middle school and high school robotics programs.Students in the program will also demonstrate their robotics projects to tour groups, increasingvisibility and attracting students to our institution. In fact, the final project robotics competitionfor one of the early courses in the robotics curriculum has already been featured on the campusweb site and in the local newspaper. Additionally, faculty with an expertise in robotics will beattracted to a school with a visible, established robotics education program and research.Multidisciplinary TeamworkRobots are mechanical

Conference Session

Sustainability and Environmental Issues

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Belle Wei, San Jose State University; Patricia Backer, San Jose State University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

of climate change.Given this transdisciplinary systems approach, the college has programmatically encouraged andsupported the development of new green engineering curriculum and projects inside the college,and collaborated with Silicon Valley companies, many of which are at the forefront of greentechnologies. This is described in Section 2. The college has spearheaded a university-widecurriculum that brings together faculty and students from all seven colleges of the university indeveloping project-based interdisciplinary solutions; this is described in Section 3. Furthermore,to underscore the need for a transnational approach, the college has led the production of a globalgreen documentary, showcasing the collaborative efforts of people in

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Course Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Ciaraldi, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Eben Cobb, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Fred Looft, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Robert Norton, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Taskin Padir, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

engineering and advised capstone design projects within the robotics and automation option. He received his PhD and M.S. degrees from Purdue University, both in electrical engineering. He received his BS in electrical and electronics engineering from Middle East Technical University. Dr. Padir currently teaches undergraduate robotics engineering courses at WPI, advises student projects and participates in curriculum development activities for WPI's robotics engineering BS degree. Page 14.428.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Designing an Undergraduate Robotics Engineering

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Design Constituents

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dugan Um, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi; Bahram Asiabanpour, Texas State University; Jesus Jimenez, Texas State University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

, experiment, and analyze complex computer simulation models. Dr. Jimenez is member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) and the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE). Page 14.1195.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Undergraduate Research Project: Development of a Micro/Nano Assembly Workcell Via Micro Visual Sensing Abstract The first year of the NSF REU program titled “Micro/nano Assembly Workcell via MicroVisual Sensing” provided a positive learning and research opportunity for 10 junior-level studentsin the fields of

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Curriculum Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

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

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

designs and the various technical topics are introduced as needed. Each ofthese courses includes elements of CS, ECE and ME. To add cohesion within courses, eachcourse in the unified sequence has its own focus, such as locomotion, sensing, manipulation, andnavigation. Students in the Robotics program also take other required and elective courses,selected from courses already offered by the various engineering departments. In addition, theprogram includes an entrepreneurship component to prepare future “entrepreneurial engineers.”6Like all majors at WPI, the program culminates in a capstone design experience wherein studentssynthesize their accumulated knowledge in a major project. The RBE program is designed sothat it can be accredited under the

Conference Session

Engineering and Other Disciplines

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Monica Anderson, University of Alabama; Beth Todd, University of Alabama; Susan Burkett, University of Alabama; Garry Warren, University of Alabama; Marcus Brown, University of Alabama; David Cordes, University of Alabama

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

project trackedthe movement of the dancers on the stage for a performance entitled Frequency that representedthe finale of the Repertory Dance Theatre’s spring recital. “This is probably the most innovativeconcert we have ever done” was the quote of the director of our dance program. The basic themeof “aliens among us” was realized when alien dancers distorted the signals on radios andtelevisions as they came in close contact with them. “We created a workshop this semester sostudents can experiment using technology and engineering in dance performances. The studentshave displayed incredible knowledge, creativity and professionalism in their approach to usingtechnology” according to the computer science faculty member involved in the

Conference Session

Sustainability and Environmental Issues

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bradley Striebig, James Madison University; Susan Norwood, Gonzaga University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

AC 2009-83: PARTNERSHIPS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ANDINTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONBradley Striebig, James Madison University Dr. Bradley A. Striebig is an associate professor of Engineering at James Madison University. He has a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Penn State University, where he was the head of the Environmental Technology Group at the Applied research Laboratory. Prior to accepting a position to develop the engineering program at James Madison University, Brad was a faculty member in the Civil Engineering department at Gonzaga University. He has worked on various water projects throughout the US and in Benin and Rwanda.Susan Norwood, Gonzaga University Susan Norwood

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Curriculum Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Salah Badjou, Wentworth Institute of Technology; Loutfallah Georges Chedid, Wentworth Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

since 2000, where he has been teaching in the areas of electronics and biomedical systems engineering, including design courses. He has conducted research, with publications, in biomedical engineering in the areas of biomechanics, bioelectricity, and biomedical imaging, since 1992. Other research interests include renewable energy, optical fiber communications, and project-based multidisciplinary education.Loutfallah Georges Chedid, Wentworth Institute of Technology Professor LOUTFALLAH GEORGES CHEDID, Ph.D., Ed.M. Wentworth Institute of Technology Electronics and Mechanical Engineering Department Boston, MA 02115 USA Email: chedidl@wit.edu Telephone: 617 989 4158

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Curriculum Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Moderick Greenfield, Eastern Michigan University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

governmentalagencies require ABET accreditation. Our military students at EMU currently majoring inEET are required to take calculus-based physics.A disadvantage is that the program will be new to the public, and it will take severalyears to receive EAC/ABET accreditation; also, current established programs will hinderthe development.ObjectiveThe future proposed BS in Engineering Electronics and Physics will provide its majorswith a strong background in electronics design and engineering mechanics. Graduateswill be qualified to work in the areas of electronics, instrumentation, and electro-mechanics. Students will be able to design circuits using the latest development software.All students will be required to complete a project beyond classroom level by

Conference Session

Engineering and Other Disciplines

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Chang, United States Military Academy; Peter Hanlon, United States Military Academy; Kirk Ingold, United States Military Academy; Robert Rabb, United States Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

munitions, detect and disable ordnance in hazardous environments, maneuver inrelatively small areas, be used as a decoy or be sent to draw out opponent fires without riskingthe life of the operator. There have also been various universities that have integrated roboticsinto their curriculum or developed new courses that use robotic platforms as the center piece.Weingarten, et. al. used robotics as a vehicle to engineering education and to propel the studentsinto research and life-long learning5. Chung and Anneberg6 summarized how to use contests tostimulate learning in computer science and engineering education. Mehrl et. al.7 used anautonomous robotics capstone design project to enable students to used their preferred learningstyle to learn how to

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Curriculum Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Ruhala, University of Southern Indiana; Paul Kuban, University of Southern Indiana

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

; Analysis, at least until a sufficient number of students exist in the program to meritcreation of a new course. This section of ENGR 471 will be part of the two semester seniorcapstone experience, with the later course being Senior Design. These nine engineering electivecourses contain 12 design hours, which when combined with the 5 design hours in theengineering course, are more than the departmental goal of 16 hours. The last engineeringelective would be selected from one of the following: Manufacturing Systems, ElectricMachines, Vibrations, Engineering Materials, or Special Design Project. In addition, thecommittee discussed the creation of a course in robots, a 1-credit laboratory course inManufacturing, and a course in Advanced Dynamics

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Design Constituents

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Phillip Wankat, Purdue University; Kamyar Haghighi, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

and statistics – if they select anengineering course on this topic it counts as part of their 47 credits of engineering. Theengineering core typically consists of 19-22 credits. Except for the professional seminar IDE301 and the major design experience, either EPICS (Engineering Projects in CommunityService1,2) or IDE 485, the engineering core specifies topics not courses. These topics werechosen to match the topics in the Fundamentals of Engineering exam to facilitate graduatesbecoming professional engineers. Specifying topics instead of courses provides maximumflexibility for students transferring into the program either from other universities or from otherprograms at the university. The specified professional seminar and major design

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Course Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Geoff Wright; Paul Skaggs; Richard Fry, Brigham Young University; C. Richard Helps, Brigham Young University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

with activities to helpthem semantically encode the primary principles of innovation, and b) to help them prepare forthe final two innovation activities: a formative ideation project, and a summative capstoneexperience.Both the formative ideation project, and the innovation capstone experience required the studentsto demonstrate how they came to their solutions as a result of using/engaging the principles andprocesses of innovation. The participants were assigned and completed the ideation projectduring the first day of instruction. It provided the participants with the opportunity toimmediately put into action the principles and processes they had experienced in the innovationmini-activities. The ideation project required the participants to

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Course Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Michalson, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Gregory Fischer, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Taskin Padir, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Gary Pollice, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

the crux of the problem. Students tend to learn facts in their, inthis case Physics, classes but, like the researchers referred to in the above quote, they don’tnecessarily learn how those facts are relevant to their chosen discipline. This phenomenon wasactually observed during an internal bi-annual review of the capstone design projects in theElectrical and Computer Engineering Department at WPI where it was observed that studentswere having a difficult time synthesizing designs.3 To correct this problem, a radically differentcourse in ECE Design was developed to teach the fundamentals of designing electrical systemsto students at the end of their sophomore year. With this course we were able to reach studentsimmediately after foundational

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Course Innovation

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Rabb, United States Military Academy; Andrew Biaglow, United States Military Academy; David Chang, United States Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

information flow between instructors from different departments encouragesfaculty learning by pushing the instructors beyond their own discipline. This paper illustratessome of the course details employed between three engineering departments to advance andenrich a multidisciplinary controls engineering course. Advantages to empowering amultidisciplinary faculty are also described. The techniques described allow the students tobenefit from the work of a multidisciplinary faculty team and enrich the students’ understandingby bringing in real world projects and examples.IntroductionIn 2005 the National Academy of Engineering in “Educating the Engineer of 2020,” stated manyideas of co-teaching, just in time teaching, and multi-disciplinary teaching.1

Conference Session

Sustainability and Environmental Issues

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Catherine Skokan, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

synthetic fuels. The course isdesigned to inform and prepare students who could enter energy fields as engineers. ColoradoSchool of Mines is responsible for preparing the curriculum at the lecture level and for trainingthe college staff through a summer workshop to offer the courses. We are also available duringthe academic year as content consultants as well as visitors to present special topics to thecollege students. The process of curriculum development has resulted in challenges as well assuccesses. This paper will describe the overall IEED project and, specifically, the Overview ofEnergy Resources course, discuss the assessment of both the teachers and the studentsparticipating in the course, and will detail the challenges and successes of

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Design Constituents

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Farison, Baylor University; Zhuocheng Yang, Baylor University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

developed to administer this new responsibility, 2) the experiences of the first three years of program evaluator visits, 3) the institutions with ABET EAC-accredited multidisciplinary engineering programs, 4) the number and names of the multidisciplinary engineering program(s) at each institution, 5) the ABET EAC accreditation history of these programs, 6) a look ahead at the projected future evaluator workload, and 7) other issues related to this new accreditation role and to recent changes in the process.IntroductionOne of the significant distinctions of a substantial number of baccalaureate engineering programsis that they intentionally do not align naturally with a currently so-called “traditional discipline”(such as