Collection

2014 ASEE Zone 4 Conference

Authors

Zekeriya Aliyazicioglu; Rajan Chandra; Phyllis Nelson; Jolly Kuo; Shailesh Sujanani

17 Improving Student Learning of Basic Electric Circuits Concepts Using Current Technology Zekeriya Aliyazicioglu, Rajan Chandra, Phyllis Nelson, Jolly Kuo, and Shailesh Sujanani California State Polytechnic University, PomonaAbstractThis paper describes web-based supplemental materials developed at California State PolytechnicUniversity Pomona that enable students at any time during their academic career to review and practicefundamental network analysis concepts. Students interact with these materials via a web browser,making them platform independent. The project targets improving both learning and

Collection

2014 ASEE Zone 4 Conference

Authors

Marissa Buell; Nehad Dababo; Rene Figueroa; Peter Moala; Amelito Enriquez; Kanjun Bai; Hamid Mahmoodi; Cheng Chen; Kwok-Siong Teh; Hamid Shahnasser; Wenshen Pong; Hao Jiang

learning experience overall. There were many skills that Igained such as presenting, soldering, writing and many other things that are important to knowin the engineering field. Not all of these are taught in the regular school curriculum which isunfortunate. I also liked working in groups, the work became easier to tackle and forming planswas very important to stay up to date with timelines”. Students who participate the program arevery committed in electrical engineering. Students put down comments like: “I like that I gotto learn about what it would be like doing electrical engineering, a very reputable andchallenging career path. I can go as far as to say that I liked being in the lab and getting to workwith others on a team in electrical to

Collection

2014 ASEE Zone 4 Conference

Authors

Andriani Parastiwi; Taufik Taufik

been inspiring all the staff and faculty toserve students at their best with the belief that student success drives faculty and staff success,which is in turn nurturing a very positive academic atmosphere on the Cal Poly campus. Positiveacademic atmosphere has been proven to develop and inspire whole-system thinkers who canhelp solve society's most complex problems. One example of how student success can beachieved is by having the Career Service as a division of Student Affairs which is offeringnumerous workshops aimed to increase student potential. Academic departments within Cal Polycontribute to the student success through well-structured curriculum and well-equippedundergraduate teaching and research laboratories. Unlike in many research

Collection

2014 ASEE Zone 4 Conference

Authors

Galen Pickett; Prashanth Jaikumar; Michael Peterson

majority ofengineering students, calculus-based mechanics (PHYS 151) and electricity and magnetism(PHYS 152). Our point of view has been that these courses should serve as a first, positiveexperience in STEM coursework, rather than as barriers to students seeking engineering degreesand careers. To this end, the course revision was done to actively engage students in thediscipline of physics as practiced by physicists. While the content of our courses has notchanged, we approach the subject from a modern point of view, in which the speed of light is animportant barrier, and in which mater is made from atoms. Coupled with developing softer yetvital career skills in collaboration and teamwork, this approach has dramatically increased notonly the

Collection

2014 ASEE Zone 4 Conference

Authors

Andriani Parastiwi; Taufik Taufik

and well-situated to contribute to the workforce and to stimulate the country’s economic growth.Polytechnic institutions are offering professional, career-focused programs in the arts, social andrelated behavioral sciences, engineering, education, natural sciences and technology that engagestudents in active, applied learning. Their curriculum is designed with the foundation of blendingtheory with practice to solve real world problems for the benefit of society. This in turn givesunique opportunities for students to understand how learning connects to careers or to solvingreal-world problems which are considered important to the cultivation of applied skills needed inthe workplace1. As a result, employment prospects for graduates from

Collection

2014 ASEE Zone 4 Conference

Authors

Agustin Robles; David Alvarez; Jasmine Flores; Cham Htun; Cheng Chen; James Enright; Amelito Enrique; Wenshen Pong; Hamid Shahnasser; Hao Jiang; Hamid Mahmoodi

,MathCAD and SAP2000 were used by the students to achieve an economical and efficientstructural design. This research internship program allows for the development of projectmanagement, time management and teamwork skills, thus helping strengthen students’knowledge of seismic design in civil engineering and prepare them for successful academic andprofessional careers. The internship program therefore provides valuable mentorship forcommunity college students during their transition to a four-year college and their decision topursue a civil engineering profession.IntroductionRecent earthquakes in California and Japan have caused significant impact on human society (20killed, $20B in direct losses during the 1994Northridge earthquake, and 5500

Conference Session

Program and Curriculum Design Initiatives

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hong Sheng, Missouri University of Science and Technology ; Robert G. Landers, Missouri University of Science & Technology; Fang Liu; Thanh Nguyen, Missouri University of Science & Technology

Tagged Divisions

Manufacturing

represented “StronglyAgree”. Lower numbers indicated a negative view towards science; whereas, higher numbersindicated a positive view towards science. The students were asked a list of questions from three categories to measure their interestin science: general interest, career interest, and enjoyment which listed in Appendix B. All thestudents displayed some positive levels interest in science both before and after the program, Page 24.63.10with their average median scores of 4.484, 4.584, and 4.954 in the three interests in science,respectively (general interest, career, interest, and enjoyment). In the REU program’s end survey, a

Conference Session

NSF Grantees’ Poster Session

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nasser Alaraje, Michigan Technological University; Aleksandr Sergeyev, Michigan Technological University; Craig J. Kief, COSMIAC at UNM; Bassam H. Matar, Chandler Gilbert Community College

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

teach- ing, Bassam built the Engineering Program at Chandler/Gilbert Community College where he still resides. He developed courses, articulated with surrounding universities, led committees, met with industry lead- ers, organized events, attended conferences, and applied for grants to enhance the program for students. More specifically, his career includes service as PI or Co-PI on seven National Science Foundation funded grants. In addition, he has been a lecturer at Arizona State University for 12 years. All of the effort and collaboration has amounted to a well-established Chandler/Gilbert Engineering Program—the largest in Maricopa district. Recognitions and awards include Motorola Educator of the Year Award

Conference Session

K-12 and Pre-College Engineering Division Curriculum Exchange

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Atkins Pruet, STEMWorks; Melissa Divonne Dean, Mobile Area Education Foundation

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

Page 24.490.2science classes. While the Modules are designed to be used as a set, they may be implementedas independent units as well.Documented ResultsA longitudinal comparison study of the impact of the EYEModules on students was begun in 2011 following the cohort of6th grade students as they experience the finalized set of 8Modules. This study will be completed in 2014. Other studiesinvolving cohorts of students who experienced early drafts ofthe Modules in 6th – 8th grades are producing encouragingindications of their impact on students, teachers, and thedistrict. Results show the draft Modules positively impactingstudents’ interest in STEM careers and STEM capacity. This data also indicate EYE studentsknow more about engineering, are more

Conference Session

Design, Creativity and Critical Thinking in the Chemical Engineering Curriculum

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bill B. Elmore, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

. Page 24.311.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2014 Conducting Project-based learning with a large chemical engineering freshman cohort using LEGO NXT robotics AbstractThe focus of this paper is the use of project-based learning in a freshman chemical engineeringstudio environment.Perhaps at no other time in a student’s academic career will you find such a high level ofanticipation for learning coupled with an equally high level of curiosity about their chosen fieldof study. The challenge presented is to capture and direct that eagerness for learning whilemotivating students to persevere through a coming tidal wave of challenging course

Conference Session

Gainful Employment: Preparing Technicians to Satisfy the Needs of Industry

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David I. Spang, Burlington County College

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

higher education taking a sharper focus on reducing oreliminating the skills gap, and in creating more meaningful educational and trainingopportunities in general, potential employees can be well prepared with the skills and abilitiesthat are needed and in high demand by potential employers.Studies on the existence of the skills gap have often relied on surveys in which employers havecommunicated difficulty in finding qualified applicants for open positions. The ManufacturingInstitute, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and the Career Advisory Board of DeVryUniversity have all reinforced the difficulty of locating sufficiently qualified candidates for openpositions. Additionally, the consulting firm Accenture points to little or no

Conference Session

Nanotechnology

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mangilal Agarwal, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis; Maher E. Rizkalla, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis; Sudhir Shrestha, IUPUI; Hazim A El-Mounayri, Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis; Kody Varahramyan, IUPUI

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

collected from the students on their learning experiences.Additionally, data shows that more than 20% of the graduate students pursuing thesis options inengineering are related to nanotechnology, covering materials, physics, devices, and applicationsin renewable energy and health sciences. Survey data also shows that freshman engineeringstudents have developed problem solving skills and foundation from a nanotechnology programpresented elsewhere.1I. IntroductionNanotechnology is a field that combines elements from various sciences and engineeringdisciplines. In order for students to pursue a career in nanoscience and nanotechnology, thecareer program should encompass basic sciences from physics, chemistry, biology, materials,and many others in

Conference Session

WIED: Strategies Beyond the Classroom

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Rae Volpatti, University of Pittsburgh; Cheryl A. Bodnar, University of Pittsburgh; Lauren M. Byland, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Paper ID #8519Implementation of a Sexual Harassment Workshop Targeting Female Engi-neersMiss Lisa Rae Volpatti, University of Pittsburgh Lisa Volpatti received her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 2013. Throughout her undergraduate career, she held several officer positions in the University of Pittsburgh’s section of the Society of Women Engineers, including section President during her senior year. She is pursuing a Master of Philosophy in Chemistry at the University of Cambridge as a Whitaker International Fellow and has received a National Science Foundation Graduate

Conference Session

K-12 and Pre-College Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph Foy, L&N STEM Academy, Knox County Schools; Chien-fei Chen, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Erin James Wills, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

Paper ID #9477Integrating Assembly Language Programming into High School STEM Edu-cation (Works in Progress)Mr. Joseph Foy, L&N STEM Academy, Knox County Schools Joseph Foy holds two degrees in Electrical Engineering; BSEE 1976, U.S. Naval Academy and MSEE 1988, University Of Tennessee. His twenty-four year engineering career included responsibilities of pro- gramming, gate array design, hardware design, field service, and manufacturing support. For the last seven years, Mr. Foy has been a high school teacher in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is licensed to teach all high school math and physics courses. In 2011 and 2012

Conference Session

NSF Grantees’ Poster Session

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Claire L. A. Dancz, Arizona State University; Melissa M. Bilec, University of Pittsburgh; Elizabeth A. Adams, Mesa Community College; Mikhail Chester, Arizona State University; Kristen Parrish, Arizona State University; Thomas P. Seager, Arizona State University; Amy E. Landis, Arizona State University

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

Energy and Environmental Decision Sciences (SEEDS) studio.Prof. Amy E. Landis, Arizona State University Dr. Landis joined ASU in January 2012 as an Associate Professor in the School of Sustainable Engi- neering and the Built Environment. She began her career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, after having obtained her PhD in 2007 from the University of Illinois at Chicago under the supervision of Dr. Thomas L. Theis. Dr. Landis’ research focuses on Sustainable Renewable Biomaterials and she is highly engaged in Inno- vations in Engineering Education. Learn more at http://faculty.engineering.asu.edu/landis

Conference Session

The Interdisciplinary Nature of Engineering

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alan Chong, University of Toronto; Lydia Wilkinson, University of Toronto; Deborah Tihanyi, University of Toronto

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Multidisciplinary Engineering

valuable. Second, students see the relevance of their experiencein these courses to their chosen careers more clearly. And finally, these intersections begin tobreak down traditional binaries between engineering and the arts within an instructionalenvironment that takes for granted their ability to contribute meaningfully to a discourse that isseparate but complimentary to their own.2. Background:Arguments for a liberal education for engineers identify a number of positive outcomesstemming from required courses in the Humanities and Social Sciences: through immersion inthe liberal arts students become more culturally aware, are capable of inter- and cross-disciplinary collaboration, have stronger communication skills, and are capable of

Conference Session

K-12 and Pre-College Engineering Division Curriculum Exchange

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew Tubesing, University of St. Thomas

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

Paper ID #9355LEDs & Lamps – A Friendly Affordable Gateway to Electrical Exploration(Curriculum Exchange)Mr. Andrew Tubesing, University of St. Thomas Andrew Tubesing is Laboratory Manager for the Electrical Engineering program at University of St Thomas in St. Paul, MN. He also serves on the faculty of the UST Center for Pre-Collegiate Engineering Education. Andrew has taught university courses in circuits, electronics, and engineering design for more than a decade. Prior to his academic career, Andrew spent 12 years as an engineer in the broadcast and telecommunications fields. Andrew holds a BA from St. Olaf College

Conference Session

Engineering Across the K-12 Curriculum: Integration with the Arts, Social Studies, Sciences, and the Common Core

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elise K. Morgan, Museum of Science Boston, Engineering is Elementary; Erin M. Fitzgerald, Museum of Science; Jonathan D. Hertel, Engineering is Elementary, Museum of Science, Boston

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

, and mathematics are critical skills for our modern world. Inorder to understand this world, it is vital to foster engineering and technological literacy amongall people, starting with young children. Technology and engineering are new fields at theelementary school level; however, this is where such education needs to start. Just as it isimportant to begin science instruction in the primary grades by building on children’s curiosityabout the natural world, it is crucial to begin technology and engineering instruction inelementary school by fostering children’s natural inclination to design and build things, and totake things apart to see how they work.1 It is during primary school that students establish firstimpressions of possible career

Conference Session

Innovations in Pedagogy

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Catherine Langman, Illinois Institute of Technology; Eric M. Brey, Illinois Institute of Technology; Judith S. Zawojewski, Illinois Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

programming (the“Summer Program”). In addition to the Summer Program, the H.S. Program offers workshops,field trips, career exploration opportunities, and college advising during the school year. A major goal of the H.S. Program is to foster a sense of community among the admittedstudents and to introduce the high school students to a variety of people studying STEM fieldsand working in STEM fields in different capacities. To further this goal, the Summer Programincludes a variety of eight-day collaborative projects in a variety of STEM-related fields.Students are allowed to choose one of those eight-day collaborative projects to join with theirpeers. The focus of these eight-day projects is to collaborate with a community partner to

Collection

2014 ASEE Zone 4 Conference

Authors

Christopher McComb; Fariborz Tehrani

. Currently,active members of the group consist of five undergraduate students, six graduate students, andfour alumni members who are actively presenting and attending meetings in addition to workingon their own projects.Procedure. An ideal research program for students begins at junior level. At this stage, studentsexplore possibilities in research under supervision of the faculty advisor. They learn keycomponents of research and proposal development through general studies, attendingpresentations, and helping senior students. Junior students meet the faculty advisor once a monthto discuss their research interests as well as academic and career goals. As students makeprogress toward senior status, they begin writing proposals on selected topics

Conference Session

Attracting, Developing and Retaining Talented ME Students

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marius D Ellingsen, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; Cassandra M Birrenkott, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; Mark David Bedillion, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; Karim Heinz Muci-Kuchler, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Dakota School of Mines and Technology in January 2011 as an Associate Professor. Dr. Bedillion received the B.S. degree in 1998, the M.S. in 2001, and the Ph.D. degree in 2005, all from the Mechanical Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to joining SDSM&T, Dr. Bedillion had an eight year career in the hard disk drive industry working on advanced data storage concepts. Dr. Bedillion’s research interests include distributed manipulation systems, robotics, control for data storage systems, control for advanced manufacturing systems, and STEM education.Dr. Karim Heinz Muci-Kuchler, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Karim Muci-K¨uchler is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Co

Conference Session

Integrating Engineering & Liberal Education

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dara R. Fisher, Harvard University; Aikaterini Bagiati, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Sanjay E. Sarma, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

368 individuals contacted with interview requests,ten volunteered to participate in this study.We selected an open-ended, responsive interviewing model for this study to ensure flexibility incommunication with respondents14. To this end, our interview protocol was divided into threeloose stages: (1) biographic background and experiences at MIT; (2) post-graduation career pathand experiences transitioning from college to the workplace; and (3) impressions of entry-levelengineers based on their experiences as managers or supervisors. In total, each interview lastedapproximately 30-40 minutes, and interviewee responses began to saturate after approximatelysix to seven interviews.When examining the final interview data, skills or attributes were

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Poster Session

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ryan Fries, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville; Ryan W. Krauss, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

the freshmanand sophomore level can help increase retention rates for engineering students and help studentsbetter appreciate what engineers actually do. These courses and experiences can also form acornerstone for the students’ learning and motivate students to learn engineering analysistechniques.Because of widespread inaccuracies about what engineers do,1 one of the learning goals of manyfirst-year engineering courses is to clarify the perception of the engineering profession in theeyes of students. In theory, students can then identify themselves as engineers and thus makeconfident, informed decisions regarding their career path in one of the engineering disciplines.This increased confidence leads to better academic performance and

Conference Session

Improvements in ECE Signals and Systems

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Berenice Verdin, University of Texas at El Paso; Ricardo Von Borries, University of Texas, El Paso; Patricia A. Nava P.E., University of Texas, El Paso; Andrew C. Butler, Duke University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

workforceneeded the rate of graduates in these areas needs to be increased. 2 In addition, an improvedteaching and learning environment is required at undergraduate engineering disciplines toprepare graduates capable of pursuing engineering related careers. Page 24.158.2There is an existing crisis in engineering education: stagnant or decreasing student enrollment,underprepared students, and instructional methods disconnected from students’ preferredmethods of communication and interaction. To address these problems, we are implementing,assessing and evaluating effective teaching strategies that integrate technology-based materialsintended to enhance

Conference Session

CPD Technical Session

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Soma Chakrabarti, University of Kansas; Kevin Curry, University of Kansas; Zachary Gredlics, University of Kansas

Tagged Divisions

Continuing Professional Development

settled with one typeof course or a course series. When a major aircraft was being designed, the company requestedmostly aircraft design-related courses. Later, before going for flight tests and compliancecertification, the same company requested courses related to those subject matters. Company Ais global; however, the teaching was primarily done in North America, therefore no specificcross‐cultural communication was needed in preparation. But the mode of delivery in recentyears frequently changed from face to face to live, web‐based delivery that suited simultaneoustraining in several North American locations. The organization has systematically designedemployee training on an aerospace career model3 that describes how learning, unlearning and

Conference Session

Nuclear and Radiological Division Technical Session 1

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Masoud Naghedolfeizi, Fort Valley State University; Sanjeev Arora, Fort Valley State University; Nabil A. Yousif, Fort Valley State University

Tagged Divisions

Nuclear and Radiological

total number of credit hours for the minor program iseighteen (18) which is in compliance with the University System of Georgia (USG)requirements. According to USG policies, a minor program must contain 15-18 credit hours ofcoursework of which at least nine (9) hours must be upper level course work4 (junior or seniorlevel).The minor program is primarily designed for STEM students to learn about nuclear science andtechnology and thus increase their career opportunities in nuclear industries. The STEM majorsat FVSU include biology, chemistry, computer science, computer information systems,mathematics, and electronic engineering technology. The biology major has the highest studentenrollment and comprises approximately 50% of all STEM students

Conference Session

Systems Engineering Division Technical Session 3

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yong Wang, University of Illinois, Chicago; Lin Li, University of Illinois, Chicago

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering

general method with broad applications toidentify the influences of various variations on the systems or processes. It is traditionally afundamental course offered to students in various ISE programs across the American universities.This paper presents a recent effort at a research university in the U.S. to integrate renewableenergy topics into the traditional DOE course to help ISE students update their knowledge baseand foster environmental responsibility and sustainability awareness in their future careers. Anew topic related to the manufacturing of a specific form of renewable energy, cellulosic biofuel,has been integrated into an eight-week course project session. The course-end evaluation andsurvey have shown a significant increase of

Conference Session

Models of community engagement practices

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bill B. Elmore, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Community Engagement Division

continue to refine ouractivities to be supportive of state math and science standards—now under consideration throughefforts such as the “Common Core State Standards Initiative”.9Examples of skills around which we are shaping our outreach activities may be found in the 2014draft of the Mississippi College- and Career- Readiness Standards for Mathematics.10 Theseinclude:  Make sense of problems & persevere in solving them  Reason abstractly and quantitatively  Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others  Model with mathematics  Use appropriate tools strategically  Attend to precisionThese generalized skills and others, more specific to engineering design and problem solvingmesh closely with our

Conference Session

Industrial Engineering Division Technical Session 1

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William J. Schell IV P.E., Montana State University; David Claudio, Montana State University; Durward K. Sobek II, Montana State University; Laura Stanley, Montana State University - Bozeman; Nicholas Ward, Montana State University

Tagged Divisions

Industrial Engineering

a focus on healthcare applications. Prior to his academic career, Dr. Schell spent over a decade in industry where he focused on process improve- ment and organizational development. This time included roles as VP of Strategy and Development for PrintingforLess.com, VP of Operations Engineering for Wells Fargo Bank, leadership and engineering po- sitions of increasing responsibility with American Express, where his last position was Director of Global Business Transformation for the Commercial Card division, and engineering positions with the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center.Dr. David Claudio, Montana State University David Claudio is an assistant professor of Industrial Engineering in the Department of

Conference Session

Track 1b - Session 1

Collection

2014 ASEE International Forum

Authors

Henry W. Kraebber, Purdue University, West Lafayette; E. Shirl Donaldson, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Katie Mae Hackney

Tagged Topics

Curriculum and Lab Development

investment in thestudy abroad opportunity. 72 participants agree or strongly agree that they want to return toGermany. The responses include extensive comments on the key concepts learned and how theybenefited from the study abroad experience. Short-term study abroad trips are valuable learningexperiences that provide positive impact to the participants beyond graduation.Key Words: problem solving, global economy, culture, career, technology, engineeringBackgroundA Google search of the phrase “global economy” returns over 767 million results. With thatbeing said, the global economy is impacting all of us. More of the products we buy includematerials, subassemblies and finished products being made outside of the United States.Competition from foreign