Conference Session

Sustainable Education and the Environment

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elaine Scott, Seattle Pacific University; John Lindberg, Seattle Pacific University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

developing countries to participate in this program to bring critical skills back to theirnative countries. Finally, as our own resources become limited in this country, the need forengineers to address issues related to sustainability will grow, and students from this programwill be well equipped to address this challenge here in the U.S. This program joins a growingnumber of program addressing sustainability and appropriate technology issues (e.g., theEngineering for Developing Communities program at Univ. of Colorado, Boulder.2)This paper is focused on development of the program’s learning outcomes, the resultingcurriculum development, the use of project-based courses, and program assessment.Program Learning OutcomesThe program learning outcomes

Conference Session

Entrepreneurship Education: Innovation, International Cooperation, and Social Entrepreneurship

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nassif Rayess, University of Detroit, Mercy; Darrell Kleinke, University of Detroit, Mercy

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

, followed by two projects that serve as case studies. The experience is thenbriefly evaluated and preliminary assessment is presented. The paper concludes with adiscussion on the future plans.Service Learning and Social EntrepreneurshipDefined as “a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that addresshuman and community needs together with structured opportunities intentionally designed to Page 14.618.2promote student learning and development”1, service learning is not only beneficial to the overalldevelopment of the student but also addresses the hard-to-assess qualitative educationaloutcomes f and h of ABET2. For the

Conference Session

Information Literacy Integration and Assessment

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Barbara MacAlpine, Trinity University; Mahbub Uddin, Trinity University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

Science in EngineeringScience degree. Engineering students are also awarded a mathematics minor.The multidisciplinary core engineering science courses emphasize critical and creative thinkingand the development of student’s communication skills. Engineering design, specifically Page 14.760.2creative design, is the central focus of the program. An eight-semester design course sequencethat begins in the first semester of the freshman year and terminates with a two-semester seniorcapstone design project forms the backbone of the curriculum.The first design course introduces students to the engineering design process utilizing acompetitive design

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kerrie Kephart, University of Texas, El Paso; Elsa Villa, University of Texas, El Paso; Louis Everett, University of Texas, El Paso; Arunkumar Pennathur, University of Texas, El Paso

expertise and experiences are in human factors engineering (modeling human behavior and performance), and in engineering education. His research in human factors has been funded by NIH (work on older Mexican American adults), and the US Army Research Laboratory (work on modeling concurrent mental and physical workload in soldiers). Dr. Pennathur has been writing about and teaching sociotechnical approaches to work design. Dr. Pennathur is currently co-PI with Everett on a Phase 2 NSF CCLI grant for cultivating authentic engineering discourse. His interest in the NSF project is how faculty members navigate the engineering instructional space. Dr. Pennathur has also created the virtual collaborative

Conference Session

New Research on Retention of URM Groups in STEM

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rafic Bachnak, Texas A&M International University; Rohitha Goonatilake, Texas A&M International University; Juan Lira, Texas A&M International University; Conchita Hickey, Texas A&M International University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

served 23 participants.STEM RRG ProjectsSTEM-RRG consists of several projects that implement a number of activities, includingenrichment workshops, scholarships, internships, research experiences, mentoring andtutoring, advising and career counseling, experiential training, recruitment of high-potential students, and faculty professional development. These projects have beenclassified as recruitment or retention and are briefly described below.Recruitment Projects 1. STEM Recruitment and Enrichment Project (STEM-REP): The goal of this project is to improve the recruitment and preparation of minority students through participation in summer workshops and a follow-up science and

Conference Session

New Research and Trends Related to Minorities in Engineering

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Abhijit Nagchaudhuri, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore; Adam Morris, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore; Madhumi Mitra, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore; Xavier Henry, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

) AIRSPACES :Aerial Imaging and Remote Sensing for Precision Agriculture and Environmental Stewardshipfunded by the Maryland Space Grant Consortium and (ii) Environmentally Conscious PrecisionAgriculture (ECPA) : A Platform for Active Learning and Community Engagement funded bythe United States Department of Agriculture provide synergistic platforms for undergraduateinvolvement that promotes both the LSAMP and HBCU-UP objectives, while enhancing theproposed outcomes for the AIRSPACES and ECPA projects. The principal author who serves asthe principal investigator for the AIRSPACES and ECPA projects at UMES mentored one of theundergraduate students in the LSAMP program in the spring and summer of 2008. The studentwas partially supported by the HBCU-UP

Conference Session

Educational Issues in Civil Engineering

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anant Kukreti, University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

conducted, theresearch training provided to the students, an overview of the projects completed by the students,the procedures used to evaluate the impact of the programs, the process used to track thestudents, and the outcomes of the programs. This paper will help others plan similar researchexperiences for engineering undergraduate students.IntroductionThe engineering schools in the U.S. now face internal and external challenges, impacting themarketability of our students. From 1985 to 2005, high school graduates went up 20.7%1 whileengineering bachelor degrees went down 5.7%2. The number of students indicating interest inengineering has dropped from 11% in 1985 to 7.2% in 20052. As we face this internal challenge,expanding global economy has

Conference Session

OMCED Topics

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Simpson, United States Coast Guard Academy

Tagged Divisions

Ocean and Marine

apply their knowledge of ship structures andto practice design, the student design teams are tasked to design and build a barge from sheetaluminum with the goal to carry 120 pounds of weight. The weight is restricted to a 9 inch by 12inch hopper to create a more or less concentrated load. The students must carefully plan the useof their limited material just as any ship builder does, and they must also apply their knowledgeof ship hydrostatics and stability. The barges are tested in a tank of water and the studentsreceive credit for the amount of weight they are able to carry without structural failure, sinking,or capsizing. For the past two years, corresponding to their senior project to design anicebreaker, the students have also been tasked

Conference Session

The Best of Design in Engineering Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Renee Rogge, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Kay C Dee, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Glen Livesay, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

responsibility fordecisions and actions as the course progressed. In this paper we present the results of revisingthis supplemental evaluation and administering it to a new longitudinal student cohort ofbiomedical engineers during the 2007-2008 academic year. Correlational analysis of the studentresponses revealed three themes that appear to have a major role in shaping student attitudestoward the overall design experience: attitudes regarding the transition from student toprofessional; varied academic hardiness characteristics that would influence efforts and attitudestoward the completion of an open-ended senior design project; and perceived work efforts (byboth the individual and the team) and the quality of learning in senior design. Overall the

Conference Session

Capstone Design II

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susannah Howe, Smith College; Ron Lasser, Tufts University; Katie Su, Smith College; Sarah Pedicini, Smith College

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

practical engineering knowledge to the classroom, student projects, and research. His approach is to inspire and apply critical thinking to real-life problems, then look toward innovation and technology to provide a solution. His research interests include digital image processing and animation, innovation, product portfolio design and dynamics, and structuring organizational ecosystems for success. He works with the Nerd Girls on renewable energy technology and design.Katie Su, Smith College Katie Su is a sophomore economics major at Smith College.Sarah Pedicini, Smith College Sarah Pedicini is a sophomore engineering major at Smith College

Conference Session

Entrepreneurship Town Hall Meeting: Supporting University Priorities

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Martin Grimheden, Royal Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

AC 2009-941: EDUCATION FOR PRODUCT INNOVATION: A "GOODPRACTICES" REPORTMartin Grimheden, Royal Institute of Technology Page 14.512.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Education for Product Innovation – A ‘Good Practices’ ReportAbstractThis paper presents results from a study of good examples of education for product innovation. Aselection of exemplifying courses, modules, exercises and projects are presented. The selection ismade to show examples of good practices which could easily be integrated into existing coursesand programs.The Product Innovation Engineering program, PIEp, is the initiator of the study and the overallaim is to produce a state of the art

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Bowles, University of South Carolina; Gang Quan, University of South Carolina

Science & Engineering at the University of South Carolina. He received his PhD from the University of Notre Dame. He is the recipient of an NSF Faculty Early Career Award. His research interests include real-time systems, embedded computing, power-/thermal-aware design, electronic design automation, advanced computer architecture, and reconfigurable computing. Page 14.194.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 An FPGA-Based Embedded System Design Laboratory for the Undergraduate Computer Engineering CurriculumAbstractThe primary focus of this project is the development of

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Duffy, University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Linda Barrington, University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Manuel Heredia, University of Massachusetts, Lowell

engineering curriculum at a public university.Over the academic years 2004-2008, an average of 30 core required engineering courses havehad S-L projects each year. The hypothesis is that because the students would see with S-L moredirectly how engineering can improve the lives of those in the local and internationalcommunity, they would be more motivated to enter and stay in engineering and try to learn thesubject matter better. In terms of recruitment, S-L is advertized to prospective students as thenumber two reason to come to the college (number one is value). Twenty-two percent of firstyear students at the end of their first semester reported that S-L was one of the reasons forcoming to the college, roughly the same as the 24% in December 2007

Conference Session

Robot Mania in Precollegiate Engineering Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alisa Gilmore, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Bing Chen, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Neal Grandgenett, University of Nebraska, Omaha

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

mathematics education and educational research classes. He is a current co-investigator on two NSF funded educational robotics projects, funded within the ITEST and Discovery Research K12 programs. The NSF projects are associated with training teachers and developing a national curriculum related to educational robotics. Dr. Grandgenett is a review editor for new curriculum applications in the Mathematics and Computer Education (MACE) Journal, published internationally, which sometimes showcases educational innovations related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. His prior work on various interactive learning environments was awarded the NASA Mission Home Award in 1999

Conference Session

Curricular Developments in Energy Education

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Craig Somerton, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

agency that provides energy and environmentalinformation and services, a mechanical engineering capstone design team has taken on thechallenge of designing and implementing a heating system for the worms. In keeping with thetheme of the worm composting, it was decided that this heating system must utilize renewableand sustainable energy sources. This paper will share the design process and the details of thefinal design implementation. The project was unique in that it involved considerable interactionamong the mechanical engineering students, the staff of the non-profit community agency, andthe staff and students of Woodcreek Elementary School. The paper will share the lessonslearned through such interactions and will provide some guidance to

Conference Session

Assessment and Evaluation of Graphics Programs

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer McDonald, Daniel Webster College; Alexandra Sobin, Daniel Webster College; Marie Planchard, Massachusetts Bay Community College; Nicholas Bertozzi, Daniel Webster College

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Design Graphics

Page 14.928.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Online Working Drawing Review and AssessmentAbstractThis paper describes the development and implementation of an online working drawing reviewvideo and online assessment tool. Particular attention was paid to dimensioning and ASMEANSI Y14 standards with the goal of improving the quality of the working drawings required infinal design project reports. All members of freshmen design teams in the fall 2008 semesterwere required to watch this video and pass an online assessment before they could turn in theirfinal design project reports. The School of Engineering maintained scanned copies of designproject reports for the fall 2006 and 2007 semesters. A separate

Conference Session

Design Methodology

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Rinehart, NIOSH; Donna Heidel, NIOSH; Andrea Okun, NIOSH; Michael Barsan, NIOSH

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

Design (PtD) National Initiative. He continues to work on PtD through a project that brings PtD principles into engineering textbooks as they are being updated.Donna Heidel, NIOSH Donna Heidel is a certified industrial hygienist with over 25 years' experience in the health care industry. Ms. Heidel received a B.A. from DeSales University and an M.S. from Temple University. She has spent the last 15 years of her career building a world-class, global, integrated occupational toxicology and industrial hygiene program at Johnson & Johnson, a decentralized company consisting of 230 operating companies in 57 countries. At J&J, she developed and implemented their global health hazard and control

Conference Session

ECE Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Haluk Ozemek, San Jose State University; Preetpal Kang, San Jose State University; Albert Khanh Nguyen, San Jose State University; pradeep badhan, San Jose State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

transducers. A complete set of lab exercises enable students to build robots as a class projectwithout requiring any background in electronics or programming. The course also introduces thefundamentals of embedded systems and hardware/software co-design to sophomore students.INTRODUCTIONComputer Engineers must have proficient knowledge of both computer hardware and softwarewhich has produced the fundamentals of this course. In this course, a sophomore becomesknowledgeable on how software can interact with hardware, and how real world problems aresolved by employing both hardware and software. As a result, students establish strongeducational foundation which eliminates the difficulties on an actual project that they encounterin their professional

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Homayoon Abtahi, Florida Atlantic University; Ali Zilouchian, Florida Atlantic University

groups from seniordesign classes are utilizing the lab for FC design projects. It is anticipated that the currentdevelopment of the new laboratory will have a direct impact on undergraduate education bycreating a focal point for interdisciplinary learning, a balance between theoretical and hands-onexperience in undergraduate teaching, and application of these educational tools in a vibranttechnology sector. The evaluation plan for the course materials focuses on three general areas.The first focus is on the assessment of the course modules. The second focus is related tostudent-identified strengths/weaknesses of the course/modules. Finally, the third focus is todocument the course/curricular refinements resulting from the evaluative data

Conference Session

Best Zone Paper Competition

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rashmi Jain, Stevens Institute of Technology; Keith Sheppard, Stevens Institute of Technology; Elisabeth McGrath, Stevens Institute of Technology; Bernard Gallois, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Council of Sections

sequence at Stevens known as the Design Spine3. The first five courses are core designcourses taken by students from all intended disciplines; the last three are taken in the discipline - a juniorcourse followed by a 2-semester capstone senior year project. In most cases the core design courses arelinked to concurrent engineering science courses, thus providing context for the latter. The Design Spineis a key vehicle to develop a number of threads that build both technical and so-called “soft”competencies. The latter include communications, creative thinking, teaming, economics of engineering,problem solving, project management etc. It should be noted that the first four design courses have beentaught by adjunct engineers, either practicing or

Collection

2009 Spring ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Kauser Jahan; Jess W. Everett; Gina Tang; Stephanie Farrell; Hong Zhang; Angela Wenger; Majid Noori

understanding, appreciation and protection of aquatic life and habitatsthrough research, education and youth development programs. This nonprofit organization is aleader in conservation-oriented research, environmental education, and community service bothlocally and globally. It conducts programs offsite through outreach projects to schools andcommunity-based organizations as well as onsite at the State Adventure Aquarium [10] in aunique partnership to engage aquarium visitors in the wonder of the aquatic world. TheAcademy delivers a wide variety of classroom lessons, allowing children grades preK-12 toinvestigate ocean-related topics, from coral reef symbiosis to the sticky tube feet of the sea star.NJAAS also offers 30 minute electronic field trips

Collection

2009 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Xiaomin Jin; Dennis Derickson; Simeon Trieu; Samuel O. Agbo

through a big transition of the programwith one professor retirement (founder of the program) and two new faculty members arriving.Our recent activities comprise following three major parts: 1) Expanded teaching laboratory, 2)Strong faculty/students research projects, and 3) Active SPIE student club. We are presenting theabove three efforts in this paper.1. IntroductionCalifornia Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) has one of the nation's largest primarilyundergraduate engineering colleges. The photonics program within the EE department began in1985. Currently, there are two senior elective lecture courses and one graduate-level lecture inthe photonics area. A 700 ft2 fiber-optics laboratory was introduced in 1986. This laboratoryserves dual

Collection

2009 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Kauser Jahan; Jess W. Everett; Gina Tang; Stephanie Farrell; Hong Zhang; Angela Wenger; Majid Noori

understanding, appreciation and protection of aquatic life and habitatsthrough research, education and youth development programs. This nonprofit organization is aleader in conservation-oriented research, environmental education, and community service bothlocally and globally. It conducts programs offsite through outreach projects to schools andcommunity-based organizations as well as onsite at the State Adventure Aquarium [10] in aunique partnership to engage aquarium visitors in the wonder of the aquatic world. TheAcademy delivers a wide variety of classroom lessons, allowing children grades preK-12 toinvestigate ocean-related topics, from coral reef symbiosis to the sticky tube feet of the sea star.NJAAS also offers 30 minute electronic field trips

Conference Session

ASCE Policy 465: Raising the Bar

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jon Nelson, American Society of Civil Engineers; David Hornbeck, Southern Polytechnic State University; James Lambrechts, Wentworth Institute of Technology; Joe Manous, United States Army Corps of Engineers; Robert Stevens, Arcadis U.S., Inc; Leo Titus, ECS, Ltd; Jeffrey Russell

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

AC 2009-884: PARAPROFESSIONALS IN CIVIL ENGINEERINGJon Nelson, American Society of Civil Engineers JON D. NELSON, P.E., M.ASCE is Vice President and Unit Operation Leader for the Central Region of the Civil Infrastructure Group of Tetra Tech Inc. He maintains offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Nelson has 34 years of experience mostly associated with water and wastewater projects serving local and state government. He holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering from Kansas State University and a M.S. degree in environmental engineering from Oklahoma State University. He is licensed to practice in four states. Nelson served two six-year terms on the Oklahoma State

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Norb Delatte, Cleveland State University; Paul Bosela, Cleveland State University; Joshua Bagaka's, Cleveland State University; Rosemary Sutton, Cleveland State University

effect of the failurecase studies on student learning has been assessed through surveys as well as focus groups, ledby researchers from the College of Education and Human Services. The case studies were pilottested in two courses, Strength of Materials (sophomore, engineering mechanics) andConstruction Planning and Estimating (senior, civil engineering) over the course of several years.Preliminary results have been previously reported elsewhere1, 2. The project results have alsobeen presented at international conferences in Mumbai, India3, and London, United Kingdom4. A series of faculty workshops were also carried out under this project. The workshopparticipants were primarily from U.S. civil engineering programs, but also included

Conference Session

Programs That Serve Industry and Academia

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eugene Rutz, University of Cincinnati; Timothy Keener, University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

Continuing Professional Development

degrees; most on campus, at least one on-lineMichigan Tech Master of Engineering Coursework and project at participatingUniversity company; on campusUniversity of Master of Engineering Flexible curriculum within 5 areas of emphasis;Nebraska - Lincoln some on campus, some on-lineNorth Carolina State Master of Engineering On-lineUniversityArizona Partnership Master of Engineering Collaborative effort among ASU, UA and NAUCharacteristicsThe Master of Engineering program provides a graduate degree that focuses on the practice ofengineering in order to better serve working

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Arlene Russell, University of California, Los Angeles; Patricia Carlson, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Warren Waggenspack, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; Warren Hull, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; william Monroe, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; Chester Wilmot, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge

AC 2009-405: ENGINEERING EDUCATION: ORAL AND VISUALCOMMUNICATION USING ENHANCED CALIBRATED PEER REVIEWArlene Russell, University of California, Los Angeles Arlene Russell is a Senior Lecturer at UCLA in both the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and in the Department of Education. She was a co-PI on the Molecular Science Project under which the Calibrated Peer ReviewTM (CPR) program was developed. Her work in science education has been recognized by awards from the New York Film and Television Association for excellence in science videotape production; the Smithsonian Institution for her educational innovation using technology, the Chemistry Manufacturing Association for her

Conference Session

Design, Build, Fly (DBF)/AIAA Student Competition/UA

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brian Rodrigue, Saint Louis University; David Safont, Saint Louis University; Alex Rees, Saint Louis University; Jim Maday, Saint Louis University; Francisco Vilaplana, Saint Louis University; Goetz Bramesfeld, Saint Louis University

Tagged Divisions

Aerospace

Mechanical Engineering at Saint Louis University. Page 14.299.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 Bumblebee Saint Louis University The primary goal of capstone projects is to familiarize students with the design process. Throughstudent interaction and peer reviews students are able to gain valuable knowledge that cannot be taught inthe traditional lecture. This particular capstone project focuses on the design of an autonomous UAV that iscapable of loitering above a field for 10 hours while collecting pollen samples for post

Conference Session

Learning as a Community

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy Hinds, Michigan State University; Thomas Wolff, Michigan State University; Neeraj Buch, Michigan State University; Amanda Idema, Michigan State University; Cynthia Helman, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Programs at Michigan State University. In that role, she works with academic units, housing and residence life to create and sustain living-learning programs. She has worked in residence life in various capacities for over 25 years. Cindy is also an adjunct assistant professor in the higher education program at Michigan© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 State and teaches courses in student affairs administration and higher education. She has been involved with several research projects related to student outcomes through participation in living-learning programs and faculty involvement in living-learning programs

Conference Session

Design Methodology

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marjan Eggermont, University of Calgary; Carla Gould, Ontario College of Art and Design; Casey Wong, Ontario College of Art and Design; Michael Helms, Georgia Institute of Technology; Djordje Zegarac, University of Calgary; Sean Gibbons, University of Montana; Carl Hastrich, Ontario College of Art and Design; Jeannette Yen, Georgia Institute of Technology; Bruce Hinds, Ontario College of Art and Design; Denise DeLuca, Biomimicry Institute; jessica ching, Ontario College of Art and Design

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

, skin like a lizard, and eyes like a moth? The future of engineering”1AbstractFour Universities collaborated on a biomimicry (a relatively new science that studies nature, itsmodels, systems, processes and elements and then imitates or takes creative inspiration fromthem to solve human problems sustainably2) design project. The universities provided studentsfrom freshman to PhD level with backgrounds in engineering, biology, industrial design and art.The students ran the project with support from professors, a non-for-profit institute, and abusiness client. This paper will describe biomimicry as it is being taught in a first year engineering designand communication course, how four of the participating universities