Conference Session

The Nuts & Bolts of TC2K

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

David Roth

reviewed to assure an equivalent achievement of program outcomes.Also, they both had to satisfy the requirements of a capstone as required by ABET. Bydefining the two course outcomes as part of the ABET outcome based process, thecourses were recognized as each being a valid capstone experience, although two totallydifferent ways to accomplish the same outcomes. Seniors now have two capstone optionswithin the program; they can complete either the internship course or a senior projectcourse to fulfill their capstone experience as required by ABET criterion. (Nitterright etal, 2002) A direct comparison of course learning outcomes for both capstone options isshown in Table 1

Conference Session

Visualization and Computer Graphics

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Jianping Yue

spatial visualization. Inthis paper, the author first presents the maximum possible number of orthogonal rotational viewsof an object. Analyses are presented for two spatial visualization tests by their representations ofthe possible orthogonal rotations and the difficulty of visualization. Finally, the author makessome suggestions on the improvements of spatial visualization tests based on the possibleorthogonal rotations.1. IntroductionSpatial visualization skills have been considered important in engineering graphics. In the1980’s, computer-aided design (CAD) was introduced into classrooms, along with thedevelopment of computer hardware and software. Nowadays, three-dimensional (3D) solidmodeling CAD is very popular in industrial applications

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Joseph LaLopa; Mara Wasburn

mentor-protégérelationships, and on both intended and unintended consequences of the mentoring program. Onthe basis of interviews with participants, recommendations are offered for improvements thatmight be incorporated in those programs offered at other institutions that are now experimentingwith formal mentoring projects.IntroductionMentoring has a long, rich tradition dating back to Greek mythology. Mentor (in reality thedisguised goddess Athena) was the wise tutor/advisor for Odysseus' son Telemachus in Homer'sOdyssey. In this paper, a mentor is defined as anyone who provides guidance, support,knowledge, and opportunities for whatever period the mentor and protégé deem this help to benecessary.1 The definition was qualified by Haring, who

Conference Session

TYCD 2004 Lower Division Initatives

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Jianping Yue

those majoring in science, technology,engineering, and mathematics. There are also many programs that support the participation ofcollege professors. This paper describes some of NASA’s representative education and researchprograms such as the Undergraduate Student Research Program, Graduate Student ResearchersProgram, Jenkins Predoctoral Fellowship Program, Faculty Fellowship Program, Administrator’sFellowship Program, KC135 Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program, K-12Student Involvement Program, etc. This paper also introduces a variety of other NASA’seducation and research programs.1. IntroductionSince its inception in 1958, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has madeextraordinary achievements in space

Conference Session

Computers in Education Poster Session

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Clark Merkel

quarter with three 1-hour lectures and one 3-hourlaboratory each week. The laboratory content of the course is dominated by learning howto use the Handy Board microcontroller and a variety of sensors and actuators. Thelaboratory sessions are currently devoted to hands-on exercises that provide them withexperience using different sensors and controlling several types of output device with themicrocontroller. The students complete six or seven weeks of canned lab exercises toacquaint themselves with the programming skills and capabilities of the microcontrollerand sensors. They spend three to four weeks designing, programming, and building aproject that requires the microcontroller be used to sense, control, and respond to somedesign problem of the

Conference Session

Instrumentation and Laboratory Systems

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Yan-Fang Li; Sang-Hoon Lee; Vikram Kapila

communication with external devices. In addition, Matlab providesgraphical design tools such as Simulink and Dials and Gauges Blockset. This paper exploits theserial communication capability of PIC microcontrollers and the Matlab software along withgraphical design tools of Matlab to create a Matlab-based graphical user interface (GUI)environment for PIC microcontroller projects. Three examples are included to illustrate that theintegration of low-cost PIC microcontrollers with the Matlab-based GUI environment allowsdata acquisition, data processing, data visualization, and control.1. Introduction Peripheral Interface Controllers (PICs), developed and marketed by MicrochipTechnology, Inc. [1], are inexpensive microcontroller units that include a

Conference Session

New Faculty Issues and Concerns

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

J. Fredericks Volkwein; Linda Strauss; Lisa Lattuca; Patrick Terenzini

conceptual framework for the study of EC2000 assumes that changes in student learning willoccur because engineering programs have modified curricula, instructional practices,institutional policies, and even faculty cultures in a manner consistent with EC2000. Thelinkages are, in this sense, indirect: preparation for an EC2000 accreditation results in curricularand other changes that in turn affect student learning. Figure 1 portrays the hypothesizedrelationships among the new EC2000 accreditation standards, engineering programs, and studentlearning outcomes. To confidently attribute any changes in engineering graduates’ learningoutcomes over time to EC2000, this study examines these potential sources of influence onstudent learning. If the study

Conference Session

ECE Capstone and Engineering Practice

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

John Greco

high-levelbehavior of networks, including their architectures, protocols and performance 1–5.Laboratory work associated with such courses concentrates on software, using eitheravailable network cards as part of a physical network or simulating the behavior of anetwork 6–17. The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department currently offers anetworking course that emphasizes the lower-level operation of a network, including thephysical medium, the packet format, and simplified protocols for Token Ring andEthernet networks. In the laboratory component of the course, students realize each typeof network using a microcontroller in conjunction with peripheral hardware. The

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

John Greco

students to the concept of the data path/controller architecture commonlyused for a digital system, including a general-purpose computer.IntroductionThe game of Nim 1–8 is an ancient game whose playing area consists of several stacks ofpieces. In the original design of the game, there is no restriction on the number of stacks,nor is there any restriction on the number of pieces in each stack. Two players alternatelyremove pieces from the field, removing any number of pieces on each turn, but removingpieces from only one stack. Traditionally, the person removing the last piece loses thegame. Page 9.388.1 Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for

Conference Session

Electrical & Computer Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Karl Stephan

describes an approach to this problem which may be applied insimilar situations in a wide variety of disciplines. The basic idea is to involve the students in aproject that is drawn from their own interdisciplinary program while showing them the need forknowledge from the traditional discipline that is the subject of the course. At Texas State University-San Marcos (which was known as Southwest Texas StateUniversity until Sept. 1, 2003), the first engineering degree program on campus was initiated inthe fall of 2000, a program in manufacturing engineering. For a number of years, Texas State'sDepartment of Technology has offered four-year degrees in industrial technology andengineering technology. As a required part of these programs, a

Conference Session

Programming Issues for Engineering

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

John Estell

visual and event-driven; usually there is a graphical elementsuch as playing cards or a game board, and the play of the game progresses through the handlingof discrete user-generated events. As assignments, games are often challenging to write, butprovide both a definite goal to strive for and a greater sense of accomplishment as the completedprogram actually does something. Furthermore, by providing extra credit opportunities for theimplementation of additional game features, students become very involved in theirprogramming, helping them to learn the concepts taught in the course – and often to learnadvanced concepts on their own. Along with the motivational value of such assignments, thewriting of games promotes strategic thinking [1

Conference Session

Accreditation and Related Issues in ECE

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Hue Van Tran; Steven Reyer; James Friauf; Owe Petersen; Katherine Wikoff

performance, evaluation/feedback, and student self- Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Educationassessment/reflection, it is possible to determine the curriculum’s strengths and weaknesses incourse design and/or student outcomes.Study Findings, Part 1 – The GoodIn writing, the Electrical Engineering curriculum is very strong. Every student takes a freshmancomposition course, a technical composition course, and a writing-intensive introductoryhumanities course. In each of these classes students receive instruction on writing well,including communication theory (such as Aristotle’s communication triangle and

Conference Session

Electrical & Computer Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Fabio Urbani; Juan Iglesias

tomatch the initial requirements. This simulator contains three different optimizing methods: theMonte Carlo Method, the Genetic Algorithm Method, and the Tabu Search Method.In order to approach any FEM problem, four basic steps must be followed: 1. Discretize the domain in which the solution has to be found using a finite number of nodes and elements (either triangular or quadrilateral); 2. Derive the governing equations for a single element; 3. Assemble all the elements in the solution domain; 4. Solve the system of equations obtained using numerical techniques like the Iteration Method or the Band Matrix Method. The former is faster and is usually preferred for a large number of nodes;Differential equations can be

Conference Session

Minorities in Engineering/Technology

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Amy Monte; Gretchen Hein

are included such as building and testing a ping-pong balllauncher and a pizza lunch. This training gives the mentors a chance to get to know each otherand begin building a mentor community (see Figure 1). Page 9.181.3 Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Educations Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering EducationFigure 1: Team building activities during mentor training (ping-pong ball launcher, scavengerhunt).Engineering Seminars: The GUIDE scholars attend weekly engineering seminars during theFall semester where they have time to ask questions and discus the engineering topic, careerpath, or discipline

Conference Session

ECE Education and Engineering Mathematics

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Seyed Zekavat

An Evaluation of the Teaching Approach for the Interdisciplinary Course Electrical Engineering for Non Majors S. A. Zekavat1, C. Sandu2, G. Archer1, and K. Hungwe3 1 Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan Tech University, Houghton MI 49931, 2 Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia, 24061, 3 Dept. of Education, Michigan Tech University, Houghton MI 49931.AbstractThis paper presents an evaluation on the teaching approach for the interdisciplinary course“Introduction to Electrical Engineering (EE) for non-EE majors” performed by surveying threegroups from the

Conference Session

Industrial Collaborations

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Jerry Visser; Carrie Steinlicht; Teresa Hall

industry jobs has been in response to wage differentials,valuation of the dollar, and a shortage of engineering and technology program graduates.1 Thetraditional career path sought by engineering technology program graduates was to seekemployment at a mid-to-large size corporation with the implied opportunity to climb thetechnical/managerial ladder during a lifetime of commitment to that single employer. Thisscenario is a thing of the past as multinational corporations downsize, outsource, and streamlinemanagement hierarchies and thin the ranks of technical professionals.At the same time, the growth in small businesses by entrepreneurs and small start-ups providingcomponents to larger companies has provided an alternative career path for newly

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

David Bahr; M. Grant Norton

programs or in research projects specially designed for thepurpose” 1.For the past five summers the NSF has funded a summer REU site in Characterization ofAdvanced Materials at Washington State University. WSU currently has the longest active REUprogram in materials research in the northwest. Our REU site brings students to Pullman tospend 10 weeks each summer focused on interdisciplinary materials research.The initial target population for our REU program was primarily students from schools in thePacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain states that do not have access to the moderninstrumentation that is needed for materials research. Over the five years of our program thenumber and popularity of REU programs has increased nationally and we have

Conference Session

Materials Science for Nonmajors

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

David Bahr; M. Grant Norton

increase the awareness of materials among the general student population at WashingtonState University (WSU) we developed a course, MSE 440 Materials: The Foundations of Societyand Technology. This course is taught as a Tier III course in the General Education Program andwas offered for the first time in Fall 2000, and has now been offered four times (fifth time inprogress at time of writing). At the 2002 Annual Meeting we presented the rationale fordeveloping the course, what we teach, and student feedback.1 The present paper provides anupdate on the course, the results of student surveys, and resources that we use in the course.Enrollment DataOur course is targeted towards students with non-SMET backgrounds. We try to recruit studentsfrom as

Conference Session

ECE Education and Engineering Mathematics

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Roland Thomas; Albert Rosa

more positive. A comparison between the Fall 2002 offering (traditionalapproach) and the Fall 2003 offering (the different approach) is shown in Table 1. While it is tooearly to tell whether students will perform better in follow-on courses, the level of studentachievement and confidence appears to have significantly improved. The follow-on redesigned Page 9.91.6Electric Circuits and Systems II course will be offered in Fall 2004. Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education

Conference Session

Improving Teaching & Learning

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Anita Gandolfo; Ken Alford

efforts can be successfully adopted at other universities andcolleges who face the challenge of providing pedagogical instruction for graduate teachingassistants, new PhDs and adjunct instructors.College instructors fall into three distinct groups based on their relationship with the university:(1) new hires who have not yet arrived on campus, (2) new arrivals, and (3) continuing faculty.Each group has different needs that the institution can help meet.This paper discusses some of the programs, activities, and events that have been usedsuccessfully at the United States Military Academy to meet the needs of these faculty groups. Itis written with the intent to provide other educational institutions the opportunity to pick andchoose among them and

Conference Session

Innovations in Nuclear Education I

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

William Rezak

design capacity for high percentages of the time. Successfuloperation of nuclear facilities is determined by examining capacity or load factors. Load factoris the percentage of design generating capacity that a power plant actually produces over thecourse of a year’s operation. Table 1 indicates load factors for the best performing nuclear power producing nationsthrough 2002, the last year for which data is available (International Atomic Energy AgencyPower Reactor Information System database). The numbers in parenthesis indicate the numberof nuclear power plants operating in the country. When comparing US data with that of other nations, it is important to note that many of theother nations have only one operating utility organization

Conference Session

Trends in ME Education Poster Session

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Charles Forsberg

experience from a teacher-centered approach to ateam-based and student-centered approach. [1, 2 , 3, 4] The heat exchanger project alsoprovides the students with a design-build test experience that greatly enhances their educationalexperience. Other schools have also found the design-build-test approach to be beneficial forstudents. [5, 6, 7, 8]This is the second major design-build-test project overseen in recent years by the writer. Theprior project dealt with design and construction of a pump system. [9] Comparing the firstproject with this one, the writer has noted considerable improvement in the students’performance. At least some of this improvement is due to the writer’s increased experience andimproved skills in directing student projects. A

Conference Session

New Trends in ECE Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Pong Chu

anddistracts the students from the real design issues. An example of this kind of problem is illustrated by the following code. Assume that wewish to implement a 4-bit priority encoder with the following function table: a(2) a(2) a(1) a(0) code valid 1 x x x 11 1 0 1 x x 10 1 0 0 1 x 01 1 0 0 0 1 00 1 0 0 0 0 00 0In this circuit, the a(3), a(2), a(1) and a(0) are four input request signals, in

Conference Session

Real-World Applications

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Joseph Fuehne; David Lenart

informing the students of what they will see during the hospital tours thatcomprise the majority of the students’ visit. There are four separate tours: 1. the computer networking facilities 2. the computer technology section that provides hardware update/repair, software update/installation and other associated services to the hospital staff 3. the mechanical repair section whose purpose is to make repairs to hospital equipment such as beds, IV machines and other mechanical devices. 4. the hospital facilities management sectionThe high school students are divided into four groups and each group tours each of thefour areas.Typically, the tour of the

Conference Session

IS and IT Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Taz Daughtrey; Edgar Sibley; Anne Marchant

Certification standard7. Hence, this certification is approved and honored by the NSAand the DoD. This makes JMU students more marketable because the NSA hires employeeswith this certificate at a grade higher than the ones who do not have the certificate.Certificate requirements: 1) CS major 2) The Introductory Information Security course 3) Internetworking course 4) One of the following courses a. Network Applications Development b. Network Analysis and Design Page 9.273.6 c. Selected Topics in Information SecurityProceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference &

Conference Session

Trends in Construction Engineering II

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Roslyn Smith; Amitabha Bandyopadhyay

as a method of determining machine down time and its causes. Later this methodwas broadened to measure inactive time of men and machines to determine the causesand improve them3. It was not until 1940 that the technique was introduced to Americanindustry by Robert L. Morrow. The technique enjoyed moderate success during the waryears but failed to gain widespread use, perhaps because of a need to understand statisticsand probability in order to interpret the results.The StudyThe following steps were carried out by the student for both the residential project andthe commercial project: 1. The problem was defined in details 2. The recording forms were designed 3. Preliminary observations were made to determine an appropriate

Conference Session

ET Design Projects

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Dale Litwhiler

appropriate measurement and controlsystem to achieve the design objectives is often a difficult part of the design. Most projectsrequire the measurement and control of very few parameters that does not justify the purchase ofan elaborate analog and digital I/O system. Combining LabVIEW™ software with the 1-Wire™family of integrated circuit devices from Dallas-Maxim produces a measurement and controlsystem that is an excellent match for many student design projects. LabVIEW is very popular inengineering technology programs and provides the software tools needed to easily develop thedata acquisition, signal processing and control routines. The student version of LabVIEW 6iprovides plenty of computing power for such applications, is very affordable, and

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Roxanne Jacoby

, learning from eachother’s work, moving forward together. As for the students, by giving them the opportunity toparticipate in interesting collaborative projects that simulate the real business world they willenter, they acquire precious skills enabling them to succeed in the highly competitive, rapidlychanging professional climate of the 21st century.Notes and Bibliography:1. The Nerken School of Engineering at Cooper Union, located in New York City, was a member of the Gateway Engineering Education Coalition till 2002, one of the coalitions sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Engineering colleges from the following institutions participated in the Phase II of the Gateway Coalition: Columbia U., Cooper Union, Drexel U., New Jersey

Conference Session

Computers in Education Poster Session

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Sub Ramakrishnan; Mohammad Dadfar

programming languages as well.The project deals with blocking and how a server in a TCP/IP network figures out which one ofits many client sockets has data to read from. This is resolved using asynchronouscommunication between a client and a server. Briefly, the server can receive data from any ofthe clients it is connected to. However, the server does not know which client to wait on. Thestudent has to employ nonblocking socket read and 'select' mechanisms at the server to correctlyidentify the client it can read from.1. IntroductionMany schools offer a data communications course at the undergraduate computer scienceprogram. Our program has a required core course in operating systems and networks (CS 327),followed by an elective course that is

Conference Session

ET Design Projects

Collection

2004 Annual Conference

Authors

Horacio Sosa; Vladimir Genis

between transmittedand received ultrasound signals (the time-of-flight). In these experiments, the measurement ofthe transducer displacement is more convenient and accurate than the measurement of thetransmitter/receiver or transducer/reflector distance. Such a technique allows one to eliminateadditional artifacts caused by the time delays from the transducers and attached electronics. Theschematic diagram of the experimental set-up is shown in Fig.1. Page 9.1328.2 Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering