Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Irma Becerra-Fernandez; Gordon Hopkins; Ted Lee

hours as follows: a core consisting of 12 hours of Engineering Management,and 12 hours of Business Administration, 9 hours of electives in a particular area of engineeringspecialization, and the Capstone Project of 3 hours [1]. Graduate students in EngineeringManagement gain knowledge through traditional engineering lectures, guest speakers’presentations, and through study of related cases and articles. Most courses also requirecompletion of a short project. Finally, the Capstone Project serves to integrate the students’knowledge through applied research and development. Typically through the Capstone Project,students lean to respond well to challenges presented at the workplace. The Capstone Projectrequires about half of the time to develop a

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Daniel P. Schrage

chance to enter national competitions andprovide a seamless transition with the graduate program was needed. This has beenaccomplished over the past few years by having highly motivated undergraduates takeboth the capstone senior design courses, as well as enter national student designcompetitions and participate as teams, using the CE/IPPD methodology developed in thegraduate program. This approach has proven to be highly successful and has provided anexcellent recruiting program for the graduate design program as well as provide a smoothtransition. It also has been used to help satisfy the ABET 2000 intent of outcomemeasurement. With the conversion from a quarter system to a semester system in 1999we plan to provide an even tighter linkage

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

S. A. Tennyson; R. J. Eggert; D. Bunnell

other teams.The junior courses relate to component design. The Senior course, entitled Thermal & FluidSystems Design MX424) deals with thermal component design & process design. The SeniorDesign Project is the capstone design experience typically implemented in small teams with localindustrial sponsors.The sophomore Mechanical Engineering Design (MX280), is somewhat new, however, whencompared to traditional Mechanical Engineering curricula. Note that it fits snugly between theFreshman & Junior years, developing design topics, fully within the skill mix of enteringstudents.Professors Bunnell, Eggert & Tennyson met weekly during the fall of 1996 to design the detailsof the course namely we prepared detailed learning objectives

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Michael Safoutin; Jens Jorgensen; Joseph A. Heim; Dale E. Calkins

with the opportunity topractice the design of products and processes from conceptualization to implementation. Studentswork on interdisciplinary team projects from industry, student inventions, and designcompetitions. The learning-by-doing experience gives students a firmer grasp of fundamentals,teamwork skills, increased communication skills, enhanced creativity, and most importantlyskills to synthesize, design, and build. Industry plays a key role by providing feedback on thecurriculum, by participating in the classroom, and by providing student projects. The most extensive design project experience available to the students is participation inthe SAE Formula Car competition through a special three quarter capstone design, Calkins 4,5

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Ronald R. Hosey; R. Gregg Bruce; Lester K. Eigenbrod; Hansjoerg Stern

approach to capstone application of the principles taught in thedesign, materials, mechanics, fluid power, and manufacturing undergraduate course sequences.The course utilized a student teamwork-oriented approach to accomplish three design projects andemployed additional faculty to discuss such topics as inventiveness, concurrent engineering,teamwork & supervision, life cycle design, manufacturing cost, product safety, and professionalethics.2 Course Objectives Several primary objectives were established, following faculty recommendations from curriculumand mechanics subcommittees and from members of the Industrial Advisory Committee. The firstwas to emphasize the fundamental elements of the design process. Faculty members withexpertise in

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Lloyd Feldmann

completed by freshmen, the learning skillsachieved by these students can positively influence their success throughout their academiccareer. The fourth homework instructional goal is integration. This type of assignment forces thestudents to combine many different skills and concepts to produce a project. The classicapplication of an integration project is the capstone course. It is unfortunate that we frequentlyfeel that we have to wait until the senior year before a student is ready for good projectdevelopment. One aspect that makes some capstone project so successful is the fact that theassignment is individualized or small group oriented rather than generally assigned to the wholeclass. Almost anyone will respond to individual attention

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

P. Hirsch; J.E. Colgate; J. Anderson; G. Olson; D. Kelso; B. Shwom

seated around a table in their simulated office, modeling adesign-related activity. They might brainstorm solutions to a problem, make an objectives tree,or interview their “client” for the quarter, a local bike manufacturer who has asked them to helphim design a recumbent bike for campus use. At some point in the hour, students are drawn intothe discussion, becoming an integral part of the NU Concepts Design Team.Later in the week, EDC students meet in groups of 16 with pairs of the design faculty—onecommunication specialist and one engineer—at the new Engineering Design Studio. Drawing onwhat they saw and heard on Monday, student teams work on design projects for clients of theirown. During the first quarter of this two-quarter course, the

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Robert E. Zulinski; Jon A. Soper; Dennis O. Wiitanen; David Stone; Allan R. Hambley; Martha E. Sloan; Noel Schulz

. Page 3.460.6 68. R. L. Miller and B. M. Olds, "A Model Curriculum for a Capstone Course in Multidisciplinary Engineering Design," Journal of Engineering Education, October 1994, Vol. 83, No. 4, pp. 311-316.9. H. O. Ozturk, J. C. Sutton III, D. E. Vandenbout, R. K. Cavin III, and J. J. Brickley Jr., "A Center for Teaching Design in Electrical and Computer Engineering," Journal of Engineering Education, April 1995, Vol. 84, No. 2, pp. 121-128.10. R. W. Heckel, J. Pilling, and M. R. Plichta, "A Senior-Year Materials Processing and Design Course," ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings, June 1995.11. M. R. Plichta, “Senior Projects in Materials Processing,” presented

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1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Michael D. Murphy; Kristen L. Wood; Kevin Otto; Joseph Bezdek; Daniel Jensen

of their preparatory analysis problems” [41]. Many other articles have been written concerning methods for improving design courses,including recent works by Evans, Harris, Moriarty, Wood, and Koen [54, 56-58, 61]. The readeris referred to Dutson [59], which focuses on capstone courses but is also relevant to lower leveldesign project courses. A narrower branch of this effort to improve the teaching of designincludes those that have attempted to take learning styles into account when structuring a designcourse. A brief overview of this work is given in Felder [55]. Examples of the broad range ofapplications of learning theory to design, as well as to engineering curriculum in general, includeapplications of the Kolb model [60], use of

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

S. K. Gupta; M. R. Scanlon

theirredesigned product. The benefits of their redesign are evaluated, and an economic analysis isperformed to determine the feasibility of their design. The project culminates in a presentation oftheir redesign as well as a final report detailing their design work. Some products that have beenredesigned in the past are snowshoes, a boat trailer, and automobile leaf springs.Curricular Impacts: These curricular innovations have had a profound impact on material/processcombination students are selecting in their capstone senior design projects. For example, in thelast Winter quarter (19962) a student group designing a musical scale selected all-plastic partsjoined by advanced adhesives; another group designed an auto-focus camera lens assembly thatused

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Sanjiv Sarin

OutcomesThe selection of appropriate outcome indicators or assessment instruments is an importantquestion. The engineering education community is just beginning to understand the variety oftools that are available and, in particular, the suitability of a specific tool for measuring a givenoutcome. For most of us who are novices in assessment practices, the followingrecommendations should suffice, at least during the initial assessment cycle.My proposition is that all the required ABET outcomes can be effectively measured with justthree instruments -- the FE examination, student portfolios and the capstone design project. Thefollowing lists categorize each of the eleven required ABET outcomes into one (or more) of thesethree instruments. In the

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Michael D. Murphy; Kristen L. Wood; Daniel Jensen

SPRING 1996 73.7 8.5 FALL 1996 77.4 6.8 FALL 1997 77.7 5.6USING MBTI DATA TO IMPROVE THE RESTRUCTURED COURSEA significant amount has been written concerning methods for improving design coursesincluding recent works by Evans, Harris, Moriarty, Wood and Koen [Evans, Harris, Moriarty,Wood, Koen]. For more information in this rather broad area, see the fairly comprehensivereference list in Dutson [Dutson] which focuses on capstone courses but is also relevant to lowerlevel design courses which include projects. A narrower branch of this effort to improve theteaching of design includes those that have attempted to take

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Jack Swearengen; Hakan Gürocak

assessments will be adopted and tailored for the new program. A briefsummary of the four assessment areas follows.1. In-class assessments will be conducted in selected courses such as capstone design, writing- in-the-major [M] courses, lab courses, selected senior course, selected junior course, etc. Page 3.430.11 Assessment tools will consist of tests, projects, reports, activity evaluations, etc. and include instructor assessment report at the end of the course. To guide the assessment activities, 11 educational objectives and student outcomes will be identified for the program and for

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Susan Campbell; Carol L. Colbeck

-solving techniques; (5) fabrication specifications can be determined from the designs; and (6) Page 3.529.1designs can be assessed and evaluated at various points in the design process (Dym, 1994).What students should learn from designThe methods faculty choose to teach engineering design relate to the skills and competenciesthey wish to develop in students. For instance, faculty often choose to use design projectsbecause these projects involve open-ended problems that more closely resemble the work ofprofessional engineers (Harris & Jacobs, 1995). Open-endedness is useful because students learnthat at times no one “right answer” to a problem

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Narayanan Komerath

, and 2-person team designs of their aircraft to mission specifications. The course went on to introducespace flight issues, and a perspective on the various fields of engineering. Student performance,and assessments of the course, showed high levels of enthusiasm and participation. Many aspectsof design, usually postponed to the senior capstone course, are seen to be appropriate forintroduction to first-quarter freshmen. INTRODUCTIONThe questions posed in this paper are: a) To what level can students coming fresh out of highschool learn Flight Vehicle Design, in their first 8 weeks in college? and b) will they appreciatethe experience? The genesis of these questions, and the process of answering them, are

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Louis L. Bucciarelli

traditional single-answer problems found in the textbook.Other student design projects engage students outside the regular curriculum: One group atHoward, working with industrial sponsors, designs a solar car intended to compete in an annual, Page 3.391.1national competition. Another, under the direction of Bob Efimba in Civil Engineering, designsand builds a steel bridge; they too compete with others at the national level. Two student teams atCCNY do interdisciplinary design projects at the capstone level under the direction of facultyfrom three different engineering departments.Still other ECSEL educational renovations make “hands-on” activity

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Jay S. DeNatale; Gregg L. Fiegel

been consistently identified as one of the nation’s topstate-funded engineering programs. Its “learn by doing” motto, while cliché to some, is takenvery seriously by the students, faculty, and staff. Undergraduates are required to take numerouslaboratory classes as well as a two-quarter, capstone senior research/design project. The hands-on experience gained in these activities stimulates self-discovery and creativity while preparing Page 3.307.1students for the rigors of professional practice.Civil and Environmental Engineering DepartmentThe Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEEN) Department is housed within the College ofEngineering. The

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Richard K. Keplar; Eugene F. Smith; Vernon W. Lewis

the course.The results of the computer analyses and the set of manual calculations are included in astructural project “package” In addition, this package must include an appropriate number ofstructural sketches for the homework structure, showing foundation and framing plans,elevations, sections, and details as necessary. The student may use either CAD software ormanual drafting to produce the sketches. Frequently, the package must include an estimate ofthe cost of construction for the homework structure. Each student must turn in all of his/her workin a three-ring binder that will become part of his design portfolio.The Building Structure Design Laboratory Course (CET 455)The Building Structures Design Laboratory is the “capstone” course

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Randall L. Musselman

weekly labs for a semester-long project. In doing so, they willbecome accustomed to taking responsibility for their own education. Student commentssuggested that treating students as professionals, and expecting them to behave so, cultivatesprofessionalism.REFERENCES1. Dutson, A. J., R. H. Todd, S. P. Magleby, C. D. Sorensen, “A Review of Literature on Teaching Engineering Design Through Project-Oriented Capstone Courses,” Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 86, no. 1, 1997, pp. 17-28.2. Mourtos, N. J., “The Nuts and Bolts of Cooperative Learning in Engineering,” Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 86, no. 1, 1997, pp. 35-37.3. Howell, K. C., “Introducing Cooperative Learning into a Dynamics Lecture Class,” Journal of

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Kenneth Miller; Jeffrey Morehouse; Edward Young; David Rocheleau; Jed S. Lyons

paper describes a plan to develop aunique capstone laboratory course that provides this experience. The course, EngineeringSystems Laboratory will be based upon an integrated sequence of laboratory experiments on anautomobile and its subsystems. The automobile is chosen as the system to study because it iscompact, relatively inexpensive and in the direct realm of experience of most students. Moreimportantly, its many complex subsystems provide opportunities for the students to apply thespectrum of their mechanical engineering knowledge, including the principles of mechanics,dynamics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, and controls.INTRODUCTION An integral part of the undergraduate mechanical engineering curricula at the University ofSouth

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Melvin Neville; David Scott; Bryan Knodel; Debra Larson

strengthen and expand our students’ design EGR 286 and problem solving skills. Teaching and learning relies on hands-on, mentoring-type EGR 186 experiences and the use of ill-defined, unstructured design projects to build A Traditional Curriculum technical, managerial, professional skills, as well as problem solving competency. Figure 1. Design4Practice Program The

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Marjorie Davis; John Palmer; Helen Grady; Clayton Paul; Allen F. Grum

year begins the discipline-specificspecialization. However, the Core program continues with courses in the Structure andProperties of Materials (EGR 362), Technical Communication (TCO 341), Engineering SystemsAnalysis (EGR 386), and Manufacturing and Management (EGR 370).The Senior Year: Capstone The Senior year continues the discipline-specific specialization.One of the most important experiences of the senior year is obtained through the EngineeringDesign Exhibit, EGR 487 and 488. Here students demonstrate their ability to design realisticengineering systems to meet desired performance goals. The majority of the design projects aresuggested by and are accomplished in coordination with local industry. Student teams begin bywriting a formal

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Parviz F. Rad; David M. Woodall

also required. Given that this program is a non-thesisprogram, the capstone elements of the program include an independent project ona selected practical aspect of engineering management, and a comprehensiveexamination which will demonstrate the candidate's ability to integrate thecourse-work leading to this degree.In addition to the independent project, the curriculum requires 32 semesterhours, divided into the following categories:Engineering Management Core Courses:Engineering Management 510, Fundamentals of Engineering ManagementEngineering OrganizationTotal Quality ManagementManaging Project TeamsManaging ProjectsCommunications Page 3.252.3Managing

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

M. R. Foster; H. Öz

completed in the prior year, and, (2), the students will haveexperienced systems methodologies in that third year. Included in the capstone design will bemission analysis, preliminary design, and some detail design, using computational and graphicalsoftware, to allow the students to acquire skills that they will utilize in their careers. Studentlaboratories are included throughout the entire senior year as well, with focus on fluids,structures, controls and propulsion during differing portions of the year. Because of the year-long design sequence, there is potential for connecting some elements of a vehicle configurationto an experimental design and implementation. Indeed, our long-term goal is to transition fullyto a project-based laboratory

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

James A. Houdeshell; Robert Mott

current curriculum design calls for 66 instructional modules to be included in the associatedegree manufacturing engineering technology program. Modules average approximatelyequivalent to one quarter credit each. Seven other courses are planned to be drawn from thetraditional curriculum in such areas as humanities, social sciences, English composition, and thefundamentals of oral communication. The capstone experience completes the curriculum.The development of 17 modules took place during the first three years of the project fromJanuary, 1995 through December, 1997 along with the creation of the curriculum and thepedagogy. Of these, four were directed toward secondary level instruction while the remaining14 are at the associate degree level

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Melissa S. Goldsipe; Martha J.M. Wells; Harsha N. Mookherjee; Dennis B. George; Arthur C. Goldsipe

more thanhalf the students were engineers, some students had roles that were based on factors other thanmajor, such as work experience and course work outside their disciplines. Several chemicalengineering students were assigned the work of chemists, investigating the chemical properties ofthe creek’s contaminants. Some psychology and education majors tackled sociological issuesinvolved with this environmental problem. Each team selected its own project manager.The course was divided into two phases. During the initial phase, the mentor team providedstudents general information regarding factors to be considered when addressing environmental

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

W. Ernst Eder

for engineering design, does not consist of dumping students in at the deep end ofdesign projects (e.g. capstone courses, and competitions) and letting them sink or swim.The theory, methods, examples and practice for any particular topic should be introduced insuitable stages, coordinated with the progressive increase in difficulty and complexity of theproblems – it is definitely not advisable to present all the theory (or method, or practice) in onechunk. A useful guideline, attributed to Confucius, says:“Tell me and I will forgetShow me and I will rememberInvolve me and I will understandTake one step back and I will act.”In the usual interpretation, the first two of this set of items are often used to deny theeffectiveness of lectures and

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

W. Poppen; J. E. Seat; G. Klukken; D. Knight; A. Glore; J. Roger Parsons

ateam based design experience throughout the senior year, faculty who have taught these classeshave experienced recurring problems with teamwork4. With the goal of improving the teamworkskills within these senior design teams, a program has been developed between the College ofEngineering and the Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology Unit (CECP) of theCollege of Education. This program has involved the pairing of two groups of students. One group wascomposed of senior engineering students who were enrolled in a senior capstone design sequencein mechanical engineering. As a part of this class, these students were to meet throughout thespring semester to work in design teams on a problem provided by industry for the purposes

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Mel I. Mendelson

conducted midway through the programto mainly assess the program's flexibility and its effect on career advancement. Exit interviewswere conducted just before graduation to mainly obtain feedback on how the programcontributed to life-long learning. Focus groups were held every 4 months with the EAPMadvisory council to review the quality characteristics of our program. Industry surveys were sentout every 2 to 3 years to our industry partners who participate in the program. Projectevaluations were obtained at the end of the students' capstone project/thesis to determine studentlearning, implications of the project on the student's company and on the student's career.Student data were gathered from our graduates at various periods (e.g., 2 and 4 years

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

David G. Tomer

convince me that theyhave a workable concept, that they have done the analyses necessary to prove concept feasibility,and that their concept is the one that I should chose and why. I do not require that any equipmentbe built, as that is one of the key elements of RIT’s Capstone Design Course. In addition, timeconstraints require that I limit the scope of the project work required, so I do not require furtherdetailed analysis or design. [See also my comments in the Closure section.] On the other hand, Ido require that they address operator controls and interface, and make that a part of theirproposal.One of the real problems with requiring a project in this course is one of timing. Much of thematerial on sensors and controls is very new to the