Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 3

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Shaundra Bryant Daily, Duke University; Jessica Sperling, Duke University; Megan Gray, Duke University; Medha Gupta, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology; Amy Arnold, Duke University; Kelly Perri, Duke University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

lot aboutcommunication and collaboration. This was unexpected but definitely a good experience”).Although the summer internship occurred in an applied context, notably, smaller gains were alsoseen in these same skills in an academic setting according to survey data. This suggests that soft-skill gains in an applied setting may carry forward into the classroom.When examining data by program site, we find that self-efficacy and soft skills gains wererelatively lower (though still present) for the Silicon Valley site. In some cases, this may in partresult from a participant selection bias in Silicon Valley. For instance, Silicon Valley participantson average show greater self-efficacy at the program start relative to those from the other

Conference Session

Energy Conversion and Conservation Division Technical Session on Energy Efficiency and Power Grid Security

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert J. Kerestes, University of Pittsburgh; Zhihua Qu, University of Central Florida; Damla Turgut, University of Central Florida

Tagged Divisions

Energy Conversion and Conservation

students’ academic careers.IntroductionThere are several studies which detail the benefit of student collaboration and networking [1],[2]. However, there are not always adequate opportunities for students to network andcollaborate with other students and faculty outside of their home institution. Therefore a summerprogram was developed by the FEEDER (Foundations in Engineering Education for DistributedEnergy Resources) Consortium, in hopes to not only increase the ability for students to networkand collaborate, but to expose the students to a wide variety of technologies that they could notsee otherwise. This strengthens several of the soft skills that are very important in thedevelopment of a young engineer’s career, but are often times

Conference Session

Aerospace Division Technical Session 1

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tian Tian, University of Central Florida; Ronald F. DeMara P.E., University of Central Florida

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Aerospace

potential benefits of CBA include user-authenticated,consistent, and fair testing, while facilitating auto-grading and statistical analysis of assessmentresults. Ideally, CBA could increase the frequency and value of formative feedback withinEngineering courses, relative to conventional paper-based exams which are prevalent. However,since multiple-choice question formats are inherently restrictive, an open challenge facing CBAis how to fully assess skills within Engineering disciplines. Specific assessment needs includefree-form design approaches, abstract concepts, analytical formulas, plots/graphs, problem-solving skills, and soft skills. These require innovations for realization within the quiz deliverycapabilities of today’s Learning Management

Conference Session

Computing Technology Applications-II

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Vuk Marojevic, Virginia Tech; Antoni Gelonch-Bosch, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya; Jeffrey Reed, Virginia Tech

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Computing and Information Technology

environment (ALOE) to provide a practical learning environmentthat facilitates developing many of the needed technical and soft skills without the inherentdifficulty and cost associated with radio frequency components and regulation. We define sixlearning stages that assimilate the standardization process and identify key learning objectivesfor each. We discuss our experiences when employing the proposed methodology at BarcelonaTech in Spain, compare the approach with an equivalent class at Virginia Tech in the US andmake the following observations: (1) The complexity of standards need to be abstracted andpresented in a form suitable for a given class. (2) Educating about cellular communicationsstandards is most effective when students are immersed

Conference Session

IED Technical Session: Preparing Programs for the Future

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Houshang Darabi, University of Illinois, Chicago; Fazle Shahnawaz Muhibul Karim, University of Illinois, Chicago; Samuel Thomas Harford; Elnaz Douzali, University of Illinois, Chicago; Peter C. Nelson, University of Illinois, Chicago

Tagged Divisions

Industrial Engineering

research are available indicating the importance of integrating various skillsfrom the job market into the engineering curriculum. Chikumba, S. et al. discusses the benefit ofintegrating hard technical skills and technologies with the soft skills required by IndustrialEngineers to satisfy the marketplace [3]. The University of Florida produced a study on the“talent paradox” in which students cannot find jobs because they do not possess the skillsrequired by companies and companies cannot find the right employees because of the lack ofskills in applicants [4]. One article outlines a course for engineering students in their lastsemester. This course aims to bridge the skills gap from school to real life situations [5],[6]. TheU.S. Department of

Conference Session

Mentoring Practices and Project Teams

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Suzette R. Burckhard, South Dakota State University; Joanita M. Kant, South Dakota State University; Francis Arpan; Ross Peder Abraham, South Dakota State University; Gregory J. Michna, South Dakota State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

respondents and52 percent for the 2015-16 respondents). Some, however, reported negative impacts on theirachievements because of their work: 10 percent (2014-15) and 19 percent (2015-16), and theremainder reported no effect. Thus, while part-time employment reportedly had beneficialresults for many scholarship recipients, such decisions need to be made on a case-by-casebasis, taking balance into account as recommended by the College Board [22].5. Educational enhancement activities The purpose of the educational enhancement activities was to encourage integrationinto peer study groups, to promote socialization and soft skills, to help the participant to adaptto the university community and the surrounding community, and to promote good

Conference Session

Continuous Improvement in Engineering Leadership Development Programs

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Katy Luchini-Colbry, Michigan State University; Christopher McComb, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Julie Rojewski, Michigan State University; Astri Briliyanti, Michigan State University; Dirk Joel-Luchini Colbry, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Leadership Development

Director of the HPCC. Dr. Colbry collaborates with scientists from multiple disciplines including Engineering, Toxicology, Plant and Soil Sciences, Zoology, Mathematics, Statistics and Biology. Recent projects include research in Image Phenomics; developing a commercially-viable large scale, cloud based image pathology tool; and helping develop methods for measuring the Carbon stored inside of soil. Dr. Colbry has taught a range of courses, including; com- munication ”soft” skills, tools for computational modeling, Numerical Linear Algebra, microprocessors, artificial intelligence, scientific image analysis, compilers, exascale programing, and courses in program and algorithm analysis. c

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division Technical Session 5

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Keith J. Bowman, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Sue Rosser, California State University System, Office of the Chancellor

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

of unemployment, men eschew trainingand careers in these health professions, presumably because of their focus on service and historyof female participation.As previously described above, computing and engineering topics were not traditionally includedin elementary education. Their introduction across the past decade has been strongly tied topreparing students for careers. As is evident from Draw-a-Scientist or Draw-a-Mathematicianresearch [25-27], young people already recognized that science and math provided more than skillsand knowledge; they are very relevant to having careers. Perversely, exactly the same educationtopics that have not been emphasized to young students as important for career success havebecome the “soft skills” sought

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Technical Session 2A: Using Alternative Measurements to Look at Students and Their Success

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nick Tatar, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering; Lauren Van Beek, University of St. Thomas; Laura Ann Lilienkamp, Smith College

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

however that the students in the study were highly focused on activities thatdeveloped specific engineering skills and competencies. Students actively choose to developtheir sense of engineering identity. They spent significantly less time developing “soft skills”such as managing emotions and interpersonal relationships. Additionally, the researchers foundstatistically significant differences in the kinds of activities that men and women pursued, whichaligned with themes within the literature on gender differences between men and women.Literature ReviewResults of previous research:ABET accreditation requirements for engineering institutions include, “a recognition of the needfor, and an ability to engage in lifelong learning.” 2 In order to

Conference Session

CEED Paper Session 1: Using Co-Op and Internships to Improve Diversity, Retention, Learning, and Assessment

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy J. Garrison, York College of Pennsylvania; Wayne Blanding, York College of Pennsylvania

Tagged Divisions

Cooperative & Experiential Education

resulted in industry projects for classes,financial support for the various programs, consulting opportunities for faculty, the establishmentof a strong, vested industrial advisory council, support for guest speakers, adjunct faculty, etc.Another powerful benefit of a co-op program is that it can serve as a valuable tool for outcomesassessment. With the implementation of outcomes assessment in engineering initiated by theABET 2000 criteria, engineering programs have worked to develop effective methods foroutcomes assessment. Some of the outcomes have proven to be challenging to assess within anacademic setting, especially those that focus more on soft skills such as professionalism, ethics,lifelong learning, and teamwork.6 Since the implementation

Conference Session

Issues in Engineering Technology Education I

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Aleksandr Sergeyev, Michigan Technological University; Nasser Alaraje, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

assignment. This approach of assessing student's knowledge has been tested for severalconsecutive years and proved to be very effective in student’s comprehension of a subject taught.The other assessment tools used in the EM course are the midterm and final examinations, andstudents’ presentations. To make students better-rounded engineers, the development of thestudent soft skills is becoming an integral part of the curriculum in most universities. In most ofclasses offered in the School of Technology at Michigan Tech, students are required to researchand present a technical journal paper on topics related to the class subject followed bysubmission of a comprehensive technical written report. The student performance is gradedbased on several

Conference Session

First-year Programs Division Technical Session 12: Teaching and Advising Students in that Critical First Year

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Iryna Ashby, Purdue University; Marisa Exter, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

,such as analytical skills, are effectively acquired in college, other competencies needed fortoday’s and tomorrow’s engineers are lagging behind [10, 12].Cross-disciplinary Competencies and Self-Directed Lifelong LearningTo date, there is a strong move across many nations to include multi-disciplinary competenciesand soft skills into the engineering curriculum (e.g., [13, 14, 15]). Skills developed in humanitiesclasses help boost awareness of the need for multi-faceted requirements faced by professionals inthe real-world working on ill-structured issues or questions. However, this is only one of theaspects that would help professionals adapt and grow after college.Students enter and often leave college as dependent learners who used to rely on

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics Division Technical Session 1

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bill D Carroll P.E., University of Texas, Arlington; Bob P. Weems, University of Texas, Arlington; Bahram Khalili, University of Texas, Arlington

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

PRACTICES COURSE FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING1. AbstractThe coverage of ethics and professionalism in engineering and computer science programs hasbecome standard since ABET incorporated these and other “soft skills” as student outcomes inEngineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) and Computing Accreditation Commission(CAC) accreditation criteria. Many programs have chosen to incorporate these topics in variouscourses across the curriculum while others have developed standalone courses. The Universityof Texas at Arlington (UTA) Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) Department offersABET accredited programs in computer engineering, computer science, and softwareengineering. Initially, the department chose to cover

Conference Session

Communication as Performance

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Katherine Golder, British Columbia Institute of Technology; Darlene B. Webb, British Columbia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

engineers and engineering students – had bought intothe stereotype. And if they had, would they assume this perceived lack of social skillswould carry over to their ability to give an oral presentation? Would the audiencemembers suspect the presenters of not having as much technical knowledge or skill astheir peers if they appeared to not fit the stereotype? Would they feel the presenters wereperhaps relying on “soft” skills to hide their lack of technical skills? The authors of this Page 26.571.5paper had heard this stereotype often enough that we felt it was worth investigating.A number of responses from audience members provide

Conference Session

Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Digital Systems Education 1

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mehran Mozaffari Kermani, Rochester Institute of Technology (COE); Reza Azarderakhsh, Rochester Institute of technology

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

linkage of research and teaching in academicwork makes university education distinctive (it was beneficial for the two departments theauthors are affiliated with). Moreover, it certainly helped generating additional researchoutput/knowledge creation and strengthened pathways to postgraduate research (we are currentlyworking on two IEEE Transactions journal papers as a result of such creation). Finally, webelieve our deeply-embedded security research and teaching integration helps develop student asknowledge worker, and engages them in concept of the provisionality of existing knowledge.Deeply-embedded systems methodology, hard skill, and soft skill teaching goals were evaluatedfor graduate students working in the related research area (through

Conference Session

The Philosophy of Engineering and Technological Literacy

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Heywood, Trinity College, Dublin

Tagged Divisions

Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering

Teaching, Education, Engineering and Technological LiteracyAbstractIn 2010 James Trevelyan [1] argued on the basis of studies of the work that engineers do thatthe engineering curriculum required to pay more attention to the development of what havecome to be known as “soft skills”, as for example communication and the ability to performeffectively in teams. He noted that engineering courses that taught communication treatedcommunication “only as information transfer” when what was required was a comprehensivedevelopment of social interaction skills. He thought that this could be achieved if studentswere given the opportunity to teach in their courses because “education, like engineeringpractice, relies on special kinds of social interactions

Conference Session

Shaping the Future: Structured Mentoring for Today's Diverse Engineering Student Populations

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jessica Alyce Wilson, University of South Florida; Jonathan Elliot Gaines, University of South Florida; Deonte Cooper, Bulls-Eye

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

andEydgahi (n.d.) approach this issue as it relates to curricula, by recognizing that non-STEM fields such as Social Sciences andHumanities “emphasize more on ‘soft skills’ and ‘social service’ and as such have naturally embraced ‘service-learning’” (p. 1). As aresult, integrating academic fields with “service-learning” that emphasizes, “‘technical’ and ‘scientific’ skills such asEngineering…[is] rare”33. Another difference in the definition of service learning provided through an evaluation of Jacoby (1996), who defines servicelearning as a “form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs togetherwith structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning and

Conference Session

International Division Technical Session 4

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tony Lee Kerzmann, Robert Morris University; Casey James McAndrew; Kendra Slis; Maria Elisabeth French; Katelyn Maione P.E., Robert Morris University

Tagged Divisions

International

providing better career opportunities.There is also a connection between study abroad programs and increased soft skills in students.Soft skills are moving higher and higher on the list of things employers are looking for in anengineer. CENews published the results of a survey they conducted that supported this claimsaying that “[W]e’ve talked about [what] we need to incorporate perhaps more in the education,so that students [who graduate are] more prepared for a job, and that includes management skills,written skills, oral communication skills, ethics, technical skills, more broad-based knowledge,more emphasis on humanities.” There is evidence that study abroad experiences, particularlysemester long programs, improve soft skills such as writing

Conference Session

Assessing Literacies in Engineering Education

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christopher Leslie, New York University Tandon School of Engineering ; Lindsay Anderberg, New York University Tandon School of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

learning outcomes thatwill persist beyond the classroom into the engineering workforce.Surveys of engineering faculty, students, graduates, and employers have sought to measure theimpact of Criterion 3: Student Outcomes.2 A 2006 study showed positive improvements since theadoption of Criterion 3, which enumerates some soft skills such as problem solving, teamwork,communication, and life-long learning. Engineering faculty were more likely to engage studentsin active learning, graduates rated their ability to apply engineering skills and to understandsocial context as higher, and employers ranked these skills as important.3 It would seem that, forABET at least, the goals of a liberal education and an engineering education are not so

Conference Session

Student Empathy and Human-Centered Design

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lexie Mitchell, Colorado School of Mines; Leslie Light, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

. London: Bloomsbury Publishing (1998).[11] T. Pearce. “Building personal skills into a master of engineering degree.” Proc. GlobalCongress on Engng. Educ., Cracow, Poland, 369-372 (1998).[12] R. Cross, R. Rebele, & A. Grant. “Collaborative Overload.” Online.https://hbr.org/2016/01/collaborative-overload. Jan-Feb. 2016. [Accessed: Feb. 4, 2018].[13] J. Walther, S.E. Miller, & N.W. Sochacka. (2017). “A Model of Empathy in Engineering asa Core Skill, Practice Orientation, and Professional Way of Being.” Journal of EngineeringEducation, Vol.106(1), pp.123-148.[14] B. Penzenstadler, G. Haller, T. Schlosser., & G. Frenzel (2009). “Soft skills required: Apractical approach for empowering soft skills in the engineering world.” Proc

Conference Session

Maker Communities and Authentic Problem Solving

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steven Weiner, Arizona State University, Polytechnic campus; Micah Lande, Arizona State University; Shawn S. Jordan, Arizona State University, Polytechnic campus

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

determinespecific changes in either technical knowledge or the development of soft skills, but theseoutcomes were alluded to frequently.Makerspaces: Engineering Labs Run for Students vs. Community Hubs Run by StudentsAs noted above, university or academic Makerspaces were a prominent area of focus forEngineering Education researchers. Many articles related to these spaces were excluded based ontheir focus on operation or technical capacities. Several studies describe the teaching oftraditional engineering content—especially engineering design—but with a greater emphasis oncollaboration and entrepreneurship [31]–[33].Other articles provide evidence that Makerspaces were being conceived of as places that allowfor different kinds of knowledge production and

Conference Session

Postgraduate Pathways and Experiences

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Jacob Allen Cress, University of Dayton; Patrick W. Thomas, University of Dayton

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

communication activities informed by industryco-curricular partners. Central to contemporary pedagogical approaches such as problem-basedlearning and entrepreneurially minded learning is an aim to engage students in authenticexperiences which integrate technical knowledge with workplace skills connected toprofessionalism, communication, collaboration, and leadership. This aim, however, is oftendifficult to incorporate into the design of engineering curricula, which frequently separatetechnical learning from “soft skills” coursework in interpersonal, professional and technicalcommunication. Recognizing this persistent divide, this paper reports on a descriptive case study[8], [9] employing a backwards design approach to integrate professional

Conference Session

Curricular Advancements in ECE

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Chad Eric Davis P.E., University of Oklahoma; Paul Moses, University of Oklahoma

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

reduced, but the more important reason forimplementing groups is the benefits to the students by helping them develop teamwork andcommunication skills. These so-called soft skills are often just as important as the technicalskills and abilities gained in lab courses. Engineering students need to gain as muchexperience working on teams as possible, so they are prepared for the teaming environmentthat is prevalent in industry. When implementing groups in a course, the group selection process is a vital aspectthat people often overlook. The number of people to put in a group is the first question thatneeds to be answered. For this study, two-person groups are used because it works best forthe type of course it was implemented in. However, the

Conference Session

Collaboration and Communication in Problem-based Learning

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Mohsen M. Dorodchi, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Nasrin Dehbozorgi, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Aileen Benedict, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Erfan Al-Hossami, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Alexandria Benedict, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

class. Some possible reasons for thesecommon problems are a lack of time management skills (such as procrastination), study skills, orsoft skills. Figure 1: The various dimensions of scaffolding.We argue that one goal of active learning, especially in introductory courses, should be helpingour students develop these proper skills. We hoped that our scaffolding methods would help toaccomplish this by ultimately enhancing students’ soft skills and decreasing the occurrences oflate and missed submissions. Therefore, we decided to use this indicator as our primary metric tomeasure the improvement of our multidimensional scaffolding techniques.We have broken down our scaffolding techniques into various dimensions as shown in

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

E. Bernard White, George Mason University

skills mayinclude such things as interpersonal skills, leadership skills, communication skills, problemsolving, self-motivation and initiative, accountability, and enthusiasm.This model is in agreement with Cukier7, whose research suggests that mathematics is anindicator but not the only predictor of success in computing careers, and others who suggest thatfacility with languages is a better predictor of programming skills than mathematics intensiveprograms. It must be noted that traditionally, and even today, many who are responsible fordesigning computing curricula assume that soft skills (communication, project management,user needs assessment, etc.) are easily learned on the job. Non-traditional approaches tocurriculum design such as, for

Conference Session

Case Studies & Engineering Education Around the Globe

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adnan Zahed; Abdullah Bafail; Reda Abdulaal; Ali Al-Bahi

Tagged Divisions

International

course material to suit the College learning environment. Both courses adoptedactive/cooperative learning approach as an efficient way to address the requirements of ABETEC2000. The careful design of an active/ cooperative learning course ensures that students willacquire technical as well as non-technical or soft skills specified in the famous eleven 3a-3koutcomes. Felder et al3 discuss the instructional paradigms of cooperative learning and problem-based learning and estimate that each of them has the potential to address all eleven Criterion 3 Page 13.996.2outcomes effectively.Participation of the authors in preparing these two courses as well

Conference Session

IE and EM Program Innovation

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kam Jugdev, Athabasca University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

largest Information Systems programs in the United States. Toassess graduate project management courses as compared to the PMBOK® Guide knowledgeareas, they conducted a web-based survey of 206 institutions (53% response rate) 32. Theseauthors found that most programs emphasized hard skills, such as scope and cost, quite evenly.The courses covered work breakdown structures, estimation, and network diagrams. However,there was less emphasis on soft skills, such as human resources, communication skills, andprocurement. Soft skills topics that were not well covered included project charters and dealingwith vendors. Numerous project management textbooks focused on normative advice onplanning and managing projects 33, 34. This helped create a normative

Conference Session

Problem-based and Challenge-based Learning

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Fatin Aliah Phang, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; Khairiyah Mohd-Yusof, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; Syed Helmi Syed Hassan, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; Mimi H. Hassim, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

at the end Based on the analysis of interviews with one student from each category, factors thataffect the change of student perceptions from the beginning until the end of the semester wereextracted and summarized in Table 4. The main factors that can sustain the positive perceptionare: a) the students felt that CPBL has improved their time management b) CPBL has exposed them to the future application of knowledge they have learnt for workplace problem solving c) the students are clear of the concept definitions Page 25.557.13 d) CPBL helps to increase students’ soft skills e) the students gained deeper

Conference Session

FPD 9: First-Year Projects

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

S. Scott Moor, Indiana University Purdue University, Fort Wayne; Stephen Heindel, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne; Yanfei Liu, Indiana University Purdue University, Fort Wayne

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

student success topics).1 A well designed project can potentially contribute to severalor even all of these overall areas.Such a project in a general first-year engineering course should be engaging, contemporary andsufficiently broad so as to address multiple facets of engineering including multiple engineeringtopics and important soft-skills. The project needs to be challenging while being understood bythe typical student.An energy scavenging project that incorporates multiple facets of engineering in one project hasbeen refined over several years. The project consists of designing a mechanical system thatharnesses the power of a motor to vibrate piezoelectric buzzer creating an electrical current.2 Theoutput current is rectified and used to

Conference Session

Mentoring Graduate Students for Success

Collection

2002 Annual Conference

Authors

Steven Beyerlein; Robert Drew; Matthew Walker; Karl Rink; Dan Gerbus; Dan Cordon; Edwin Odom

on the projects in addition to courses, research and socializing. Some may think these extraefforts are not worthwhile and are not the purpose of graduate school. Instead, the focus ingraduate school should be learning about being an engineer. IEWorks provides an environment Page 7.645.3 Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2002, American Society for Engineering Educationin which these soft skills are allowed to be implemented and assessed. Research is conducted onthe various methods of practicing these skills.The benefits IEWorks has