Conference Session

NSF Grantees’ Poster Session

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andres L. Carrano, Auburn University; Wendy A. Dannels, Rochester Institute of Technology (NTID); Matthew M. Marshall, Rochester Institute of Technology (COE)

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

of hearing. American Annals of the Deaf, 151, 385-397.14. Sobek, D.K.. and Smalley, A. (2008). Understanding A3 thinking: A critical component of Toyota’s PDCA management system. New York: Taylor and Francis.15. Ammar, S. and Wright, R. (1999). Experiential learning activities in operations management, International Transactions in Operational Research, 6, 183–197. Page 24.786.13

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids and Heat Transfer II

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jessica W. Clark, University of Maine; John R. Thompson, University of Maine; Donald B. Mountcastle, University of Maine

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

(2):137 – 148, 2002. 4 Christian H. Kautz, Paula R. L. Heron, Michael E. Loverude, Lillian C. McDermott, and Peter S. Shaffer. Student Understanding of the Ideal Gas Law, Part I: A Macroscopic Perspective. American Journal of Physics, 73(11):1055, 2005. 5 Ronald L. Miller. Misconceptions About Rate Processes: Preliminary Evidence for the Importance of Emergent Conceptual Schemas in Thermal and Transport Sciences. In American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, 2006. 6 Christian H. Kautz and G Schmitz. Interactive Lecture Questions as a Research and Teaching Tool in Introductory Thermodynamics. In Proceedings of the 2006 SEFI Conference, number June, pages 1–9, 2006. 7 Evan B. Pollock

Conference Session

International Division Technical Session 1

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sabeen A. Altaf, Institute of International Education; Eck Doerry, Northern Arizona University; Larry J. Shuman, University of Pittsburgh; Edward Randolph Collins Jr. P.E., Clemson University

Tagged Divisions

International

above, the seven members are located in Berlin, Bremen, Cologne, Hamburg, Munich,Münster, and Osnabrück. Collectively, the UAS7 alliance members collaborate with more than1400 university partners worldwide.The UAS7 offers a wide variety of exchange opportunities for international students, includingsummer, semester, and year-long exchange opportunities. In addition, UAS7 offers graduateprograms in English for students who are seeking a degree beyond the Bachelor’s and Master’slevel.The universities of applied sciences (UAS) are relatively new. They were established in theearly 1970’s with the objective to help German industries maintain their internationalcompetitiveness. This new approach to higher education was intended to satisfy a

Conference Session

Systems Engineering Division Technical Session 4

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steven J Henderson, U.S. Military Academy; Kenneth McDonald P.E., Dept of Systems Engineering, United States Military Academy, West Point

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering

assessment of their own learning. The application functions as part of a largerarchitecture we designed to allow a teacher to monitor learning during class and gain evendeeper insights during subsequent offline analysis. A pilot study revealed our architecture wasable to successfully record and support analysis of our students’ self-reported learningassessments. Notably, the architecture serves as a useful tool for spotting trends in studentlearning that, when combined with video of a class, can be a powerful critique.References1 Bloom, Benjamin S., Engelhart, M. D., Furst, Edward J., Hill, Walker H. and Krathwohl, David R. (1956) ‘Taxonomy of educational objectives: Handbook I: Cognitive domain’. New York: David McKay, 19, p. 56.2

Conference Session

Capstone & Senior Design Projects

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph A. Morgan, Texas A&M University; Jay R. Porter, Texas A&M University; Kristina Rojdev, NASA; Daniel Carrejo, NASA; Anthony J. Colozza

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

[1] The Deep Space Habitat Project website: www.nasa.gov/exploration/technology/deep_space_habitat/[2] The Advanced Exploration Systems website: www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/aes/[3] Howe, A.S., Kennedy, K., Gill, T., et. al., “NASA Habitation Demonstration Unit (HDU) Deep Space Habitat Analong,”AIAA Space Conference, San Diego, 2013.[4] Colozza, A.J., George, P., Gambrell, R., Chapman, C., “Overview of the Habitat Demonstration Unit Power SystemIntegration and Operation at Desert RATS 2010,” NASA TM-2013-217861, 2013.[5] The X-Hab Academic Innovative Challenge website:www.nasa.gov/exploration/technology/deep_space_habitat/xhab/index.html#.UioX4sZwo1I[6] Howe, A. S., “X-Hab Challenge: Students in the Critical Path,” Global Space Exploration

Conference Session

STEM and ECE

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jose Marcio Luna, University of New Mexico; Timothy L Schroeder, University of New Mexico; Gregory L. Heileman, University of New Mexico; Chaouki T Abdallah, The University of New Mexico ; Jorge Crichigno, Northern New Mexico College; Ivan Lopez Hurtado, Northern New Mexico College; Alfredo J. Perez, Northern New Mexico College

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

. In addition, TAs were responsible for providing academic interventionsand academic coaching for their students throughout the course of the semester. At the end ofthe semester, the TAs also provided quantitative and qualitative feedback to project organizers toimprove program effectiveness.For students at UNM, an early-alert academic intervention system was piloted. This systeminvolved UNM professional staff and mostly TAs contacting students who wereunderperforming in their engineering course(s) to assist them in accessing support resources anddeveloping strategies for improvement.Academic Adviser. The Electrical Engineering Department at UNM provided the service of

Conference Session

Systems Engineering Division Technical Session 4

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eva Andrijcic, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; William D. Schindel, ICTT System Sciences; Craig G Downing, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering

., and D. V. Watkins, “Beyond Leadership,” International Journal of Business and Social Science, Vol. 3, No. 4, 2012, pp. 22-30.20. Schindel, W.D., S.N. Peffers, J.H. Hanson, J. Ahmed, and W.A. Kline, “All Innovation is Innovation of Systems: An Integrated 3-D Model of Innovation Competencies,” Presented at American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, Vancouver, Canada, 2011. Available online at: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCkQFjAA&url= http%3A%2F%2Fwww.asee.org%2Fpublic%2Fconferences%2F1%2Fpapers%2F1370%2Fdownload&ei= 88C4UtKlIOKbygH2z4GgAw&usg=AFQjCNF0gIcZcdvgiM1n_hBbCUsxkYq9RQ&bvm=bv.58187178,d. aWc

Conference Session

Thermodynamics, Fluids, and Heat Transfer I

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy J. Jacobs, Texas A&M University; Jerald A. Caton, Texas A&M University; Jeffrey E. Froyd, Texas A&M University; Kumbakonam Ramamani Rajagopal, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Journal of Engineering Education. He has served as a program co-chair for three Frontiers in Education Conferences and the general chair for the 2009 conference.Prof. Kumbakonam Ramamani Rajagopal, Texas A&M University Dr. Rajagopal is currently a Distingnished Professor and Regents Professor at Texas A&M Uniersity. He holds the Forsyth Chair in Mechanical Engineering and holds joint appointments in the departments of Mathematics, Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Chemical Engineering. He is also a Senior Researeh Scientist at the Texas Transportation Institute. Prof. Rajagopal obtained an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, a M. S. in Aerospace

Conference Session

NSF Grantees’ Poster Session

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael G. Mauk, Drexel University; Richard Chiou, Drexel University (Eng. & Eng. Tech.); M. Eric Carr, Drexel University

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

passivating coatings and encapsulation, and surface texturing, all ofwhich impose many interesting features to their images. Moreover, these effects aresensitive to operational conditions such as temperature, light intensity, electrical bias,and mechanical stress, as well as device design and materials characteristics related to Page 24.1091.4impurities, oxidation, precipitates, grain size and texture, dislocations, and many typesof defects. All of these effects vary over the area and surface(s) of the solar cell, and 3captured images of solar cells reveal, either directly or indirectly, the spatial distributionmap of

Conference Session

Curricular Issues in Computing and Information Technology Programs I

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Scott A. Kuhl, Michigan Technological University; Robert Pastel, Michigan Technological University; Ryan George, Michigan Technological University; Chad M. Meyers, Michigan Technological University; Matthew L. Freitag, Michigan Technological University; Jacob M. Lund, Michigan Technological University; Michael Paul Stefaniak

Tagged Divisions

Computing & Information Technology

Science Education, ITiCSE ’05, pages 123–127, New York, NY, USA, 2005. ACM.5 S. Kurkovsky. Can mobile game development foster student interest in computer science? In Games Innovations Conference, 2009. ICE-GIC 2009. International IEEE Consumer Electronics Society’s, pages 92–100, 2009.6 F. Dochy, Mien Segers, and Dominique Sluijsmans. The use of self-, peer and co-assessment in higher education: A review. Studies in Higher education, 24(3):331–350, 1999.7 Donald Chinn. Peer assessment in the algorithms course. In Proceedings of the 10th Annual SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE ’05, pages 69–73, New York, NY, USA, 2005. ACM.8 Philip M Sadler and Eddie Good. The impact

Conference Session

College Industry Partnerships Division Technical Session 2

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph A. Raelin, Northeastern University; Margaret B. Bailey, Rochester Institute of Technology ; Jerry Carl Hamann, University of Wyoming; Rachelle Reisberg, Northeastern University; David L. Whitman P.E., University of Wyoming; Leslie K. Pendleton, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

College Industry Partnerships

Paper ID #8648The Effect of Cooperative Education, Contextual Support, and Self-Efficacyon Male and Female Student RetentionProf. Joseph A Raelin, Northeastern University JOE RAELIN is an internationally-recognized scholar in the fields of work-based learning and leader- ship. He holds the Asa S. Knowles Chair of Practice-Oriented Education at Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business in Boston where is he also professor of management.Prof. Margaret B. Bailey, Rochester Institute of Technology (COE) Professor Margaret Bailey, Ph.D., P.E. is the Principal Investigator (PI) for the Dr. Bailey is a Professor

Conference Session

Changing the Classroom Environment in Mathematics Education

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Talbert, Grand Valley State University

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

Education, 31 (1): 30-43.2. Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals: Handbook 1, Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay.3. Pintrich, P. R. (2004). A conceptual framework for assessing motivation and self-regulated learning in college students. Educational Psychology Review, 16(4), 385–407.4. National Academy of Engineering. (2004). The engineer of 2020: Visions of engineering in the new century. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.5. [Reference redacted for blind review]6. [Reference redacted for blind review]7. Boelkins, M. (2013). Active Calculus. Electronic book available at http://faculty.gvsu.edu/boelkinm/Home/ Download.html .8. Hake, R.. (1998

Conference Session

Global Perspective and Experiential Learning in Civil Engineering

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrea L. Welker, Villanova University; Seri Park, Villanova University; Susan B. Mackey-Kallis, Villanova University

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

Conference Session

Sustainability

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Justin L. Hess, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Sarah Aileen Brownell, Rochester Institute of Technology; Alexander T. Dale, Engineers for a Sustainable World

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Multidisciplinary Engineering

., . . . Trenor, J. M. (2011). Multiple perspectives on engaging future engineers. Journal of Engineering Education, 100(1), 48-88.7. Jonassen, D. H., Strobel, J., & Lee, C. B. (2006). Everyday problem solving in engineering: Lessons for engineering educators. Journal of Engineering Education, 95(2), 139-151.8. Bowring, S., Epstein, A., & Harvey, C. (2014). Engaging First-Year Students in Team- Oriented Research: The Terrascope Learning Community Geoscience Research and Education (pp. 223-236): Springer.9. Heinricher, A., Savilonis, B., Spanagel, D., Traver, R., & Wobbe, K. (2008). Great Problems Seminars: A New First-Year Foundation at WPI. Paper presented at the ASEE Regional Meeting

Conference Session

Socio-cultural Elements of Learning through Service

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jon A. Leydens, Colorado School of Mines; Juan C. Lucena, Colorado School of Mines; Dean Nieusma, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Community Engagement Division

andcontextual listening.18 Whereas basic listening “refers to hearing or paying attention to the  verbal and nonverbal messages of any speaker” and “is framed as a dyadic process ofspeaking (output) and hearing/receiving information (input),” contextual listening is moreappropriate for community engagement contexts (p. 124).18 Contextual listening is a multidimensional, integrated understanding of the listening process wherein listening facilitates meaning making, enhances human potential, and helps foster community-supported change. In this form of listening, information such as cost, weight, technical specs, desirable functions, and timeline acquires meaning only when the context of the person(s) making the

Conference Session

WIED: Medley

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jane L. Lehr, California Polytechnic State University; Helene Finger P.E., California Polytechnic State University; Alana Christine Snelling

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

raciallyunderrepresented groups are underrepresented in institutions of higher education, overall, and inSTEM fields, in particular. For example, “Blacks, Hispanics, and other underrepresentedminorities together constitute 24% of the U.S. population, 13% of college graduates, and 10% ofthe college-degreed in S&E occupations.”7The Status of Women in Undergraduate EngineeringThe most recent national data for bachelor’s degrees awarded to women by discipline ispublished in the 2010 edition of the Profiles of Engineering and Engineering TechnologyColleges by ASEE (Figure 1). This data shows that undergraduate engineering is also impactedby patterns of territorial segregation, with high rates of bachelor’s degrees awarded to women inEnvironmental Engineering (43.1

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Experiential Learning

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kathryn Jablokow, Pennsylvania State University; Jack V. Matson, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Darrell Velegol, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

the originally registered students logged in to the course toparticipate. Specifically, 94,788 unique students (~76% of the initial enrollments) were active inthe course (i.e., logged in to participate at least once), with 13,811 students active in the lastweek (~11% of the initial enrollments). Figure 3 shows a graph of the number of “activestudents” from week to week – i.e., students who logged in and participated in the course viacore video views or downloads, quiz/exercise/project submissions, and/or discussion forumactivity. These numbers do not tell us which students were active in which week(s) or whichspecific course activities attracted their attention; clearly, not all 94,788 unique students were

Conference Session

Systems Engineering Division Technical Session 1

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Fazleena Badurdeen, University of Kentucky; Dusan Sekulic, University of Kentucky; Bob Gregory, University of Kentucky College of Engineering; Adam Brown, University of Kentucky; Hai Fu, University of Kentucky

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering

clearlyimply a need for engineers to be competent in systems thinking and teamwork/communication,to understand the issues of sustainability, and to work effectively on cross-disciplinary problems.A selected set of (mostly non-technical) KSAs identified as important by a survey conducted atthe ASEE-NSF workshop9 and which stakeholder(s) must be responsible to teach them (inpercentages) are shown in Table 1. The numbers within parentheses next to each KSA indicateits priority in the list of 36 KSAs identified through the survey. The sample data presented belowshows the critical role engineering educators have in instilling these KSAs in the futureengineering workforce.While some of the KSAs identified can be integrated into existing courses through

Conference Session

Student Beliefs, Motivation and Self Efficacy

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adam Kirn, Clemson University; Courtney June Faber, Clemson University; Lisa Benson, Clemson University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Education. 2014.[25] S Lester. “An introduction to phenomenological research”. In: Stan Lester Developments (1999), pp. 1–4. URL: http://www.psyking.net/HTMLobj-3825/Introduction\_to\ _Phenomenological\_Research-Lester.pdf.[26] Clark Moustakas. Phenomenological Research Methods. Sage Publications, 1994, p. 192.[27] Erin a. Cech and Tom J. Waidzunas. “Navigating the heteronormativity of engineering: the experiences of lesbian, gay, and bisexual students”. In: Engineering

Conference Session

Design Realization

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ari W. Epstein, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Stephen Rudolph, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Herbert H. Einstein, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Pedro M. Reis, Departments of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

–669 (2009).[2] C. Rorres, “The Turn Of The Screw: Optimal Design Of An Archimedes Screw”, Journalof Hydraulic Engineering, 126(1), 72–80 (2000).[3] M. Lyons and W. D. Lubitz, “Archimedes Screws for Microhydro Power Generation”, Proceedings of the ASME 20137th International Conference on Energy Sustainability & 11th Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology ConferenceESFuelCell2013, ES-FuelCell2013-18067, pp. 1-7, Minneapolis, MN (2013)[4] D. M. Nuernbergk and C. Rorres, “Analytical Model for Water Inflow of an Archimedes ScrewUsed in Hydropower Generation ”, Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 139(2), 213–220 (2013).[5] C. D. McNabb, C. R. Liston and S. M. Borthwick, “Passage of Juvenile Chinook Salmon and other Fish Speciesthrough

Conference Session

FPD 10: Teamwork

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Oguz Hanoglu, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Aladar Horvath, Ivy Tech Community College; Heidi A. Diefes-Dux, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Conference Session

WIED: Faculty and Gender Issues

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jenna P. Carpenter, Louisiana Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Conference Session

Methodological & Theoretical Contributions to Engineering Education 3

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christina Smith, Oregon State University; Alec Bowen, Oregon State University; Devlin Montfort, Oregon State University; Milo Koretsky, Oregon State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

, or the difference between what studentsindicated were their personal study habits compared to how they would tell a student who caresonly about understanding to study, reflecting on their epistemological beliefs. Elby found thatmost students study differently, focusing on formulas and practice problems rather than onconcepts and real-life examples, than how they would tell someone else who is trying to acquire Page 24.684.4a “deep understanding.”21(pS56) He concludes that “[s]tudents perceive ‘trying to understandphysics deeply’ to be a different activity from ‘pursuing good grades’...” as one result of studentsbelieving rote learning is

Conference Session

Student-Centered Information Literacy

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer (Cong Yan) Zhao, McGill University; Tara Mawhinney, McGill University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Libraries

Conference Session

Improving Introductory Experiences in Chemical Engineering

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Laura-Ann Shaa Ling Chin, Villanova University; Justinus Agus Budi Satrio, Villanova University; Kenneth A. Kroos, Villanova University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

visualization, performed research in computer graphics for the U. S. Army Ballistics Research Lab, and consulted for a number of companies in the Memphis and Philadelphia areas. Dr. Kroos is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and a member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). He served as Vice President of ASME in 2001 and served a three year term on the Council for Member Affairs. Dr. Kroos is the co-author a new engineering textbook on thermodynamics, titled Ther- modynamics for Engineers, published by Cengage Learning. The book becomes available in February 2014.Dr. Justinus Agus Budi Satrio, Villanova University

Conference Session

Methodological & Theoretical Contributions to Engineering Education 1

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gurlovleen K. Rathore, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

heuristic model, which“mirror[s] the structures and processes of experience” (p. 291). His purpose of seeking anunderstanding of the human experience of creating a mathematical model demonstratesoperationalization of the interpretive paradigm. Page 24.834.10Article III: Conversely, the purpose of the critical science paradigm is to critique ideologicalbeliefs or values to identify “potential for self-reflection and self-determination” for oppressedindividuals.6-7 In her article, Stanley sketches a possible scenario for a paradigmatic shift fromfemale to male control of technology to give women an opportunity to reflect on women’s role

Conference Session

Systems Engineering Division Technical Session 3

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mario Simoni, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; William D. Schindel, ICTT System Sciences; Xiaoyan Mu, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Dan Moore, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Wayne T. Padgett, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering

Conference Session

Pedagogy and Learning 1

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nancy K. Lape, Harvey Mudd College; Rachel Levy, Harvey Mudd College; Darryl H. Yong, Harvey Mudd College; Karl A. Haushalter, Harvey Mudd College; Rebecca Eddy, Cobblestone Applied Research & Evaluation, Inc.; Nancy Hankel, Cobblestone Applied Research & Evaluation, Inc.

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Conference Session

Design in Engineering Education Division Poster Session

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ala A. Qattawi, Automotive Engineering Department at Clemson University –International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR); Paul J. Venhovens, Clemson University; Johnell Brooks, Clemson University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

design brief and personas. Key elements are:  Market Analyses (Week 10). The final deliverable of this phase is a student presentation of market research, which includes analysis of the concept vehicle and those of competitors, to determine the strengths (S) and weaknesses (W). The presentation should also identify the needs, wants, and/or problems that drive the target market, in addition to determine the Opportunities (O) and Threats (T).  Project Start Brief, Personas (Week 12). Project start brief and personas are completed. Systems Integration Concepts and Methods Course (Spring Semester of First Year, Weeks 17-32). The focus of this class is benchmarking, capturing full-vehicle targets

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Programs and Curricula

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert W. Fletcher, Lawrence Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

Detroit, Michigan metro area. Also, LawrenceTech received significant research TARDEC funding in the mid-2000’s for alternative energystorage and power systems in autonomous wheeled robotics. Over the years TARDEC has hadgreat interest in robotic systems development, and continues to communicate this to LawrenceTech.By 2007, as a result of these many related robotic, automation and autonomous vehicledevelopment activities, it became clear to Lawrence Tech faculty that the research, design anddevelopment of robotic related mechanical, electrical, computer and software systems where inmany ways unique, and could not be easily grouped into the traditional and often separate sub-disciplines of mechanical, electrical, computer and software engineering