Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Kanchan Sharma; Isaac G. Macwan; Linfeng Zhang; Lawrence Hmurcik; Xingguo Xiong

Design Optimization of MEMS Comb Accelerometer Kanchan Sharma, Isaac G. Macwan, Linfeng Zhang, Lawrence Hmurcik, Xingguo Xiong Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT 06604 AbstractMEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems) refers to the technology integrating electrical and mechanicalcomponents with feature size of 1~1000 microns. MEMS comb accelerometers have been successfullyapplied for air-bag deployment systems in automobiles. In this paper, the design optimization of a poly-silicon surface-micromachined MEMS comb accelerometer is discussed. The device uses folded-beamstructure to

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Shih-Liang Wang

insufficient figures to illustrate these rules. This paperwill discuss the author’s attempt to address this problem.Force on a spur gearWhen two spur gears are meshed shown in Fig. 1, and the left one is the driver, the contact pointmoves along a line as the gears rotate, as shown in Fig. 2. The line of action is sometimes calledthe pressure line. The force pushing the driven gear is shown in Fig. 3, and will always be alongthis line of action. The type of force is bearing (pushing) force, applying pressure to the matingtooth. From the principal of force transmissibility in statics, we know that any point along theline of action will still create the same torque about the gear. Therefore, we can use a fixedcontact point (pitch point) to simplify the

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Richard B. Mindek

,timing and process and machine control and coordination. Groover [1] defines a PLC as: “Amicrocomputer-based controller that uses stored instructions in programmable memory to implementlogic, sequencing, timing, counting, and arithmetic functions, using digital and analog input/output (I/O)modules, for controlling machines and processes.” Although PLC’s are used in the process industries(e.g., processing mined materials and oil refineries), they are more commonly found in discretemanufacturing industries, such as in machine control, transfer lines, and material handling equipment.First conceived in 1968 by Richard Morley, the PLC was originally developed as a device to overcomethe inflexibility and high cost of hard-wired controllers made of

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Ha Van Vo; Stephanie Rossman; Zsaquez Flucker; R. Radharamanan

with a constant body load of 1,000 lbs acting in the sockets. Aluminum is selected for the materialproperty of the pylon and the socket. Results showed that the Von Mises stress to anterior aspect of theimmobile ankle prosthesis was 1,567 psi compared to 131 psi for the mobile ankle prosthesis; themaximum shear stress acting on the immobile ankle prosthesis anteriorly was 905 psi verses 52 psi inmobile ankle prosthesis. The results also showed large amounts of reduction in stresses in lateral, medial,and posterior aspect of the mobile ankle prosthesis.1. IntroductionWith advancement in gait analysis equipment, students at Mercer University School of Engineering(MUSE) have been using biomechanics lab to learn and conduct research studies

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Hudson V. Jackson; Evelyn A. Ellis

Early and Continuous Exposure to Engineering as a Profession: Career Imprinting in Grades PK-12 Hudson V. Jackson, PhD, P.E and Evelyn A. Ellis, Ed.D United States Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connecticut, U.S.A.AbstractIn recent years, there has been much discussion about declining interest in engineering programsthroughout U.S. colleges and universities. Several possible causes for the decline have been identified andare fodder for debate: (1) PK-12 educational systems are not adequately preparing students tocomprehend the connections among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) andfuture career opportunities and (2) College engineering curricula need to be more

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

B.M. Wright; C.W. Swan; D.M. Matson

in the highlands of northern Ecuador with student teams responsible forevaluating local conditions, providing education to local stakeholders, and assessing the impact of theproject on both the community and the team members involved in the project. Communication of surveyresults helped the village to identify municipal project priorities that would unify the community. Thissocial process, initiated by the student visit, resulted in successful attainment of a grant to construct awater filtration facility for the community based on the water quality sampling test results and on a pilot-scale technology demonstration of slow sand filtration.IntroductionThe Tufts University chapter of Engineers-Without-Borders (EWB)1-3 was founded with two

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Abdelrahman Elleithy; Alaa Abuzaghleh; Abdelshakour Abuzneid

researchchallenge that has been approached in recent publications. In this paper we are discussing securitychanges of Wi-Max and suggesting a new authentication protocol.1. IntroductionThe next generation of the IEEE802.16/WiMAX will be the most important component of the wirelesssystem. The standard version of IEEE 802.16/WiMAX employed advanced radio transmission technologyfor example OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing), adaptive modulation and coding, andEFC (adaptive forward error correction). The main purpose of using IEEE802.16/WiMAX is to providewell defined quality-of-service broadband wireless capabilities.IEEE 802.16/WiMAX technology needs a high rate transmission (about tens of Mbps), and strict quality-of-service for both indoor

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Elif Kongar; Tarek Sobh

technique that has the ability tohandle conflicting objectives in both preemptive and weighted manners. In this paper, we present apreemptive goal programming model for the School of Engineering at the University of Bridgeport. Dataand case studies are provided along with a list of objectives for the Engineering School.Keywords: School of Engineering, Enrollment, Sustainability, Quality of Education, Preemptive GoalProgramming, Multiple Criteria Optimization.1. IntroductionToday, ever-decreasing budgets and dynamic variations in the number of both faculty and student bodiesare two major challenges that most U.S. universities deal with. In addition to the effort to solve theseproblems, every higher education institution also concentrates on ensuring

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Auf Akhtar; Syed S. Rizvi; Khaled M. Elleithy

1 A Novel Approach of Using Data Guard for Disaster Recovery & Rolling Upgrades Auf Akhtar, Syed S. Rizvi, and Khaled M. Elleithy {sakhtar ,srizvi, elleithy}@bridgeport.edu Computer Science and Engineering Department University of Bridgeport Bridgeport, CT 06601Abstract Though we already had a standardized way (from Oracle) for Disaster Recovery policy, a major crash ofthe PLM database made our DBAs to come up with a proposal to execute a procedure using

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Vicki V. May

thechanges in quality affected by the group process.IntroductionHow often do we as faculty members complain about the textbook? Not to mention thecomplaints we get from our students. Yet, the first thing we often do when planning a courseis select a textbook. And often one of the first things we are asked about our course is “whattextbook are you using?” Selecting and relying on a single textbook tends to be teacher-centered and content-driven, whereas a learner-centered, outcome-driven approach tocourse design is generally recommended6 and results in more learning2. A more learner-centered, outcome-driven approach is easier today given the availability of digital resourcesand collaborative tools. Page 1 of 10Using

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Ashraf Ghaly; Megan Ferry

inundationof areas with cultural or historical significance. This, unfortunately, is a non-reversible effect that erasesfrom the face of the earth monuments and places associated with events that are culturally important.It is worth noting that dams are not built only for the sake of building them. The thought of building adam originates as a result of a need. Those who get themselves into promoting dam building know, -1- American Society for Engineering Education ASEE Zone I Conference, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY, March 28-29, 2008probably more than others, the negative impact of dams. They also know that dam building is a

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Jennifer Zirnheld; Adam Halstead

communication skills, and to establish peernetworks that the students can utilize through their engineering educational careers. This course has anaverage enrollment of approximately 400 students each year. Of these, a fair portion each year aregeneral engineering majors without a declared discipline (approximately 20% the last time the course was 1  offered). Many of the rest end up changing their minds about which discipline to pursue during the firstyear or two of college. Engineering Solutions seeks to ease the decision-making process by introducingthe students to the various fields of engineering in an unbiased fashion. For the past several years, thishas been accomplished through the use of

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Robert M. Brooks; Soumitra Basu; Shriram Pillapakkam; Kurosh Darvish; Keerthi V. Takkalapelli

conferences.IntroductionThe weakness of the traditional lecture is well established by the regular calls from the academicworld to improve the standard of teaching (1-3). The lecture method of teaching must be replacedby providing more empowerment to students in various categories of learning such as design,discovery, innovation, and creativity (4,5).The objective of this paper is to describe the effect of various types of student empowermentprojects on student performance in a civil engineering course.MethodologyA course, CE 342: Transportation Engineering repeated over four years was considered. In theyear 2000, the course was taught in the traditional lecture format for nineteen students. Theaverage grade for this student population was sixty nine out of one

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Gregory S. Parnell; Michael J. Kwinn

Engineering at West Point was established in 1989 as an outgrowth of theformer Department of Engineering (now the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering.)Brigadier General (Retired) James L. Kays was the first head of the newly formed department and had theresponsibility for not only developing the academic programs under the department but also most of thecourses. The department was designed with four overarching objectives that have endured through threedepartment heads [1]: focus on cadet education; foster faculty growth and development; remain linked tothe industry we serve - the Army; and integrate state-of-the-art computer and information technology intothe education process.The Department established the Systems Engineering major after

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Abdelrahman M. Rabie; Rahman Haleem

1 A Model for a Bi-lingual Curriculum Abdelrahman M Rabie, Associate Professor, ISAT Department, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA Rahman Haleem Assistant Professor and Director, Institute for Technological Innovations (ITI), Zayed University, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesAbstractThere has been an increasing demand for multilingual professionals, in various fields includingengineering, which in turn which in turn lead to the increased demand and

Collection

2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

David Evanko; Arend Dorsett; Chiu Choi

applications of feedback control techniques.1. IntroductionThe ball-on-beam balance system is a classic example of feedback control systems. The problem is tomaintain the position of a ball at the center of a beam on which the ball rolls along freely. The ball willreturn to the center position after it has been displaced from this location. This system is an effectiveeducational tool for teaching feedback control principles. Some of these systems are commerciallyavailable[1,2,3].The set-up of our ball-on-beam system is shown in Fig. 1. The beam is a 55” long, grooved aluminumbeam that a regular rubber ball can roll along freely. The beam is mounted at the center to a servo motor,which can tilt the beam in clockwise and counter-clockwise directions

Collection

2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

David A. Gray

Accelerating Engagement of First-Year Students in Academics: Use of Ideas from Quality Literature David A Gray Messiah College Grantham, Pennsylvania Abstract: This paper discusses three ideas that stem from concepts in the literature of Quality that combine to promote a more rapid transition of first year engineering students from the high school environment to the academic environment of college. These three ideas are: 1) The student is the primary employee in the academic process, 2) Grade distribution interpreted in the

Collection

2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Harry Knickle; Don Gray

analogsignal. Digital control is the simpler of the two control methods since only an on/offsignal need to be received by the device. For a solenoid valve a 5 volt signal might turnthe valve on while a zero volt signal would turn the valve off. An electrical heater isanother example of a device that can work with either digital or analog control. Theheater can either be on or off, digital control, or we can vary the current to the heater,proportional control. To send these signal we simply need an electrical switch. A simpleelectrical switch available commercially is called solid state relays. Other electricalswitches are available.The students also master the following skill list:1. CONNECT A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT TO A MICROCOMPUTER2. CONNECT THE

Collection

2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Abdelrahman M. Rabie; Rahman Haleem

1 A Model for a Bi-lingual Curriculum Abdelrahman M Rabie, Associate Professor, ISAT Department, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA Rahman Haleem Assistant Professor and Director, Institute for Technological Innovations (ITI), Zayed University, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesAbstractThere has been an increasing demand for multilingual professionals, in various fields includingengineering, which in turn which in turn lead to the increased demand and

Collection

2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Abdelrahman Elleithy; Alaa Abuzaghleh; Abdelshakour Abuzneid

researchchallenge that has been approached in recent publications. In this paper we are discussing securitychanges of Wi-Max and suggesting a new authentication protocol.1. IntroductionThe next generation of the IEEE802.16/WiMAX will be the most important component of the wirelesssystem. The standard version of IEEE 802.16/WiMAX employed advanced radio transmission technologyfor example OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing), adaptive modulation and coding, andEFC (adaptive forward error correction). The main purpose of using IEEE802.16/WiMAX is to providewell defined quality-of-service broadband wireless capabilities.IEEE 802.16/WiMAX technology needs a high rate transmission (about tens of Mbps), and strict quality-of-service for both indoor

Collection

2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Christopher W. Swan; Julia Carroll

globalization and sustainable design anddevelopment. The course format consisted of three, 50-minute class meetings per week for the13-week semester (39 total class meetings). Class meeting times were used for lectures,workshops, and term project presentations. The first offering of the course was to a class of 16engineering seniors. COURSE TOPICS Course topics and the number of lectures, assignments, workshops, and in-class exercisesdedicated to them are presented in Table 1. Most topics involved traditional, stand-uppresentations. Often these presentations included in-class exercises that forced students toconsider and respond to the subject matter instantaneously. At other times, take-home mini-assignments were used to reinforce lecture

Collection

2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Eileen M. Kowalski; Joe D. Manous

investigation of cognitive learning within the engineering profession is rather new, it hasbeen accepted by other fields of education with the most notable being the study of medicine. Untilrecently, the four-year medical school experience centered around lecture and laboratory work, somewhatsimilar to engineering education, with clinical work occurring primarily during the fourth year. Todaymany medical schools include clinical experience early in the medical school experience because studentshave demonstrated a better grasp of material when they are concurrently studying in “traditional” coursesand experience greater cognitive learning through the combination of clinical (problem-based learning)and lecture activities.1 A similar inclusion of

Collection

2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Ha Van Vo; Stephanie Rossman; Zsaquez Flucker; R. Radharamanan

with a constant body load of 1,000 lbs acting in the sockets. Aluminum is selected for the materialproperty of the pylon and the socket. Results showed that the Von Mises stress to anterior aspect of theimmobile ankle prosthesis was 1,567 psi compared to 131 psi for the mobile ankle prosthesis; themaximum shear stress acting on the immobile ankle prosthesis anteriorly was 905 psi verses 52 psi inmobile ankle prosthesis. The results also showed large amounts of reduction in stresses in lateral, medial,and posterior aspect of the mobile ankle prosthesis.1. IntroductionWith advancement in gait analysis equipment, students at Mercer University School of Engineering(MUSE) have been using biomechanics lab to learn and conduct research studies

Collection

2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

R. Radharamanan; Ha Van Vo

computerizedtomography (CT) to generate 3D modeling and simulation of the ankle complex using finite elementmodeling (ANSYS 8.1) for determining the optimal meniscus thickness. Typical lab modules developedand taught in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Programs include: 1. The CAD/CAM module:involves designing a spline with 6, 8, or 12 grooves using AutoCAD or Pro-Engineer, making the splineon a CNC machining center using the rotary axis (XZ-plane), measuring certain dimensions of the partmade, and making an error analysis; 2. The robot module: involves the use of a programmable five-axisrobot (CRS A255) for a Kool-Aid mixing application consisting of designing and building a fixture tohold a cup for Kool-Aid mix, cup for sugar, bottle of water, a

Collection

2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Elif Kongar; Tarek Sobh

technique that has the ability tohandle conflicting objectives in both preemptive and weighted manners. In this paper, we present apreemptive goal programming model for the School of Engineering at the University of Bridgeport. Dataand case studies are provided along with a list of objectives for the Engineering School.Keywords: School of Engineering, Enrollment, Sustainability, Quality of Education, Preemptive GoalProgramming, Multiple Criteria Optimization.1. IntroductionToday, ever-decreasing budgets and dynamic variations in the number of both faculty and student bodiesare two major challenges that most U.S. universities deal with. In addition to the effort to solve theseproblems, every higher education institution also concentrates on ensuring

Collection

2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Roy T.R. McGrann

processes whose form and function achieve clients’ objectivesor users’ needs while satisfying a specified set of constraints.” 1 Computer-aided engineering (CAE)software packages such as Pro/Engineer (Pro/E) 2 are among the modern engineering tools available toassist engineers to generate and evaluate their designs.In this paper, we begin in the Introduction with a description of the mechanical engineering curriculumat Binghamton University. The process that we have developed in the department for continuousimprovement (Departmental Course Review Process and ABET Accreditation) will be presented next.Following this will be a description of the CAE course and how it fits into the overall departmentalreview process.In the second section, the

Collection

2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Aaron S. Bradshaw; Gary N. McCloskey; Franklin Miguel

wealthier citizens reside adjacent to others living in extreme poverty. Many of thepoor neighborhoods originated from the occupation of land without permission (i.e. squatters). Theseland invaders or “Invasores” as they are called in the local community staked their claims by buildingsmall shacks on parcels of land. These dilapidated houses were built quite literally using any materialsthat the people could get their hands on. Over time these communities grew as the walls of one housebecame the walls of the next. One of these neighborhoods, called Luz Consuelo, is shown in the satellitephotograph in Figure 1. Notable is the poor condition of the houses as compared to the wealthiersurrounding neighborhoods. Figure 2 shows some of the materials that

Collection

2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

M.G. Guvench

minimum specifications and are required to apply thelearning they had into the design of a NMOS-input Operational Amplifier that can be implemented in an N-well CMOS process. The specifications include open loop gain, gain-bandwidth product, phase margin,common-mode rejection range, slew rate and output swing on a specified load including capacitive loading.The requirements are (1) to create a Mathematica file of their design calculations, (2) verify the design withappropriate SPICE simulations, (3) create a layout design that passes all design rules, and (4) write a reportand do a Powerpoint presentation to the class at the end. Projects that pass the design specifications andlayout rules can be sent out to be fabricated. However, typical turn

Collection

2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Saikat Ray

Russian students possess great background inmathematics whereas students from Latin America are very good with traditional electrical engineeringtopics such as power engineering. Many of them, e.g., the students from different Indian Institute ofTechnologies (IITs) or Tsinghua University, come with outstanding undergraduate training. However, theM.S. student population in teaching oriented schools seems to show some common characteristics. Wedescribe below these observations and anecdotal reasons that perhaps explain the observations. Note that,these observations should not be construed as negative comments in any way, but merely as whatthe author has experienced. 1. Motivation: Most students join M.S. program in order to get a job in the

Collection

2008 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Richard B. Mindek

,timing and process and machine control and coordination. Groover [1] defines a PLC as: “Amicrocomputer-based controller that uses stored instructions in programmable memory to implementlogic, sequencing, timing, counting, and arithmetic functions, using digital and analog input/output (I/O)modules, for controlling machines and processes.” Although PLC’s are used in the process industries(e.g., processing mined materials and oil refineries), they are more commonly found in discretemanufacturing industries, such as in machine control, transfer lines, and material handling equipment.First conceived in 1968 by Richard Morley, the PLC was originally developed as a device to overcomethe inflexibility and high cost of hard-wired controllers made of