Collection

2024 South East Section Meeting

Authors

Lucas Verdan Arcanjo Schwenck; Andrea Contreras-Esquen; Richard Woods; Ayse Tekes, Kennesaw State University

practicalexperience through hands-on experiments and/or virtual labs [1-3]. One salient, but alsochallenging, ABET outcome is that an engineering graduates should be able to solve a well-definedengineering problem by combining theory and practice [4]. Improving student problem-solvingskills is a requisite to educate new engineers who can meet today’s challenges and become expertsin their field of interest [5,6]. As prior research shows, hands-on experiences and lab componentsof engineering courses provide critical learning experiences for students to better understandfundamental concepts [7-12]. However, many institutions have limited resources for laboratoryequipment, and these limitations inhibit student learning due to constraints on the use of

Collection

2024 South East Section Meeting

Authors

Matthew J. Traum, University of Florida; Tonika Jones; Jodi Angela Doher; Kurtis Gurley, University of Florida; Jeremy A. Magruder Waisome, University of Florida; Adrienne Leigh Provost, University of Florida

Tagged Topics

Diversity

STEMTank 2023, a high school summerprogram sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. SF and UF have jointly offered theaward-winning STEMTank program for four consecutive summers, providing pre-college accessexperiences for high school students from North-Central Florida’s under-resourced communities.The program’s hallmark is giving participants a taste of an engineering college experience throughunique, open-ended design / build / test projects grounded in contemporary real-world engineeringproblems that include 1) analytical modeling to guide the design process, 2) prototype performancemeasurement with redesign / retest opportunities to improve performance, and 3) presentation ofresults by student participants to panels of subject matter

Collection

2024 South East Section Meeting

Authors

Shabnam Wahed, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Andrew Katz, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

more interested inaddressing energy supply and demand. Students who have democratic political affiliation aremore interested in the rest of the eight sustainability-related career choices. Overall, among thestudents, Democrats affiliated are more interested in solving sustainability issues compared toRepublicans affiliated. As early as in their undergraduate engineering period, students' politicalaffiliations may impact their inclination towards promoting sustainability outcomes in theirprofessional pursuits, as suggested by our findings.IntroductionEngineering students should consider choosing sustainability career choices, as they present aunique chance to effect positive change in both society and the environment [1]. By pursuing acareer in

Collection

2024 South East Section Meeting

Authors

Elizabeth Zanin Flanagan, Clemson University; Kassidy Y. Maron, Clemson University; Angelina Cotto, Clemson University; Isha Vishal Raj, Clemson University; Ben S. Fields, Clemson University; Elijah Austin Wilbanks, Clemson University; Karen A High, Clemson University

joint appointments in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department as well as the Envi- ronmental Engineering and Earth Sciences department. Prior ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2024 WIP Nurturing Novice Researchers: An Exploration of Undergraduate Student Experiences in a Creativity Inquiry Research ClassIntroductionThe undergraduate experience is greatly enhanced by participating in research experience earlyand often [1]. Undergraduate research in the disciplines has been shown to be effective inrecruiting students for graduate school [2]. Undergraduate students report the usefulness of theseexperiences in teaching “real world” skills and, with proper intellectual

Collection

2024 South East Section Meeting

Authors

Ayse Tekes, Kennesaw State University; Razvan Cristian Voicu, Kennesaw State University; Coskun Tekes

EditorIntroductionThe transition into university, especially for incoming first-year students, has always been markedby a confluence of emotions, challenges, and newfound experiences 1. Many external and internalfactors have complicated this journey recently, reshaping students’ fundamental understanding andapproach to their education. The profound influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which introducedunprecedented disruptions, leading to isolation and limited access to traditional educationalenvironments, cannot be overlooked2. This isolation, while protective, inadvertently shifted thelearning paradigm for many, challenging conventional pedagogy and student interaction, furtherwidening the educational disparity among different student groups and dramatically

Collection

2024 South East Section Meeting

Authors

Shahnam Navaee, Georgia Southern University

shown inFig. 1. The developed spreadsheet computes the shear, moment, slope, and deflection values alongthe length of the beam, and produces the corresponding plots for the beam using the presentedalgebraic Eqs. (1-8). When developing a spreadsheet such as this, the students are instructed tocreate proper identifying “names” for each of the cells containing the problem parameters (e.g.,beam and loading parameters) so that formulas become easier to setup and manage. The contentof one of the created Excel formulas for computing the deflection values is shown in thespreadsheet provided in Fig. 1. Note that in this formula an “IF” function is used for the sake ofefficiency in calculating the deflection values, so that a single formula can be used

Collection

2024 South East Section Meeting

Authors

ISAAC DAMILARE DUNMOYE, University of Georgia; VINCENT OLUWASETO FAKIYESI, University of Georgia; Wayne Johnson, University of Georgia; Dominik May, University of Georgia

summittedstudy sheets with the students’ examination performance. The preliminary findings of this study reveal that none ofthe students that prepared study sheets with medium and high levels of detail achieved less than a distinction gradewhile at least one (1) student, either prepared a study sheet with low details or not preparing any scored below thedistinction grade. Hence, this study finds that the preparation and use of study sheets for examination does impactstudents’ performance. In a future study, we plan to conduct an experimental study to establish a causal relationshipbetween the study sheets and performance. The findings of this research are expected to encourage purposefulstudying habits among students, thereby contributing to their

Collection

2024 South East Section Meeting

Authors

Paul Amoruso, University of Central Florida; Ozlem O Garibay, University of Central Florida; Laurie O Campbell, University of Central Florida; Ronald F. DeMara P.E., University of Central Florida

, andincrease enrollment”, as stated in the Canvas credentials digital badges for higher education site[1]. The current market is primarily led by companies like Badgr and Accredible, prioritizingactivity-centered credentialing methods rather than the automation of assessment-based skillevaluation through an interface directed towards instructors, an approach explored and improvedupon in this paper.The Badgr framework grants instructors and course designers the ability to manage badgerequirements in the courses and review privacy protected leader boards and other features suchas learning pathways to motivate students through the course. Badgr provides a leaderboard thathelps to track individual student performance and provides a gamified view of

Collection

2024 South East Section Meeting

Authors

Kristin Kelly Frady, Clemson University; Randi Sims, Clemson University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

. Her career goals are to work as an evaluator or consultant on education- ally based research projects with an emphasis on statistical analyses and big data. ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2024 2023 ASEE Southeastern Section Conference 1 Mapping and Impact of Digital Learning Tools Designed to 2 Support Engineering Pretransfer Students 3 Abstract 4 Many websites and digital tools have emerged to support pretransfer students. However, there is 5 little understanding of the perception of availability and accessibility of these digital tools. This 6 gap is even wider for engineering transfer contexts. Since engineering

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2024 South East Section Meeting

Authors

John Aaron Louis Grimes, Mississippi State University; Amy K Barton, Mississippi State University

be less likely to rely too heavily on generative AI to completetheir assignments if instructors teach them how to use it effectively and appropriately instead ofbroadly prohibiting its use. This paper presents the results of a survey on students’ perceptions ofand experience with Generative AI/ChatGPT. Identical surveys were administered to students intwo different sections of the same junior-level writing course for engineering majors. In onesection, students were given prior instruction in the focused, ethical use of ChatGPT with aspecial emphasis on Generative AI’s professional impact. These students were then asked topractice prompt engineering using the CLEAR framework described by Lo [1]: Concise, Logical,Explicit, Adaptive, Reflective

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Diane L Peters P.E., Kettering University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

based on their high school background, so too does theirreadiness for graduate school, with multiple factors impacting this readiness. As universities ofteninvest significant resources in their admitted graduate students, they have a stake in thosestudents’ persistence and success in their graduate programs. In addition, many universities areputting significant efforts into building a diverse student body, inclusive of women andunder-represented minorities (URM). Many of these students face additional obstacles, e.g., [1].Some of the attempts to support women and URM students in STEM graduate programs focusexclusively on specific facets of their graduate school pathway, including programs that addresspreparation for graduate studies [2

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2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Wael Mokhtar, Grand Valley State University; Sumaiya Benta Nasir, Grand Valley State University

Conference Copyright © 2024, American Society for Engineering Education -1- 1. IntroductionMelt temperature, the temperature of the molten plastic before injection, generally dictatesflowability. Higher melt temperatures enhance mold filling and surface finish, but excessivetemperatures can lead to thermal degradation, reducing mechanical strength and introducingpotential defects. Injection pressure, the pressure applied to the molten plastic during injection,influences packing density. Higher injection pressures pack the plastic more densely, improvingsurface finish and reducing shrinkage, but excessive pressures can cause stress marks and flash,compromising aesthetics and potentially weakening the part. Each

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2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Craig J. Gunn, Michigan State University

its existence on common sense or atleast think about common sense when it comes to functioning in the world. The average personjust does what they think to doing at the moment. Common sense takes a back seat. With this inmind, we decided to simply get the conversation moving on how these well-thinking engineerscould help those people with whom they will be working to take a better look at how commonsense would help everyone. We could also take a small statement from Thomas Edison in regardto our young engineers, “The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first,hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.” [1]This seems to define the greatnumber of our successful engineers.During the semester of teaching a

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Erik Fredericks, Grand Valley State University

quality is in softwaretesting, or exposing software to inputs and/or situations and monitoring its response. While thereare many different strategies for performing testing at multiple levels of abstraction,1 we focus onfuzz testing with the goal of hardening a system against latent bugs and/or unexpectedconditions.8 More specifically, fuzz testing is a technique for generating a large amount of eitherrandomized or guided test case data that may not have been considered when initially validatingan application. For example, a fuzz test applied to a character controller within a video gamemight aim to simulate a large number of combinations of keyboard and mouse events (both validand invalid) and then monitor if the game's response handles those

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Joseph George, Western Michigan University; Ajay Gupta, Western Michigan University; Alvis Fong, Western Michigan University

to the proteomics domain.I. Introduction In the conventional ML project workflow, navigating through pre- and post-processingsteps such as: data cleaning, balancing, and fine-tuning ML models poses a considerablechallenge, often requiring substantial technical and domain expertise. Acknowledging thishurdle, this paper discusses novel methodologies such as Neural Architecture Search (NAS)1,Efficient Neural Architecture Search (ENAS)2, and the Google AutoML/AutoKeras4 libraries asProceedings of the 2024 ASEE North Central Section ConferenceCopyright © 2024, American Society for Engineering Education 1accessible alternatives that ease the ML development process. While these methodologies haveproven

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Chan-Jin Chung, Lawrence Technological University; Joshua E Siegel, Michigan State University; Mark Wilson, Michigan State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

workforce for skilled researchers, developers, and practitioners in theseareas, a fact that may delay necessary advances. We have created and run for two years aNational Science Foundation funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF REU)focused on solving both unmet research needs, and workforce development and pipelineprograms. In our REU, which makes use of simulation and two full-scale, street-legaldrive-by-wire electric vehicles with perception, planning, and control capabilities, our primarygoals include to (1) provide hands-on experiences to undergraduate students who otherwisemight not have research opportunities to learn fundamental theories in autonomous vehicledevelopment, (2) allow students to design algorithms to practice

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Nicole Becklinger, University of Southern Indiana

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Engineering Educa on 1Society for Engineering Education 2023 national conference in Baltimore 1. The currentdocument covers the results of the same ongoing study through Fall 2023. This study is the result of anecdotal observations made by the author during HyFlexinstruction adopted during the 2020-2021 school year to accommodate absences due to illnessand quarantine during COVID-19 pandemic. The HyFlex format adopted involved simultaneousin-person and synchronous online instruction via Zoom, with recordings of lectures uploadedafter class. Students were instructed that synchronous attendance in either format was preferredand the videos were meant to accommodate students who could not make it to class. During thistime, it was

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Benjamin Lubina, Gannon University; Ramakrishnan Sundaram, Gannon University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

ofpower, connectivity, and efficiency [6]. An example of this device can be seen below in Figure 1. Figure 1: ESP32 Wi-Fi module Because it is a is a low-cost, low-power system on a chip (SOC), it makes an idealcandidate for the nodes of a wireless sensor network for radio frequency mapping of space. The exploration of Wi-Fi imaging and material sensing is a rapidly evolving domain,leveraging the ubiquity of Wi-Fi infrastructure and advancements in signal processing andmicrocontroller technology. This field stands at the intersection of wireless communication,computational algorithms, and practical applications applicable to diverse areas such as security,healthcare, and navigation. Not only this but

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Andrew James Goodling, Grand Valley State University; Erik Fredericks, Grand Valley State University; Sara Jo Alsum-Wassenaar, Grand Valley State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Copyright © 2024, American Society for Engineering Education 1Students can select multiple pen tips and colors and create stamps to record their journey andprovide a setting for creative outputs. The aim of using the Walk and Draw application is toenable student creativity, support exposure to their surroundings, and preserve artistic outputs forpublic exposition. Walk and Draw has been deployed to approximately 50 K–12 students andcommunity members thus far and has received positive feedback.1. IntroductionScience and computers play a vital role in the development and creativity of adolescents in ourworld today.2 Tools are therefore required to support

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Aja Rachel Bettencourt-Mccarthy, University of Cincinnati; Matthew Sleep, University of Cincinnati

additional benefits whenprojects involve working directly with an external client or sponsor [1]. Student projects thatinclude working with an external or sponsor have been shown to increase enthusiasm [2], [3], [4]for technical projects as well to improve student communication skills [5]. In addition, workingwith a third-party pushes students to think creatively and empathetically about meeting customerrequirements – something that may be unfamiliar for students more used to applying theirtechnical knowledge to well-defined problems [3], [6], [7].Despite the recognized value of external project sponsors, instructors face various constraintswhen trying to implement these projects in their courses. Time is often highlighted as a barrier

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Elizabeth Ann Thompson, Purdue University Fort Wayne

theoretical and simulation values and themeasured values obtained in laboratory provide a strong argument that for educational institutionswhere the cost of such equipment is prohibitive, the combination of theory and simulation yield avery effective alternative. In this work, the specifics of this course are explained in detail.1 IntroductionPower electronics involves the study of converting electrical power from one form to another, forexample, AC to DC or DC to AC. Applications of power electronics are wide-ranging,encompassing high power DC transmission as well as the powering of everyday appliances. Theintroduction within the last 40 years of efficient power supplies based on power electronicsprinciples has revolutionized the power industry

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Seyed Mohammad Seyed Ardakani, Ohio Northern University; Josh Wiseman, Ohio Northern University

, concrete structures, and computational modeling of structures.Josh Wiseman, Ohio Northern University ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2024 A Hands-On Activity on Equilibrium of Rigid Bodies in Statics S. M. Seyed Ardakani1 and Joshua Wiseman2 1: Kokosing Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 2: Dr. Carl D. Clay and H. Jane Clay Department of Mechanical Engineering Ohio Northern University Ada, OH 45810 Email: s-seyedardakani@onu.edu; j-wiseman@onu.eduAbstractOne of the most important, yet challenging topics for engineering students in

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Andrew Steven Messecar, Western Michigan University; STEVEN DURBIN; Robert Makin, Western Michigan University

predictions yield experiment design rules which can be used to informfuture ZnO PAMBE growth trials. This analysis offers a valuable perspective on the mechanismsthat are active during the PAMBE synthesis of ZnO and other related oxide compounds.1. Introduction The ability for machine learning techniques to accurately determine the underlyingrelationships between predictors and responses makes their application one of the top emergingstrategies for studying a broad variety of complex systems. One field in which machine learninghas begun to provide actionable insights is in the optimization of thin film material synthesisexperiments. Recent studies have demonstrated enhanced material synthesis resulting from Proceedings of

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Zachary Owen Dickinson, Gannon University; Hannah Paige Jacobs, Gannon University; Sara Jones, Gannon University; Damien Thiên Ân Chu, Gannon University; Hunter Dawson Yaple, Gannon University; Andrew Donald Snowdy; Zoey McClain, Gannon University; Nicholas B Conklin, Gannon University; Wookwon Lee, Gannon University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Ballooning Project (NEBP)[1] and in Oct. 2023, participated in anationwide balloon flight campaign during the annular solar eclipse. At the time of NEBP team selection, our ballooning framework consisted of several balloonpayloads and ground stations. On the balloon side, our payloads were for multiple Pi cam-basedvideo streaming[2], 900 MHz RF-based balloon tracking, 144 MHz APRS-based balloon tracking,1.6 GHz Iridium-based balloon tracking, 2 GHz cellphone-based balloon tracking[3], and 2.8/5.8GHz microwave downlinks for real-time video transmission. On the ground side, our equipmentincluded a fixed ground station for receiving video streams and other sensor data and two mobilestations for tracking and recovery of the balloon payloads. For the

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Eric McKanna, Ohio Northern University; Firas Hassan, Ohio Northern University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Conference 1 Copyright © 2024, American Society for Engineering Educationwith ideas, test implementations, and customize the hands-on experience I find necessary to learnnew material. Not only that, but I was enjoying myself! After taking Computer Architecture,I approached my professor about exploring incorporating the game into the coursework at myuniversity as a means to assist struggling students through alternative learning methods. This paperis a formalized version of the proposal that I made to my professor.In addition to developing unique projects for students, this paper suggests an innovative approachto easing the transition between digital logic and computer architecture. We propose taskingstudents with

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Michael Patrick Hayes, Michigan State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

featuringthese two phases and the liquid-vapor dome between them was generated for use with more in-depth concepts. Water was chosen as the substance from which to obtain the thermodynamicproperties necessary to construct the surface as a result of its ubiquity in both instruction andreal-world applications. The generated surface is shown in Figure 1. The MATLAB X Steamfunction21 was used to map combinations of pressure (P), specific volume (v), and temperature(T) for water across the intervals of 200 K to 400 K and 15.55 bar to 215.53 bar. The specificvolume axis is represented by a logarithmic scale, and each axis is further scaled independentlyto generate a surface that fits within a roughly cube-shaped volume. An STL mesh file wasgenerated based on

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Anne M Lucietto, Purdue University at West Lafayette (PPI); Diane L Peters P.E., Kettering University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

corporateexperiences.Participants of a Facebook social networking community named 'Engineering Working Moms'commonly refer to it as their 'exclusive group,' a space to connect with like-mindedprofessionals, among other expressions indicating solidarity with peers in a STEM-drivenenvironment facing similar challenges related to gender biases. As of this and one other study4,the Facebook group boasted a total membership of 4437, with predominant representation fromthe United States (92.4%), followed by Canada (2.2%), and Australia (<1%). The camaraderieand encouragement within this community are distinctive and empower numerous members tosustain their engineering careers. Many individuals attribute their continued presence in theengineering community to the support found

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Nathan Maenle, Ohio Northern University; David R Mikesell P.E., Ohio Northern University

upgrade.Background: Original machine upgradeThe original equipment may never have been designed for the type of high-volume use which itexperienced in these restaurants. Designed in the era before electronic controls, both the pattymaker (Figure 1) and stacking machine (Figure 2) were controlled by mechanical limit switches, Proceedings of the 2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference Copyright © 2024, American Society for Engineering Education 1cams, and solenoids. The trigger/release mechanism of the patty machine, on the right in Figure1, controlled AC current to the solenoid (#42) which pulls down the knife blade

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Matthew R Marsteller, Carnegie Mellon University; Haoyong Lan, Carnegie Mellon University

materials for a design, labels on items or cartons, or searching astandards supplier database. Attendees will work on the problem of finding related standards to agiven engineering scenario. Scenario possibilities include 1) standards information needs for asmall business for innovative piezoelectric products, 2) locating standards related to tissueengineering, and 3) standards need to be gathered for a university research group that exploresmicrogrids. Scenarios have the possibility of appearing contrived unless academic librariansreach out to engineering professors for possibilities that could be explored for engineering designcourses and capstone project courses.IntroductionAt Carnegie Mellon University, information literacy efforts are

Collection

2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Authors

Elin Jensen, Lawrence Technological University

developedto introduce students to systems thinking, social responsibilities and sustainability in a first-yeararchitectural and civil engineering project. The educational strategy is designed in the convergentspace of the Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM)1 and Engineering for One Planet (EOP) Framework2.EM emphasizes the development of habits and characteristics that allow students to discernunique opportunities in the creation of valuable and impactful engineering solutions. The EOPFramework seeks to integrate the fundamental skills and principles of social and environmentalsustainability in engineering curricula. These mindset models encourage students to questionwhy (abstract mindset) a certain approach is taken and not only focus on the how