Conference Session

Ethical Issues I: Sustainability and Environmental Ethics

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

April A. Kedrowicz, University of Utah; Maria Dawn Blevins, University of Utah

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

engineering. MechanicalEngineering, in particular, is a discipline representing great potential in terms of advancingsustainable solutions to our global environmental problems. Yet, the majority of design projectsrely on fossil fuels and old technologies that will continue to add CO2 to the atmosphere. Thus,Mechanical Engineering offers a space for increased attention to sustainability.We surveyed sophomore Mechanical Engineering students in an energy systems design class togauge their views on sustainability and its importance to engineering. This represents thepreliminary phase of a multi-year project on organizational change in the MechanicalEngineering Department. Results from this study will help us develop a targeted, integratedcurriculum

Conference Session

Methods of Teaching and Learning in Construction

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kirsten A. Davis, Boise State University

Tagged Divisions

Construction

self-regulation.MethodThis project was carried out with a group of 68 undergraduate students in a 100-levelconstruction management course entitled “Construction Materials and Methods” at Boise StateUniversity in the fall semester of 2010 (38 students) and the spring semester of 2011 (30students). This course is required for construction management (CM) majors and minors and is athree credit course with 45 hours of classroom instruction. The course introduces students toconstruction methods and materials used on building projects, with three main objectives: • Demonstrate knowledge of the methods and equipment commonly used to construct buildings including the foundation and framing systems. • Identify and discuss the technical

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Howard Smolleck; Bhargava Jayanti

Session 1795 SOME COMPUTER-BASED LEARNING TOOLS FORUNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION PROGRAMS: DEVELOPMENT, USES, AND EXPERIENCE Howard A. Smolleck Bhargava Ram Jayanti Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering New Mexico State UniversityAbstractFor several years, the first author has directed a program involving the development ofgraphical, interactive software for use by students in Engineering and Technology programs.The pilot project, sponsored primarily by two foundations, was oriented toward two-year,community-college institutions as well as four

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Jerry Sellers; Douglas Bayley

help to provide expertise and extra funding. Challengesassociated with these courses and the associated project that the students are expected tocomplete are also discussed. How are student learning objectives and real worlddeadlines balanced? How is the problem of high student turn-around handled? Thepaper will discuss various solutions the Academy has evolved to address thesechallenges. The paper concludes with current program status and recent feedback fromstudents involved in the project.I. IntroductionThe capstone of the United States Air Force Academy’s Department of AstronauticsSmall Satellite curriculum is the FalconSAT Program. One goal of the program, housedwithin the Academy’s Small Satellite Research Center, is to give

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Rick Duley; S P Maj; D Veal

Education‘high-level supertypes’ and on and on and on. — Developers create software. Academics talk of‘software best practices’ and ‘personal software processes’ — Developers are too busy to listen.Academics scoff at ‘hackers’ — Developers scoff at ‘creeping buzzwordism’. Academics saythings like “The general practice of industrial software engineers are poor by almost anymeasure. Their projects are typically late and over costs, they cannot predict when they willfinish, and the final products frequently have many defects.”1 and then bewail comments like“He was unlikely to hire any of our graduates; he was not looking for ‘engineers’; he needed afew ‘ brilliant hackers’”2 Historically, ‘..ne’er the twain shall meet’. This paper is about theneed to

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Karen Davis; Jr., James Caffery; Jr., Fred Beyette

Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Page 6.57.4 Copyright  2001, American Society for Engineering Education 3. Line-Tracking Robot Lab: requires students to write a program that allows a pre-built robot (with optical sensors) to follow a black line that traces out a circuitous route on a white surface. In this lab small groups of students compete to produce the fastest time through the path. 4. Final Design Project: requires student teams to design, build and program a robot to locate a ball (held on a ball stand), transport the ball to a basket, and place the ball in the basket

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

C. Richard Helps

EducationWithin the scope of an individual or team endeavor, all professionals should aspire to andachieve a vision of their own realm of activity. Furthermore, communication of that vision isessential for anyone pursuing a project involving more than one person. This is perhaps the mostimportant underlying reason for us to emphasize communication in ET. If professional ETs havea clear understanding of how a complex technical task needs to be completed, they need tounderstand how it fits into the overall vision of the enterprise and then be able to communicatetheir own vision of their own task to others so that it can become part of the overall effort. Forexample, an engineering technologist may be the only one who understands why a particular,very

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Gerald Heydt; George Karady; Daniel Tylavsky; Keith Holbert

for decision making and signal processing, (2) visualization and intelligentsystems for electrical power quality studies, (3) short term load forecasting using neuralnetworks and fuzzy logic, and (4) fast simulation through sparsity coding visualization. Thesemodules are being disseminated using the project initiated PowerZone website located athttp://ceaspub.eas.asu.edu/PowerZone/.1. IntroductionPower engineering education has gone through a tortuous history including a golden era of theimplementation of electrification (deemed as the top engineering feat of the twentieth century bythe National Academy of Engineering [1]), an era of computer applications and control, and mostrecently a period of restructuring / deregulation. Deregulation of

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Ardie Walser

four undergraduate students. The students weregiven a hands-on feeling for the nature of research and design through work on a project ina team and mentoring environment. The project encompasses concepts and principles fromvarious engineering disciplines (i.e. computer science, mechanical, electrical and civilengineering). The program encourages pre-college students to major in engineering at CityCollege and to consider research as a career track. During the application process Page 6.840.1candidates had to submit an application form, two letters of recommendation from a high “Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Kamyar Haghighi; Heidi A. Diefes

Valuation Synthesis Analysis Students will have the ability to:1. Brainstorm2. Initiate and maintain task-oriented dialogue X3. Set team goal(s) X4. Work for constructive conflict resolution5. Utilize effective project and time

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Kirk H. Schulz; Noel Schulz

graduate studies such as financialsupport for graduate school, selection of a research project, or taking appropriate support classesfor their chosen thesis topic. To better understand the preconceptions students have prior toentering graduate school, we surveyed seniors and graduate students in engineering at MichiganTech.II. SurveyThe authors felt we had some anecdotal information about why students do not go to graduateschool. To try to substantiate these ideas we composed a survey to measure the reasons whycurrently enrolled graduate students decided to pursue graduate degrees. The survey is given asTable 1. The survey was distributed via listservers to all the graduate students in engineering.The survey was filled out by 27 engineering

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

John W. Nicklow

syllabus provided clear instruction on format of the assignment. Theinstructions included that the paper should be approximately five pages and should include aminimum of three cited references.The objectives for assignment would be met by critically evaluating a subject closely related tohydraulic engineering design. Students were prompted to begin selection of a suitable topicimmediately and were requested to submit a paragraph describing their topic and a list of intendedreferences by the third week of a fifteen-week semester. Examples of suitable topics wereprovided, including a discussion of a particular hydraulic engineering project that uses analysisconcepts covered in class, a published application of a particular design methodology to a

Collection

2000 Annual Conference

Authors

Margarita Takach; Yiyuan J. Zhao; Reza Langari; Ray Taghavi; Mehrdad Ghasemi Nejhad; Luigi Martinelli; Linda Ann Riley; K. Krishnamurthy; Janet M. Twomey; Degang Chen; David Radcliffe

rewardedfor being team players and encouraged to develop their capability for being a leader. They need totrust each other, respect each other, and treat each other with dignity and professionalism.Unavoidably, mistakes will happen in team projects and students, therefore students need to learnto give and receive criticism professionally and constructively. To this respect, surfacing problemsearly and seeking help, rather than hiding them and hoping they will not be found, is also crucialto the successful completion of team projects on schedule. Also important in a team environmentis that students need to learn to become active listeners. Finally, as faculty, we should helpstudents form a healthy habit of always actively seeking responsibility and

Collection

2001 Annual Conference

Authors

Paul Chinowsky

universitiesfocusing on such an effort.Engineering Organizations Course OverviewThe Engineering Organizations course was the first of the two management courses introducedin the department. Originally limited to 15 graduate students in Spring 1997, the class has nowdoubled in size and is open to senior-level undergraduate and graduate students. The concept ofthe course was very clear, provide students with an understanding of the strategic managementissues related to running a design or construction organization. The course provided studentswith two primary avenues to study strategic management concepts, classroom cases and abusiness development project (See Figure 1

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Aaron A. Jennings

proprietary professional environmental software products thatcould serve well in engineering education applications. Details of modules developedforthe selected “impact” areas will be discussed in a series offollowing manuscripts.Introduction The work presented here and in the series of papers to follow grew out of an NSFsponsored project to share educational resources among members of the Gatewayconsortium of universities. The “Environmental Group” of the coalition was formed in thesummer of 1995 at a workshop held at Ohio State University, May 22-23. At thisworkshop, participants agreed to work in three focus groups on a series of projects toexplore “shared resource” opportunities built around “Case Studies”, “Databases” and“Environmental

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

James L. Hales

Page 2.177.3paper in 1995, DeWitt and Skvarenina indicate they arrived at a similar laboratory curriculumwhen developing a power distribution course at Purdue[1]. Various software packages have been used with the power systems courses, some writtenby students (as term projects or as a senior-year or capstone project) and others written andmarketed commercially. Currently we are using ETAP, a commercial package developed byOperation Technology, Inc., of Irvine, California. THE POWER SYSTEM SIMULATORPurchasing Decision After reviewing the departmental objectives and past experience, alternatives for newpower systems/rotating machines laboratories were considered. The following observationswere made: 1

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Arnold F. Johnson

students, and also to evaluate the student’s written communication skills. Provide a description of an engineering project in which you had a significant role. Relate your involvement and role with respect to the project (e.g., project leader, testing or design team member, individual or group project). This assignment was used to further support and amplify the evaluation of the student’s background experiences and communication skills. Complete the self-assessment questionnaires and document your corresponding work experience. In this assignment, the student completed a series of questionnaires and rated experience, knowledge, and/or skill on the following scale: “1” for low/none, “2” for

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

A. J. Marchese; Robert P. Hesketh; T. R. Chandrupatla; Ralph A. Dusseau; John L. Schmalzel; Kauser Jahan; C. Stewart Slater

program of study. In addition to the engineeringclinic, they share a common first year of courses. Our first class of entering freshmen consists of101 students having an average SAT score of 1274 and graduating in the top 12% of their highschool class.The Freshman Engineering Clinic has laboratory components for all of the major disciplines.Some institutions have utilized traditional discipline-specific laboratory experiments at thefreshman level (Perna, [3]), while others engage students in discipline specific freshmenengineering design projects (McConica 4). One of the NSF coalitions, ECSEL has major effortsin freshman design, which have been widely reported (e.g., Dally and Zang [5;] Regan andMindermann [6]).Rowan’s engineering program seeks

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Barry J. Farbrother

demonstrated a facility for independent learning, and shall have prepared for continued professional development* Have participated in team design experiences in which the client is distinct from the faculty supervisor(s).* have prepared at least one major individual concept-oriented technical report or paper, and one major client-oriented group project report.* have completed a general engineering science core by the beginning of the junior year, and shall have completed a discipline-specific technical core..* have demonstrated the ability to effectively communicate technical material in writing, one-on-one meetings, and group presentations.* be prepared to practice the profession of engineering using a systems perspective broad enough to

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Melissa J. Dark; Robert J. Herrick; Dennis R. Depew

support technology education. As faculty members learnnew technology, they must translate this new information into materials which can in turn beused to teach their students. These curriculum materials may come in the form of studentactivities, lectures, laboratory assignments, demonstrations, or projects. Another majorcomponent of a curriculum development activity may come in the form of a new methodology ofteaching.With these basic tenets and a vision to help students, the staff of MCATE and their partners(Elgin Community College, Triton Community College, Parkland Community College, MacombCommunity College, St. Louis Community College, Cincinnati State Technical and CommunityCollege, and Vincennes University) embarked on a journey to plan the

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Greg Hilker; Fred Jenkins; David Westine

) (b) (c) Figure 6 (a) First Controller, (b) Second Controller, (c) Third ControllerThe yaw control system was also used as a design project in a senior digital systems class. Studentswere to input the wind, yaw, and rotor speed data into their digital controller and output the controlsignals to the yaw motor. Their controllers were to be constructed by using only logic gates,comparitors, counters, and timers. They had to convert the frequency signal from the anemometerinto commands to start turning the wind machine into the wind (cut-in) or to turn the machine out ofthe wind in excessive winds (cut-out). The system also had to track the wind when the rotor was notin overspeed and to turn the machine

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Philip Doepker

which seeks industry projects. This hasresulted in increasing the number of industry sponsored projects from a few per year to over 30per year. This also provided more opportunities for written and oral presentations.The types of computers and software for basic computer instruction and CAD were debated forseveral years in an industrial advisory committee. Through collaboration with practicing Page 4.515.7engineers, the type of computer instruction was changed (C++), new software was purchased andprocured (AutoCAD and SDRC I-DEAS) and the curriculum was revised to better reflect theskills that will be required by graduates.As the result of feedback

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Charles McIntryre

instructorpresented material related to effective student learning, teamwork, and teaching styles. Eventually,the audience was in a frame of mind to accept and actually look forward to doing some of theirown $teaching.# The basic objective of this experiment was to promote effective student learningby using innovative instructional methods.II. The Theory of Cooperative TeachingThere exist several suggested methods and $theories# that describe how to approach the subject ofinvolving students in the delivery mechanisms related to presenting course material1,2. During inclass discussions concerning the group project, it was decided that we (the students and theinstructor) should develop our own system for CME 425 - Risk Management and DecisionSupport. We were

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

William B. Perry; Victor Barocas; David E. Clough

Clough, teaches programming skills using Fortran 90.The course also introduces students to Microsoft Excel, Matlab, and Mathcad. In the fallsemester of the senior year, undergraduate students are required to take Numerical Methods forProcess Simulation (CHEN 4580). In this course, taught by Victor Barocas, students areintroduced to useful methods for numerical problem solving, such as linear and nonlinearequation solvers, numerical integration, and ordinary differential equation solvers. AlthoughCHEN 4580 students are given the option to use any programming language for homeworkassignments and projects, most find the Matlab platform to be extremely useful

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

P. M. Wild; B. W. Surgenor

mechatronics at least a decade earlier than those in North America. A useful link tomechatronics at the international level is given at http://www.mechatronik..uni-linz.ac.at/international/index.en.html. This site is maintained by the University of Linz inAustria and is entitled “Mechatronics Around the World”.The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia has in place afive year combined B.Sc. and M.Eng. degree entitled “Electro-mechanical Design Engineering”.The students take all core undergraduate mechanical engineering courses, plus selected digitalelectronics and software engineering courses. The culmination of the program is two twelvemonth project courses that involve advanced machine design (MECH 551) and

Collection

1999 Annual Conference

Authors

Maurice Walworth; Kevin Schmaltz; Ajay Mahajan; David McDonald

airplane, a model train anda wind tunnel make heavy use of data-acquisition systems, programs written and developed inLabVIEW and MATLAB, and modern communication protocols such as RS485. The entireinterface is through virtual instrumentation, and the lab is also being given the capability of remoteaccess to the students. There are other indirect advantages of this approach in terms of financialeconomy and faculty professional development. This project has been funded by the NationalScience Foundation (NSF) and has resulted in the development of the Integrated SystemsEngineering Laboratory (ISEL) that houses vertically integrated laboratory exercises for twelvecourses from three different curricula.1. IntroductionMost universities have limited

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Mary Ann McCartney; Maria A. Reyes; Mary Anderson-Rowland

Opportunities and the CEAS Dean’s Office. Theprogram content and curriculum were designed to prepare underrepresented ethnic minoritystudents for success in the CEAS at ASU. The curriculum focused on engineering design,technical communications, and included a design project. Academic scholarships were awardedto all participants based on a team design project competition. The competition included thedesign of web pages, documentation in individual design notebooks, and a presentation toindustry representatives and parents.During the summer of 1996, 44 students participated and completed the program. As arecruitment tool, the program was an overwhelming success with 43 of the 44 studentscompleting the academic year (one chose not to because of the

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

Douglas G. Schmucker

ideal friction-less andrealistic truss behavior), demonstrate “sway” and “no-sway” of moment-resisting and bracedframes, etc. At last count, over 30 models have been created from SET. Page 3.413.3One model is the roof truss shown in the lower right corner of Figure 2. Although simple inconcept, many students struggle with using the concept of tributary area and projected areas todetermine equivalent loads. This roof truss model facilitated the calculations of point loads on atruss that resulted from distributed area loads such as wind, snow, and dead loads. Otherdocumented models that may be viewed on the web3 include bridge models and a dynamic

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

J. A. Isaacs

. Drivers for Environmental and Economic FocusStudents can gain a broader understanding and strengthen their comprehension of the economicand environmental consequences of materials choices by incorporating these ideas into existingtechnical courses or new technical electives. Within the Department of Mechanical, Industrialand Manufacturing Engineering (MIME), there are three undergraduate course offerings thatfocus on materials science. Current graduate materials courses provide a good foundation forgraduate students focusing on a degree in materials science. Through required and electivecourses available in the industrial engineering curriculum, students have opportunities to learnabout engineering economy, project management and other pertinent

Collection

1998 Annual Conference

Authors

W. Cully Hession; Marty D. Matlock; G. Scott Osborn; Daniel E. Storm; Ann L. Kenimer

require undergraduatepreparation in engineering, but has a very strong core curriculum.The graduate program in Ecological Engineering at the University of Maryland at CollegePark offers graduate students an “interdisciplinary approach to solving societal andenvironmental problems through the use of designed natural systems” (Department ofBiological Resources Engineering, 1998). The program is heavily weighted to restorationecology and ecosystem management, including projects in flood prevention, restoration ofdamaged ecosystems, creation of new habitats, water treatment using vegetation-basedsystems and wetlands, and use of wastes to fertilize agricultural land and natural habitats.Undergraduates from any field may enter the graduate program