and image processing. One of thedriving forces behind DSP is the overwhelming interest in real-time processing as, for example,in high definition television, spread spectrum communications, and speech recognition systems.It is clear that DSP is instrumental in conveying the principles of many topics covered inelectrical engineering particularly with respect to modeling and simulation. The objective of this paper is to describe a multi-course sequence which employs DSP atmany levels of the undergraduate curriculum for the purpose of enabling students to visualize,test, and implement concepts introduced in the classroom. This is accomplished through thecompletion of special projects and laboratory exercises in multiple courses with the goal
Session 2364 Integrating Service-Learning in a Sophomore-level Materials, Manufacturing & Design Lab* Edmund Tsang College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Western Michigan UniversityAbstractService-learning was successfully integrated into a sophomore-level course to teach materials,manufacturing and engineering design to mechanical engineering students. The course met aprogram need for a sophomore course with substantial design content and the service-learningdesign projects carried out by the students met two needs of the K-16 community. Based on
order toaccomplish this, the following research questions were proposed: · Will drawing an object in 3-D and producing that part with a Rapid Prototyping system as part of an Industry initiated project improve student visualization skills? · Does industry and education see benefits in this type of partnership?To do this several courses and industrial projects were used and evaluated for visualization skillimprovement and perceived benefits to provide a more complete picture.NeedThe need is seen as twofold in nature. Industry needs both trained personnel and access tospecial services. Education needs to provide trained personnel and access to the latesttechnology possible. Graphics is one of the core areas and permeates most
separate capstone courses for eachdegree program (construction engineering, construction management, and civil engineering).During the Spring Semester of 1998, a single overall departmental capstone course was created.The intent was to provide a true “capstone” experience, where students in each degree programcould combine their skills to achieve the successful completion of a project. The primaryobjective of the capstone experience is to combine all aspects of the planning, design, andconstruction phases of a project into meaningful education experience which mimics “real-world”design and construction practices. Students are required to use all of the knowledge and skillsthat they have acquired throughout their educational experience to develop
longerdominated by the steel industry. Manufacturers in the region now exhibit significant diversity inmaterials, processes, and technology thereby challenging the educational system that needs to bein place to prepare the regional workforce.At a time when manufacturers cannot recruit a sufficient number of skilled workers, there is asegment of the region's workforce that is under-employed and often working in the service andretail sectors for much lower wages. The projected retirement attrition rate of 5% per year in themanufacturing sector further exacerbates this situation. This disconnect in the deployment of theregional workforce was the impetus for an effort targeting the recruitment and education of thekind of workforce demanded by the region's
Session 1339 Rate of Return – Must We Bother? Robert H. Mayer United States Naval AcademyAbstractRate of return (ROR) is a widely accepted criterion for determining the economic viability of anengineering project or other investment alternative. Similarly, incremental rate of return (IROR)is often used to choose the best alternative among several. Accordingly, most engineeringeconomy textbooks provide appreciable instruction in ROR and IROR applications, oftencovering one or two chapters of text. As a result, computation of the ROR is certainly
. This paper discusses the main reason that led to the introduction of design in this course, the process that was followed to achieve integration of design, examples of projects that were carried out by students, the benefits and disadvantages that have been identified, and the author’s assessment of the whole experience. 1. Reason for adding design into the course: Need for reform Design was added to the first course in fluid mechanics to respond to the criticisms of engineering education that were prevalent in the literature at the end of the 1980's and the beginning of the 1990's. People who wanted reform criticized engineering education. They charged that graduates of American Engineering
should be. Furthermore, it is verydifficult to get consensus from any one of these three groups. Should the focus be on usingcommercial software? On writing software? On the finite element method itself? Onunderstanding finite element results? Our course objectives are to produce students capable ofundertaking linear finite element modeling, who understand the basics of how commer cialsoftware packages work and the results they give, and what errors could be present. We describethe course content, which includes a mix between the finite element method and applicationsusing a commercial software package. Special attention is given to each of the four projects thatare assigned during a semester, with emphasis on learning objectives, project
Criteria 2000),both in Carroll’s mathematics and engineering programs. The mathematics curriculum atCarroll supports satisfaction of the ABET criteria, while at the same time, engineeringapplications enrich the study of mathematics, not only for engineering majors, but alsofor mathematics, mathematics education, science, and computer science majors.Interdisciplinary student team projects, written reports and oral presentations, and theextensive use of computing and information technologies are all part and parcel ofCarroll’s mathematics curriculum. These features support EC2000 beyond the basicrequirement for a sequence of courses to satisfy the mathematics content requirements ofthe engineering program. In particular, the mathematics curriculum
teaching a given course must apply for and receivecertification. With respect to the overall WAC requirement, the current ME curriculum hasseveral WAC-certified courses with the senior project satisfying the senior writing experiencerequirement.The College supports the writing activities by maintaining a Writing Center. This center isstaffed by student writing consultants. The student tutors are available to help writers in gettingstarted, writing drafts, and final editing -- in academic and nonacademic writing tasks. Uponrecommendation by faculty, the Writing Center hires some engineering students who can serveas consultants for technical writing.We feel it is important for students to have a broad exposure to different types of writing.Students
for selecting particular processes. Thelaboratory portion involves team projects that help students gain hands-on experience withselected manufacturing processes. The projects start with simple components that can be madeon a single machine such as a lathe or a mill, and progress to the manufacture and assembly of afully operational model engine. This approach introduces students to the issues involved inputting together a non-trivial assembly. The projects also expose students to the idea of workingin teams, a skill that is highly sought by industry.IntroductionThe high cost of setting up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility means that universitiesusually have to make difficult choices about the resources they dedicate to courses
Session 2121 K’NEXERCISE: INTRODUCING STUDENTS TO THE KEY PARTICIPANTS IN THE DESIGN-CONSTRUCTION PROCESS Allen C. Estes, Eric M. Lachance, and Stephen J. Ressler United States Military AcademyABSTRACT The design-construction process is complex and involves key players who mustcommunicate and work together for a project to be successful. The owner, architect, projectmanager, construction contractor, sub-contractors, vendors, and lawyers all have key roles,unique perspectives, individual motivations and vested (but sometimes competing) interests in agiven project. Without first
needed to envision, design, and build mechatronic devices. Thisarticle presents a model used in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the AmericanUniversity of Beirut (AUB) to educate mechanical engineers to become mechatronicsgeneralists. The various elements of the model are not necessarily new 4, but the way they are tiedis believed to be. The model also satisfies many of the educational outcomes stated in the ABETEC2000 Criterion 35.Mechatronic Education at AUBGoals and ObjectivesTraditionally, ME students receive primarily discipline specific training and have very fewopportunities to work on interdisciplinary team projects. They are trained to design mechanicalsystems for motion, strength, and other criteria, but receive little or no
, and civil engineering). During theSpring Semester of 1998, a single overall departmental capstone course was created. The intent wasto provide a true “capstone” experience, where students in each degree program could combine theirskills to achieve the successful completion of a project. The primary objective of the capstoneexperience is to combine all aspects of the planning, design, and construction phases of a project intomeaningful education experience which mimics “real-world” design and construction practices.Students are required to use all of the knowledge and skills that they have acquired throughout theireducational experience to develop the documentation required for actual project construction (designdrawings, cost estimates
summer of 2001. The objective of this program was to expose a group ofhigh school students to a variety of academic experiences designed to motivate them towardprofessions in the field of transportation. High school students soon to enter their Junior Yearwere eligible to participate on our first Summer Transportation Institute in Puerto Rico. Theactivities were very diverse and included two trips to San Juan, the capital city of Puerto Rico,each time with an overnight stay. Besides these and other day-long field trips, our instituteprovided class sessions in transportation related topics, as well as participatory working sessionsfor the students to develop their projects. The participants also learned to write technical reportsand prepare
Session 2525 TEAM BUILDING THROUGH EARLY DESIGN/BUILD OPPORTUNITIES FOR FRESHMAN ENGINEERING STUDENTS Steven C. York and Katharine Davenport Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University ABSTRACTTeamwork is crucial to the success of any large engineering project. The AccreditationBoard for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and employers have stressed theimportance of incorporating teamwork skills within the engineering curriculum. AtVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, this is being implemented using aseries of hands-on and early-design projects during
appreciation of environmental issuesby engaging them in an integrated approach to learning math, science, business, law, social, andengineering concepts. Environmental management systems are “next generation” responses toenvironmental problems that go beyond regulatory compliance by integrating interdisciplinaryscience, quality management and systems engineering practices to redress point, non-point andprocess aspects of pollution. A significant challenge of the project is to design the learningmodules so that students can better understand and experience first hand the benefits ofenvironmental management in real-world settings by interacting with students from diversedisciplines and professionals. The project team is assisted by an advisory team
modeling and computer simulation. This paperdetails a unique course experience developed in the Mechanical Engineering Program at MilwaukeeSchool of Engineering that integrates topics from a traditional modeling/numerical methods courseinto a systems-level design project. The term-long design effort incorporates a structure wherestudent design teams are led through a complex systems-level modeling exercise, and then use theirmathematical model to optimize the design of a complex system. Both the philosophy of coursedevelopment and example project applications are presented. Conclusions are presented indicatingthat both an increased understanding of theoretical aspects of modeling and an increased appreciationfor the role of modeling and simulation
framework focuses on the articulation of clearand consistent goals and objectives for learning in work-related activities. The academic coursewe created to frame this learning experience is entitled: The Management of ManufactuirngEngineering Projects. There are nine learning objectives that describe the learning. Page 7.969.4 Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright Ó 2002, American Society for Engineering Education Table 1: Objectives: Management of Manufacturing Projects O1 Prepare and maintain project
engineering.2 Writing in the humanities does notdepend heavily upon graphics. Mechanical design, in particular, requires extensive use ofgraphics, not only conventional orthographic drawings, but also sketches, solid models, graphicalrepresentations of various analyses and experiments, prototypes, and other graphical andphysical models to communicate design concepts and outcomes effectively. This paper willpresent a review of the use of graphics tools by students in a sophomore level introductorymechanical design course and senior design projects with a focus on the use of graphicalcommunication techniques and physical objects to develop and communicate design concepts.BackgroundEngineering design graphics has been taught traditionally as the
Session 3413 No Food Allowed – The Latest Virtual Reality Laboratory Accident John T. Bell and H. Scott Fogler University of Illinois Chicago / University of Michigan Ann ArborThe authors of this paper are in the middle of a multi-year project to create, distribute, andevaluate a series of virtual reality based laboratory accidents, with the dual goals of promotinglab safety and determining the optimal applicability of this medium for this purpose. This paperdescribes the current status of the project, with special emphasis on the most recently developedaccident, involving food in a
IMAGE & MARKETING OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION: A Follow-up to A National Agenda for the Future of Engineering Technician Education (Funded by National Science Foundation Grant, NSF 99 – 53) George H. Sehi, Kathy L. Franck, Surinder M. Jain Sinclair Community College 444 West Third Street, Dayton, OH 45402-1460The Engineering and Industrial Technology Division of Sinclair Community College (Dayton,Ohio) administered a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) from January 1, 1995through December 31, 1996. The grant project sponsored a workshop at Sinclair CommunityCollege held on October 26 - 28, 1995 to
Session 1330 Preliminary Findings from Coding Student Design Journals Durward K. Sobek, II Montana State UniversityAbstractSince Fall 2000, mechanical engineering students at Montana State University have been requiredto keep design journals of their senior design projects. We have now accumulated over 70journals on 21 design projects. We developed a coding scheme to code the journal data by designactivity (problem definition, idea generation, engineering analysis, and design refinement), designlevel (concept, system, detail), planning, and formal reporting. The
nation and imparted research training to them through a focused and well-supported ten-week on-site research program. The Research Experience of Undergraduates (REU) included anorientation workshop, participating faculty presentations, nine week individual research program,interaction with current graduate students, workshops on construction management, bimonthlyresearch seminars, final research presentation, and final technical report. In addition the studentsparticipated in two construction project site visits, and a panel discussion of construction industryexperts describing the current status of the industry and its research needs. Through well-designedgroup and individual research training, the participating undergraduate students were
Computer Science (ETCS). The mainobjective of this course is to help students find a successful career path early in their studies, i.e.increase retention. The course aims to provide students with sufficient computer and personaldevelopment skills and to help them develop the right mental attitude conducive for academicsuccess. Features of the course include projects of software and hardware nature, extensive use ofthe Internet and Web software tools, and a team-teaching format. As the main project of this course,small teams of students design, build, program, and test an autonomous mobile robot using LEGO®parts, sensors, and the Robotic Command eXplorer (RCX) controller. This is a multidisciplinary,project-driven learning process that encourages
Session 2525 Effectively Using Quantitative Indices of Conative Ability to Guide Teams Reid Bailey Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering University of Arizona rrbailey@u.arizona.eduABSTRACTThe success of an engineering design project is reliant upon individuals working effectively inteams. Due to this importance, quantitative indices of interpersonal behaviors are frequentlyused to form teams with a diverse set of qualities. In this paper, the focus is not on formingteams with indices but instead on the
Session 1526 Design of a Wind Tunnel Facility for Hands-on Use by Beginning Engineering Students J. Matthew Cunnington, Levi J. Westra, Steven W. Beyerlein, Ralph S. Budwig, Donald F. Elger University of Idaho Mechanical Engineering Moscow, ID 83844-0902AbstractThe best way to learn engineering is by doing engineering. To foster appropriate types ofexperiential learning, we have created a unique project called a Design for Lifetime Learning(DL2) project. This paper addresses
Session 2793 A Practice-Based Senior Design Experience Robert T. Doty, Stephen M. Williams Baylor UniversityAbstractThis paper presents an overview of a practice-based capstone design experience. Informationabout past industrial sponsorship of course projects, course structure and requirements,professional practice integration, and assessment results is provided. A primary objective of theexperience is to transition students from their classroom roles into their professional roles aspracticing engineers. Details of how the course facilitates this transition
Session 2253 A Multidisciplinary Course Sequence for First-Year Engineering Students Jay B. Brockman, Thomas E. Fuja, Stephen M. Batill University of Notre DameAbstractThe University of Notre Dame has developed a new first year engineering program, and centralto that program is a two-course sequence entitled “Introduction to Engineering Systems.” Thesecourses use a sequence of team-based, multidisciplinary projects to introduce students to theengineering profession and to assist them in developing fundamental problem-solving skillscommon to all engineering
understanding of various subject areas required by ABET has been enhanced byattendance at and/or participation in class field trips in addition to lectures and seminarspresented by practicing professional engineers. In particular, the findings suggest that bothundergraduate and graduate students believe that three areas have been greatly enhanced withthis activity. They include environmental engineering, project management/scheduling andestimating, and team work. In addition, undergraduates perceive that their understanding ofhealth and safety issues, and ethical considerations has also been increased at a high percentage.In contrast, graduate students believe that their knowledge of hydraulics/hydrology/waterresources and geotechnical engineering has