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2008 GSW

Authors

David J. Kukulka; James Mayrose

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2008 GSW

Authors

Mohammed E. Haque; Pallab Dasgupta

Session XXXX 9-1 Architectural/Engineering Visualization using Game Engine Mohammed E. Haque, Pallab Dasgupta Construction Science Department Texas A&M University AbstractInnovations and advancements in animation and visualization technology have greatly enhanced thegraphical interface between computers and humans. Today’s 3D game engines offer an ultra-realistic virtual world with high speed rendering

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2008 GSW

Authors

Edward Crowley

Session 9-2 Information Security Lab Development with Free and Open Source Software: Applied Cryptology and Secure Communications Edward Crowley Information and Logistics Department University of Houston AbstractSeveral current trends are making the securing of an enterprise’s informational assetsincreasingly challenging. Three significant trends are that enterprises are increasingly:1. Becoming more dependent on digital information and related systems that process, store, and transport that information.2

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2008 GSW

Authors

Alireza Kavianpour; William Nguyen; Paul Wagner

, and convenient way. This method requiressimple setup by the users. Design SpecificationFigure 1 displays different parts of this project. In this project 16-bit Micro-controller 68HC12,DSP board by Texas Instruments, Liquid Crystal, Keypad, Speaker, and a Microphone are used.The audio feedback suppressor is designed to do real-time filtering noise of an audio signal usingDSP. The 68HC12 is used as the mean of interfacing with the users and display system status.The 68HC12 interfaces with a keypad and a LCD. The keypad is for the user to select thefiltering modes to improve the quality of the audio output. The LCD is to display the welcomemessage as the system power up and the user selection mode. In this

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2008 GSW

Authors

Walter O. Craig

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2008 GSW

Authors

James Mayrose; David J. Kukulka

Session 10-1 Cooperative Learning: An Integral Part of Mechanical Engineering Technology Curriculum James Mayrose, David J. Kukulka State University of New York College at Buffalo AbstractStudents are confronted with an enormous amount of engineering content during their course ofstudy. Due to the tremendous amount of pressure placed upon performance in the way of grades,students often look for ways to “cut corners” or do “just enough” to get a decent grade. Studentswill only learn to master engineering concepts

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2008 GSW

Authors

Arup Maji; Mahmoud Reda Taha

experience otherwise missing in their curricula. Rogers and Ohrn(2007) pointed out the need for current faculty members to improve productivity andteaching effectiveness in light of the growth in the enrolments in ConstructionManagement programs. The ACCE accreditation requires at least 25 hours ofConstruction Science which can be comprised of introductory-level engineering courses. The class consisted of an equivalent of 3-credit hours of lecture and a 1-creditlaboratory. The evaluation of students comprised of regular homework assignments,laboratory reports, laboratory participation evaluated through an oral examination, a mid-term examination and a final examination. The scores (grades) obtained by the twogroups of students (Engineering vs

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2008 GSW

Authors

George D. Gray

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2008 GSW

Authors

Pradeep K. Bhattacharya; Jiecai Luo

economic downturn. Though training in ethics, in recent yearshas achieved widespread and enthusiastic acceptance throughout the engineering community,yet a lot needs to be done to teach ethical principals in every engineering subject. This paperis an introduction to all points of interest in university-industry and student relations toevolve a road map to a rewarding engineering career and have healthy world order. Proceedings of the 2008 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference The University of New Mexico – Albuquerque Copyright © 2008, American Society for Engineering Education 1. IntroductionWe live in a highly technical world with daily

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2008 GSW

Authors

Cheryl L. Willis

Session 11-1 Using the Labor Market Information System to Inform Continuous Program Improvement Efforts Cheryl L. Willis Information and Logistics Technology Department University of Houston AbstractThe federal government has recognized the need to coordinate efforts of key government agencies; educationalproviders; and private business to build a common approach to workforce and economic development. Thisapproach to build a

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2008 GSW

Authors

Chad E. Kennedy

a conflict cannot be safely investigated withoutpotential hazardous repercussions to the student’s ability to land a job offer or risk “stepping onproverbial toes”.In order to address the contextual conflict resolution and preserve a relative balance of adding newmaterial with an already information rich curriculum, a short role playing module was designed thatcan be put in virtually any engineering course at any level. The entire module takes between 1-2hours total and can be adapted for small or large groups as needed. The idea is to engage thestudents, provide a safe environment in which to role play a difficult scenario, come to someresolution, develop a plan of action and most importantly have fun! (A side note: Techniques suchas this

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2008 GSW

Authors

Beth Isbell Tapley; Tim Martin

ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference The University of New Mexico – Albuquerque Copyright © 2008, American Society for Engineering Education Literature ReviewThere are quite a few studies seeking connections that aid in predicting college level performancefor first year students, and a few studies include high school preparation and high school grade pointaverage (HSGPA) in the correlations.1 Alexander W. Astin conducted one of the largest studies ofthe impact college has on freshmen and published his results in What Matters In College: FourCritical Years Revisited.2 Astin reported that engineering as a major choice had more impact in hisstudy than

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2008 GSW

Authors

Richard Bannerot

exam (two for each section)in 2006 and 2007. ResultsBased in the grading scheme discussed above, the average grades (followed by the standarddeviation (SD) for each grouping) for the various elements of the course the last three years aretabulated in Table 1. For 2006 and 2007 the grades for the two sections are combined. Theresults in row 3 indicate that the answer to the first question, “Do students learn more frompreparing for the quizzes than they do by doing homework?” is, “no”, as there are only negligibledifferences in the average grades for the classes (2.65, 2.71, 2.63) over the three years. Proceedings of the 2008 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference

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2008 GSW

Authors

Gonzalo B. Farfan; Roshan R. Rammohan; Mahmoud R. Taha; Ihab El-Kady

Session 12-1 Smart Design of IR Scene Generation Using Metallic Photonic Crystals Gonzalo B. Farfan Electrical & Computer Engineering Department University of New Mexico Roshan R. Rammohan Computer Science Department University of New Mexico Mahmoud R. Taha Civil Engineering Department University of New Mexico

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2008 GSW

Authors

Caleb Hanson; Marwan Al-Haik; Claudia Luhrs; Jonathan Phillips

Session 12-2 Production of Alumina Particles Using a Plasma Torch Caleb Hanson1, Marwan Al-Haik1, Claudia Luhrs 1, Jonathan Phillips 1,2 1 Mechanical Engineering Department University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131 2 Los Alamos National Lab, Los Alamos, NM 87545 AbstractA method to modify ceramics using a low power microwave plasma torch is described. The size,shape, surface area, and phase of alumina particles were dramatically modified by

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2008 GSW

Authors

G.R. Kanapuram; Enno “Ed” Koehn

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2008 GSW

Authors

Raja. S.R. Gardimalla; Enno “Ed” Koehn

people’s practicalneeds while enhancing their surrounding environment and their psychological andphysical well-being. 1 Objectives of Sustainable Building DesignThe long-term objectives of sustainable design are to minimize and optimize theconsumption of resources, prevent environmental degradation caused by facilities and theirinfrastructure throughout their life cycle. The primary objectives for the design of sustainablebuildings are as follows: • Selection of the proper site is the initial part of sustainable building design. The local ecosystem, transportation, and energy usage are affected by the location, orientation, and landscaping of a building. • A sustainable building should meet applicable energy

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2008 GSW

Authors

Matthew Moreno; Amador Salazar; Rafael Gijon; Sangita Prajapati; Farrokh Attarzadeh; Mayuri Mahajan; Aditya Gupta; Prafulla Kesari

Proceedings of the 2008 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference The University of New Mexico – Albuquerque Copyright © 2008, American Society for Engineering Educationhas been the state with the most flood deaths in the past 36 years. Figure 1. Prototype of the working modelThe prototype of the Puddle Jumper as shown in Figure 1 is a vehicle mounted waterlevel monitoring system which raises the vehicle's water sensitive components away fromharm, if the system detects the water levels to be dangerously high. This system is meantto alert the driver of the hazardous water level conditions so that he/she can take theappropriate measures to avoid damages to their vehicle as well as to

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2008 GSW

Authors

Juan Hernandez; Michael Alegre; Dragan Siljegovic; Robie Calong; Farrokh Attarzadeh; Ankur Shukla; Vishal Naik

. Also the Wi-Fi is even beginning to become available city wide in many of our majorurban areas thereby giving the drone a wide range. The proposed drone is such that it could beguided to move and acquire data across any kind of terrain. The concept diagram in Figure 1shows versatility of the drone in terms of its operation terrain. Thus, the proposed design for thenetwork controlled drone is a simplified version to that of the military and is more versatile andaffordable for commercial use. Figure 1. The proposed drone can be used for an all-terrain operation System OverviewThe proposed drone is a multi-role vehicle that is outfitted with various sensors that will transmitdata using an

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2008 GSW

Authors

Gary Rubendall; Sergio Chacon; Mequanint Moges

the integration of project-based learning in undergraduate curriculum.The College of Technology at the University of Houston incorporates the framework ofproject-based learning into the undergraduate courses in order to dramatically improvethe quality of technology education.The College of Technology at the University of Houston approach to project-basedlearning in the telecommunications course involves a basic or fundamental overview and Proceedings of the 2008 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference The University of New Mexico – Albuquerque Copyright © 2008, American Society for Engineering Educationtwo “Hands-On” phases as represented in Figure 1: “Basic” introduction

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2008 GSW

Authors

Hassan Monghbeli; Khaled Ellithy; F. Koktot; Mahmundul Alam

power factorcorrection for an 11 kV industrial distribution network in the State of Qatar. The networkmodel has been developed using EDSA professional power system software. The energy afteradding the shunt capacitors (i.e. after power factor correction) has been determined from thepower flow solutions. The on-site measurements have been conducted and the measurementshave been verified by the network model that was developed by EDSA software. IntroductionIndustrial power distribution networks experience increase in power losses during summerperiod 1, 4. This is mainly related to the excessive use of air conditioning system and motordrives which reflects an increase in the electric load. Such increase in

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2008 GSW

Authors

Isa Tan; Dr. Amir Karimi

are approximated by v(T, p) ≈ vf (T) (1) u(T, p) ≈ uf (T) (2) s(T, p) ≈ sf (T) (3)in most Thermodynamic textbooks 1, 2. Also, specific enthalpy is defined as h = u + pv (4) Proceedings of the 2008 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference The University of New Mexico – Albuquerque Copyright © 2008, American Society for Engineering Educationand in a differential format dh = du + pdv + vdp

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2008 GSW

Authors

Jamel Gray; Derrek Anderson; E. H Shaban; D. P. Siddons; A. Kucsweski

drift region with inlet and outlet of the gas, the amplification region where theGEM is attached and fixed, and the collection region where the total charge is collected. Thevisuals can be seen in figures 1 and figure 2. In this detector we used a double GEM detector toenhance the amplification and to decrease the probability of sparks. The visuals of the differentregions have very discrete values of all of the dimensions to our detectors. From these picturesand dimensions for our project, we were able to build our actual parts in the NSLS User Shop.The parts that were used were assembled out of various different materials as shown in figure 3.After building the parts, the X-Ray detectors were assembled together and were ready for thetesting

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2008 GSW

Authors

Jerry K. Keska; Chengyi Ma

optical systems as well as their applicability for the detection offlow patterns. Experimental SystemA measurement system was developed and built for the measuring of flow patterns using opticalsystems (both hydraulic and electronic). The hydraulic system—shown in Figure 1—consists of avertical test tube, two optical measurement systems (reflective and passing), air pressure and flowmeters, and an air compressor. The electronic system consists of a computer-aided data acquisitionsystem (CADAS) and a prototyping board with a Wheatstone bridge, which is interfaced to NIELVIS using a digital oscilloscope. Experimental research was conducted using two differentoptical measurement systems (translucent and

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2008 GSW

Authors

K.C. Praveen; Malur N. Srinivasan

followed for resistance measurement. Five samples of each rod were randomly selected to measure the resistance.5. Selection of butt welder: J6S butt welder manufactured by the Micro Product Company9.6. Input variables: a) Voltage b) ResistanceIn Table 1 are shown the chemical compositions of the two grades of wire rods used in the experiments. Table 1. Chemical Composition of Selected Materials Chemical Grade Proceedings of the 2008 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference The University of New Mexico – Albuquerque Copyright © 2008, American Society for Engineering Education

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2008 GSW

Authors

Mario Ortiz; Professor Andrea Mammoli; Professor Peter Vorobief

insulation and high thermalmass. The building has air locks at all entrances to reduce heating and cooling loads caused byinfiltration during periods of high traffic. The window area of the building is relatively small at 5%of the floor area. Further, there exist 8 concrete TES tanks with a useful volume of 53 m3 each9 .SystemFigure 1 shows the major components when the system is in cooling mode. CHW can beprovided to the cooling coils from cold storage and from the absorption chiller, separately or intandem. The flow rate of CHW from cold storage to the cooling coils is variable and can be setbased on the cooling load and amount of CHW supplied from the absorption chiller.The preferred source of energy for meeting the cooling load is with CHW from

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2008 GSW

Authors

Michael Sheyka; M.M. Reda Taha; T. Khraishi; I. El-Kady; Mehmet F. Su

IntroductionPhotonic crystals (PC) are synthetic materials that can be used to control lightpropagation. PC have a frequency bandgap where light is forbidden to propagate. Thisbandgap is strongly tied to the microstructure of the photonic crystal. Three dimensionalTungsten photonic crystal in a Lincoln-log microstructure has been suggested as analternative filter in photo voltaic cells with significantly high power efficiency.Mechanical characterization of Tungsten PC can be performed using means of micro-indentation. Figure 1 represents the general structure of a bangap for a photonic crystal. Figure 1. Photonic bandgap of PC (bandgap is the region with100% reflectance) Figure 2. Isometric SEM image of Tungsten PC

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2008 GSW

Authors

Ryan Schnalzer; Mahmoud Reda Taha; Mehmet Faith Su; Ihab El-Kady; Zayd C. Leseman

IntroductionThis research examines the potential of using an acoustic bandgap (ABG) material as a sensor forsub-micron (nano) scale damage detection and quantification in composite materials. Acousticbandgap is a physical phenomenon in which acoustic waves are prevented from propagating within arange of frequencies, therefore causing a ‘gap’ (Figure 1). This research exploits this observablefact to develop a novel sensor that can detect damage occurrence at scales not attainable usingexisting sensing technology. We demonstrate here the use of ABG materials to produce a scalablesensor. Scalability allows damage detection at various levels of damage ranging from micro- tomacro-scale damage. This enables us for the first time to observe damage resulting in

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2008 GSW

Authors

Nana-Kwaku Danquah; Patrick Mensah; Samuel Ibekwe; Guoqiang Li

computersystem; and a bench-top support structure. Figure 1. Schematic of Harrop’s Dilatometer. Courtesy of Harrop’s Inc.In order to run this equipment, a sample specimen is placed in a fused silica sample holder in contactwith a freely suspended fused silica movable probe rod. The holder and sample are inserted in thefurnace. A control thermocouple is located in close proximity to the heating element for temperaturecontrol. The furnace is heated according to a pre-programmed thermal cycle. As the sampletemperature changes (as recorded by the sample thermocouple), the sample expands (pushingagainst the probe rod) or shrinks (pulling away from the probe rod). The probe rod, which is kept inconstant pressure contact by the pulley system, transmits the

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2008 GSW

Authors

Kevin Bates; Samuel Ibekwe; Guoqiang Li; Kuan Lian

visible and near infrared wavelength with a variable pulse width of 100µs, 400µsand 700µs.Figure 1. NETZSCH LFA 447® Nanoflash diffusivity instrument Proceedings of the 2008 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference The University of New Mexico – Albuquerque Copyright © 2008, American Society for Engineering Education Sample Design and Mask fabricationSpecimen preparation as shown in Figure 2 involved microfabrication using LIGA techniques in aclass 100 clean room. However, before the samples could be fabricated, a mask was made, which islike a negative for the optical imprints of the micro-sized specimens.Figure 2. Schematic procedure for sample