Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Capstone

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Glen Dudevoir, United States Air Force Academy; Andrew Laffely, United States Air Force Academy; Alan J. Mundy, United States Air Force Academy

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

AC 2010-1013: "SURVIVOR" MEETS SENIOR PROJECTGlen Dudevoir, United States Air Force AcademyAndrew Laffely, United States Air Force AcademyAlan J. Mundy, United States Air Force Academy Page 15.3.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 “Survivor” Meets Senior ProjectAbstractWe have all seen the formation of tribes and cliques on the latest edition of the television hitSurvivor. Has Survivor mentality invaded your senior projects as well? For the last ten years orso, engineering programs nationwide have, with varying degrees of success, tried to incorporatethe ABET-required outcome of “ability to function on multidisciplinary teams.”1 Whilerecognizing

Conference Session

Instrumentation in Education

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Asad Yousuf, Savannah State University; Mohamad Mustafa, Savannah State University; Alberto De La Cruz, Savannah State University

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

AC 2010-719: PROJECT BASED LEARNINGAsad Yousuf, Savannah State UniversityMohamad Mustafa, Savannah State UniversityAlberto De La Cruz, Savannah State University Page 15.996.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 PROJECT-BASED LEARNING (PBL)ABSTRACTEngineering and Technology educators in higher education use Topic-Based Learning (TBL) topresent course contents. This method classically relies on numerous attributes, which include theinstructor presenting facts to students, a learning structure defined by the sequence of materialpresented in a text book, discussion of questions or problem solving and textbook oriented labs.This conventional and often

Conference Session

Instrumentation and Measurement Innovation

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Loker, Pennsylvania State University, Erie

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

-level measurements & instrumentation course (for anElectrical and Computer Engineering Technology program), students are required to design andimplement an elevator control system project. The elevator simulator is pre-built and equipped witha car that travels through three floors, a car hoist system that uses a 12-volt DC motor, floor sensorsto detect the position of the car, and an elevator call pushbutton on each floor. Terminal strips areprovided for I/O connections. Students are required to use a National Instruments data acquisitionsystem with analog I/O and digital I/O capability. The objective of the project is for students todesign the software (using LabVIEW) and hardware interfacing electronics for the simulatedelevator control

Conference Session

Capstone Design Pedagogy I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alan Cheville, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

, particularly capstone courses, that has received little attention is how to characterize andchoose suitable design projects.To better understand what aspects of design projects lead to successful capstone designexperiences for students, six years of evaluation data on electrical engineering capstone designprojects at a large, public research university were reviewed. Additionally, transcripts from fouryears of a capstone design course end-of-semester “after action review” by faculty, students, andteaching assistants were reviewed. From this work several characteristics of “successful”capstone projects emerged. While a definition of success is, of course, highly dependent onprogram specific outcomes, for this study success was defined as a project that

Conference Session

Programmatic Issues in Physics or Engineering Phys

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Evan Lemley, University of Central Oklahoma; Baha Jassemnejad, University of Central Oklahoma; Matthew Mounce, US Navy; Jamie Weber, Parsons; Sudarshan Rai, Unknown; Willy Duffle, University of Central Oklahoma; Jesse Haubrich, University of Central Oklahoma

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Physics & Physics

AC 2010-1861: LINKING SENIOR DESIGN PROJECTS TO RESEARCHPROJECTSEvan Lemley, University of Central OklahomaBaha Jassemnejad, University of Central OklahomaMatthew Mounce, US NavyJamie Weber, ParsonsSudarshan Rai, UnknownWilly Duffle, University of Central OklahomaJesse Haubrich, University of Central OklahomaBahman Taheri, Alphamicron Page 15.845.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 LINKING SENIOR DESIGN PROJECTS TO RESEARCH PROJECTSAbstractSenior design projects form an important capstone for most engineering disciplines and mustconsist of the realistic application of the engineering design process. Some senior engineeringstudents

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Barry Hyman, University of Missouri; Jim Borgford-Parnell, University of Washington; Yuyi Lin, University of Missouri

AC 2010-1576: CURRICULUM-WIDE PROJECT BASED LEARNING BYREFINING CAPSTONE PROJECTSBarry Hyman, University of Missouri Barry Hyman is Visiting Professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dept. at the University of Missouri. His over 80 publications include many conference papers and journal articles on structural mechanics, engineering and public policy, energy systems and policy, and engineering design education. The second edition of his widely used textbook, Fundamentals of Engineering Design, was published by Prentice-Hall in 2003. He received the ASEE Centennial Medallion for significant and lasting contributions to engineering education (1993), and the ASEE Chester F

Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Shey, United States Naval Academy; Ryan Rakvic, United States Naval Academy; Thomas Salem, United States Naval Academy; Samara Firebaugh, United States Naval Academy

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

AC 2010-541: PROJECT-BASED THEMATIC LEARNING THOUGH AMULTICOURSE MULTIDISCIPLINARY ROBOTICS PROJECTJames Shey, United States Naval Academy James Shey received the B.S. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the United States Naval Academy in 2003, the M.S. in electrical engineering degree from University of Maryland, College Park, in 2008, and the Master of Engineering Management degree from Old Dominion University in 2008. He is currently Active Duty Navy serving as a Senior Instructor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the United States Naval Academy and is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Maryland.Thomas Salem, United States Naval

Conference Session

Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brent Guenther, Wright State University; Bruce Rahn, Wright State University; Mark Falknor, Wright State University; Adam Kelly, Wright State University; Bin Wang, Wright State University; Zhiqiang Wu, Wright State University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

, 2010 Real-Time Video Transmission from High Altitude Balloon: an Interdisciplinary Senior Design ProjectAbstractWith engineering students facing increasing distractions, it has become more and morechallenging to design and create attractive means to recruit and retain them. In the paper wepresent an interdisciplinary senior design project with collaboration of electrical and mechanicalengineering students which attempted to transmit real-time video from a high altitude balloonfrom 100,000 feet altitude. Through this experience, students have learned principles ofintegrated engineering technology, and sharpened their skills in cooperative learning, effectivelearning and team work. The learning outcome of this

Conference Session

Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Taskin Padir, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Fred Looft, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; William Michalson, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Michael Ciaraldi, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Eben Cobb, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Kenneth Stafford, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

semester of 2008, the program is the fourth largest discipline at theinstitution in terms of freshman enrollment. At the core of the curriculum are four signaturecourses called Unified Robotics I-IV. The educational objective of these courses is to introducestudents to the multidisciplinary theory and practice of robotics engineering, integrating thefields of computer science, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. In addition totaking these and other courses, it is a requirement that all WPI undergraduates, regardless ofdiscipline, complete a senior-level project in their major field of study called Major QualifyingProject (MQP). This paper discusses the capstone design experience within the context of ournew RBE degree program

Conference Session

Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yuyi Lin, University of Missouri

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

AC 2010-1370: LEARNING FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY RELATEDCAPSTONE PROJECTSYuyi Lin, University of Missouri Page 15.835.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Learning from Energy Conversion Related Capstone ProjectsAbstractStudents’ capstone-design projects are more and more focused on renewable energy generationand conversion due to ever-increasing energy consumption and a concern for environmentalprotection. The initial challenge arises from the first step in any design process -- how to justifyworking on energy-related topics given severe constraints on time and other resources in atypical capstone project. Since many topics and problems related to renewable energy

Conference Session

Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer Dawson, York College of Pennsylvania; Stephen Kuchnicki, York College of Pennsylvania

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

to test the abilities students have gainedover their college careers and to provide a design experience that simulates real-worldengineering. An important factor in giving students a valuable Capstone Design experience isthe selection of an appropriate project. A good project for this purpose should have appropriatetechnical rigor and allow students to focus as much as possible on engineering design rather thanon logistical activities like fundraising. Further, the work done by students in the course shouldbe assessable, both for the purposes of accreditation and for assignment of grades. Additionally,the deadlines imposed must be appropriate, and evaluation criteria need to be established.One solution for many of the project planning

Conference Session

Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Wahlstrom, Argonne National Laboratory; Frank Falcone, Argonne National Laboratory; Doug Nelson, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

beengreatly reduced so that it is feasible for the two companies to sponsor HIL systems for all of theschools.Recommendations and SuggestionsThe use of HIL can be very useful in research situations that require vehicle control. It isrecommended that universities that are doing either vehicle system research or vehiclecomponent control research (engines, motors, fuel cells, etc) explore the usage of HIL in theirlabs. Developing an HIL simulator is a great research project in itself and will enable manyfuture projects in a much shorter timeframe yielding significant results in laboratoryexperiments. Page 15.767.10Bibliography1. Hanselmann, Herbert

Conference Session

Capstone Design Projects

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Michalson, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Stephen Bitar, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Robert Labonté, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

PolytechnicInstitute determined that, while the vast majority of capstone design projects satisfied ourrequirements for Capstone Design, there were several disturbing trends. Specifically, it was noticed that students were lacking the skills to perform serious designsynthesis; they were not adequately addressing issues of quality, safety, reliability andmaintainability; little attention was being paid to issues associated with economics; students werehaving difficulty understanding how different areas of Electrical Engineering related to eachother; and significant amounts of faculty time were spent teaching project teams the designprocess. To correct these problems, a course was developed which focused on teaching students,during their second

Collection

2010 ERC

Authors

Arun Majumdar

Advanced  Research  Projects  Agency ‐ Energy  (ARPA‐E)  Dr. Arun Majumdar  Director, ARPA‐E  U.S. Department of Energy  http://arpa‐e.energy.gov/SPUTNIK  MOMENT  OF OUR  GENERATION  Energy  Security Greenhouse Gas Emissions &  U.S. Technological Global Warming  Lead  1WHICH  PATH  SHOULD  WE  TAKE?  CO 2  Emissions of Selected Countries  Opportunity

Conference Session

Innovations in ECE Education II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stuart Wentworth, Auburn University; Dennis Silage, Temple University; Michael Baginski, Auburn University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

AC 2010-36: INDIVIDUALIZED MATLAB PROJECTS IN UNDERGRADUATEELECTROMAGNETICSStuart Wentworth, Auburn University Stu Wentworth received his Electrical Engineering doctorate from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1990. Since then he has been with Auburn University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, specializing in electromagnetics and microelectronics. He has authored a pair of undergraduate electromagnetics texts, and has won several awards related to teaching. He is a long-standing member of his department’s curriculum and assessment committee.Dennis Silage, Temple University DENNIS SILAGE (silage@temple.edu) received the PhD in EE from the University of Pennsylvania

Conference Session

Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Shepard, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; Camille George, University of St. Thomas

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

AC 2010-175: DESALINATION DESIGN PROJECT FOR THERMODYNAMICSLABThomas Shepard, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Thomas Shepard is a Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. candidate at the University of Minnesota. He received an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Oregon State University and B.A. in Physics from Colorado College. His teaching interests include undergraduate courses in the thermal/fluid sciences, experimental methods and renewable energy technologies. He has research interests in experimental fluid mechanics, energy conversion, and engineering education.Camille George, University of St. Thomas Camille George is an Associate Professor and the Program Director of Mechanical Engineering at

Conference Session

Design Education I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Creese, West Virginia University; Deepak Gupta, Southeast Missouri State University

Tagged Divisions

Manufacturing

AC 2010-191: COMBINED INDIVIDUAL-TEAM BASED PROJECTRobert Creese, West Virginia UniversityDeepak Gupta, Southeast Missouri State University Page 15.290.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Combined Individual-Team Based ProjectAbstract The basic manufacturing processes course was selected for an interdisciplinary teamproject for ABET requirements by the Industrial and Management Systems Engineering (IMSE)Department. The project is an integration of design criteria, material properties, mechanicalproperties and product cost. A software package is used to assist the students in the evaluation ofvarious materials and structural shapes. To improve

Conference Session

Pedagogy and Assessment in ECE III

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jianbiao Pan, California Polytechnic State University; Albert Liddicoat, California Polytechnic State University; James Harris, California Polytechnic State University; Linda Shepherd, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

. He worked for TRW in Redondo Beach, CA for 11 years, primarily on signal processing projects. He is a member of IEEE, ASEE, ACM, AAAS, ASES and SHOT. Page 15.198.1Linda Shepherd, California Polytechnic State University Linda Shepherd is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California, where she has also served as founding director of the Master of Public Policy program, founder of the Institute for Policy Research, and past Chair of the Department of© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Political Science. She specializes in teaching

Conference Session

Frontiers in Engineering Economy

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Neal Lewis, University of Bridgeport; Ted Eschenbach, TGE Consulting; Joseph Hartman, University of Florida

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Economy

and serves as department chair. His research interests are in economic decision analysis and dynamic programming. He is an active member of ASEE, IIE, and INFORMS and currently serves as editor of The Engineering Economist. Page 15.607.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Funding Decisions for Multi-Stage ProjectsAbstractLarge industrial projects are generally organized and funded in stages, with each stage fundedand executed sequentially. This is widely practiced with new product and new technologydevelopment projects, venture capital projects, and natural resource development

Conference Session

Construction Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Enno Koehn, Lamar University; Nishant Shah, Lamar University; John Koehn, Chadron State College

Tagged Divisions

Construction

AC 2010-365: SHANGRI LA: A LEED PLATINUM PROJECTEnno Koehn, Lamar University Enno “Ed” Koehn is Professor of Civil Engineering at Lamar University. Dr. Koehn has served as the principle investigator for several research and development projects dealing with various aspects of construction. He also has experience in the design, scheduling, and estimating of facilities. He has authored/co-authored over 200 papers in engineering education, as well as the general areas of civil and construction engineering. Dr. Koehn is a member of ASEE, AACE International, ASCE, NSPE, Chi Epsilon, Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, and is a registered Professional Engineer and Surveyor.Nishant Shah, Lamar University

Conference Session

Industry based new Innovative and Nontraditional Curriculum in Industrial Technology and Industrial Engineering Technology

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Louis Reifschneider, Illinois State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

AC 2010-506: ALUMNI PERCEPTIONS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENTINSTRUCTIONLouis Reifschneider, Illinois State University Lou Reifschneider is an Associate Professor in the Department of Technology at Illinois State University. He received his BSME in 1983 from the University of Notre Dame, his MSME in 1984 from the University of Minnesota, and his PhD ME in 1990 from the Ohio State University. Prior to joining ISU, Dr. Reifschneider worked in the field of computational engineering analysis software development focusing on plastics processing. His research interests include plastic product design, mold and die design, and the processing of bio-based materials. Since 1998 he has taught courses in

Conference Session

Laboratory Development in ECE

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Huihui Xu, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Xiaoyan Mu, Southeast Missouri State University; Deborah Walter, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

AC 2010-2017: THREE PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATIONS IN BEEM PROJECTHuihui Xu, Rose-Hulman Institute of TechnologyXiaoyan Mu, Southeast Missouri State UniversityDeborah Walter, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Page 15.1266.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Three Practical Demonstrations in BEEM Project Abstract This paper presents three practical examples that have been created in the BEEM 1  (Biomedical and Electrical Engineering Methods) project at Rose­Hulman Institute of Technology.  These examples are used to introduce respectively (1) Construction of a prototype electrocardiogram measurement system, (2) Use of inductance coils to perform as

Conference Session

Project-based Learning and Other Pedagogical Innovations

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Huanmei Wu, IUPUI

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

AC 2010-2151: PROJECT BASED MULTIDISCIPLINARY EDUCATION FORUNDERGRADUATESHuanmei Wu, IUPUI Dr. Huanmei Wu is an assistant professor at the Department of Computer and Information Technology, Purdue School of Engineering and Technology, IUPUI, joint with Indiana University School of Informatics. Her research is focusing on database, data mining, and tumor motion management in image guided radiation treatment. Page 15.997.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Project Based Multidisciplinary Education for UndergraduatesAbstractMotivation: Integrating the multidisciplinary technologies

Conference Session

Design in the ECE Curriculum

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bill Yang, Western Carolina University; Phillip Sanger, Western Carolina University; Patrick Gardner, Western Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

AC 2010-596: TEACHING AND LEARNING OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT FORENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY CAPSTONE RESEARCH PROJECTSBill Yang, Western Carolina UniversityPhillip Sanger, Western Carolina UniversityPatrick Gardner, Western Carolina University Page 15.1167.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 Teaching and Learning of Project Management for Engineering and Technology Capstone Research ProjectsAbstractProject management has become an increasingly important skill for engineering and technologystudents of the 21st century especially for U.S. students. While much of routine design andmanufacturing tasks are continuing to move overseas notably to India

Conference Session

Trends in Mechanical Engineering II

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peter Baumann, Central Connecticut State University; Nidal Al-Masoud, Central Connecticut State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

AC 2010-763: DESIGN OF EXPERIMENT AND PROJECT MANAGEMENTMETHODOLOGIES SUPPORT A SENIOR PROJECT RESEARCH COURSE ANDITS ASSESSMENTPeter Baumann, Central Connecticut State University Dr. Baumann is an Associate Professor of Engineering at CCSU. His industrial experience spans 20 years. He is Past Chairman of American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Committee B7 and is on his local ASM International chapter’s Board of Directors. Dr. Baumann received a B.S. in Metallurgy at Penn State, earned an M.S. from MIT Mechanical Engineering, and completed a Ph.D. in Materials Science at Polytechnic University. E-mail: BaumannP@ccsu.eduNidal Al-Masoud, Central Connecticut State University

Collection

2010 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Vijay Kanabar; Robert Schudy

Teaching a Project-based Web-Development and IT Project Management Course at a Distance Vijay Kanabar, Associate Professor, Director of Project Management Programs, Boston University Robert Schudy, Associate Professor of Computer ScienceAbstractThe authors have designed and taught several courses successfully at a distance in the online Masters inComputer Information Systems (CIS). In this paper we describe our experience with a couple of projectbased courses. The Web Development course and the IT Project Management course will be discussed asa case study using two models for teaching at a distance—pure online and blended elive. In this paperthe authors present their lessons learned from

Conference Session

Early Engineering Design Experiences

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Garrett Clayton, Villanova University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

ProjectsAbstractIn this paper, the use of impromptu design as a tool for introducing the engineering designprocess is discussed. In a typical impromptu design exercise, a simple design problem, capableof being completed in a short amount of time, is solved by teams of engineering students. Insolving the design task, the students organically progress through the engineering design process.This provides a unique opportunity to introduce beginning engineering students to the designprocess and to reinforce engineering design concepts for more senior students. This paperfocuses on the development of impromptu design projects, the use of this activity to introducethe engineering design process, and thoughts and observations gained over three years of usingthis

Conference Session

Pedagogy and Assessment in ECE III

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Cambron, Western Kentucky University; Stacy Wilson, Western Kentucky University

Tagged Divisions

Electrical and Computer

AC 2010-1314: ASSESSING A PROJECT-BASED PROGRAM AFTER A DECADEMark Cambron, Western Kentucky UniversityStacy Wilson, Western Kentucky University Page 15.197.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2010 ASSESSING A PROJECT-BASED PROGRAM AFTER A DECADEIntroductionThe Department of Engineering at Western Kentucky University (WKU) was given the rareopportunity to develop entirely new engineering programs. On July 17, 2000, the Council onPostsecondary Education (CPE) approved the Strategy for Statewide Engineering Education inKentucky. This strategy is intended to address two primary issues: 1.) the need to increase thenumber of baccalaureate engineers in the

Conference Session

A Systems Thinking Approach to Solving Problems

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joanna DeFranco, Pennsylvania State University; Fadi Deek, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Raghvinder Sangwan, Pennsylvania State University, Great Valley

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering Constituent Committee

Engineering Education, 2010 Promoting Effective Communication in Global Engineering ProjectsAbstractEffective communication plays a key role in the success of engineering teams. However,achieving a high level of communication when developing projects globally can be challenging.An organization’s learning capacity, its familiarity with the cultural diversity of its teammembers, and its information technology support for project planning, data management, groupcommunication and collaboration among geographically distributed teams, are some key factorsthat can help overcome this challenge.IntroductionThrough a study conducted in 2008 by NASA, communication was identified as one of the fivetop level themes their highly valued Systems Engineers

Conference Session

Student Learning and Assessment

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nicholas Harlow, Western Kentucky University; Robert Choate, Western Kentucky University; H. Joel Lenoir, Western Kentucky University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

AC 2010-145: EXTRACURRICULAR PROJECT ENHANCES STUDENTLEARNING: A CASE STUDYNicholas Harlow, Western Kentucky University Nicholas Harlow is an undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering and is currently in his senior year. He is also employed as a student worker for WKU’s Thermal-Fluid Mechanics Laboratory.Robert Choate, Western Kentucky University Robert Choate is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Western Kentucky University. He teaches thermo-fluid and professional component courses, including Sophomore Design, Thermo-Fluid Systems Lab and ME Senior Project Design course sequence. Prior to teaching at WKU, he was a principal engineer for CMAC Design Corporation