Collection

2007 North Midwest Section Meeting

Authors

Hetal Jasani

Developing an Innovative Mobile and Wireless Networks Course Hetal Jasani Assistant Professor School of Technology Michigan Technological UniversityAbstractAll over the world, mobile and wireless courses become increasingly popular in colleges(including community colleges) and universities. This paper discusses about developing theinnovative course of mobile and wireless networks using laboratory activities. It elaboratesinnovative projects that are suitable for laboratory work in network engineering (includingtechnology) curriculum. It explores both hardware and software components that are

Collection

2007 North Midwest Section Meeting

Authors

Zhanping You; Sanjeev Adhikari

. In the class lectures, the basic concept ofasphalt specification, mechanical properties and test methods are discussed. The sustainabilityconcept of the materials is also integrated in lectures. Homework is assigned to students so thatthey have the chance to bridge the concepts and practical problems. The most important parts ofthe class are the hands-on experiments in laboratory, and the sustainable material concepts inlectures. The relationship between students’ homework, exams, labs, and total grade are compared.Three semesters’ results are analyzed to improve the curriculum.IntroductionThe Civil Engineering Materials class (CE 3101) is designed for junior and senior undergraduatestudents. This class covers different materials such as

Collection

2007 North Midwest Section Meeting

Authors

Zhanping You

increasing demand of theDEM in engineering application and research, it is very critical to have a course on thisarea. In many universities, it is impossible to find a faculty member in the teaching of thisadvanced method. There are not many other universities offered the similar course. AtUniversity of Pittsburgh, the application of the DEM as a computer aid in a geotechnicalprogram was attempted (Lobo-Guerrrero and Vallejo 2006), where the simulation of astandard laboratory test and different cavities inside a rock mass were introduced tostudents.Objective of the Course and ActivitiesThe objective was to teach students numerical analysis methods-focusing on DEM. Inorder to introduce the advances of the DEM to the graduate curriculum, some

Collection

2007 North Midwest Section Meeting

Authors

Nihad E. Daidzic; Vojin R. Nikolic

which through brief lectures, extensive experimental exercises, and two major hands-on team projects, a number of the most significant concepts from various areas of engineering, in general, and from aerospace sciences/engineering and aviation in particular were introduced and explained. Also, the plan was for the students to have an opportunity to tour several MSU engineering laboratories and Mankato Airport, fly in a flight simulator and in an airplane. A series of guest speakers, one each day, involving a number of administrators and faculty members from the MNCEME and MSU have also been contacted and agreed to address the Camp participants during lunch. A detailed plan for the Pilot Program Camp is given in

Collection

2007 North Midwest Section Meeting

Authors

Qingli (Barbara) Dai

(Unigraphics NX) into the curriculum ofstrategically selected academic partners worldwide. Michigan Tech was one of only twoU.S. universities selected for the initial four academic program partner sites. Proceedings of the 2007 ASEE North Midwest Sectional Conference 1Today NX is the key CAD/CAM/CAE software used in our mechanical engineeringcurriculum and utilized in our laboratories [1]. It is integrated throughout our curriculumbeginning with the first year, to learn solid modeling using NX. Sophomore students useNX in the lab portion of the course “Integrated Design and Manufacturing” to create thetool paths to produce a designed part. Junior students use NX in the Product Realization Iand II courses. Senior students use NX in

Collection

2007 North Midwest Section Meeting

Authors

Gale Allen

, built and testedantennas. The first year they designed 432MHz Yagi3-5 antennas with various numbers ofelements. The second year the teams aimed at 144MHz. This spring the students built Quagi6-7antennas having six elements and one team built a Quad antenna, all designed to be resonant at444MHz. Figure 12. EET 456 Class, Spring 05 Figure 13. EET 456 Class, Spring 06The antenna building laboratories were successful in several ways. The students enjoyedbuilding the antennas and looked forward to testing them in late spring. This contributed to goodmorale and favorable attitude towards the other communications subjects. The students gained abetter understanding of concepts such impedance matching,8,9 radiation pattern, gain

Collection

2007 North Midwest Section Meeting

Authors

John L. Irwin

, and creating joints.The end of course survey indicated that students viewed the use of simulation analysis asa critical skill necessary for this course, and expressed that an increased emphasis oncreating simulations was necessary to fully comprehend the software capabilities.The Future in Experiential LearningWith laboratory and facility costs continually rising, true hands-on experiences arebecoming more difficult to deliver in engineering laboratory settings. So, creating asimulated experience for students is “the next best thing to being there”. The problem-based simulation activities still have their limitations because of the difficulty inimplementing the activities in a self-paced classroom situation and the time required forstudents

Collection

2007 North Midwest Section Meeting

Authors

Matthew Roberts; Philip Parker; Christina Curras; Michael Penn; Max Anderson

curricula. Students completebasic mathematics, science, and general engineering courses in the first two years followed bycivil and environmental engineering courses in the remainder of their studies. The CEE pro-gram includes a significant laboratory component and practical design projects in the upperlevel classes. The program culminates in a capstone design class that is taken in the last se-mester in school. Projects for this class are often solicited from communities and non-profitorganizations, and typically incorporate a service learning component.In reviewing the existing UWP CEE curriculum for this curriculum development project, itbecame clear that the curriculum had not changed significantly in over 20 years. To illustratethis, the

Collection

2007 North Midwest Section Meeting

Authors

AnnMarie Polsenberg Thomas; J. Roxanne Prichard

. Create an intensive, immersive experience where students and faculty from different majors can think creatively and analytically, interact and learn from each other. 3. Generate a set of design concepts which will be evaluated and presented, and which may possibly be developed into formal projects in the Design for an Aging Population laboratory at the University of St. Thomas.ParticipantsThe retreat was open to any student at the University of St. Thomas. Undergraduate andgraduate students from all majors were free to apply, though advertising focusedprimarily on undergraduate students. The application required that interested studentsdiscuss in a paragraph or two 1) why they were interested in the retreat, and 2) one

Collection

2007 North Midwest Section Meeting

Authors

William S. Helton; Michele H. Miller; Robert Pastel

with an observational epistemology– astronomy is an example. There are also natural or mechanical sciences with anexperimental epistemology - bench or laboratory physics is an example. Like wise thereare human sciences which focus on interactive kinds with an experimental epistemology -cognitive psychology is an example - or an observation epistemology – culturalanthropology is an example.Furthermore, the sciences differ in the level of precision of measurement that can beexerted and the use of quantification. This could be visualized as a third dimension addedto Figure 1. Economics, for example, has very easy and precise measurement (money isnumbers) and is extremely quantitative, rivaling physics in the level of mathematicalabstraction and

Collection

2007 North Midwest Section Meeting

Authors

K. R. Haapala; M. J. Hutchins; J. L. Rivera; V. Kumar; A. R. Clarke; T. D. Eatmon; R. A. Harris; M. H. Durfee; J. R. Mihelcic; D. R. Shonnard; J. W. Sutherland

Trainee investigated lower-cost materials to improve fuel cell performance at ArgonneNational Laboratory and a public policy IGERT Trainee will be a visiting scholar at AlleghenyCollege for the 2007-08 academic year. Such internships have helped to cultivate a wider rangeof skills than traditionally acquired by doctoral students.International ExperiencesInternational experiences develop personal and professional skills not possible with a domesticinternship by allowing students to participate in technical meetings, learn state-of-the-artmethods and software, and implement sustainable solutions while abroad. SF IGERT scholarsare able to experience other languages, cultures, and customs and to share these experiences.International experiences

Collection

2007 North Midwest Section Meeting

Authors

Michael P. Hennessey

simulation laboratory (lab) that utilizes PCs equipped with software such asSolidWorks (2005), including the add-on Animator, MATLAB®, and Simulink®. Proceedings of the 2007 ASEE North Midwest Sectional Conference The course objective, description, and related courses are given by:Objective: Gain experience in dynamic modeling, simulation, and visualization of manydifferent mechanical systems using applied mathematical techniques and modern softwareimportant to mechanical, electrical, and systems engineers working in industry or studentspreparing for graduate school in engineering.Description: Many engineering systems are inherently dynamic in nature. Characterizing anddesigning such systems requires mathematical modeling

Collection

2007 North Midwest Section Meeting

Authors

Michele H. Miller; Kari L. Jordan

integrated first-year engineering curricula," Proceedings of Frontiers in Education Conference, 1998, pp. 561-565.[15] Kellar, J. J., W. Hovey, M. Langerman, S. Howard, L. Simonson, L. Kjerengtroen, L. Stetler, H. Heilhecker, L. Arneson-Meyer and S. D. Kellogg, "A problem based learning approach for freshman engineering," Proceedings of Frontiers in Education Conference, 2000, pp. F2G/7-F2G10.[16] Beaudoin, D. L. and D. F. Ollis, "A Product and Process Engineering Laboratory for Freshmen," Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 84, No. 3, 1995, pp. 279-284.[17] Agogino, A. M., S. Sheppard and A. Oladipupo, "Making Connections to Engineering During the First Two Years," Proceedings of Frontiers in Education, 1992