Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Marian S. Stachowicz

cost and that control should exploit the tolerance for imprecision anduncertainty [13]. The exploitation of the tolerance for imprecision and uncertainty underlies theremarkable human ability to understand distorted speech, summarize text, recognize and classifyimages, drive a vehicle in dense traffic and, more generally, make rational decisions in an Proceedings of the 2011 North Midwest Section Conferenceenvironment of uncertainty and imprecision. In effect, fuzzy control uses the human mind as arole model. A fuzzy sets theory is an important part of the intelligent control.It is now realized that complex real-world problems require intelligent systems that combineknowledge, techniques, and methodologies from various

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Ahmet Turkmen; Jon Breen

overtones is what we call timber. This isjust one example of a signal that is more complicated than a sine wave, but the world is full ofthem. Viewing real world signals in the frequency domain is often useful in understanding thesignal, the system that produced it, and how one might process the signal for a certain purpose.Results and ConclusionsThe Fourier transform is an incredibly useful construct, but for many students, it can be difficultto understand. For most, a change in one number, say sampling rate, isn't easily followedthrough the math to discover a property of the Fourier transform. Visual demonstration and thechance to experiment easily and quickly can make the material much more accessible tostudents.Processing speed of different

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

William R. Peterson; Guanghsu Chang

also why we believe spreadsheets are a better approach since we canuse real world problems which have irregular cash flows in lieu of the regular cash flows in Proceedings of the 2011 North Midwest Section Conferencestandard text problems. We can use geometric gradients which seem to occur in practice in lieuof the contrived arithmetic gradients which we can handle with tables but do not see in practice.Additionally, in practice the major effort is represented by item 8 which in the typical text isgiven and is implied to be trivial.Items 6, 9 and 10 are where spreadsheet calculations are done in lieu of tables and where thisparticular course approach differs from one using tables. While students need to understand

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

A. Hoxie

tocover the various topics concisely.Project goals and objectivesGoals: 1. Develop an understanding and appreciation of how the building envelope affects the heating and cooling load, thus affecting the mechanical systems. Proceedings of the 2011 North Midwest Section Conference 2. Gain an understanding of how renewable technologies can be incorporated into a home. 3. Develop an ability to take the information learned in the course and apply it to a real world application. 4. Become aware of technologies readily available in the market and how much they cost. 5. Realize it is possible to build a net zero energy home. 6. Have fun with designing and envisioning

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Waddah Akili

between traditional classroomteaching and what really takes place in the real world (9). They give students experience withsituations and challenges they do not usually come across during traditional classroom activities.In any of their form, thoughtfully planned and well prepared cases provide: Relevance. Cases depict real situations at a particular location and point in time. As such, they provide an insight into the decision-making process. Students see the relevance of the case to their future careers. Proceedings of the 2011 North Midwest Section Conference Motivation. Cases can provide incentives for students to immerse themselves in real engineering tasks. Also, assuming the role

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

R. Nelson; J. Bumblis; C. Liu; A. Turkmen; N. Zhou; D. Olson; R. Rothaupt

of the Computer Engineering program at UW-Stout. In this program an embedded system is viewed as any object that contains a computing device(e.g. a microprocessor, microcontroller, or a digital signal processor) with the object itself notfunctioning as a general purpose computer. This definition allows us to consider any object from asimple appliance (like a digital watch) to complex portable integrated devices such as medicalinstrumentation and 4G cellular devices containing gigabytes of memory and a complex operatingsystem supporting a variety of applications. Students are encouraged to engage their imaginations andengineering skills to solve real-life problems using embedded systems technologies (hardware andsoftware) as well as the

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Genevieve Gagnon Ph.D.

is expected from majorplayers driving the movement to improve and maintain excellence in engineering wascompleted. It showed that students have identified similar points with the stakeholdersabout what is a great education. Additionally they identified different ones, personal tothem, not identified by the stakeholders dictating the standards. According to this study3,students need more examples in class, hands-on applications and more visual aids. Thereports showed that they also want smaller classes for more personal connections.The major factors defining excellence in engineering education are dictated by theNational Academy of Engineering and other organizations such as ABET4. They haveidentified worldwide universities that are making

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Nathan Johnson

about how theories and equations apply in real world engineeringsituations. Exposure to experimental design also allows students a concrete, physical illustrationof the ways in which interrelated experimental variables depend on one another. For these andother reasons, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) outcomesspecify that students, by the end of their undergraduate engineering education, demonstrate: “An ability to design and conduct experiments as well as to analyze and interpret data” ABET Engineering Outcome B[1].While the Civil Engineering specific ABET Program Criteria deemphasizes the design aspect ofexperimentation (since professional civil engineers are not often involved in

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

M. S. Stachowicz; L. B. Kofoed

. This means that students have to find knowledge, theories and methods by themselves (supported by teachers and tutors) so they can work with and solve the problem they have chosen. Experience based learning is an implicit part of the participant-directed learning process, where students build from their previous experiences and interests. To actively link the formulation of the problem to the individuals or the groups world of experience increases motivation because it relates to the students previous opinions and understandings. Activity-based learning is also an important part of the PBL learning process. Activities involve research, decision-making and writing which also motivate and give the

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Christa James-Byrnes; Mark Holdhusen

7% 43% Table 4: Results from comparison of number of students viewing interviewsThe results show that there is a significant difference (p-value = 1.86647x10-13) between thetraditional face to face section and the online section with regards to the viewing of theinterviews. This data was disconcerting to the instructors as it was the feeling that this was avital component to the course. It was the belief of the instructors that the interviews could beviewed as the glue that tied the course to the real world. The instructors believe this is a functionof the interviews themselves. The traditional section was told to view the interviews prior toclass each week; however, the de a ha e ie ed hi a optional or