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2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Eric Musselman

Development of Freshman Seminar Design Project Eric Musselman University of Minnesota DuluthAbstractThis paper discusses the challenges associated with the development of a design project for afreshman seminar course in engineering. Two different projects that the author has used in classwill be described and compared. The effectiveness of the projects at achieving both the courseand overall departmental objectives will be discussed.IntroductionThere are many challenges when planning an Introduction to Engineering course at the freshmanlevel. These challenges revolve around achieving the objectives of the course in a limited timeand taking into

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Michael A. Rother

Academic Versus Industrial Senior Design Projects Michael A. Rother Department of Chemical Engineering University of Minnesota-Duluth For the past seven years, the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University ofMinnesota-Duluth has used industrially supplied projects in its senior capstone design sequence.The change was implemented from academic to industrial projects as a result of an ABETrecommendation to increase the multidisciplinary experiences of the students. By ABETdefinition, an industrially supplied project is considered multidisciplinary. The department doesnot charge companies for the student

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

William C. Farrow

Project Cam-A-Rok, Engaging Mechanical Engineering FreshmanWilliam C. FarrowMechanical Engineering Department, Milwaukee School of Engineering, 1025 N Broadway,Milwaukee, WI 53202IntroductionThis paper documents the implementation of many of the leading concepts into a successfulfreshman design course. There are many different forms that a freshman introductoryengineering design course can take, and many examples shared through publication that describewhat has worked. The experience outlined combines benefits of both a team-centric as well asan individual centric course. It contains both project driven aspects as well as short termhomework style assignments. And the course completes the design work through both a

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Daniel N. Pope

Student-Designed Projects in Computational Fluid Dynamics: Challenges and Results Daniel N. Pope University of Minnesota DuluthAbstractThe use of final projects that are selected and designed by students in a senior level,undergraduate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) course is discussed. Analysis of productsand systems that include heat transfer and fluid flow using CFD software is becoming a requiredpart of the design process. Prospective employers are looking for undergraduate students thathave some experience performing CFD analyses. However, the techniques used in CFD are oftenproblem dependent and can involve mathematics

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

M. S. Stachowicz; L. B. Kofoed

Problem Based Learning Principles for projects with “soft” evaluation. 1 M. S. Stachowicz, 2L. B. Kofoed Laboratory for Intelligent Systems, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota, USA, The Warsaw School of Computer Science, Warsaw, Poland mstachow@d.umn.edu1 Department of Architecture, Design & Media Technology, Aalborg University, Denmark, lk@create.aau.dk2IntroductionInspired by a design workshop course offered at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department(ECE) at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) [1] we could see

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Debao Zhou

Engineering Targeted Project Design in Kinematics and Control Classes Debao Zhou Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN 55812, USA Email: dzhou@d.umn.eduAbstractLabs and projects will be the important ways to solidify the knowledge learned from classessince hands-on work can help the students understand class materials better. A kinematics andcontrol lab class has been offered in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineeringhere at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. The projects in class have been designed to solveactual engineering problems. Through the projects

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Christa James-Byrnes; Mark Holdhusen

Development and Delivery of a Project-Based Introductory Engineering Course for Online Delivery Christa James-Byrnes, Mark Holdhusen University of WisconsinIntroductionEngineering education is increasingly moving to nontraditional delivery modes, especially onlinedelivery. Over 5.6 million students in the United States took at least one online course in the fall2009 term.1 This represents a 21 percent growth rate while there was only a 2 percent growthrate for higher education student population.1 With this movement comes the challenge to meetthe quality offered by traditional face-to-face instruction. In the online environment, it is

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Katherine Acton

final project for Structural Analysis (CE 3115). The final project is theculmination of a semester focused on the calculation of loads and deflections in staticallydeterminate and statically indeterminate structures, with an emphasis on beams andframes. The gantry crane project provides an opportunity for students to apply severalconcepts learned in the text and in lecture. They are required to idealize the threedimensional structure as a two-dimensional structure with support reactions andappropriate connections between the structural members. The students are then asked tosolve for the support reaction forces and moments using methods of structural analysis.Students learn to use structural analysis software to check the accuracy of their

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Byron Garry

(l) - (p). ABET requires at least oneevaluation of each student outcome at some point in the program, preferably toward the end ofthe curriculum. We have chosen to do most this evaluation in the Project Management/Capstonetwo-semester course sequence. In the first semester, students learn the theory and basic practicesof project management, and also define, plan and begin their capstone project. In the secondsemester they complete their group project. Mo of he og am lea ning o come a ea e ed ing di ec mea e f om e idence of den ojec o k, i h a fe a e mencoming from the studen o inion of hei o n og e , an indi ec mea e. Wha e a econcerned with is how to evaluate the direct evidence of student work, that i , g ading he den

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Mitchell Cornelius; Bidhan Roy; Osama Jadaan

employingvaluation tools and benefit-cost analysis (among many others) to study the financial feasibility ofengineering projects. Unfortunately, for projects involving nanotechnology, the finances aremainly speculative since commercial applications of nanotechnology are mainly at its infancy.H , a a a (SME ) a a aproducts and listed at NASDAQ. This is because such companies would have their financialstatements freely available in the internet. The module consists of designing sample valuation b SME a a .W Fa 2011,expected that it shall help students understand a financial statement, the future sway ofnanotechnology

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Enemuoh Emmanuel Ugo; Samuel Kwofie

Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana. Itexposed students to global concepts of sustainability with emphasis on alternative materials andmanufacturing methods in Ghana. Learning was reinforced by visits to local manufacturingfacilities, art centers, museums, and historical villages. Also, students were engaged in culturalactivities including: learning Akan language, dancing, keyboarding, textile dying, and basketeeringas part of their study abroad experience in Ghana. During the program, students were givenprojects to analyze, evaluate, and make recommendations on how to improve on the sustainabilityaspects of a product. The major sustainability measures considered are embodied energy andcarbon dioxide (CO2) footprints and the projects

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

A. Hoxie

a project to design an 800square foot home that met Passive House certification standards. The energy needs of the home, i.e.heating, cooling and electrical loads were to be met with renewable energy technologies they wereintroduced to through out the course. They were given a budget of $ 40,000 dollars for the renewableenergy systems and were asked to provide estimated payback timeframes for the technologies theychose. The project provided a creative and fun platform for the students to learn the significant impactengineering design can have on energy conservation. Practical experience was gained in learning thesoftware and in sizing photovoltaics, solar hot water systems, and heat recovery ventilation units to meetthe building needs. In

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

William R. Peterson; Guanghsu Chang

the project started out at an interest rate ofzero and gave a positive value. While seemingly crude, it allowed the cash flows to be irregular(which is extremely common in practice) and (assuming correct input of the cash flows) did notmake ma h error . While he program co ld ha e been made fa er b a be er earchalgorithm, it met the needs of the using organization.A he ame ime, MBA (Masters of Business Administration) hand-held calculators werebecoming available to do basic financial calculations such as find the payment on a loan (P) withinterest (i) and period (n) based on the same underlying calculation in the tables is as a lookup al e for A/P, i, n .By 1990 spreadsheets, such as Lotus 1, 2, 3 and Quattro, were readily available on

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Marian S. Stachowicz

systems based on classical control. The fuzzy controller achieves notonly a higher precision in stopping at any designated point, but makes each stop more comfortable; inaddition, it saves about 10% of energy. A complete list of other industrial projects, including controlproblems that are considered beyond the capabilities of classical control theory, that employ fuzzy Proceedings of the 2011 North Midwest Section Conferencecontrol would be too long. Fuzzy controllers have also been installed with great success in variety ofconsumer products, including TV sets, video cameras, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, automobiles(antiskid brake systems, automatic transmissions) and many others [10], [11].3. Objectives ECE 5831

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Carl Sandness; Tom Jamar; Roy Smith; j. Moe Benda

into ways thatcan be. We will discuss the necessity of championing a vision through to completion not onlyindividual projects but also the Engineering Education concept itself.The need for locally grown engineersAs a matter of statistical interest, Northeastern Minnesota is on the verge of a deficit in theengineering profession, with an even greater decline in trained engineers on the horizon as moresenior engineers retire. According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and EconomicDevelopment (DEED), the demand for engineering and architecture occupations in NortheasternMinnesota alone is expected to increase by 9.9% in the decade of 2009-2019.1 Nationally, it isexpected that the overall growth in engineering fields will be 11% in the

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

D. A. Rogers; B. D. Braaten

form a basis for creative laboratory projects. Noise and systems studies introducethe student to some of the realities they will encounter. Students still need explanations ofelectromagnetics, so they welcome mathematical and theoretical insights that are clear andcomprehensively presented. Even some optics can be included, especially as a consequence of avector potential understanding of guided-wave theory. Since electromagnetics theory is a well-e ab i hed di ci i e, a a f he d ff i i e e a i he 21st century. However, he e i a e de c each e a he a ica a d he e ica c ce i ga -in- i eapproach.What Will Our Students Need?An important consideration in this course is to develop an approach that reaches the

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Steve Sternberg

messages). Papers: Many students do not like to write. It is hard and time consuming to do well. The easy shortcuts include having another student write for them, copying or buying a paper from the web, plagiarizing from a book or paper. Projects: The great variety in types of projects precludes a list of common cheats. However the use of resources they should not use may sum it up. This might include talking to or working with other students, accessing information on forbidden sources (like asking for expert help on a website). Class participation: This usually involves some sort of attendance requirement that is overcome such as by having another student sign in for them.Some of these methods

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Mike Rowe

Introducing Software Engineering to General Engineering Students Mike Rowe, Ph.D. Department of Software Engineering and Computer Science University of Wisconsin-Platteville rowemi@uwpattt.eduThe Introduction to Engineering Projects CourseAt the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, an Introduction to Engineering Projects is a requiredone semester credit course that is typically taken by engineering students in their first year. Thecourse is broken down into seven, two week modules that cover each of the engineeringdisciplines, Civil, Electrical, Environmental, Engineering Physics, Industrial, Mechanical, andSoftware Engineering, that are

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Ryan G. Rosandich

level necessary to maintain the competitive position of the United States in the world. Graduates lack the professional skills (project management, business practices, communication ability, and multicultural awareness) to be effective engineers. Graduates do not fully appreciate the impact of engineering decisions on environmental and/or economic sustainability.The academic perspectiveMechanical engineering educators were also heavily involved in the information-gatheringprocess used by the Vision 2030 Task Force. The task force assembled the following statementson the weaknesses of current mechanical engineering programs based on the informationgathered from this group. Proceedings of the 2011

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Lisa Watrous; Mari Buche; Susan Bagley; Jason Keith

ADVANCE: An investigation of the representation of female faculty candidates at Michigan Technological University Lisa Watrous, Mari Buche, Susan Bagley, Jason Keith Michigan Technological University Proceedings of the 2011 North Midwest Section ConferenceIn the fall of 2008 Michigan Technological University was awarded a multi-year NationalScience Foundation ADVANCE grant e ed Cha g g he Face f M ch ga Tech . Thisresearch was supported by NSF grant No. 0820083. At the start of this project, the facultycomplement at Michigan Tech was over 80% in Science, Technology, Engineering andMathematics (STEM) in terms of disciplines, and prior to the ADVANCE initiatives only 12%of the full professors and

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Kristine Guzak; Kurt Paterson

how well the participant might work with someone who has a different worldview, culture, and life experiences; while this is important for forecasting possible project partnership successes and challenges (and can inform preparation), it is also s ggesti e of the frame ork s pporting a st dent s motivations for participation.C. Sustainable Engineering Assessment This assessment addresses how well prepared students are to work with global engineering problems. It is comprised of two components: (1) an open-ended case study based question to measure the understanding of sustainable engineering, Proceedings of the 2011 North Midwest Section Conference and (2) an online survey in which the motivations, self

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Neil J. Hutzler; Joan S. Chadde; David Heil; Mia Jackson

economic and technological competitiveness. Often pre-college students Proceedings of the 2011 North Midwest Section Conferencehave not been introduced to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) ina way to attract them to the fields as a career. This has been particularly challengingfor the engineering field, since specific instruction in engineering is quite limited in K-12 settings, with most engineering offerings not appearing until the high schoolyears. In an effort to increase awareness, programs such as Engineering is Elementar and Project Lead the Wa have developed curricula that can be used in school settings, andprograms such as FIRST have been developed to pique interest in engineering and sciencethough

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

P. B. Ravikumar

on Educationin Hawaii in January 2008. [1] Robust assessment minimizes the adverse effects of variables on thereliability of assessment results by identifying, understanding, and controlling the influence of such a ab e . T e e a e de a c f de a a a e e f e e a a ab e amust be assessed and effectively utilized to improve teaching-learning. Such an assessment is an exampleof a bottom-up approach that supports the top-down strategy of robust assessment. Personality typesgreatly influence team dynamics or interaction. This is particularly important in courses wherein teams orgroups of students work on projects. This paper presents the planning/methodology, implementation,anticipated outcomes, and results to

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Alon McCormick

sequence. Overarching goal: prepare ChEn students for professional practice and for possible research careers in computationally-intensive ChEn fields and applications In each following core ChEn course, students then completed numerical projects building on principles of that course The Numerical Methods course was built on concepts from linear algebra: linear e a e , ea e a e , ea de a d e , b da a e be , a d de Advantage: After that key Numerical Methods course, students were proficient at programming, at formulating numerical approaches, and at coping with challenging numerical problems Problems: In

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Genevieve Gagnon Ph.D.

tool to improve our classrooms. You can ask questions inclass and know right away if all the students, half the class or just 10% understands. It’s agood way to have a read on all your students before an exam is given or at any timeduring the semester. It is also a good way to involve your student every class. MiniQuizzes also add to identify readily who understands and who doesn’t so you can allocatemore points to the mini quizzes than to the homework in case they just copied them,which is not a reflection of their level of understanding. Students need to put in the effortin order to get excellence.The students’ favorite parts of class are the projects, where they get to apply the theory toreal engineering problems. Students love the hands-on

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Robert G. Feyen; Todd W. Loushine

accomplish the review, the program instructors and three recent graduates from each coursewere recruited by the faculty to provide feedback voluntarily. The first task for the participantswas to review the curriculum course-by-course. For each of the fourteen courses in the program,the instructor and students were asked individually to go through the complete knowledge itemlist and mark all items they believed to have been covered included in the course. This stephelped narrow the focus of each subsequent course review as any items left unmarked by all fourindividuals in this phase were not included in later phases of the project. In addition, a primary,secondary or tertiary priority ranking was assigned to each remaining item based on the number f

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

James Allert

engineering programs and has guidedengineering education for over 75 years. Although the particulars of the process are subject toannual changes, the overall thrust of the endeavor remains the same documentation ofprocesses that assess and continually review how well program outcomes and performancecriteria are being met. As a result of this need for accountability engineering departments have struggled to put inplace effective means of program assessment based on direct measures. Direct evidence, in theform of student projects, exams, reports, and other measures, are used to substantiate the ga c ai ha i c e a e bei g a i fac i e. ABET requires specific evidence that engineering programs have enabled a series of 11abi i ie

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Lisa Anneberg; Jiao luo; Suyun Luo

. The initial phase of the collaboration has been a certificate program for SUESstudents. The SUES students receive a certificate recognizing their achievement of five courses that aretaught by LTU American professors, who teach the courses in English in Shanghai. The SUES studentundergraduate programs are the Automotive Engineering BS degree and the Electrical Engineering BSdegree. The courses include Introduction to Engineering, Introduction to Electrical Engineering, QualityControl, Automotive Microcontrollers, VLSI design, Project Management, Engineering Cost Analysis,Electrical Machines, and Control Systems. This program is ongoing and has been since 2005. Eachyear, continuous improvements and enhancements are made to the program

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

Eshan V. Dave

obtain these properties and, commonly used standards and specifications for metals in construction industry. Two laboratory sessions are conducted in this block; experiments include tensile testing of various metals, hardness measurements and toughness testing. (3) Aggregates (3 Lectures): This block briefly discusses geological aspects associated with mineral aggregates followed by extraction and manufacture. Physical properties and size distributions (gradations) are discussed along with requirements for various construction materials and projects. This block also consists of two laboratory sessions that involve measurements of specific gravities, relative densities, void content, absorptivity, and

Collection

2011 North Midwest Section

Authors

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

of Wisconsin System is a thorough oneincluding such aspects as a background of the need for the program (from regional, state and nationalperspectives), a description of how the program s with other programs in the system, description ofpersonnel and equipment needs, budgetary items, enrollment and staffing projections, and a detaileddescription of the curriculum. The original curriculum sheet is shown in Figure 1, and has proved to bea faithful guide as the program has unfolded.One of the unique aspects of most Computer Engineering programs is that they are a wonderful blend a c ( c C Sc c c c a a a a , Da a S c ,C O a a , c.) a a a