Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Tom C. Roberts; Shagun Sharma

STUDENT LEARNING THROUGH CONTINUOUS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS Tom C. Roberts, P.E., Shagun Sharma Kansas State UniversityIntroductionFrom Fall 1995 to Spring 2013, more than 2,650 students completed a one hour Personal & ProfessionalDevelopment course in the College of Engineering at Kansas State University. The course originatedfrom a late 1980’s series of Saturday morning professional development workshops designed for key stu-dent leaders. The workshops were combined into an elective one hour course (DEN 275) named“STARS” in the early 1990’s. Enrollments were low (10 to 15 students per semester) and decreasedwhen the university changed from semester to hourly

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Lee Gatton; Saeed Khan

University and Small Business Collaboration for Undergraduate Research Projects in Healthcare Robotics Lee Gatton# and Saeed Khan* # Gatton Research and Development * Engineering Technology Department, K-State SalinaAbstractThis paper will discuss the on-going research collaboration between a university’s engineeringtechnology department and an engineering research firm. The purpose and the reasons for thisjoint research project will be detailed from both the university’s viewpoint and the small businessviewpoint.This research project involves applying Social Assistive Robotic technology

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Thomas Mertz

Teaching and Assessing Quality and Continuous Improvement Thomas Mertz Engineering Technology Department Computer Systems Technology Kansas State University – SalinaAbstractThis paper describes an attempt to teach and assess students’ commitment to quality, timelinessand continuous improvement in a computer software course. The paper discusses continuousimprovement and describes the course, the projects assigned to the students and the gradingmodel used to assess them. A summary is given of the students’ performance and theirperspective of the experience.IntroductionCriteria 3i of the 2012-2013

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Fred Guzek; Kathy Brockway; Troy Brockway; Sue Guzek

Broadening STEM Students’ Perspectives, and Recruiting with Blended Learning and Study Abroad Fred Guzek, Kathy Brockway, Troy Brockway, Sue Guzek College of Technology and Aviation Kansas State University SalinaAbstract:In order to encourage students to consider STEM careers, and to broaden the perspectives ofstudents in STEM curricula, a multidisciplinary team of four faculty members created a six creditcourse in International Project Management for a class of students with a variety of academicinterests. Graduate students seeking Professional Master of Technology degrees were integratedwith undergraduate students majoring in Aeronautical

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Yanwu Ding

discrete-time convolution, difference equations, discrete Fourier transform,Z-transform, filter designs, impulse, and frequency responses of discrete-time systems. Toimprove students’ skills in practical signal processing techniques and application, a new graduatecourse, EE887D Signal Processing Applications and Techniques, was offered in fall 2012. Bothcourses integrate practical projects using real-world data, thus providing students the opportunityto work on real signal processing techniques via Matlab programming. In this paper, we presentan overview of these projects.1. IntroductionSignal processing finds numerous applications in event detections, signal separations, parameterpredictions, and estimations in various systems. At Wichita

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Scott Bell; Tim Frey; Angie Miller; Eugene Vasserman

 Developed quality lesson plans for programming activities Used art/music context for learning programming2  Took over most of the teaching by week 4 Utilized pair programming3, 4  Received field service credit Thumb drives with Scratch allowed work at home  Majority of teaching by week 4 Pairs developed a final project of their own design  Post-camp interest in using Scratch in future jobs  Less afraid of programming concepts

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Kellie Schneider; Heath A. Schluterman; Candace Rainwater

Student Perceptions of a Theme-Based Introduction to Engineering Course Kellie Schneider, Ph.D., Heath A. Schluterman, Ph.D., Candace Rainwater, Ph.D. University of ArkansasAbstractRecently, the curriculum in our Introduction to Engineering course was redesigned to includehands-on, theme-based projects with the hopes of increasing attendance and engagement of ourfirst-year engineering students. Students were presented with four theme descriptions and askedto choose a theme for investigation during the Fall semester. In the Spring, students were askedto select a different theme for investigation. Each theme was comprised of two hands-on, team-based projects. In

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Steven Colgrove; Adam Svoboda

Collaboration Software Steven Colgrove, Adam Svoboda: K-State SalinaThe Problem Currently there are several different collaboration tools available online. These tools canbe useful when working on group projects, but each come with its own unique set of strengthsand weaknesses. Generally, tools such as TeamViewer and Remote Desktop do a good job ofsharing a screen, but force the users to share a single mouse cursor, which can be frustrating.Additionally, they require the user to share an entire computer desktop instead of a singlewindow, which could be a major security issue.The Goal The goal of this project was to create a piece of software that would allows users to

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Charles McIntyre

Construction Management and Engineering. This courseintroduces students to the construction industry primarily though the use of guest speakers.However, there was a need to restructure this course to provide a hands-on “constructionmanagement experience” that mimics actual construction management job functions andresponsibilities in order to prepare students for subsequent coursework and eventualemployment.The basic methodology for this “revised” course used the Tektōn Hotel Plaza Set 6 which is agirder and panel building kit. This kit was used in innovative ways to introduce students to theentire array of construction management functions and responsibilities that are required for atypical construction project, i.e., construction documents and codes

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Asad Esmaeily

, bar development length, serviceability in terms of crack width anddeflections.Students are divided into 4 groups to do the “formwork”, “caging”, “pouring”, and “testing” in 4different 2 hour laboratory sessions.All of the students participate in the first session for introduction to the laboratory and generalprocedure; the third session to observe the pouring process and making concrete sample; and the lastsession for testing concrete samples and beam specimen.The project provides students with a real-world design and hands-on experience to enhance theirunderstanding of reinforced concrete structures.In the survey conducted at the end of semester, students consistently and unanimously stated that theproject effectively provides them with a

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Darrell Schielke; Joshua Jensen; Byron Ronnebaum; Raju Dandu

thecustomers. Over the course of the project, we designed a polypropylene piece to eliminate shear.Using 3D modeling and molding, we created a prototype of the part. We conducted tests using aprototype and determined that it reduced shear in some materials but didn’t reduce shear in allmaterials.IntroductionThe goal of this project is to fix the problem of product shearing in commercial airlocks. Theairlock designed by K-Tron is a vertically loaded vane pump system and is used primarily tomove small particles between systems of differing pressures. The shear problem is a result ofmaterial becoming caught between the rotating blade of the airlock and its casting. Whenever aparticle is sheared, it destroys some of the product, causes wear on the airlock

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Wade Winfrey; Kale Morris; Coady Morris; Raju Dandu

pan and 180 degree tilt. The new gimbal designed by the team is a simpleand cost-effective solution for the desired result. The camera retains all Toshiba electronics whileutilizing a new and improved system for pan and tilt. The system also allows for auto-stabilization software which reduces camera shake.IntroductionFor this project, we were tasked with modifying a Toshiba conference camera gimbal owned bythe UAS Department at K-State Salina and adapting it for use on an Unmanned Aircraft. TheToshiba camera gimbal had several setbacks. The stepper motors which controlled the gimbalwere jerky and were not compatible with the stabilization software the UAS department wants touse in conjunction with it. To fix these issues we decided that the

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Joseph Strathman; David C. Macke; Steve E. Watkins

Creating a Conference Poster Composite Wing Development Joseph Strathman,AuthorsC. Macke Jr., Dr. Steve Watkins David or Reserachers Electrical Engineering Department Department or Organization The Project The Plane and Wing 3 Main Wing Components Develop an

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Lin Wang; Si Ma; Haifeng Yan

. The experimental and practical courses are divided intoseveral modules such as the module for basic skills, for specialized skills, forsynthetic ability and for innovative ability. They are arranged into eight semesters andemploy various learning styles and evaluation strategy according to their relations andpositions in learning sequences. The national experimental and engineering educationplatforms are basis of this practicum plan to enhance practical skills and innovativeability of the students.IntroductionThis paper presents an overview of the changes in practicum plan made as a result ofthe curricula system reform project granted by the Ministry of Education (MOE) ofChina and the Sichuan Provincial People’s Government of China within the

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Franck Yonga; Martin Malchow; Michael Mefenza; Christophe Bobda

RazorCar: A FPGA-based Prototyping Platform for Autonomous Driving Systems Franck Yonga1, Martin Malchow2, Michael Mefenza1, Christophe Bobda1 1 CSCE Department - University of Arkansas - USA 2 Chemnitz University of Technology - GermanyAbstractIn this paper we present the RazorCar, a FPGA-based radio controlled car that is able toautonomously realize driving scenarios such as obstacles detection/avoidance, self-parking, orstreet lane following. It is part of a project that aims at providing a prototyping environment forthe design of generic hardware/software architectures for self-driving systems. Experiments on

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Dustin Ewing; Aaron King; J.W. Clark; Steven Pihl; Raju Dandu

BULK VELOCITY METERING APPARATUS Dustin Ewing, Aaron King, J.W. Clark, Steven Pihl, and Dr. Raju Dandu Kansas State University SalinaAbstract This project details an engineering design presentation addressed by MechanicalEngineering Technology Students at Kansas State University Salina, for a local company. K-Tron, a leader in pneumatic conveying and feeing systems, presented the need for a moreeffective and consistent method to effectively test the saltation velocity of materials theircustomers desire to convey, before beginning the design process. Saltation velocity is defined asthe actual gas velocity in a horizontal pipeline at which particles in a homogeneous mixture

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Julia L. Morse

Encouraging an Engineering Mindset amid Skill Practice In the Freshman Manufacturing Processes Lab Julia L. Morse Kansas State University – Salina CampusAbstractAt Kansas State University’s Salina Campus, Mechanical Engineering Technology students areintroduced to Manufacturing Processes as part of the freshman experience, leading up to adesign-to-build project in the end of the second semester.1 Although the classroom content andlab discussion topics attempted to address engineering problem-solving and design decisions,student course evaluations revealed that for many, their focus in the lab was on basic machineoperation procedure. Students

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

William Pepper; Caleb Crawshaw; Chester Ewing; Eddie Rego; Raju Dandu

Heater Scraper Tool William Pepper, Caleb Crawshaw, Chester Ewing, Eddie Rego, and Dr. Raju Dandu Kansas State University SalinaAbstract What Bergkamp Inc. offered to us was a project that incorporated many different facetsof the design and manufacturing processes. The requirement was to design a heated scraper toolfor cleaning dried asphalt from road paving equipment that included a 3-inch wide blade thatcould be heated to a minimum of 400°F and a long handle with the proper safety equipment. Ourfinal design included all these features by using propane to heat the blade to a temperatureaveraging at 512°F. Additionally, this design is easily manufactured, with

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Abu S. Asaduzzaman; Ramazan Asmatulu; Ravi Pendse

combine the parallelcomputing concepts with the skills of parallelizing real world problems. Throughout the coursewe will use applications in linear algebra, scientific/engineering problems, and nanocompositesas examples in the lectures to relay the fundamental concepts, as frameworks for homeworkassignments, and as case studies for programming Lab assignments and team projects. Studentswill be engaged both in classroom and out-of-classroom actively by participating in theclassroom discussion and laboratory exercises designed to engrain the concepts being taughtthrough the lectures.4.1 Structure of the Lab AssignmentsWe will design two types of Lab experiments: Individual Lab assignments and one final team-project. All assignments will have a

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Amaka Waturuocha; Laura Ford; Christi Patton Luks

i. Develop original research ideas j. Develop start-up plan including budget and equipment Figure 1: Flowchart to Prepare for an Academic Career in a Research UniversityProceedings of the 2013 Midwest Section Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education 4Research: In my particular case, at the start of my degree program, I picked a research area Iwas interested in and stayed with it throughout my graduate program. My research was a JointIndustry Project (JIP) with a 5 year privacy clause on the finish date of my dissertation. Thismeant I would not be able to publish my work in any public journals until 5

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Robert M. O'Connell

emphasizes TBL as a teaching and learning strategy, it includes acomparison of TBL to other group-based learning methods, such as problem-based and project-based learning [11, 12], as well as descriptions and discussions of lecture-based student-centeredlearning strategies [1, 13]. Thus, the course consists of five learning units, which are describedbriefly below.Unit 1: Introduction and limitations of lecture-based learningThe introductory portion of the unit states and discusses the four course aims and seven learningoutcomes. The aims of the course are to provide trainees with: a) an awareness of andappreciation for student-centered active learning; b) knowledge of some lecture-based activelearning activities; c) knowledge of the different group

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Michael Mefenza; Franck Yonga; Christophe Bobda

RazorCam: Embedded Platform for Image Processing FPGA-based High Performance Smart Camera Michael Mefenza, Franck Yonga, and Christophe Bobda {mmefenza, yfrancku, cbobda}@uark.edu RazorCam ProjectThe RazorCam project is the development of a cooperative smart camera system to develop a flexible and extensiblehardware/software environment to prototype and verify video applications. The fisrt step of this project was to developa hardware platform

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Stephen A. Dyer; Frederick Burrack; Craig Weston; Kenneth Medema; Linda Head; Philip Mease

exposed to concepts fundamental toboth music and engineering, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the disciplines, with alearning goal of (re)awakening the students’ creativity. The final semester project consisted ofcreating and presenting a musical composition. Students worked in teams of two or three, underthe requirement that each team include at least one music major and one engineering major.Figure 1 presents the specific student learning outcomes for both versions of K-State’s Signals,Systems and Music course, and Fig. 2 provides a brief look at the course content. Johnston’sMeasured Tones,1 a delightful book understandable by both the STEM student and the musicmajor, provided readings from which in-class discussions and elaboration of

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Russell Feldhausen; Scott Bell; Daniel A. Andresen

uti-lized by meteorologists. We included the ability for the user to manipulate both the resolution ofthe model (number of points to calculate per inch on the map) and also the number of threads thesystem would employ to calculate these points.Students worked in pairs and were assigned a set of tests to run (yes, we parallelized the testing toimprove efficiency due to our limited time budget!). Results were entered into a grid on the boardand then graphed to compare the elapsed time vs resolution for a given number of threads.Technical AccomplishmentsAs a result of this project, we have developed a simple, easy to follow application that can demon-strate the benefits and limitations of using multiple threads to compute simulation data 4 . We

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Kirk D. Kimery; Robert C. Murphree; Osman A. Martinez; Kevin R. Lewelling

load current and rapid decreases in speed disable the H2 drive for 90 s. The process of designing/constructing a drive to replace the H2 started Fall 2012; thisdrive will operate with a 380 V bus voltage while supplying 160 A for 20 s and 220 A for 3 s.Currently, a 1st generation BEV motor drive has been successfully tested with a 100 V bus.Tests conducted at a 380 V bus voltage have shown limited success; unexpected heating hasoccurred, leading to thermal runaway. Plans have been made to address this issue with a new380 to 18 V DC/DC converter needed for IGBT drivers and adding liquid cooling. This project built a bridge between local business and UAFS in motor development andspecialized powertrain parts as ABB Baldor has

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Michael C. Reynolds

Engineering Analysis. The University of Arkansas - Fort Smith willcontinue to refine the freshman curriculum to optimize retention and success of its engineeringstudents.Bibliography1 Knight, D.W., Carlson, L.E., Sullivan, J.F., “Improving Engineering Student Retention through Hands-On,Team Based, First-Year Design Projects,” 31st International Conference on Research in Engineering Education,Honolulu, HI, June 22 – 24, 2007.2 Bodnar, L.J., et al, “Engaging Freshman in Team Based Engineering Projects,” Proceedings AmericanSociety for Engineering Education 2012 Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX, June 10-13, 2012.3 Budny, D., Newborg, B., and Ford, M., “Combining the Freshman Introduction to Engineering and theFreshman Writing Course

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Muhammet Ceylan; Aybala Usta; Fatma Barut; Ramazan Asmatulu

career counseling. It is also imperative to have a means of tracking studentsthrough school and of monitoring a program’s success so that the institution may identify whichmethods are effective and those that need improvement [2].Proceedings of the 2013 Midwest Section Conference of the American Society for Engineering EducationIn this project, we tried to address some of the factors affecting freshmen student retention andsuccess rates, and also provide a laboratory option to increase these rates while utilizing thenewly developed Nanotechnology Teaching Laboratory (Nanolab) in the College of Engineering(CoE) at WSU. Students in this laboratory mainly engaged in goal-setting activities and learnedabout techniques that allow successful students

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Garth V. Crosby

. Belter, J. Fitzmaurice, M. Kelly, S.C. Koh, and H. Ogunleyeh, "Remote Wiring and Measurement Lab," in the Proceedings of the ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Reno, Nevada, USA, vol. 2, October 2001, pp. TC4-T16.[3] W. Durfee, P. Li, and D. Waletzko, "Take-Home Lab Kits for System Dynamics and Control Courses," in the Proceedings of the American Control Conference, Boston, MA, vol. 2, 2004, pp. 1319-1322.[4] Available online: http://icampus.mit.edu/projects/project/?pname=iLabs; last accessed July 2013[5] B. W. Weiss, G. Gridling, and M. Proske, "A Case Study in Efficient Microcontroller Education," in ACM SIGBED Review-Special Issue: The first workshop on embedded system education (WESE), vol.2, no. 4

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Cindi Mason; Janet Twomey; Lawrence Whitman

ensure validity of the model, all cases with incomplete data were excluded. In otherwords, only students with known values for each variable were used for this project; if thestudent did not have an ACT score on record, for example, that student was excluded from thestudy. This reduced the 2001 cohort from 252 data sets to 125 data sets and reduced the 2011cohort from 230 data sets to 145 data sets. The two cohorts were merged together and put inProceedings of the 2013 Midwest Section Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education 5random order, resulting in a total of 270 student data sets. The first 135 students of the

Collection

2013 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

John L. Krohn

Midwest Section Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education 2This last paper, “Incorporating Inquiry-Based Projects into the Early Lab Experience” byServoss and Clausen6 was presented at the 2012 ASEE Midwest Conference held at MissouriUniversity of Science and Technology describes a methodology with several similarities to theone independently developed by the current author and used in a sophomore level ChemicalEngineering lab course to address student attention and interest in the course.As further background to the method described here, a short history of the various approachesused within our department is in order. Mechanical