Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Kaylea Dunn

1 The Case for Leadership Skills Courses in the Engineering Curriculum Kaylea Dunn Olsson Associates, Lincoln, NEAbstractLeadership courses are often encouraged, but not mandatory for an undergraduate engineeringdegree. The research presented here focuses on implementing specific undergraduate leadershipcourses as part of an American Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) accreditedprogram at a Midwestern University.The purpose of this study is to identify what professional skills engineering companies expectstudents to develop through coursework before

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Waleed K. Al-Assadi; Scott Smith

introduction of asynchronous digital design in the classroom is largely constrained by the lack of introductory educational materials. Future complex integrated circuits such as SoCs, in nano-meter technology are most likely to use asynchronous paradigms in the design of data-path circuits of the IC. This paper presents an approach for integrating asynchronous designs into the undergraduate VLSI design course. The paper is organized into 5 sections. Section 2 presents an overview of asynchronous logic; Section 3 describes the asynchronous materials developed for use in undergraduate Computer Engineering courses; Section 4 depicts the original VLSI course outlines and shows how this course has been augmented to include the asynchronous materials; and

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Viacheslav Adamchuk; Gwen Nugent; Bradley Barker; Neal Grandgenett

gain experience with GPS-based navigation and data collection.Year 2 is dedicated to various indoor and outdoor activities integrating the technologies andexploring their potential in the world of agriculture and natural resource management. Eachactivity consists of an introductory large group activity, prescribed exercise and an additionaloptional challenge.The LEGO Mindstorms NXT kit (LEGO Systems, Inc., Enfield, Connecticut) has been selectedas the main robotics platform. The unit has three output and four input ports. Our activities usethe output ports to operate electrical motors (two for maneuvering and one for a mechanicalmanipulator), and the input ports are used to equip the robot with sound, ultrasonic distance, lightreflectance and

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Yumin Zhang; David Probst

process of building modern skyscrapers, first a solid foundation is laid, then a steelskeleton framework is constructed, and finally the floors and walls can be filled in. Inengineering education, we can also adopt this top-down approach. The foundation for collegeeducation is laid at high school, where students can receive a broad education, but the manysubjects are often not well interrelated. After entering college, most students still keep such amindset, and they tend to view the integrated curriculum as a collection of independent courses.One way to overcome this problem is to introduce an introductory course in the first year, whichwill give an overview of the whole curriculum and show the relationship between the courses. Proceedings of

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Shannon G. Davis; Bryan W. Hill; Carol S. Gattis; Bradley M. Dearing; Christa N. Hestekin; Edgar C. Clausen

11Mr. Dearing is a faculty associate at Illinois State University and teaches Engineering and Technology at theUniversity’s laboratory high school. He has B.S. and M.S. degrees from Illinois State. He has served as Presidentfor the Technology Education Association of Illinois and served on the Board of Directors for the past 12 years. Heis active in professional research and publications, as well as continuing work towards professional development,state and national standards and curriculum projects.CHRISTA N. HESTEKINDr. Hestekin is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Arkansas. Her researchinterests are in the separation of biomolecules, specifically DNA, using microchannel electrophoresis forapplications in

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Colin D. Paul; Melinda B. O'Neil; W. Roy Penney; Bernard J. Van Wie; Paul B. Golter; Robert R. Beitle; Edgar C. Clausen

method for teaching freeconvection,10 and the use of an integrated experimental/analytical/numerical approach that bringsthe excitement of discovery to the classroom.11 Supplemental heat transfer experiments for usein the laboratory or classroom have also been presented, including rather novel experiments suchas the drying of a towel12 and the cooking of French fry-shaped potatoes.13 Suggestions for theintegration of heat transfer material into the laboratory and classroom have been described byPenney and Clausen,14-20 who presented a number of simple hands on heat transfer experimentsthat can be constructed from materials present in most engineering departments. This cross-course integration of course material has been shown to be a very

Collection

2009 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Bruce Dvorak; Dennis Schulte; Mary Garbacz; Shari Aldrich; David Admiraal; Julia Soulakova

relationship (while still being significant)between students’ scores on the BWS test and the writing sample (R2 = 0.11, p<0.001).Interestingly, composite ACT score negatively correlated with the number of English classestaken (R2= 0.18, p=0.007), meaning that students who perform better on the ACT exam aretaking fewer English classes. This is evidence that some students with weaker academicpreparation, especially in Omaha, are already taking additional English classes beyond the onetechnical writing class required by the B.S. Civil Engineering curriculum. In Lincoln, studentswith <19 on the ACT English subscore (though few) must take an additional English class. Thistrend was in spite of the stronger BSEN students taking two writing classes for