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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Alan K. Karplus

Session 1225 National Sponsored Design Project Initiatives for Mechanical Engineering Students Alan K. Karplus Western New England CollegeOver several years the second semester Junior Mechanical Engineering Laboratoryprogram has emphasized formal team building activities. A project format is used whichrequires the completion of an entry into a National Design Competition. For the 1995/96year the Student Safety Engineering Design Contest sponsored by the Safety Engineeringand Risk Analysis Division of ASME, National Institute For Occupational Safety andHealth

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Charles H. Dowding; Joseph J. Biernacki

Session 2615 Interdisciplinary Team Research with Undergraduates Joseph J. Biernacki, Charles H. Dowding Department of Civil Engineering, Northwestern UniversityThe Civil Engineering Department at Northwestern University is the site of a newNational Science Foundation (NSF) interdisciplinary Research Experience forUndergraduates (REU) program. Research in industry is rarely conducted in isolationand, increasingly, academic research emphasizes interdisciplinary teams andcollaborative efforts. To better educate our undergraduates for innovative problemsolving, this novel program provides students with the interdisciplinary

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Fahmida R. Masoom; Abulkhair M. Masoom

equipment. Involvement of undergraduate engineering students ofdifferent levels in research projects with different levels of guidance from faculty or engineersfrom industry has been found to have positive outcomes.At the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, several initiatives have been undertaken to exposeundergraduate engineering students to engineering design. Apart from the conventional upperlevel engineering design courses and senior capstone design courses, the most recent initiativehas been the introduction of design at the freshman level in the Introduction to Engineeringcourse required for all incoming freshmen. Another undergraduate research program - PioneerUndergraduate Research Fellowship (PURF) initiated about a half dozen years ago

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Matthew Hayes; David Pittner; Bryon Formwalt; Daniel J. Pack

planning around detected obstacles.1 The velocity of the motor is controlled by adjusting the duty cycle of the pulse width Page 2.451.6modulated voltage signal which drives the robot motor. When the decision was first made to initiate the project under the guidance of thementor, the student had no previous knowledge of kinematics, inverse kinematics,dynamics, or artificial intelligence. He began work on the project by doing some researchin the field of walking robotics. After a brief examination of previous research in thisfield, the mentor and the student negotiated a simple set of criteria which would governthe design. The robot would have six

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Nicholas Tsoulfanidis

advantages are that research ,* gives them the opportunity to show initiative; assignment is given in a general sense; they have to provide the specifics.* makes them create something that they feel is their own; that may be acomputer algorithm; an equation; a mathematical model; an experimental setup,etc. Creation is followed by pride in their work* makes them aware of the need to record data and keep accurate records.* gives them the opportunity to evaluate data; keep some and throw others away.* makes them organize their findings in a logical fashion for an oral presentationand/or a written report.* makes them aware that life is not always a success in every try; failure is not acatastrophe; it’s normal; one should just learn from a wrong turn

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Sandra L. Doty; Dr. Kathryn A. Svinarich; Cynthia Finelli

requirement to promotion, typically surpasses a full timecommitment. Moreover, the fiscal, facility, and expertise constraints of a small institute limitviable projects, particularly experimental endeavors. To meet the research requirements forpromotion, three junior, untenured faculty members (an electrical engineer and two physicists)took the initiative to form a cross-discipline, off-campus collaborative research effort with asenior, tenured physiologist at a mid-sized research university. The junior faculty memberscontribute their time and technical skills to the project. The physiologist provides mentoring,direction, laboratory space and supplies. The collaboration involves the waveform analysis of electroretinograms (ERG) in rats. Atthis

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Juan Carlos Balda

dwindling research budgets, Special Problems are proving to be a very effective approach for continuing research work at a nice pace.• Teaching becomes even more enjoyable.• Improved interaction with industry: In some cases, this results in funded research work and/or donated equipment.• Publications.V. CONCLUSIONS Although the use of Special Problems and undergraduate students to perform research workwas initially originated by dwindling research budgets, it is proving a very beneficial experienceto both the undergraduate students and this faculty member. Undergraduate students taking theseSpecial Problems have become the best advertisers. Also, it is the experience of this facultymember that the quality of the work

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Mohamed A. Bourham; Donald J. Dudziak

’ interest. Such previous experience has shown that researchwas helpful in providing the undergraduates with experimental and computationalexpertise, insight on the importance of research for continuing education, and thepossibility of advanced research that leads to graduate studies. In theundergraduate research cases that have been conducted in the Department ofNuclear Engineering at NC State University, it turned out that most of theundergraduates who had been engaged in research proceeded into graduatestudies, either to the master or the doctoral level. Because of these facts, and thegained experience, an undergraduate research program was initiated in thesummer of 1996. The program provides a research experience and helps thestudents to be

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Trevor B. Davey; Ngo Dinh Thinh

studentsis cost and at present Vietnamese transfer students must pay the full cost of tuition, travel andliving expense when they move to Australia. At CSU-Sacramento, the university is looking at asimilar program that would involve students from both countries being exchanged. In thissituation students would pay their tuition to their home institution and the students involved Page 2.171.2from the United States would not necessarily have to be engineering students.The workshop explored several areas of possible joint research activities. San Francisco StateUniversity has a Wheeled Mobility Center that has helped initiate wheelchair products in

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

T.R. Kurfess; M.L. Nagurka

research effortbetween industry and academia. The paper is divided into two major areas, preparation andimplementation, each of which must be addressed if a joint venture is to succeed.PREPARATION Before an agreement can be reached and a project initiated, some background work mustbe accomplished. Preparation is critical in developing a successful working relationship with anyindividual or group. In this section three critical tasks are presented that foster the developmentof a strong foundation from which interactive research may be conducted. It is important to notethe symbiotic nature of the relationship, i.e., both sides (academia and industry) are necessary forsuccess and both should have significant input in all phases of the project

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

T. Hannigan; James E. Simon; K. Koenig; G. Cruse; K. Poh

andredesigned a prototype flow measurement device, and developed a large flowfield mappingsystem. Laboratory topics typically included data acquisition and control in air flows, includingsensor selection, calibrations, and assessment of results, work on this research project couldeasily be substituted for normal laboratory experiences. Considerable design initiative, problemsolving, program development for data acquisition, data reduction, error assessment, anduncertainty analysis were all required of students working on this project. BackgroundStudents take a two-course sequence of classes designed to bridge the gap between classroomand experimentation. The difficulties in validating analytical or numerical

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Shivakumar Raman; P. Simin Pulat; Hank Grant; Bob L. Foote; Adedeji B. Badiru

Session 1526 Curriculum for Integrating Manufacturing Enterprise Decisions (CIMED) Shivakumar Raman, P. Simin Pulat, Bob L. Foote, Hank Grant, Adedeji B.Badiru University of Oklahoma/ David Pratt, M. Kamath Oklahoma State UniversityAbstractThe second year of a three year effort directed toward the development of a research/teachingenvironment that focuses on integrated manufacturing and enterprise modeling is being pursuedthrough a joint effort by The University of

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Sherman K. Ward; Dan Budny; William LeBold

career decisions.This paper discusses the use of self-reports of beginning engineering students using theMathematics Science Inventory (MSI). The MSI is used in placing students in beginningmathematics and chemistry courses and to evaluate their perceptions of their achievements inthese courses.IntroductionThis paper reports on the mathematics and chemistry phases of a comprehensive research effortconducted at Purdue University to measure the background, achievements and self-perceptions ofbeginning engineering students. Initial efforts to examine the differential computer abilities ofengineering, science and technology students demonstrated the feasibility of using self-reports tomeasure computer literacy, knowledge and competency[1]. Later

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Dale Ross; Bill Taylor

Engineers (SHPE) was formedwith our assistance in 1994. A visit from SHPE President and regional Vice-President helped inthe formation of a local student chapter. Each year, we have helped student officers attendedSHPE leadership conferences and office space was given to the SHPE student chapter.Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank Dr. Ken Jensen of Sandia NationalLaboratories for his inspiration and creativity and for securing the initial funding of this project.This work was funded by grant NGT 90070 from the Minority University Research and EducationDivision of NASA. Page 2.73.3Bibliographic Information1. Vacca, J.R., “CU on the Net

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Ronald H. Rockland

introductory electrical courses (21%), control andcommunication courses (20%), and technical writing (8%). There was no correlation between the types of courses considered helpful and either the field orjob title for the first job after graduation. Part of this problem is that in looking at Table I, EETgraduates initially are in very diverse fields, ranging from repair to research. Because of this lackof homogeneity in work assignments, different courses will impact an EET graduate’s first job.Even the 10% of students that were in non-technical job functions (sales, management orbusiness) felt that the electrical technical courses were most helpful. In regard to courses that were considered least helpful, there was definitely a strong direction

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Saundra D. Johnson

Program.Currently the Minority Engineering Program (MEP) at Penn State operates within three stages thatprove to be effective in responding to these challenges: I. The Informative Stage II. The Outreach Stage III. The Collaboration StageThe Informative Stage begins with heightening the awareness of the goals reflected in the Collegeof Engineering Strategic Plan1 to faculty, staff and students. The College of Engineering’s StrategicPlan, which includes diversity initiatives, is submitted every five years. Also, a progress report issubmitted on an annual basis.In the College of Engineering Strategic Plan five strategic initiatives are identified that will developa faculty, staff and student body of

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

V. Gerez; G. Venkataramanan; D. Egolf; Brian K. Johnson; Jerry Hamann

Session 2532 Graduate Teaching Alliances - Experiences from a Western Experiment B. Johnson, D. Egolf, G. Venkataramanan, V. Gerez, J. Hamann University of Idaho/Montana State University/University of Wyoming AbstractResources for higher education have become scarce in recent years due to decreased budget allo-cations from state governments. At the faculty level this has meant that the time available forteaching graduate courses is becoming limited as more time is spent on undergraduate teachingand research. However, training needs for graduate

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Karen E. Schmahl

continuously improve aproduct to meet customers needs. The fifteen weeks of laboratory activity are outlined in Table I.Each activity is then discussed. Table I. Quality Planning and Control Lab Outline Activity Duration Team Building Exercise 1 week Lab Development Project Lab Equipment Research Phase 2 weeks Lab Equipment Presentations/Demonstrations 1 week Develop Customer Requirements 1 week Initial Lab Development 2 weeks

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

T. Chang; R. Barat; J. F. Federici; H. Grebel; A. M. Johnson

. SummaryA multidisciplinary optical science and engineering program has been initiated at NJIT. Threecourses have been developed: OPSE 301 -- Introduction to Optical Science and Engineering,OPSE 402 -- Applications, OPSE 601 -- Advanced topics. The courses, which emphasize opticsas an `enabling' technology, feature hands-on student laboratories in environmental monitoringand detection of pollutants, industrial process monitoring, optoelectronics, and ultrafast opticsand optoelectronics.For more information, contact J. Federici at federici@admin.njit.edu or visit the optical scienceand engineering web site at URL: http://www.njit.edu/Directory/Centers/OPSE.AcknowledgmentsThis work is supported by the National Science Foundation, Combined Research

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Mark A. Shields

the culminating product of the THDP.The initial topics that student teams developed are listed below. Subsequently, the teamsdeveloped these topics into more focused research problems: Technology and Human Development Project Topics* 1. Ultrasound technology in India 2. Three Gorges Dam project in China 3. Hand guns in the United States 4. Industrialization of the Amazon River Valley 5. The Green Revolution in Mexico 6. Controlling infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa 7. The Internet and inner-city American schools *Teams of 3 or 4 students, assigned by

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Mark A. Pagano; Christine L. Corum

plan’s initiatives. The strategic plan is currently being used as ablueprint to guide MET’s CQI efforts.Establishing a time line for Continuous Improvement Initiatives. The continuous improvementcommittee spent the Fall 1995 semester researching sources for assessment practices, reviewingCQI initiatives at other institutions, discussing possibilities for tracking progress, and developinga model of course learning outcomes. At the beginning of the following semester, the committeeput together a planning calendar of continuous improvement projects. The reason forestablishing the calendar was three-fold: 1) identify each individual project and its expectedcompletion date to guide the committee’s focus and assist it in planning project activities to

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Tracy Vogler; Nelson Jaramillo; Lia F. Arthur; Jeff Gray; Irem Y. Tumer; Frank Serpas; Eric Matsumoto; Ronald Barr

interested faculty, participation in regular seminars, lunches,forums and workshops with interested faculty, access to up-to-date resources such as library files,web resources, and PRISM, and participation and networking opportunities at regional andnational conferences. These services are focused on a wide range of academic issues, fromeffective teaching methods to initiating research programs to obtaining academic positions.Academic institutions and National ASEE also profit from an ASEE student chapter. In additionto the distinction of producing well-prepared academics, institutions can use an ASEE studentchapter as a means to help current faculty develop professionally in engineering education. Forexample, the chapter creates many more

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Ajay Mahajan; David McDonald

trying to expand its horizons and explorenew directions. One of these directions is the development of an applied research program, and ithas lead to the development of a new facility called the Autonomous Systems Laboratory (ASL)that serves as a center for research and innovative curriculum development [1]. A second directionis the proposed development of a new laboratory called the Integrated Systems EngineeringLaboratory (ISEL) that emphasizes the vertical integration of knowledge by forming a pre-requisitestructure in laboratory work that spans across multiple courses. It will be shown that this newlaboratory will cause a paradigm shift in student learning by moving from an isolated learningenvironment to an integrated learning environment

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Mary E. Besterfield-Sacre; Larry J. Shuman; Cynthia Atman; Harvey Wolfe

practice but be relevant, attractive and connected,” preparing studentsfor a broad range of careers as well as for lifelong learning. The National Science Foundation’scomplementary report, Restructuring Engineering Education: A Focus on Change3 has a similartheme: Engineering curricula should be broad and flexible, preparing students for both leader-ship and specialist roles in a variety of career areas. The National Research Council’s Board ofEngineering Education4 has also recommended a number of actions for curriculum reform“including early exposure to ‘real’ engineering and more extensive exposure to interdisciplinary,hands-on, industrial practice aspects, teamwork, systems thinking and creative design.” TheASEE report argues that because

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Thomas W. Graver; Leon F. McGinnis; David W. Rosen

technologies. Evencompanies already using RPM are struggling to keep up with the rate of change, and few studentsare familiar with RPM and its benefits.2. Why is RPM Important for Georgia Tech?Georgia Tech has made a major institutional commitment to manufacturing research andeducation, as evidenced by both facilities and programs. The Computer IntegratedManufacturing Systems Program (CIMS) was established in 1983, is a recipient of SME’s LEADaward, and has over 600 alumni. The Manufacturing Research Center (MARC) was establishedin 1988, occupies a 100,000 square foot facility, and is the focal point for interdisciplinary Page 2.166.1manufacturing

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Cyrus Meherji; Yuqin Ho; Bertram Pariser

Session 1526 CONSTRUCTION OF A FIBER OPTIC COMMUNICATION NETWORK by Dr. Bertram Pariser, Cyrus Meherji and Yuqin Ho TCI The College for Technology The objective of this research is to establish a fiber optic communication networkand demonstrate the conversion of electrical energy to light (optical) energy. The authorshave the further objective of teaching students the characteristics of a real fiber opticsystem. In the initial design, the authors decided to use commonly available and widelyused hardware and software, to construct a fiber optic link step by step, to

Collection

1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Cyrus Meherji; Yuqin Ho; Bertram Pariser

Session 2526 CONSTRUCTION OF A FIBER OPTIC COMMUNICATION NETWORK Dr. Bertram Pariser, Cyrus Meherji and Yuqin Ho TCI The College for Technology The objective of this research is to establish a fiber optic communication networkand demonstrate the conversion of electrical energy to light (optical) energy. The authorshave the further objective of teaching students the characteristics of a real fiber opticsystem. In the initial design, the authors decided to use commonly available and widelyused hardware and software, to construct a fiber optic link step by step, to observe andtroubleshoot each step and to

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Matthew R. James; Mario G. Beruvides

Session 2542 PERCEPTIONS FROM THE TRENCHES: ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT vs. MBA Mario G. Beruvides and Matthew R. James Industrial Engineering Department, Texas Tech UniversityAbstractWhat is the difference between an engineering management graduate and a student who obtainsan MBA degree? If there is no difference, then why do we teach engineering management? Thisissue, EM vs. MBA, has been played out in the literature, in conference presentations, anddiscussions amongst practitioners, researchers, and students. Some claim there is no debate.Others are confronted regularly by

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Heather Nachtmann Umphred; Kim LaScola Needy; Jerome P. Lavelle

, if any, of the following “new” teaching methods do you use in your engineering economics course: student advisory groups; 5-minute quizzes; turn-to- your-neighbor exercises; turning questions back to class; group problem solving; group test taking; others (list)? Page 2.168.10 The intent of this research is to identify potential pedagogical implications of the findingsfrom the initial and follow-up surveys as they relate to increasing the efficacy of teachingengineering economy. Although these results were not available at the writing of this paper, theywill be presented at the 1997 ASEE Annual Conference

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1997 Annual Conference

Authors

Karen Frair; Karan L. Watson

these groups have a history of beingsignificantly underrepresented as engineering graduates. This underrepresentation is due to bothlow initial numbers in the first year and to higher attrition rates in the engineering programs.This is a concern both nationally and at all of the FC institutions.All FC campuses have worked to interface the FC students with appropriate targeted programs,such as brown bag luncheons, lecture series, peer tutoring, mentoring, internships, andundergraduate research, as well as organizations such as NSBE, SHPE, AISES, and SWE. Inaddition, additional research is underway on the effects of the curriculum content, teaming andcooperative learning, and technology on the underrepresented groups