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2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Joseph J. Rencis; Hartley T. Grandin

A New Approach for an Undergraduate Mechanics of Materials Course that Integrates Theory, Analysis, Verification and Design Joseph J. Rencis, Hartley T. Grandin, Jr. Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Arkansas/Worcester Polytechnic InstituteAbstract This paper presents a description of a first undergraduate course in mechanics ofmaterials. Although many of the features of this course have been used by other faculty andpresented formally in textbooks, the authors believe they have united them in a way thatproduces a course that is unique and innovative. The title of the paper includes Theory,Analysis, Verification and Design to

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Stephen B. Taylor; Darin W. Nutter; James A. Davis; Joseph J. Rencis

Freshman Retention Study in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arkansas Stephen B. Taylor, Darin W. Nutter, James A. Davis, Joseph J. Rencis Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701abstract Retention of freshman students has become a focal point for many engineering collegesthroughout the country. With many literary sources written on the retention of students inengineering programs, there are many references that address why some students leave withoutcompleting a degree and why other students stay to ultimately complete a degree. It is

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Ameya A. Chandelkar; Deepak G. Bhat

A High Temperature Hardness Testing System for Mechanical Characterization of Engineering Components Ameya A. Chandelkar and Deepak G. Bhat Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of ArkansasAbstractMechanical properties of materials at high temperatures often show a significant departure fromroom-temperature behavior. In the study of materials science, an understanding of mechanicalbehavior as a function of temperature is quite valuable. One of the elegant ways to determinetensile strength of metallic alloys is to measure the material hardness, in which the hardness actsas a “strength microprobe.”1With this aim in mind, we put together a high-temperature

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Jason Weiss; Farshad Rajabipour; Thomas Schmit; Sebastian Fait

2fundamental understanding of the structure of materials, characterization of materials, andrelationship between the properties and structure of materials. Over the last four decades, thismethodology has become referred to as ‘the material science approach’. The following sectiondescribes the content of these courses and provides some of the background that lead to theincorporation of the interactive teaching technology in CE 331 during the spring of 2005 [2].Engineering Materials I (CE 231) is a required sophomore level course that is divided into threeparts. The first part of the course begins by introducing concepts of mechanics including stressand strain. The materials response to stress are described including the concepts of 1) linearityand

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Christi L. Patton; Daniel W. Crunkleton; John M. Henshaw; Douglas Jussaume; Robert L. Strattan

utilityand functionality. This project allows each university team to follow General Motor’sreal-world Global Vehicle Development Process to participate in hands-on research anddevelopment with leading-edge automotive propulsion, fuels, materials and emissions-control technologies.Interdisciplinary Team StructureABET and employers have encouraged engineering programs to emphasize diverseinterdisciplinary teamwork. A project of the magnitude of Challenge X is best done insuch a diverse group. Prior to writing the proposal a team of faculty from fourdepartments (Mechanical, Electrical and Chemical Engineering plus Computer Science)agreed on an approach to the project. The faculty then recruited students from these andother departments to write a

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Seamus F. Freyne

motivated to prepare for a game of academicbaseball than an exam. Of course, the skills students develop to excel at academic baseballwill also serve them well on most exams.A rigorous assessment of the value of academic baseball has not been accomplished yet.But as evidence of game’s popularity, attendance in a Mechanics of Materials course atOU in the summer of 2004 was roughly 80% on the days of a routine lecture, but nearly100% on game days, though no credit was given to students for attendance in class or awin in the game.Bibliographic Information1 Fink, L. D., Ambrose, S., and Wheeler, D., “Becoming a Professional Engineering Educator: A New Role for a New Era,” Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 94, No. 1, January 2005.2 Smith, K. A

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2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Brandon W. Olson

A Practical Application of Team Based Learning to Undergraduate Engineering Coursework Brandon W. Olson School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering University of OklahomaAbstract Team based learning is a powerful pedagogical tool that has demonstrated, throughpersonal experience, an ability to simultaneously improve student interaction, conceptualunderstanding, commitment, and cooperative skills. While this technique is organized aroundstudent teams, it is far more than just “group work”. Team based learning, developed in part byDee Fink of OU’s instructional development program, is

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2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

R. C. Clifft; Shivan Haran

Enhancing Undergraduate Engineering Laboratory Experience Dr. R. C. Clifft, Professor of Civil Engineering, and Dr. Shivan Haran, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Arkansas State University, P. O. Box 1740 State University, Arkansas 72467-1740 ABSTRACTThe importance of experimental activities is being increasingly recognized as integralelements of engineering curricula today. A reflection of this trend is evidenced by thereview criteria applied by educational accreditation boards such as ABET. The crucialrole that laboratory experiments play in providing a meaningful engineering experienceto the

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

George D. Gray

continue to grow, not onlyby replacing current materials in previous applications, but more importantly by designing new “Proceedings of the 2005 Midwest section conference of the American Society for Engineering Education” 3composite applications, unique in form, structure and characteristics. Through composites,engineers and designers can truly be creative industrial artists.The challenge for the educational system is to provide learning and training opportunities to helpgrow the composites knowledge base in its many forms. Composites as both a material andapplication must be more widely introduced to all mechanical/manufacturing

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2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Ken French

Vertical Integration with a Vortex Tube Ken French John Brown UniversityAbstract Vortex tubes are made by small groups of students in a freshman engineering‘concepts and design’ class. The tubes are made from specially prepared kits with detailsimportant to performance left un-finished. Students in an elective manufacturingmethods class produce the kit components once they are designed. An upper division fluid mechanics class will use laboratory sessions to measureand compare the performance of the freshman teams’ vortex tubes. Design, CAD andteam dynamic are essential components of the learning10.Background The vortex

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2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Dale E. Schinstock

Integrating Education in Mathematics, Physical Science, Engineering Science and Application in a Required Course Dale E. Schinstock Kansas State UniversityIntroductionThis paper addresses a common problematic scenario in engineering education through a specificexample of the overhaul of a required course in a mechanical engineering curriculum. Thecourse was designed with three major themes in mind: 1) often, less is more in the context of thetopical coverage and retention and understanding, 2) application of material and active learningare important motivating factors for the students, and 3) moving engineering application toearlier in the

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2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

F. Edwards; T. Daniel; W. Hale; A. Hanson; E. Richardson

. • Appropriate learning experiences - Learners select learning experiences that suit their specific situations (mini-internship, reading or listening to audio tapes, etc.). • Variety of learning resources - Provide various resources to suit personal needs and interests (e.g., textbook recommendations, a study guide, workbook of supplemental materials, suggested reading material, media materials, lists of resource specialists, and examples of student generated materials from previous courses). • Optimal learning environment - Provide a mixture of instructor input, supplemental learning materials, discussion opportunities, evaluation options, and mechanisms for critical reflection. • Learning pace - The self

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2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Stephan A. Durham; Mark L. Kuss; Ernest Heymsfield; Hanna Sheppard

“Proceedings of the 2005 Midwest Section Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education” 2theoretical specific gravity of asphalt mixtures. In the summer of 2005 a group of studentsshown in Figure 1, plan to evaluate a new non-destructive testing device used for determiningconcrete compressive strength. This research is state-of-the art and introduces students to thenumerous steps involved in research programs. Students are required to develop outlines for thetesting program, design and create material to be tested, and present their findings through apaper and presentation. Figure 1:Students

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2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Lorin P. Maletsky; Charles E. Gabel

1 A Novel Hands-On Project in Computer-Aided Manufacturing Lorin P. Maletsky, Charles E. Gabel Department of Mechanical Engineering The University of Kansas Lawrence, KS 66045AbstractThis paper describes a project that involved designing and fabricating puzzle-type parts to formletters that were machined using a three-axis computerized numerically controlled (CNC) millingstation. The project was part of the Design for Manufacturability course at the University ofKansas. The letters were

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2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Andy Moore; C.J. Fisher; Pat Crosby; Wayne Helmer; Chih-Hao Wu

A Low-Cost EFI Engine Dynamometer Part 1 – Design and Construction Andy Moore, C.J. Fisher, Pat Crosby Dr. Wayne Helmer, Dr. Chih-Hao Wu Mechanical Engineering/Electrical Engineering Arkansas Tech University Russellville, ArkansasAbstract The purpose of this project is to design and fabricate an electronic fuel injection(EFI) engine dynamometer using standard, low-cost components. Energy conversiondevices are a main component in any mechanical or electrical engineering department.Energy conversion devices such as internal combustion engines usually require

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Hunter Epperson

. Increasing numbers of enlightened schools are offering light, survey,hands on, fun project courses to generate interest in engineering. This is a good thing, anobviously necessary first step in recruiting individuals for engineering education and practice.However, some enthused students that succeed in building a kit or playing with software may“hit the wall” in their sophomore year of university studies when confronted with realengineering mechanics or systems problems, not to mention design projects later on.Courses are needed that give an accurate preview of and background preparation for universitydemands of pursuing an engineering degree. These courses would incorporate a few specificexamples of problems in circuits, statics, dynamics

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

William W. Ryan; Tiffany Wiederstein; Danny King; Malcolm Fowler

year requires smaller universities to “thinkoutside the box”.Oklahoma Christian University (OC) is a small Christian (Church of Christ) liberal artsinstitution. In the mid -1980s a need was seen to develop an engineering program in ourinstitutional arena and so OC launched its engineering program 17 years ago. The programoriginally offered two degree choices: Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. Bothdegrees are accredited by ABET. Over the past few years, the university has seen a need toexpand its degree options, and Computer Engineering (ABET accreditation expected bySeptember, 2005) has been added. These three programs currently sustain approximately 160students from freshman to senior levels. More information about OC’s

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Theodore W. Manikas; Douglas E. Jussaume; Gerald R. Kane

the instructor by the end of the last scheduledlab of the semester.Since the laboratory course is coordinated with the co-requisite lecture course, the first project isnot assigned until sufficient background material has been covered in the lecture course. Thereare three main parts of the course. The first set of projects help students get familiar withhardware design through practical application of digital logic theory. Next, the second set ofprojects focus on using programmable logic devices to implement digital designs. Finally, thethird set of projects has students use the experience gained from the earlier projects to builddigital design projects. More specific information on the course design projects can be found ina previous ASEE

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Norman D. Dennis

of the 2005 Midwest Section Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education 3 1 As a starting point for creating such a program, the CFD recommended that ASCE fund an 2 existing faculty development workshop called T4E (Teaching Teachers to Teach Engineering) 3 that was developed by the United States Military Academy through an NSF Grant. This week 4 long workshop was essentially a condensed version of a six week new instructor training 5 program that had been conducted in the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering for 6 over 40 years7. Under the auspices of ASCE, this work shop was called the ExCEEd

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2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

K. Madhavan

at CBUChristian Brothers University is a small Catholic university. The School of Engineeringoffers degrees in electrical, mechanical, chemical and civil and environmentalengineering. The CEE program requires studies in structural, soil, traffic andtransportation, hydraulics and water resources in addition to other courses in physics,chemistry, mathematics and the liberal arts. Only the courses in the geotechnicalsequence are described here. Three required courses are offered in geotechnicalengineering (geotechnical engineering, geotechnical engineering laboratory and design offoundations) along with elective courses. In the first two courses, students learn thefundamentals and in the third course, they are required to design various types

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Stuart Bernstein

. This should be a very discouraging statistic for anyone who still uses lectures withtheir students. Another disturbing comment I have heard from many students, is they have lesstendency to read the text if they know the professor is going to lecture in class and cover all ofthe material anyway.Engaging the students in open dialogue accomplishes a number of positive results. The first istheir tendency to read the text in order to be able to engage in the discussions. It sometimestakes a few classes for each of the students to understand they are going to be called on and it ismuch less embarrassing to be able to respond, having read the text, then not to know the answerbecause they haven’t. The second is concentration. It is a natural tendency

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2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

R. L. Kolar; K. M. Dresback; E. M. Tromble

Thinking,” and “Observing Outstanding Teachers.” They have agreed to open these toGAANN Fellows, who attend one of their choice. The latter is particularly appropriate as it allowsGAANN Fellows to observe teaching styles outside of the College of Engineering.If a particular student’s research topic and lab environment permits it, Fellows are encouraged tohelp mentor undergraduate researchers or even M.S. students. OU, and CEES in particular, hasbeen encouraging the undergraduate research enterprise long before the Boyer commissionreport4. Undergraduates participate in research through three primary mechanisms: UROP, anOU-sponsored undergraduate research program that culminates with a campus-wide researchsymposium every spring; NSF-REU programs

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2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Julia L. Morse

better on this portion of work.Objective A. Technical Skills and KnowledgeOutcome 1. Apply principles of engineering materials, applied mechanics, and applied fluidsciences.Performance Criteria 80% of the students score ‘C’ or better, where C is 70% of theevaluation score used by individual faculty.Courses selected for evaluation: CET 211, MET 230, MET 245.Assessment method and instrumentAssessment methods used for program assessment in the area of Technical skills andknowledge are: Embedded questions in Exams, Homework, and course outcomes survey.Figure 2. Example program outcome (A1) and the role of MET 230 assessment toward thisoutcome.In the example in Figure 1, the far right column references the program learning outcomesencompassed by

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2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Thomas R. Marrero; Andrew K. Beckett

Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education” 12possible that these support mechanisms help counter the “chilly” classroom experiences andincrease their interest in the field of engineering.For institutions wishing to improve the undergraduate experience for engineering students, wesuggest a self-analysis of specific learning practices as outlined in Kuh, et. al. text. Thefollowing questions are designed to help institutions reflect on their commitment to studentsuccess:Are students academically challenged in their coursework? What expectations do faculty have forstudents? How are these expectations communicated in

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2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Wangping Sun; J. M. Zhang; Z. J. Pei

). This book is used in the first half of the course. It helps the students to build the basic framework of Lean Manufacturing through a fiction story. • Lean Thinking (Womack, J.P. and Jones, D.T., Simon & Schuster Inc., 1996). This book is used in the second half of the course. It introduces Lean Manufacturing in depth with a lot of real cases and analyses. • Some technical papers from industrial magazines. These supplementary teaching materials help the students to digest Lean Manufacturing even further.The students enjoyed these teaching materials as indicated by their comment such as thefollowing: “The books we read are helpful and explain the material in simple ways”.2.2 Group

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2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Larry N. Bland

thecampus, they are taken through the projects area and shown the race vehicles. There is a clearconnection of using “toys” to attract potential students. These are some examples of using fun for recruiting. At JBU, the decision was made toexpand our “fun” and make sure that we actively use these elements in the recruiting process.There is a fall competition hosted in the Statics and Strength of Material class. The studentsbuild a bridge and have it tested to destruction. To provide higher visibility to our generalstudent body, the testing is performed in the atrium of the Student Center. During the springsemester, a robotics competition is also held in the Student Center. Efforts are made tocoordinate timing of each event to coincide with

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Larry N. Bland

professional skills. These community-focused projects are developed to address multi-disciplinary, contemporary needs within social, political and economic environments. Theseprojects often have ethical issues and require much communication between the engineer and thecustomer organization. By integrating the hard skills and the professional skills, the engineeringeducators and student fit more material into an already packed curriculum. To date, there appears to be a shortage of engineering programs with service learningintegrated into the curriculum. There are examples of service learning as applied to capstonedesign courses or directed studies courses.[14] Out of 11,800 service learning courses reportedby 575 member campuses of Campus

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Edgar C. Clausen; W. Roy Penney; Alison N. Dunn; Jennifer M. Gray; Jerod C. Hollingsworth; Pei-Ting Hsu; Brian K. McLelland; Patrick M. Sweeney; Thuy D. Tran; Christopher A. von der Mehden; Jin-Yuan Wang

, Heat Transport, and CHEG 3232, Laboratory II, juniorlevel chemical engineering students were required to perform simple heat transfer experimentsusing inexpensive materials that are readily available in most engineering departments. Thedesign, implementation and analysis of three of these experiments are described.Experimental forced convection heat transfer coefficients were determined by flowing air overan upward facing horizontal plate, past the bulb of a mercury/glass thermometer and through anannulus. In each case, the apparatus (the plate, cylinder or inner cylinder) was allowed to cool orheat in the flowing air, while recording temperature as a function of time. The experimental heattransfer coefficients were then determined from a heat