Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Stephanie G. Adams; Lance C. Perez

basedon a review of the literature and the first author’s ten-year experience with theseendeavors. Next, the current and planned efforts to increase the enrollment of studentsfrom underrepresented groups in the graduate programs in the College of Engineeringand Technology at the University of Nebraska are described. This includes novelundergraduate research experiences, summer bridge programs and targeted fellowships.Finally, we describe external funding programs for these efforts and the plan forinsitutionalization.

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

R. L. Kolar; K. Gramoull; T. R. Rhoads; R. C. Knox

Preliminary Results from a “Course-less” Curriculum Study R.L. Kolara, K. Gramoullb, T.R. Rhoadsc, R.C. Knoxa a School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science b School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering c College of Engineering University of Oklahoma Norman, OK 73019 kolar@ou.edu (contact author) ABSTRACTIn 2002, we received an NSF planning grant that builds upon our Sooner City project,which was funded through the Action Agenda program

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Kathleen Condray

Standing Out from the Crowd: Opportunities for Research and Work Abroad in Engineering Dr. Kathleen Condray, University of Arkansas The benefits of an experience abroad are indisputable; students can improve languageskills and cultural fluency, learn to think in new ways, and experience world masterworks of art,architecture, and engineering first hand. Obviously, these benefits also make students moreattractive to potential employers. Time abroad can also help universities with retention as thestudents return with a renewed sense of purpose after encountering such life-changingexperiences. Because engineering students face a rigorous plan of study, however, few

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Bryan Hill

successful. The workshop will also look at some of the common mistakes a new recruiting operation falls into. You will leave this workshop with many tools, including: how to hire a good recruitment team, how to find good prospective students, how to successfully work a career fair and increase your booth attendance, what prospective students want to hear in a presentation, how to make a successful recruitment phone call, what a tour should include, how to develop a successful correspondence plan, and how to keep track of the prospective student information and contacts.

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

W. R. Penney; G. J. Thoma; R. R. Beitle

one another in solving real environmental problems. Typical projects include thethinning of forests to minimize the potential for fire damage, the prevention of foodborneillnesses due to bacterial contamination of tomatoes, and the design of a mobile treatmentfacility to treat mixed transuranic wastes. The students must select the “best” technologyfrom a number of alternatives, run the necessary experiments to prove the concept,construct a scale model of their design, prepare a market analysis and business plan whileaddressing community relations and environmental regulations, and make oral and posterpresentations at the competition. This paper compares and contrasts the WERCexperience with the traditional classroom capstone design experience.

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Avery Schwer; Donna Dufner; George Morcous

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis at UNO toleverage the skills and expertise from both groups.2. Research Plan 2.1 Specific Aims Our long-term goal is to develop a generic fully operational decision-support systemthat we call a Project Management Informatics System (PMIS). The PMIS will assistproject managers in diagnosing project anomalies, predicting project progress, andrecommending corrective actions. The unique feature of the proposed system is its abilityto leverage the knowledge encapsulated in the large number of previous projects. Thisfeature significantly reduces the dependency on traditional knowledge acquisitionmethodologies, and makes the system easy to update and applicable to different domains. In this project, we

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Jim Gattis; Bryan Hill

. One of the keyelements of a successful recruiting plan is the management of information. The Collegedecided to implement a Customer (potential student) Relations Management system thatcould be used simultaneously by every member of the recruitment team. The well knownPC based systems, ACT! and Gold are not designed to handle many users working onvarious parts of the system simultaneously. Nor are they able to handle the number ofstudents that are being tracked by the College. Instead of creating an in-house CRMprogram or investing in a vender based multi-user program (Siebel), the College decidedto contract for web based CRM services from a new company called SalesForce.com.SalesForce.com currently has 15,500 customers (companies) and 267,999

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Andy Matthews; Jerri Dwyer

thatthey know how to embark on the job search and are thus ineffective. Some studentsconduct an effective job search campaign but are ill-equipped for the transition tothe world of work.How can we provide a coherent message about what is needed to prepare for the jobsearch and transitioning to the world of work? How can we clearly and consistentlyarticulate the essential elements of career planning from the outset?These questions challenged us at the University of Arkansas Career DevelopmentCenter to create this cohesive comprehensive career development program -theProfessional Development Institute. Our vision is to prepare students to shine abovethe rest of the competition. If successful, the program supports the University’s rolein the economic

Collection

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

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Lorin P. Maletsky; Charles E. Gabel

cutoversized to save time during preparation. All teams then ensured that part of the tool path wentaround the entire piece to obtain the correct outer dimensions. At least one week was given forthe students to create a solid model of their part and a properly dimensioned drawing.Computer aided manufacturing and fabricationPart design using computers and manual machines are common elements in many engineeringcurricula, but experiences with computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) are not as typical. Once apart is designed a manufacturing plan must be created for the selected machine. On a CNCmachine this includes tool selection, tool path, and feed and speed of the tool. Tool path is theactual path the rotating cutting tool will travel to machine the

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Kellie Schneider; C. Richard Cassady

we haveexperienced while administering this course. These challenges include note-taking, checking e-mail, academic honesty issues, and personal responsibility. Finally, we describe some of ourfuture plans aimed at addressing these challenges.Introduction Retention of undergraduate students, especially freshmen, is a challenge faced by almostall engineering programs, and our department, the Department of Industrial Engineering (INEG)at the University of Arkansas, is no exception. One of the most important contributors to ourfreshman retention is the successful delivery of Principles of Industrial Engineering (PrinIE), ourfirst-year-experience course. PrinIE is a required course for INEG majors, the course is offeredduring the fall

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Stuart Bernstein

theirclass. These can be planned or impromptu. It is important at the end of each presentation tohave the student audience discuss whether they were motivated, what worked, and why.Service Learning ProjectA service project occurs when a group of people get together to accomplish something useful forthe community. A service learning project is where students work on a community projectapplying the specific skills they are studying in the classroom. The service learning project is themost valuable experiential learning tool available, because it allows the student the opportunityto test the theories and methods they are studying, while giving back to the community. This isespecially important at colleges and universities which have pledged community

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

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

ASCE’sExCEED26. However, we believe an even better model is to instill a continuous educational com-ponent across the Ph.D. program, beginning in the first year. This approach is similar to the NSF-sponsored PFF (Preparing Future Faculty) program27, but we supplement it with innovativeopportunities. Table 2 outlines our education plan for the GAANN Fellows; the plan assumes afour-year timeline for the Ph.D., but milestones are flexible in order to meet the needs of a diverse Proceedings of the 2005 Midwest Section Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education 4group of students. A description of each year’s educational activities

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

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

earned thestudents gain skills that will make them valuable employees upon graduation. Studentslearn to communicate their work in a professional manner at group meetings and inregular written reports. The students receive guidance, but ultimately must create theirown path for evaluating plans and must negotiate with one another when multiple pathsare offered. Students who participate in this project and enroll in this course havedistinctly proven that they can meet ABET criteria (a) – (k).In this paper, the authors will give an overview of the first year of this program, lookingparticularly at examples of the benefits to students and the difficulties encountered.Methods for integrating this into recruiting and retention programs will also be

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Scott C. Smith

group member participation due mostly to incompatibleschedules. Furthermore, the students did not significantly prefer one group selection method overthe other. Therefore, the author suggests using both group selection methods, and will continueto do so in future offerings of UMR’s Digital System Modeling class.Future WorkThe author plans to continue this study in subsequent semesters in order to collect more data tovalidate the conclusions. It is also planned to add the following two questions to the projectsurvey: 1) rate your own participation, and 2) rate your own ability, in order to determine ifstudents’ assessment of themselves is in agreement with their peers’ assessments. Furthermore, itwould be interesting to see if the groups were

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Kamesh Namuduri; Ravi Pendse

graduate and undergraduate research and trainingpurposes1. There are several core courses such as Data Communication, Routing andSwitching I and II, and Voice over IP that are being offered by the ECE department. Inaddition, with the addition of several new faculty members, the department planned tooffer new courses in wireless networks. There is significant ongoing research work inareas such as ad-hoc wireless networks, voice over IP, and network performance analysis.The CS department also has several related courses such as Data Communications,Databases, and Internet Application Development. So, it is a natural choice for WSU tofocus on Networks and offer a specialization in Network Security with a breadth offundamental topics covering all other

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Stephanie G. Adams; Jeffrey W. Rieske

3manufacturing processes. Students conducted research on a topic related to industrialengineering. The research projects were narrow enough for completion during the allocated time,yet broad enough to present a variety of research challenges. The basic activities of the summerresearch experience were: 1) on-site orientation; 2) reflective journals; 3) Spanish languageinstruction; 4) research methods seminar; 5) field research project; 5) oral and writtenpresentations; and 6) assessment and evaluation. Time at the end of the program was planned forthe synthesis of the students' findings and for writing, followed by the oral presentation anddiscussion of results in a group setting. The remainder of this article shares the experiences ofone of the

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Judith Collins; Alysia Starkey; Beverlee Kissick; Jung Oh

industry. Theresearch process requires:Proceedings of the 2005 Midwest Section Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education 4 A minimum of 10 library subscription database journals as sources. Journals are to be discipline-specific and peer-reviewed. No Internet sources, including manufacturer’s web sites, unless use of this information is clearly justified, based on the subject, purpose, scope, and audience for the report. A research plan including a topic and a specific audience gleaned from research in Industry and Market databases. A determination of the need for information, based on audience analysis

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

George D. Gray

. Therefore, in order to better expose them, a stand-alone specific course on compositeswould be introduced within their disciplines and degree plans. Graduates with little knowledgeof composites will not be able assist with advancing the development of products and processes.This will ultimately create voids between new creative product designs and associatedmanufacturing applications. Students with a broad educational base in composites will betterdevelop as participatory agents of change beyond the boundaries of traditional product andprocess designs and applications. A composites specific course will go a long way in helping toachieve this and will broaden the horizons as to the future potential of these materials.The course will need to have

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Chris Ramseyer; Beth Brueggen

preparation by theprinciple investigator. Neither of these outcomes was considered appropriate. Materials wereready to complete improvements to the laboratory work area to increase efficiency, and allmaterials and testing equipment required for the first eight weeks were available on the first dayof Camp Concrete.To further instill a sense of mission and urgency,each day of the first week was pre-planned withgroup meetings and work. The meeting topicsincluded an orientation to the summer's goals,introduction to the research topics and instruction oncompleting literature reviews, creating a test matrix,planning work, keeping records of the research in alab book and writing a research report. The worksessions included initial cleaning and

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Jason Weiss; Farshad Rajabipour; Thomas Schmit; Sebastian Fait

of the lecture. In addition to encouraging nearly 100% participation and enabling nearlyinstant grading and attendance, the methodology developed enabled problem-based, peer-interactive learning during the large lecture format. This format enabled the students to work onpractical problems by teaching one another, thereby reinforcing important class concepts.This paper will describe: 1) the background of civil engineering materials classes at Purdue, 2)the motivation for investigating how to improve the learning experience in the materials courses,3) the background of interactive classroom technology, 4) methods to incorporate the personalresponse devices in class, and 5) plans for future developments.1. The Background of the Civil

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

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

plan of strategies for making use of appropriate learning resources in answering questions or meeting learning needs. 11. The ability to carry out a learning plan systematically and sequentially. This skill is the beginning of the ability to engage in convergent thinking. 12. The ability to collect evidence of the accomplishment of learning objectives and have it validated through subsequent performance. “Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Midwest Section Conference" 5Schuttenberg and Tracy believe there are many different roles a

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Larry N. Bland

more contemporary cultures. • Focus on the worldview, religion, and values of one or more contemporary cultures. • Address issues of cultural conflict within or between nations. • Foster among students an understanding of social and cultural change. • Provide familiarity with an area of the world or a country that allows them to make systematic comparisons with their own society and culture.Concerns As these learning centered programs are planned for implementation, academic integrity,faculty workload, and logistical issues have arisen as areas of concern. "Proceedings of the 2005 Midwest Section Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Norman D. Dennis

to improve teaching and learning.38 Few universities have implemented adequate programs for engineering graduate students that39 prepare them for academia. Additionally, reports from many sources, including the NSF40 coalitions6 stressed the need for improvement of faculty teaching skills and pointed out that the41 desire by new faculty for this training appeared to be strong. ASCE's Educational Activities42 Committee (EdAC) tasked the Committee on Faculty Development (CFD) to develop a plan for43 an ASCE-sponsored faculty development program for C.E. faculty. The CFD was expected to44 create a high quality faculty development program to improve the teaching effectiveness of civil45 engineering faculty. Proceedings

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Stephan A. Durham; W. Micah Hale

plan to continue study in the area of concretematerials.BiographySTEPHAN DURHAM will be an assistant professor at the University of Colorado at Denver in the Department ofCivil Engineering starting in the Fall 2005. He obtained his MSCE and Ph.D. degrees from the University ofArkansas in the area of repair and strengthening of concrete bridge superstructures. His interests include concretematerials and repair.W. MICAH HALE is currently an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas in the Department of CivilEngineering. He obtained his MSCE and Ph.D from The University of Oklahoma in the area of high performanceconcrete and the effects of pozzolan admixtures in concrete. His current research includes the effect of blast furnaceslag in

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

K. Madhavan

was not clear whether the drainage plans were followed at the time of construction.Even though there were two detention basins, at least one of the drainage outlet pipesfrom the detention basin was clogged. Consequently, water was not draining out of thebasin; instead the water was recharging the sandy silt layer and hence water was seepingout of the cracked pavement.Construction specifications must be followed while earthwork is in progress. Eventhough the geotechnical report called for particle sizes not exceeding three inches are tobe used in the subgrade, large boulders two to three feet in diameter were found buried inthe subgrade. The base course materials were mixed with clay soils; whereas thespecifications called for crushed

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

A. Lambert; D. J. Russomanno; P. Palazolo; S. Ivey

-dimensional solutions to these problems can be provided best by acoordinated, integrated team of educators, students, and employers working together tomaximize results.6,7 One study described the multi-disciplinary approach succinctly as atype of “bridge program” between attrition and retention of students, meaning that eachmember of the team functions as an integral component in guiding STEM students tosuccess.8One such example in the planning stage involves the overlapping premises of theexpectations of the National Academy of Engineering’s (NAE) E: 2020 report and theexpectations of industry employers. Specific objectives target students, educators, andindustry employers with the following goals: • To meet national needs through increased and

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Roy A. McCann

Revitalizing Undergraduate Electric Energy Conversion Education Roy A. McCann Department of Electrical Engineering University of Arkansas–FayettevilleAbstractThe content of the core curriculum course in energy conversion for electrical engineers has beenincrementally updated over the last 50 years. However, recent advances in micro and nano-science have created many new devices and analysis methods. Consequently, there is an increas-ing gap between the classical topics covered in existing textbooks and course plans on energyconversion compared to the emerging needs for government and industry in areas such as fuelcells, artificial muscles

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Julia L. Morse

possibly process) characteristics and needs of multiple users. ○ Recognize constraints, relations, and other design intent which is intended or suggested in a design. Q10a, b 6 Q11 4 Q12a, b 6 ○ Plan and create model to maintain design intent: R Part Symmetry R Concentric holes Part 2 15 R Supports maintain width when total part length is increased R Other Implied design intent ■ Execute good practice in parametric modeling part modeling

Collection

2005 ASEE Midwest Section Conference

Authors

Warren Lewis

semester having covered only half of theintended material. Class can even progress in the absence of the professor if he/she has to begone for a conference or last minute interruption. While the initial investment of time in the creation of the video file may seem somewhattedious, the end result of saved time will more than make up for it. Once the file is done, it canbe updated as needed, but the pictures, videos, notes, demonstrations, and other components willlikely be relevant to a course for years to come. Future preparation and planning is minimized.Additionally, students are able to download and print their own notes thereby saving professorsthe time and universities the money in making photocopies. Finally, when using video