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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Jeffrey Ashworth; Samer Shaghoury

Practical Lecture, Research, and Projects Based Engineering Education Jeffrey Ashworth, Ph.D., and Samer Shaghoury Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott CampusAbstractA lecture, research, and projects based course has stimulated student interest in aircraftaerodynamics, performance, and static stability and overwhelmingly enhanced preparation forthe practical aircraft conceptual/preliminary capstone design course. This unique elective coursetitled “Aircraft Flight Mechanics and Performance” uses learning methods reinforced byapplication techniques to analyze actual aircraft performance. Semester lectures cover threetopics in nearly equal segments

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

R. Radharamanan

Project-Based Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education in Engineering R. Radharamanan Mercer University, Macon, GA 31207AbstractThis paper highlights project-based innovation and entrepreneurship education activitiesdeveloped and implemented at Mercer University School of Engineering (MUSE). MUSEpromotes entrepreneurial mindset among engineering students through curriculum development,extracurricular activities, and involvement of students in the entrepreneurship program. It hasdeveloped and implemented a course sequence to integrate elements of entrepreneurship inengineering courses; develop an entrepreneurial mindset in

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Matthew T. Siniawski; Adam R. Carberry; Rafiqul I. Noorani

A Project-based Approach for a Design and Manufacturing Laboratory Course Matthew T. Siniawski1, Adam R. Carberry2, Rafiqul I. Noorani1 1 - Loyola Marymount University / 2 - Arizona State UniversityAbstractAn upper-division design and manufacturing laboratory course for mechanical engineeringstudents was redesigned to incorporate a semester-long project. The goal of the project was toprovide students with an experience applying the design process to develop a simple product, amanual bottle opener. During the design process, students individually generated a conceptualdesign, created a 3D computer-aided design (CAD) model of their design

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Mohammed Alani; Alaa Ayoob; Jino Raj Xavier; Sameeullah Sharief; Mohammad Amin; Marcos Turquetti; Pradip Peter Dey

Easy Tracking System: a Valuable Outcome of a Student Capstone Project Mohammed Alani, Alaa Ayoob, Jino Raj Xavier, Sameeullah Sharief, Mohammad Amin, Marcos Turquetti and Pradip Peter Dey National University, San Diego, CaliforniaAbstractEasy Tracking is a unique and an innovative tracking system that uses Bluetooth, ShortMessage Service (SMS), Global Position System (GPS), and Google Map technologies todevelop a new mobile application. This system helps to keep monitoring of someone’spersonal belongings or loved ones (children or pet). The application utilizes the Javaprogramming language and Android platform. It can be installed on

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Alex Dekhtyar; Anya L. Goodman; Aldrin Montana

Teaching Bioinformatics in Concert: an Interdisciplinary Collaborative Project-based Experience Alex Dekhtyar, Anya L. Goodman, Aldrin Montana Department of Computer Science, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, dekhtyar@calpoly.edu/ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, agoodman@calpoly.edu/ Department of Computer Science, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, amontana@calpoly.eduAbstract In the Spring of 2012 we piloted a novel approach to interdisciplinary instruction in thearea of bioinformatics that enables undergraduate students in life sciences to work “in concert”with computer science students to solve

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Taufik Taufik; Dale Dolan

Work-In-Progress: Enhancing Students’ Learning in Introductory Power Electronic Course Using an LED Driver Project Taufik, Dale Dolan California Polytechnic State University, San Luis ObispoAbstractThis paper presents a new hardware project assignment introduced in the first course of powerelectronics at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo. The new project is a culmination ofseries of experiments in the laboratory portion of the course. There are several objectives forassigning the project. First, the project is aimed to enhance students’ learning by exposingstudents to practical issues in dc-dc converter designs. Secondly

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Danyang Li; Qiao Zhen; Albert Gordon; Bhaskar Raj Sinha; Marcos Turquetti; Mohammad N. Amin

    Academic Analysis of an Android Based Student Project: Remote Medical Monitoring Station Danyang Li, Qiao Zhen, Albert Gordon, Bhaskar Raj Sinha, Marcos Turquetti, Mohammad N. Amin National University, San Diego, CaliforniaAbstractFirst responders provide urgent care to patients in medical emergency. Such care must beinitiated as quickly as possible in order to maximize the survivability of the patient. Since firstaid procedures are often needed, early information on the patient’s overall condition is an asset tothe responders. Advances in wireless communication data collection have occurred on severalfronts. In the healthcare field, it

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Andrew Siefert; Jonathan Hoy; Keith Christman; Kevin R. Anderson

SUBMITTED TO THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION PACIFIC SOUTHWEST SECTION CONFERENCE UCR, APRIL 18-20, 2013 Using Arduino Microcontroller Based Robot Projects to Teach Mechatronics in a Hands-On Mechanical Engineering Curriculum Andrew Siefert, Jonathan Hoy, Keith Christman, Dr. Kevin R. Anderson, P.E. California State Polytechnic University at Pomona Mechanical Engineering Department Mechatronics and Robotics Laboratory

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Matthew T. Siniawski; Adam R. Carberry; Nazmul Ula

Work In Progress: Stepping Back and Letting Students Take the Lead – Student-led Projects for a First-Year Introduction to Engineering Course Matthew T. Siniawski1, Adam R. Carberry2, Nazmul Ula1 1 - Loyola Marymount University / 2 - Arizona State UniversityAbstractA first-year introduction to engineering course was redesigned to encourage active learningthrough a project-based pedagogy. A major goal of this approach was to improve students’engagement, learning, and interest in pursuing an engineering career. Student teams participatedin four unique engineering projects throughout the course. Each project varied the degree towhich the instructor

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Paul M. Jones; J. Richard Phillips

Professional Practice and the Engineering Curriculum Paul M. Jones, J. Richard Phillips Corporate & University Relations Group/ Harvey Mudd CollegeAbstractThere are elements of professional practice common to the engineering profession in allengineering fields. However, many, if not most, engineering academic curricula allowlittle or no room for professional practice other than minimal capstone projects. In thosethat do, the approach is widely scattered. The purpose of this paper is three-fold: (1) Tobriefly describe a professional practice program (featuring sponsored senior designprojects) as adopted by California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA); (2) Todiscuss difficulties

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Thomas M. Korman; Hal A. Johnston; Lloyd Crask

are required to set up a complete business strategy including thefollowing tasks: • examine available information • determine the best portfolio of jobs to bid on • create strategies to improve bonding limits • set strategies to create negotiated work • develop bid prices for desired jobs • monitor their financial position as work progresses • monitor and create strategies to improve company’s appraisal metrics • choose and modify their construction methods to meet due dates and reduce costs • interpret their competitors' strategies • respond to changing conditions and situations proposed to the company and driven by the decisions and actions of the company Commercial Building Projects

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Nina Robson P.E.

Enhancing Learning Techniques in Undergraduate Mechanical Design Classes Nina Robson Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering California State University Fullerton, CAAbstractThe paper discusses two different challenges, presented in the form of two projects, as a part ofthe Introduction to Mechanical Design class at California State University, Fullerton, usinginquiry and project based learning approaches, respectively. The students take the theoreticalideas of mechanical design and implement them with moderate guidance for the first project

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Gene Fisher

, which have chronicled ourprogress6,7,8,9. Over its years of being offered, we have focused to varying degrees on a numberof educational objectives. From the perspective of the students in the course, the objectivesinclude: 1. apply the skills learned in introductory software engineering courses to a real-world software project 2. work with an external customer, on a project of specific interest to that customer 3. work in project teams of varying sizes, including in teams comprised of upper-class and lower-class students of software engineering 4. learn skills of project management 5. enhance technical skills of software development 6. deploy a working product of some formThe first objective is very common to

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Antonella Sciortino; Lisa Star; Tesfai Goitom

groups work in teams to prepare a term paper and a presentation that focuses on acomparative assessment between two similar engineering projects, one in the United States andthe other in a foreign country with an emphasis on engineering and construction practices andsocietal, economical and environmental issues. The challenges that we faced during theimplementation of the plan and the proposed improvements to the courses are presented.Introduction and BackgroundIn today's rapidly changing society, the new generation of engineers and construction managersmust not only be equipped with advanced technical knowledge but also be able to understand theimpact that engineering solutions have on society, environment and economics in a globalperspective

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Binod Tiwari

college students from Cypress College, CA. The second cohort groupincluded 6 students from numerous community colleges in CA and several students from localhigh schools. The author supervised 3 students in two different projects for the first cohort group, Proceedings of the 2013 American Society for Engineering Education Pacific Southwest Conference Copyright © 2013, American Society for Engineering Education 405whereas two high school students and three community college students were involved in twoother projects for the second cohort group. This article includes the experience of the authorthrough those

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Kurt McMullin; Thalia Anagnos; Jan Hustler; Nancy Thomas

, the IHE partner (Institution of Higher Education)9. Initially, the Project Managementteam was hesitant in their expectations that the project would be able to contribute to this goal.However, as the project evolved, it became evident that the IHE faculty was implementingimproved pedagogical practices in their teaching.To achieve their objectives, the Partnership for Student Success in Science (PS3) worked towardthree goals, targeted primarily at the K-8 schools but related to work at the IHE: 1. Raise the overall science achievement in all PS3 schools and narrow the achievement gap between lower-performing, high-priority schools and their higher performing counterparts. 2. Improve the capacity of pre-service and in-service

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Jin-Lee Kim

Framework for Sustainability Practices in Construction Education Curriculum using BIM Jin-Lee Kim, Ph.D., P.E., LEED AP BD+C Department of Civil Engineering & Construction Engineering Management, California State University Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840 - U.S.A Email: jinlee.kim@csulb.eduAbstractThis paper presents a framework to develop a unique and innovative virtual approach in order todeliver sustainability practices using Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology forundergraduate students and implement it as a new hands-on laboratory- and project-based coursein the

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Cheng Chen; Jose Valdovinos; Frank Sanchez; Nelly Avramova; Hector Santillano; Robert Hartsock

Engaging Undergraduate Students into Advanced Earthquake Engineering Research Cheng Chen, Jose Valdovinos, Frank Sanchez, Nelly Avramova, Hector Santillano and Robert Hartsock School of Engineering, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CAAbstractPreparing undergraduate students for advanced studies is critical to enhance engineeringeducation for future American workforce. This paper presents the engagement of undergraduatestudents into a two-year BRIGE project funded by National Science Foundation. The researchproject aims to establish a reliability assessment approach for real-time hybrid simulation withthe presence of actuator delay during

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Ameneh Akbari; Karla Ananias; Jeffery Bouchard; Qian Wang P.E.; George Law

New Technology and Design Methodology for Micromouse: Challenges and Solutions Ameneh Akbari, Karla Ananias, Jeffery Bouchard, Qian Wang, and George Law Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering California State University, Northridge, CA 91325AbstractThe micromouse project has been integrated in many university curricula internationally. In theproject, the students design and build an autonomous robot which explores and maps a fixed sizemaze, and races to the center of the maze in the shortest time. These mice will compete in IEEEor other engineering society sponsored competitions every year. Normally, the students will usea microcontroller or a microprocessor

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Pamalee Brady; James Guthrie

Bringing Design and Construction into Elementary School Classrooms with Sandcastles Pamalee Brady, Ph.D, PE James Guthrie, SE California State Polytechnic UniversityAbstractThe design and construction professions face a continuing need to attract talented and trainedindividuals. A promising approach is to introduce these professions to students in elementaryschool classrooms. The Sandcastle Project is a collaborative effort that will bring students andfaculty in the Cal Poly College of Architecture & Environmental Design (CAED) and the Schoolof Education into local elementary school classrooms. The CAED

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Binod Tiwari

from their early stage ofundergraduate studies, 61 students were involved in various research projects in collaborationwith the author. Students were chosen from different levels of their undergraduate level studies,ranging from sophomore to senior, and GPAs ranging from 2.5 through 3.9. To increasediversity, priority was given to have students from different ethnic backgrounds as well asgender. Parameters chosen to assess the success of the program were - GPA, awards andscholarships, conference presentation, publication, and progress to graduate level studies. Onlythe data pertinent to undergraduate students are considered in this study, although graduatestudents were also involved in this study.Background of Selected StudentsOut of 61

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Xiaomin Jin; Xiao-hua Yu; Xiang-Ning Kang; Guo-Yi Zhang

, respectively. In summer 2009, Simeon Trieu, one of Prof. Jin’s graduatestudents, was awarded an NSF EAPSI summer and he also won the 1st place CSU researchcompetition on graduate engineering and computer engineering level in 2010, because ofworking on the project. Now Prof. Jin is supported by 1) NSF Grant OISE Award #1029135from year 2010 to 2013 and 2) Chinese National Key Research Lab Collaboration Grant 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. Those grants enable the Prof. Jin to bring more US students to work inChina. Since 2012, our new goal is to let students in both countries to freely choose theirresearch topics and their advisers. This paper will discuss how those activities are running in thepast years and what the key issues of the program are. The paper

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Cheng Chen; John DeAndreis; Peter Moala; Agustin Robles; Jose Valdovinos; Qiming Zeng; Amelito G. Enriquez; Wenshen Pong; Hamid Shanasser; Hao Jiang; Hamid Mahmoodi

locations. Steel structure design is one of the main approaches to thismission. Starting in the late 1800’s, steel became readily available for applications in large-scaleengineering structures. This triggered a tide of tall buildings, including the Home InsuranceBuilding in Chicago and the Manhattan Building in New York1. Steel frame buildings began torise all across the nation without any major changes in their connections or design for nearly acentury after the 1880’s. But after the structural failures during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake,there was a fundamental rethinking in the design of seismic resistant steel moment connections.This led to the SAC Steel Project research funded by FEMA2. The San Francisco Bay Regionexperienced large and

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Eniko T. Enikov; Jesus Acosta Iriqui

From Step-Response to State-Space Controller-Observer Design in Twenty Minutes: A Hands-On Workshop on the Use of Matlab/Simulink to Control a Low-Cost Aerodynamic Pendulum Eniko T. Enikov, Jesus Acosta Iriqui Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department University of ArizonaAbstractThis workshop will present broad range of control systems design topics illustrated through theuse of a low-cost aeropendulum. The project is based on a USB-powered kit operated by MatlabSimulink environment in real-time. Participants will follow the activities offered to senior-levelundergraduate students from mechanical and aerospace engineering

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

M. Cardenas

The Decline of the Car Enthusiasts: Implications for Undergraduate Engineering Education M. Cardenas Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CaliforniaAbstractHands-on, project-based engineering education is alive and well. However, anecdotal evidenceindicates that we are seeing fewer undergraduate engineering students who arrive on campusalready knowing how to ‘use their hands’—having familiarity with tools and mechanicaldevices, knowing how to connect things, savvy about avoiding leaks in fluid systems, wary ofstripping a screw thread or shearing a bolt head—the kinds of things that an archetypal carenthusiast would have learned in high school. For

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Bridget Benson; Bryan Mealy

kickstarter project was recently Proceedings of the 2013 American Society for Engineering Education Pacific Southwest Conference Copyright © 2013, American Society for Engineering Education 184proposed describing efforts to create an open source hardware based digital design course4 buthas yet to be developed.History and OverviewThe notion of porting a digital design course currently taught in a flipped classroom format to anonline format follows an ongoing evolution in the mode of instruction for digital design coursesat the authors’ institution. The first major change in digital course formats was switching from

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Hao Jiang; José Carrillo; Alam Salguero; Ellaine Talle; Enrique Raygoza; Xenia Leon; Ben Lariviere; Amelito G. Enriquez; Wenshen Pong; Hamid Shahnasser; Hamid Mahmoodi; Cheng Chen

asked to improvethe existing device by re-designing the electronic circuitry using the printed circuit board (PCB)technology altogether. At the last week of the summer project, they have the opportunity tocharacterize the device that is designed and made by students. During the ten-week summerresearch, students from Cañada College have the opportunity to experience entire engineeringdevelopment flow: idea > design > prototyping > validation. In addition to learning theelectronics design using the state-of-art electronic design automation (EDA) tool, the studentsare exposed to the challenges in designing electronic systems for biological systems. Theinterdisciplinary thinking could benefit their future STEM careers. The feedback from

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Liang Li Wu; Anis Hammoudeh; Gregory Washington

, their English proficiency wasdramatically improved by immersing in a diverse ethnic classroom. Even the most hesitantstudents were able to carry on conversations and convey their thoughts entirely in English.Figure 1 showed that out of 15 students, 12 students have advanced three levels of English basedon their final grade.After the hours of English, the 15 students were split among multiple disciplines in theirrespective fields, including four programs in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering,Computer Engineering, and Civil Engineering. Three graduate mentors were hired to work inconjunction with professors providing research guidance. By the end of the program, studentswould be expected to finish their projects, with variations in

Collection

2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Jesus Acosta-Iriqui; Eniko T. Enikov

Development of International Mobility Program in Micro and Nanotechnology: Lessons Learned Jesús Acosta-Iriqui, Eniko T. Enikov The University of ArizonaAbstractThe Advanced International Studies in Mechanics of Micro- and Nano-systems program is afour-year student exchange program under the Atlantis Excellence in Mobility programsupported by the United States Department of Education and the European Commission ofHigher Education. The main goals of this project was to increase students’ academic aspirationsin science and engineering careers, increase students’ professional aspirations in science andengineering, and increase students’ awareness

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2013 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Lucia Riderer; Harmonie A. Hawley

members to study at the graduate level and to pursue their career dreams.Three field trips were held throughout 2012 as part of the second component of Links toEngineering. Several EEWIE members visited the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CAand the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Laboratory at California State Polytechnic University,Pomona during the summer, 2012. Two of the EEWIE participants attended a three-day NASAAdvanced Rocketry Workshop in Huntsville, Alabama from July 18 to 21, 2012.The final component of Links to Engineering was to have students work on Engineering-relatedresearch projects. Members were not required to conduct research, but several students opted todo so. Three EEWIE members joined the Citrus College Rocket Owls