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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

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Gregory E. Needel

of the mechanical engineering technology department for hissupport and assistance with the independent study project.Special thanks to Innovation First Inc. for their willingness to help with the independent study.Bibliography 1. Jerry B. Weinberg, George L. Engel, Keqin Gu, Cem S. Karacal, Scott R. Smith, William W. White, and Xudong W. Yu (2001) A Multidisciplinary Model for Using Robotics in Engineering Education. American Society for Engineering Education. 2. David J. Mehrl, Micheal E. Parten, Darrell L. Vines, (1997) Robots Enhance Engineering Education, American Society for Engineering Education. 3. Standards-Based Robotics Competition Curriculum Development Framework, The proceedings of the

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

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Ahmed S. Khan; Beverly Cronin; Maneesh Kumar; Atef Mustafa; Pankti Patel; Joey Socorro

change based onsystem testing. The third phase originally involved implementing the camera, but the project plan wasmodified and instead time was spent to implement the RFID reader. The project’s focus wasoriginally on the “big picture,” but after discovering many implementation challenges thecompletion of the RFID reader section became team’s primary focus (see Appendix B). The final phase of system development involved the design of an enclosure for thecomplete RFID reader and the testing of the entire system in varying environmental situations.Each phase led the team to a testable product and each had “use cases” that defined how the userinteracts with the system. Using the experience gained from each phase, the team learned

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Mark A. Hopkins

Demonstrating in the Classroom the Ideas of Frequency Response Dr. Mark A. Hopkins, Assoc. Prof. Electrical Engineering Dept., Rochester Institute of TechnologyAbstractOne of the most persistently difficult concepts to communicate to students is that of “frequencyresponse”, because it spans both the frequency-domain and the time-domain. This paper presentsa Matlab®-based graphical method of demonstrating several important relationships amongpole/zero locations, Bode plot (i.e., Fourier transform), and time-domain sinusoidal response.The author has been using this method successfully for several years in a variety of systems-related courses to help students understand these relationships

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

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Carl A. Lundgren

Using Case Studies to Incorporate Entrepreneurship in Technical Courses Carl A. Lundgren Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology College of Applied Science and Technology Rochester Institute of Technology AbstractUndergraduates are increasingly interested in entrepreneurial and intellectual property (IP) topics.To meet that demand in crowded curricula is difficult. One approach is to use relevant disciplinespecific case studies which have a “story” that raises student awareness and interest inentrepreneurial and IP. Short discipline specific cases are being

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

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Michael A. Jackson; Thomas Schulte; Nathaniel Kane; Elaine Lewis; Surendra Gupta; Santosh Kurinec

oscillatingpendulum and through graphical analysis determine the general empirical expression for theperiod of an oscillating pendulum and spring. The second major milestone was the development,coordination, and implementation of a cardboard boat race that included AP students from WestIrondequoit High School and Batavia High School. This project was the culminating project forstudents who had challenged the AP-B Physics course. Student teams were tasked withdesigning a boat made solely from cardboard and duct tape that would carry two students acrossa school swimming pool. Understanding concepts in structural design and buoyancy werecritical to this project. It provided faster response to student questions and certainly made for astronger learning

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Chirag Variawa

The Student Perspective on a Project Based Learning Course Chirag Variawa University of Toronto, Faculty of Applied Science and EngineeringAbstractCourses that use Project Based Learning (PBL) may present specific and unforeseen challengesfor both the instructor and students taking the course. This paper discusses a “typical”undergraduate engineering student’s experiences while in such a course, focusing on both thepositive and negative aspects which have played important roles in understanding the coursematerial.Engineering Strategies and Practice II (ESPII) is a PBL course offered at the University ofToronto which requires all first year undergraduate engineering students to

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

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Zachary Bensusan; Leslie Gregg; William Leonard

Implementation of an Experiential Learning Strategy Based on a Classroom/Industry Partnership Zachary Bensusan, Leslie Gregg, William Leonard Rochester Institute of Technology, 78 Lomb Memorial Drive Rochester, NY 14623abstractThe classroom/industry connection is an often-underutilized tool, which could prove to beinvaluable in an educational setting. The experience of working with an outside company inorder to complete a class project not only emphasizes the importance of organization andteamwork, it also enhances the students’ education through experiential learning by illustratingthe processes that companies often employ. A

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

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Doug Reeve P.Eng.; Annie Simpson; Veena Kumar; Emma Master; Dave Colcleugh; Greg Evans P.Eng.

Leaders of Tomorrow - A Leadership Development Program for Engineering Students at the University of Toronto Doug Reeve, Annie Simpson, Veena Kumar, Emma Master, Dave Colcleugh and Greg Evans Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering Ian Simmie and Deanne Fisher Office of Student Affairs University of TorontoAbstractLeadership development is an important, emerging component of student experience inthe Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Toronto. Leaders ofTomorrow started in 2002 in the Department of Chemical Engineering and

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Thomas F. C. Woodhall

Designing a Rubric to Assess the Problem Definition Phase of Student Design Projects in Upper Year Engineering Courses Thomas F. C. Woodhall, B.Sc., B.A., M.Sc. (Candidate) Queen’s University at Kingston Ontario CanadaAbstractIn order to bridge the gap between a student’s understanding and instructor’s perception ofsubject mastery, it is important to assess upper year capstone design projects in a way whichtargets the important aspects within each stage of the design process, while providing feedbackthat is instructive and helpful. A rubric was created that assesses a student’s mastery of theproblem definition phase of a design project (as defined by Dominick et al. 2001). The

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Hamid Shokrollah Timorabadi

theprocedure is being discussed, the corresponding step is applied to the example. The tandemmethod is more effective since it facilitates (a) the explanation of the procedure and (b) thestudents’ realization of the conceptual topics and therefore saves time. Two proceduralalgorithms are considered. The first one is from a Linear Algebra course explaining a procedurefor solving first order differential equations and the second is from a Digital Systems course thatprovides steps in designing Sequential circuits.I. IntroductionIn teaching students, a variety of ways can be explored to draw the students’ attention. Typicallystudents learn by means of visualization, hearing, intuition, rationalization, memorization, anddrawing analogies in understanding

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Patrick H. Oosthuizen

a combination of high windspeed at higher altitudes and a mountainous terrain. Such conditions did exist at the time of theaccident but it was felt that insufficient knowledge about the characteristics of such rotors existedto be able to decide conclusively that they were a major factor in the incident.Among the recommendations issued by NTSB as a result of their investigation of this incidentwere the following: 1. Require the aircraft manufacture Boeing to develop a maintenance test procedure that could be used by B-737 operators to verify the proper operation of the main rudder hydraulic power control unit servo valve. 2. Require Boeing to develop a preflight check procedure that could be used to verify, as far as

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Patrick H. Oosthuizen

manufacture Boeing to develop a maintenance test procedure that could be used by B-737 operators to verify the proper operation of the main rudder hydraulic power control unit servo valve. 2. Require Boeing to develop a preflight check procedure that could be used to verify, as far as possible, the proper operation of the main rudder hydraulic power control unit servo valve. 3. Require B-737 operators to incorporate design changes in the B-737 rudder hydraulic power control unit servo valve when Boeing made these design changes available. 4. Develop a broader meteorological aircraft hazard program to include airports in or near mountainous terrain using results obtained in the Colorado Springs area.USAir flight 427

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Robert Edwards; Gerald Recktenwald

head loss. Two common misperceptions that studentsmight have about flow through a duct like this are: a.) the fluid pressure must always decrease inthe direction of the flow due to friction and b.) the smaller tube must be at higher pressure. The students are asked to predict both the sign and magnitude of the pressure change acrossthe sudden expansion before they make any measurements. Direct measurement shows that thepressure immediately downstream of the sudden expansion is higher than the pressureimmediately upstream of the sudden expansion. This goes against many of the intuitive ideas thestudents may have. However, the pressure rise across the sudden expansion is much less thanthat predicted by the Bernoulli equation. This fact is

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

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R. Dennis Foster

Voyageur Recreational Waterwayon Canada‟s first designated Heritage River”. (4) The map on the following page comes from theback cover of the 1989 feasibility report. Samuel Champlain the French explorer canoed theOttawa and French Rivers to reach Georgian Bay in 1615, a route used by Indians to travel fromthe St Lawrence River to the headwaters of Lake Superior and the prairies beyond. The aim ofthe Canadian Heritage River System is to protect the historical and recreational values ofoutstanding waterways in Canada. The key factor in the selection of an optimum route was thepreservation of a scenic and historic canoe route separate from the sportsman/sailor/powerboatroute. The map shows two routes: A the historic canoe route and B the proposed

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Surendra K. Gupta

Emerging Frontiers, Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Engineering Education, San Juan, PR, 2006.[2] S. K. Gupta, Micro-/Nano- Characterization of Materials Surfaces, Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Engineering Education, San Juan, PR, 2006.[3] W. D. Callister, Fundamentals of Materials Science and Engineering, Seventh Edition, John Wiley, 2005.[4] B. D. Cullity and S. R. Stock, Elements of X-Ray Diffraction, Third Edition, Prentice Hall, 2001.[5] F. P. Beer, E. R. Johnston and J. T. DeWolf, Mechanics of Materials, 4th Edition, John Wiley, 2006.[6] R. C. Hibbeler, Dynamics, 11th Edition, Pretice Hall, 2007.[7] A Practical Guide to Scanning Probe Microscopy, Veeco Instruments

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Willem H. Vanderburg

, W.H., The Labyrinth of Technology. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000, pp.89-732.3. Vanderburg, W.H., Living in the Labyrinth of Technology. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005.4. Daly, H.E. and Cobb, Jr., J.B., For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy Toward Community, the Environment, and a Sustainable Future. Boston: Beacon Press, 1989.5. Allenby, B. R. and Richards, D.J. (Eds.) The Greening of Industrial Ecosystems. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1994, Introduction.6. Karasek, R. and Theorell, T., Healthy Work: Stress, Productivity, and the Reconstruction of Working Life. New York: Basic Books, 1990.7. Estes, R., Tyranny of the Bottom Line: Why Corporations Make Good People Do

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

George H. Sutherland

some unique college high-point experiences), itis even more important that they get results that support the learning objectives for the course.This does put more pressure on the instructor to “get it right” than with a typical on-campus labexperiment.References1. Felder, R. M. and Brent, R., “Understanding Student Differences”, Journal of Engineering Education, Jan 2005, pp 57-72.2. Jiji, L. M., Delale, F. and Liaw, B., “Home Experiments in Mechanical Engineering”, ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings, 1996, pp 1699-1704.3. Hart, T., “From Mediocrity to Mastery: Finding the Patterns of Knowledge”, Educational Horizons, Vol. 80, No. 2, Winter 2002, pp77-82.4. Gillespie, T. D., Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics, SAE, 1992.5

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Lawrence Agbezuge

On Validating Finite Element Results From Commercial Software By Applying Tests Of Reasonableness by Lawrence Agbezuge, Visiting Associate Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY AbstractThe main reason for presenting this paper is to emphasize the principle thatengineers should not blindly use commercial software to solve industrial problemsunless (a) the physics of the problem is understood, and (b) tests of reasonablenessare utilized when interpreting results from the software. This principle isdemonstrated in teaching the use of ANSYS® (a commercial Finite

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Daren R. Wilcox; Gerd W. Wostenkuhler

with 3.3-Volt and 5-Volt whichallows interfacing to older TTL technology.2.2 ispM4A5 64/32The educational development board presented in this paper is designed around the ispM4A5 64/32 44pin PLCC device. The block diagram for the chip is shown in Figure 1. The ispM4A5 has four PALblocks labeled A, B, C, and D. This is roughly equivalent to having four of the 1978 era PAL deviceson one chip. The PAL blocks are interconnected by the central switch matrix shown in the center of thediagram.In each PAL block, the AND logic array connects to the central switch matrix. The AND logic array isthe first level of the sum-of-product expression. The AND array feeds into the OR array contained inthe logic allocator block which completes the sum-of-products

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Deborah Tihanyi; Margaret N. Hundleby

Continuous Loop Assessment in Engineering Communication Deborah Tihanyi, Margaret N. Hundleby University of TorontoAbstractOver the past several years, the Engineering Communication Program has devised a series ofcontent-based communication courses for the Department of Materials Science and Engineeringat the University of Toronto. The series spans Years Two to Four of the degree program, andbuilds students’ disciplinary and rhetorical knowledge. “Continuous loop assessment” is rootedin the socialization of knowing and writing and the notion of evaluation as a meaningful series ofevents. Rather than the traditional, top-down approach to assessment, which measures

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Lisa Schneider; Michael Kelley; Shefford P. Baker

lasting understanding of the basic calculus concepts, b) learn to apply mathematicalconcepts to modeling and solution of engineering problems, and c) experience a sense ofengagement and connection to their interests earlier on in the curriculum resulting in greatermotivation to continue in engineering. This innovation was approved by the faculty in February2007 and an engineering faculty member with experience implementing active and collaborativelearning in engineering classrooms was recruited to lead the development and implementation ofa pilot program. Discussions with the Mathematics Department, which offers the engineeringmath courses, resulted in the development of mechanisms for a cross-college collaborative effortto implement the proposed

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Colin Campbell; Steve Lambert; Oscar Nespoli

Waterloo Engineering Design Case Studies Group Colin Campbell, Steve Lambert, Oscar Nespoli University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (http://design.uwaterloo.ca)1. AbstractIn this paper we provide an overview of the Waterloo Engineering Design Case Studies Group inthe Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo. The mission of the three membergroup (growing to five) is: to develop a culture of learning excellence based on the philosophyof design and the mechanism of cases.The group’s essential goals are to: give engineering students necessary design skills andexperience to design innovative products, foster teamwork and multi

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Chirag Variawa; Susan McCahan

Evaluation of the Accessibility of Engineering Vocabulary Chirag Variawa and Susan McCahan University of TorontoAbstract:Do engineering instructional materials at the university level contain identifiable barriers tosuccess unrelated to course objectives? This is a growing concern as the population of studentsbecomes more diverse. And if there are barriers, how prevalent is this issue and can thesebarriers be characterized in a way that allows the instructor to easily identify and remove ormitigate them? In response to these questions, a research study is being conducted to at theUniversity of Toronto to look at the accessibility of the language used on

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Susan J. Masten; Robert V. Fleisig

Engaging First Year Students in Engineering Design through Engineers Without Borders Susan J. Masten and Robert V. Fleisig McMaster University, First Year Engineering Program, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8S 4K1 mastens@mcmaster.ca, robert@mcmaster.caAbstract - It is important first year engineering students learn the engineering design process involves more thanmathematics and physics. To accomplish this, students choose design projects from a variety of disciplines, developed withEngineers without Borders and situated in either a developing country or a remote area of Canada. All the projectsrequire, not only a technical solution

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Chioma Ekpo

. The University ofToronto’s Professional Experience Year (PEY) Internship Program meets this need by providingstudents with 12-16 month paid internships through paraprofessional opportunities, crucial to thedevelopment of a professional engineer. In its unique delivery of an intensive student focusedcareer development program, PEY is preparing students for these opportunities and the overalldynamics of the workplace.The PEY Program’s integrative approach presents students with a new way of viewing the worldof work and their role in it. They attain an understanding of the difference between an employee(operating within a fixed mandate as directed) and professional (operating in relation to a largerorganizational mandate with a focus and clear

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Jason Salonga

Parallels in Teaching Visual Arts and Engineering Design tion given to the art of concept design. Paul Gauvreau2 claims that as a result of this, graduates are generally ill-prepared to generate design concepts given a clear definition of requirements and constraints. This is the creative stage of design that lies between taking a blank page and Jason Salonga producing a preliminary concept.3

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Tom Moran; Jeffrey Wagner

Unlikely Partners – An Experiment in Multi-disciplinary Classroom Experience Tom Moran and Jeffrey Wagner Rochester Institute of TechnologyAbstractStudents can be stimulated and challenged when exposed to new ways of looking at andapproaching traditional course content. This paper reports the results of a faculty “UnlikelyPartners” collaboration that brought an economics professor into an EnvironmentalCommunication course taken by students in RIT’s Civil Engineering/EnvironmentalManagement and Safety department. The collaboration provided a scenario that increased thestudents’ engagement with the course’s oral and written communication

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Nasser Saleh

Implementation of library 2.0 services in Engineering Education through Integrated Learning Initiative at Queen's University Nasser Saleh Queen's UniversityAbstractWeb 2.0 applications in education, driven by a combination of technological improvements andsocial pressure, have increasingly grown in the recent years. Web 2.0 applications would have aremarkable positive impact on students learning experience through new tools such as InstantMessaging, RSS, social networking tools (blogging, wikis.. ) , and others.Queen’s University Engineering and Science Library has been exploring possible library 2.0services and has started implementing them

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Roy W. Melton

Electronic Instrumentation Background of Freshmen Computer Engineering Students Roy W. Melton Rochester Institute of TechnologyAbstractThe level of hands-on engineering experience tends to vary widely among beginning engineeringstudents. Whereas certain basic elements of academic preparation are guaranteed by programadmission criteria, they typically are not concerned with specific elements of a particularengineering discipline; rather, these criteria establish general aptitude and/or proficiency in mathand science. This paper analyzes a survey of the electronic instrumentation background of 2006computer engineering freshmen at

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2007 St.Lawrence Section Meeting

Authors

Rei Marzoughi

Bridging the Gap: Bringing Context into Engineering Education Rei Marzoughi Department of Civil Engineering, University of TorontoAbstractStandard engineering education often focuses on disseminating specialized, technical knowledgewith the overall goal of training competent designers and decision-makers. Students learn toreach a desired outcome by focusing on improving the efficiency of the object or procedure inquestion; however, the social, historical and environmental context in which this problem existsis often dealt with marginally or completely ignored. As a result, in engineering practice,unexpected undesired outcomes often arise out of actions that were intended to