Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Interactive Web Based Animation Software: An Efficient Way to Increase the Engineering Student’s Fundamental Understanding of Particle Kinematics and KineticsAbstractAnimation software for an introductory Dynamics course has been developed, which may be asupplement to the proposed text: Riley, Sturges, Stanley “Dynamics”, 3rd Edition (Wiley andSons, Inc. New York). This interactive software is unique because each animation is directlylinked to a homework problem and no programming is required of the user. The animations areweb-based (hard-coded in Adobe Flash Action Script), so no external computer programs areneeded.The software was piloted in two sections of Dynamics during the fall term of 2007, where it

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Anthony Manno; Kamal Shahrabi

of databases The perspective changes according to the user Very large database environments: Data marts, warehouses, miningProjects:Various ideas for projects have been tried. The least effective have been writing a paperon something that the instructor says. It is just another boring paper to write. Moreinteresting projects are hands-on. These projects have to do with grouping studentstogether to investigate a technological aspect of their major.Another type of project has been where students were split up into different groups andthey have to debate a subject where they need to learn about some technology. Studentsin different sections have also been brought together so that they can interact with eachother on a

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Sarosh Patel; Manan Joshi; Lawrence Hmurcik

all of the microscopiccontacts between the molecules at the contact surface of the two objects [5,6,7,8]. Aeff is directlyproportional (i) to the geometrical contact area A between the two objects as well as to (ii) thedegree of surface-to-surface bonding. The first condition tells us that Aeff increases with anincrease in contact area. The second condition says that Aeff increases with an increase in pressure(P) at the contact surface. With these new concepts, we can re-write (1) as f = μAF(P) . (2)F(P) is a function of the pressure between the two contacting surfaces. It may be linear ornonlinear. If we assume it is linear, then we can let F(P)=P, where we assume that

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Jalpa Bani; Syed S. Rizvi

-performance computing today andits fundamental advantages have deeply influenced modern processor designers. It has become adominant paradigm in processor architecture in form of multi-core processors available in personalcomputers today. Sharing processor resources like cache memory, sharing memory maps in RAM andsharing computational power of math coprocessors during execution of multiple processes in operatingsystems, has become an inevitable phenomenon. Few years back, Intel introduced Hyper-Threading technology in its Pentium 4 processors, wherein thesharing of processor resources between process threads is extended further by sharing memory caches.Shared access to memory caches is a feature that’s available in all the latest processors from

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Eileen M. Kowalski; Joe D. Manous

Cognitive Learning in Introductory College Science EducationEileen M. Kowalski, Department of Chemistry and Life Science, and Joe D. Manous, Jr.,Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, United States MilitaryAcademyAbstract This research seeks to categorize dominant areas of cognitive learning weakness and strength withintraditional college-level, introductory science education. The basis of any undergraduate STEMeducation is an understanding of fundamental concepts and how these concepts describe or predictphysical phenomena. However, the apparent retention and understanding of basic concepts is sometimesminimal as expressed by student work during subsequent courses. Potential causes for this difficulty in

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Arthur Heinricher; Brian Savilonis; David Spanagel; Robert Traver; Kristin Wobbe

-year offerings defined by problems not disciplines.They do not start with a list of topics to cover. They are interdisciplinary, not multidisciplinary.They are not designed to provide a survey of fundamental engineering concepts or an overview ofhow science and engineering disciplines could address real problems. They start with greatproblems and the students learn that there is no single solution, that no one discipline could1 Associate Dean for First-year Programs, heinrich@wpi.edu2 Mechanical Engineering Department, bjs@wpi.edu3 Humanities and Arts Department, spanagel@wpi.edu4 Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science at WPI, rtraver@wpi.edu5 Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, WPI, kwobbe@wpi.edu

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Michael Berry; Paul Russo; Joshua Wyrick

impact.In today’s society, the simple act of helping another person and impacting even just one life, often goesoverlooked and undervalued. This is often true until one modifies their own mindset to accept and evenembrace this ideal which ultimately brings a sense of power and accomplishment otherwise neverexhibited. These concepts are especially true when it comes to service learning within the realm of 2engineering education. The engineering profession, and civil engineering in particular, has such a broadspectrum of applicable knowledge and expertise in providing the fundamentals of everyday life. Not toharness the plethora of

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Richard B. Mindek

Development of a Programmable Logic Controller Experiential Learning Platform Richard B. Mindek, Jr. Western New England College, Springfield MassachusettsAbstractAn experiential learning platform was recently developed to expose graduate engineering students, aswell as undergraduate junior and senior mechanical engineering students, to the concept, components,operation, and application of programmable logic controllers (PLCs). The platform consists of aprogrammable logic controller, which can be programmed with a desktop PC, in order to control severalsimple output devices. The system allows students to write their own ladder logic programs, and

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Gregory S. Parnell; Michael J. Kwinn

Series in early 2008. The authors redesigned the introductory course, now titled“Fundamentals of Systems Design and Management,” around a system thinking presentation, anindividual decision problem, and a group design project. We have continued to improve the course forthe past two years.IntroductionDesigning the first course of any academic program is always challenging. There are more foundationalconcepts than time in one semester. The first course of any engineering program is especiallychallenging. Several key questions need to be answered. What are the foundational topics that will beneeded in future courses to provide the knowledge for follow-on courses? Will students have thenecessary prerequisites? What pedagogy should be used?In the

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Roy T.R. McGrann

) Demonstrate the integration of the elements of modeling and analysis in a CAE design project, and (VI) Prepare a complete design project report. 3The course is structured as two one-hour lectures each week and one 2½-hour computer lab. Thematerial presented in each of the two “lecture” sessions each week is distinct. One session consists ofpresentations of design methodology, engineering graphics fundamentals, kinematic and force analysisof mechanisms, and FEA. The other session consists of Pro/Engineer (Pro/E) training. The trainingsessions and the laboratory assignments are complementary. These training session lectures have beenrecorded for student self-study.Three projects are the

Collection

2008 ASEE Zone 1 Conference

Authors

Qing Li

externally yet directly motivate or discourage astudent’s decision in choosing engineering major and career.The second category measures engineering students’ characteristics that are determined by their internal orpersonal factors. Only internal characteristics that have direct impact on educational process are relevant to thisstudy. It is well accepted that education is an aggregate of both intellective (cognitive) and non-intellective(affective) processes. Therefore, these internal characteristics are further classified into two sub-categories:cognitive characteristics and affective characteristics. Cognitive characteristics, such as high school math scores,learning style, writing skills, will directly affect a student’s academic standing in