Conference Session

Electromechanical Capstone and Design Projects in Engineering Technology

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William C. Beston, Florence-Darlington Technical College; Elaine L. Craft, Florence-Darlington Technical College

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology (EMET) or similar programs. Theinstructional modules, including an advanced certificate option for incumbent workers, can leadto certification as a Robotics Production Technician (RPT) and be aligned with theManufacturing Skill Standards Council’s (MSSC) "Certified Production Technician” credential,which is recognized by the federal National Skill Standards Board as the "Voluntary Partnership"for manufacturing.The project team has established the following goals: 1. necessary skills for RPTs will be updated and validated; 2. six instructional modules leading to certification as a RPT will be developed for on-line delivery; 3. completers will demonstrate “readiness” for industry- recognized

Conference Session

Professional Development and Scholarship

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William J. Sawaya, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

. A framework for managing the various customer requirements in the engineeringeducation context is developed. This framework emphasizes focusing on the synergies betweenthe various customers’ requirements which can lead to superior system outcomes. The case ofIndustrial Distribution at Texas A&M University is presented as an example implementation ofthis framework.IntroductionHughes et. Al explores academic/practitioner engagement by undertaking interviews withacademicians, practitioners and other experts with relevant experience in engagement[1]. Theyaddress the questions like how academics are in general meant to keep in touch with the realityof business practice and how younger academics develop the experience or expertise to

Conference Session

Assessment Methods and Learning Pedagogy II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jyhwen Wang, Texas A&M University; Alex Fang, Texas A&M University; Michael Ryan Golla, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

and engineering to prospective students and to encourage earlystage engineering students to continue with the upper level courses, freshman levellaboratories were developed for students to operate equipment and conductexperiements.1-3 In manufacturing courses, at both undergraduate and graduate levels,hands-on practical manufacturing projects were implemented to promote active learning.The labs involved include rapid prototyping, laser machining, book-making, and welding,etc.4-6 Material testing was conducted in labs to provide the fundamental material scienceknowledge necessary to perform engineering design and material selection. 7,8 A numberof innovative experiments on thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics weredeveloped to

Conference Session

Assessment Methods and Learning Pedagogy I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mehrube Mehrubeoglu, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi; Satyajit Verma, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

those that satisfy the coursedescription and cover the major topics in the various chapters of the textbook for the course.Table 1 lists the course outcomes for a first-semester introduction to engineering technologycourse as an example.Quantification method for a course, along its own outcomes, is as follows: During the semester,students are evaluated on a numerical scale in various classroom activities such as, homeworkassignments, oral or written reports, laboratory or field exercises, quizzes or tests, projects, andother presentations as determined by the instructor. Each of these categories of classroomactivities is assigned a weight out of a total of 100. Table 2 summarizes this weighing forassignments for the introduction to engineering

Conference Session

Interdisciplinary Education in Engineering Technology

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joseph F. Kmec, Purdue University; Bryan J. Hubbard, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Martin A Lopez De Bertodano, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Benjamin Revis, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

and currently serving the School of Nuclear Engineering as Nuclear Electronics Technician, Senior Reactor Operator for Purdue University Reactor 1, and Radiation Detection and Measurement Laboratory Instructor. Page 22.1502.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Defining a Role for a College of Technology in Nuclear EducationAbstractEver-increasing energy demands, concerns over climate change, and an elusive chase fornational energy independence are driving a quiet resurgence for increasing the use of nuclearpower. Experts maintain however, that any nuclear power expansion

Conference Session

Engineering Technology Design I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carlos A. Ortiz, Southern Polytechnic State University; Timothy W. Zeigler, Southern Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

engineering practice.This paper discusses changes proposed and approved to the civil engineering technologyprogram.BackgroundPrior to the 2009-2010 academic year the Board of Regents of the Georgia University Systemapproved for Southern Polytechnic State University to offer undergraduate degrees in civil,electrical and mechanical engineering; in addition to previously approved degrees in constructionand mechatronics engineering. In order to provide a broader and practical engineeringtechnology curriculum that will embrace the Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025 to “create asustainable world and enhance the global quality of life”1; the faculty of the CET departmentproposed to modify the existing sequence and content of courses in the civil

Conference Session

Multimedia and Distance Learning

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Fatih Oncul, Southern Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

open-sourcescreen capturing video tools have not received much attention. Recent developments in userfriendly open-source applications offer excellent alternatives to tablet-PC users in recordinglectures and making the video files available for students’ use. This article presents a review offree open-source software tools available for tablet-PCs running Linux operating system, and asummary of lessons learned from the teaching experience of three civil engineering technologycourses taught in a traditional classroom setting with tablet-PC and free screen capturing videotools.1. IntroductionTablet-PCs make it possible to write on pdf or word files during the lecture and save them indesired file formats. The file that has instructor’s

Conference Session

Assessment Methods and Learning Pedagogy I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Qiu Liu, McNeese State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

is a gap between their knowledge tothe real-world application in these process plants. To meet the industrial needs, thedepartment designed our curriculum this way: for electronics students, the focus will be theabove-mentioned electronics classes, and add instrumentation classes INST 333 as a mandatoryclass and INST 304 as an elective one.This paper presents the courseware and the assessment for the course INST 333: InstrumentationOverview. This course teaches electronics students with the knowledge of control system andinstrumentation through the following work: 1) Realizing that the current technology trend isthat technicians work more with systems, sub-systems, software, modules, PC boards and soforth, and work less with components and

Conference Session

Entrepreneurship Courses and Outcomes I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donald M Reimer, Lawrence Technological University; Ahad Ali, Lawrence Technological University; Sabah Razouk Abro, Lawrence Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

activities, a questionnairewas developed which collected their responses. The following ten questions were used for thesurvey: 1. How did your experience in this competitive activity relate to enhancing your leadership skills? 2. As a result of your experience, to what extent did you have an opportunity to improve your solving problem skills? 3. How much did your experience contribute to improving your team building skills? 4. To what extent did your experience in your competitive team provide an opportunity to sell your ideas to others? 5. What was the extent of your experience in preparing a business plan in your competitive team? 6. As a result of your experience in the competition, how much innovation was

Conference Session

Student Entrepreneurial Skills and Mindset II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Calvin C. Jen, Calvin College; Tyler Scott Helmus, Calvin College; Steven H. VanderLeest, Calvin College

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

being in their personal relatedness: their free relation-in-otherness….Allthings are what they are by being particulars constituted by many and various forms of relation.”1 Page 22.1390.2One of the primary thrusts of Gunton’s book is that the individual (the one) must be respectedand therefore cannot be subsumed into the community (the many); but at the same time, thecommunity must be respected as an essential part of the individual’s humanity. We need both.Neither the individual nor the community have primacy, both are key parts of what make ushuman. As just one example, the individual who fears “big government” may respect ademocracy for

Conference Session

Novel Entrepreneurship Programs

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert S. Crockett, California Polytechnic State University; Daniel W. Walsh, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

large,established companies, however, and has the potential to result in “safe” project topics that arenot of significant scope and relevance. For every company that is willing to work within theconstraints of the current mechanisms for funding student projects, there are likely a muchgreater number who would very much like to offer challenges to student teams, if there were astreamlined process that adequately protected their commercial interests, had a contractdeliverable that they were purchasing, and reduced the project risk to an acceptable level.Current Funding Mechanisms & LimitationsAt Cal Poly, there are three primary mechanisms for industry support of student projects: 1. As a donation to the College or Academic Department. 2

Conference Session

Entrepreneurship Courses and Outcomes II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jessica R. McCormick, Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis; Beverly Radloff, Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis; Nancy Lamm, Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis; Terri L. Talbert-Hatch, Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

. Page 22.1172.3The goal of this paper is to answer three research problems: 1) Identify if students are receivingeverything they need during school in order to enter the real world after graduation; 2)Determine if students from the dual degree program are more successful during their first timejob search than those in the traditional program; 3) Confirm that there is a need for engineers tohave a well-rounded education. If gaps are identified in either group which deserve attention,proper measures can be taken. If areas are identified as being useful with one group and lackingin the other, this can also be addressed.Literature ReviewDual DegreeSome research attention has been focused on traditional three-two programs orBachelors/Masters

Conference Session

Student Entrepreneurial Skills and Mindset I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Judith Giordan, National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance (NCIIA); Angela Shartrand, National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance (NCIIA); Joseph Steig, National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) and VentureWell; Phil Weilerstein, VentureWell

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

innovator's personal and professional aspirations.I. The innovation challengeOverviewOne of our hopes is that… there will be full employment, and that the production of goods andservices will serve to raise our standard of living… Surely we will not get there by standing still,merely by making the same things we made before and selling them at the same or higher prices.We will not get ahead in international trade unless we offer new and more attractive andcheaper products… There must be a stream of new scientific knowledge to turn the wheels ofprivate and public enterprise. -- Vannevar Bush, 1945 [1]The translation of basic scientific research to practical and deployable innovations that benefitpeople and the planet is as old as human history itself

Conference Session

Entrepreneurship Faculty Development

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nebojsa I. Jaksic, Colorado State University-Pueblo

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

couple of examples from Altshuller19.The ProblemThe problem consists of developing the pneumatic punch press system shown in Figure 1. Thesystem is to operate in the following manner: 1. When an operator presses two pushbuttons at the same time (pushbuttons not shown in Figure 1), the clamping plate pushes down clamping the part to be punched. 2. The punch ram punches through the clamped part and then retracts back to its original position. 3. When the punch ram is fully retracted, the operator releases the two pushbuttons, removes the punched part, inserts the next part, and repeats the process.A near “closed world” solution is desired, i.e. only minimal modifications to the hardwarespecification are allowed. This

Conference Session

Techniques to Enhance Environmental Engineering Courses

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Isaac W. Wait, Marshall University; Richard F. McCormick, Marshall University; Sydney M. Wait, Marshall University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

lab access inorder to take frequent measurements and make adjustments to growing conditions. Thus, it isclear that an alternative which eliminates these challenges would be an advancement towardsgiving students the opportunity to have hands-on experience with biological growth, and betterunderstand the factors that influence reaction kinetics.Kefir is a drink that originates from the Caucus region of Eurasia, and is similar in appearanceand taste to unsweetened, drinkable yogurt. The production of kefir depends on the presence ofkefir grains (see Figure 1), which are colonies of bacteria and yeast that live in jelly-like clustersand are placed into milk during kefir production1. The growth of kefir, wherein microorganismsconsume a substrate

Conference Session

Techniques to Enhance Environmental Engineering Courses

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Philip J. Parker, University of Wisconsin, Platteville

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

screencasts was a completely new field of study for me at the beginning of theFall 2010 semester. However, the learning curve was not particularly steep, and spending lessthan 1 hour watching tutorials from the Camtasia website was sufficient training.My method for recording the screencasts evolved over time. The first method was in essence tocreate a PowerPoint presentation and record the delivery of this presentation. The PowerPointslides contained a number of equations, with various algebraic manipulations and inserting ofgiven values. The details of unit conversions and numeric calculations were not includedexplicitly. I set the custom animations in PowerPoint such that each equation appeared one at atime on a mouse click. I continuously recorded

Conference Session

Introducing Sustainability into Engineering Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Brandes, Lafayette College, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

project was three-fold: (1) to address an existing runoff problem that was degrading a high-quality stream in the local community, (2) to involve undergraduate students in an integral way in the design process, system maintenance, and in performance monitoring, and (3) to use the project as a practical illustration of how sustainability constraints are incorporated into water resources engineering. The importance of ongoing partnerships with the local municipality, regulatory agencies, and watershed advocacy organizations is emphasized as key to sustaining multiple-year off-campus projects. Qualitative assessment suggests the project was highly motivational to many students; however, a drawback is that a given class of students

Conference Session

Techniques to Enhance Environmental Engineering Courses

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephanie Luster-Teasley, North Carolina A&T State University; Cindy Waters, North Carolina A&T State University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

Problem Based Learning and Case Studies into an Environmental Engineering Lab Course Stephanie Luster-Teasley, PhD1 and Cynthia Waters, PhD2 North Carolina A&T State University 1 Department of Civil, Architectural and Agricultural Engineering 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering Greensboro, NC 27411Abstract An introductory Environmental Engineering course was re-designed to include newenvironmental laboratory modules based on Sustainability and Green Design. The goal of thecourse was to incorporate the skill sets taught in a traditional Environmental

Conference Session

Introducing Sustainability into Engineering Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jonathan Wiggins, University of Colorado, Boulder; Mary E. McCormick, Tufts University; Angela R. Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder; Christopher W. Swan, Tufts University; Kurt Paterson, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

systems to embrace sustainability gained worldwide attentionin 1987. As stated in the Brundtland Report: “[Sustainable Development] challenges cut acrossthe divides of national sovereignty, of limited strategies for economic gain, and of separateddisciplines of science . . . The changes in attitudes, in social values, and in aspirations that thereport urges [to achieve sustainable development] will depend on vast campaigns of education,debate and public participation”1. This report called for a change in the way we as humansinteract with each other and the planet. In the years since this report, campaigns for educationand public debate have occurred, albeit not to the vast extent envisioned by the BrundtlandCommission. Education is a deeply

Conference Session

What Else do Environmental Engineers Need to Know

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Powers, Clarkson University; Jan DeWaters, Clarkson University; Suresh Dhaniyala, Clarkson University; Mary Margaret Monica Small, Clarkson University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

orengineering that would contribute to solving global climate problems. Qualitative assessmentresults indicated that students felt more confident in their ability to contribute to climate changemitigation through both their personal knowledge and professional career options.IntroductionThe scientific community now recognizes with a very high level of confidence that recentindustrial and agricultural activities are having a profound impact on Earth’s climate. 1 Therelease of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from these activities is causing a discerniblewarming and general instability of our planet’s climate. It is now time to help the broadercommunity understand the science of climate change, its potential implications, and the actionsrequired to

Conference Session

Mechanical and Architectural Engineering Laboratories

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert McMasters, Virginia Military Institute; Ryan Taylor, Virginia Military Institute

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

1involving the model rocketry work is the “project” segment of the course, encompassing the finalfive weeks of the semester. By this time, the students have had previous exposure to all of themeasurement tools needed to perform the model rocketry experiment and, at this point, are askedto design their own experiments to accomplish the goal of predicting the maximum height of arocket.Previous work in this area has been done by Boyer et al. [1] which dealt primarily with anintroduction to aerospace engineering, using model rocketry as part of this introductory course,including the concept of impulse. Suchora and Pierson [2] use model rocketry as part of afreshman introductory course, primarily in order to generate interest among first-yearengineering

Conference Session

Pedagogical Innovations in Laboratory Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Murthy Kasi, North Dakota State University; Yaping Chi, North Dakota State University; G. Padmanabhan, North Dakota State University

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

Lines LinesFigure 1. An example of a flownet(a)(b) Dam Cutoff Stream wall lines Equipotential linesFigure 2. Flow nets showing stream lines and potential lines for (a) a discharging well in anaquifer bounded by a stream parallel to an impermeable barrier (plan view) (slightly modified1), Page 22.1392.3and (b) groundwater flow beneath a dam with a cutoff wall (sectional view).Laboratory courseThe flownet experiment was

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Engineering Laboratories

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chiu Choi, University of North Florida

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

number of references[1] through [11].  The reference designs described in this paper include an accelerometer, a digital compass, aninfrared distance sensor, an ultrasonic distance sensor, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor,and a Hall Effect sensor. Provided in each reference design are the description of the sensor,hardware interfacing techniques, circuit and wiring diagrams, code snippets in C language, andordering information.A website was developed for hosting the reference designs for students to download. Theinformation for the reference designs in the website is presented in a way that the students needto do extra work in order to use them in their projects. This prevents the students from copyingthem straight into their projects

Conference Session

ELOS Best Paper Nominations

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Li Tan, Purdue University, North Central; Jean Jiang, Purdue University North Central

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

in many DSPapplications. For example, a low sampling rate (100 Hz) is fast enough to process temperaturesignal, light intensity, air pressure, mechanical strain, or seismic signal. Meanwhile, a lowanalog-to-digital (ADC) resolution (8-bit data) in these applications may be sufficient. Hence, anadoption of a low-cost microcontroller instead of a digital signal processor with full capability isa cost effective choice. Considering these facts, using a microcontroller for a DSP course in thejunior year could offer the following benefits to ECET students: (1) a microcontroller can be analternative and cost effective solution when a DSP processor such as TMS320C67xx is notavailable; (2) students can save a significant amount of time for learning

Conference Session

Electrical and Computer Engineering Laboratories

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Graff, LeTourneau University; Paul R. Leiffer, LeTourneau University; Matthew G. Green, LeTourneau University; Joel Koblich, LeTourneau University

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

they get as areward, and are motivated instead in proportion to the large amount of learning they accomplish.Camaraderie is generated, and the night before the public presentation a large number of studentsspend all night in the lab adding last-minute details, drinking energy beverages, and eating pizza.The comment “if Professor Graff doesn’t teach Lab 3 [with Rube Goldberg] anymore, there’s noreason to come to [this] University” has been overheard on campus.The open-ended Rube Goldberg design project has six very intentional learning goals. Thesegoals include providing students with hands-on experience with: (1) teamwork, (2) publicpresentation, (3) creativity & innovation, (4) systems thinking, (5) energy transfer andconversions, (6

Conference Session

Pedagogical Innovations in Laboratory Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Roger A. Beardsley, Central Washington University; Charles O. Pringle, Central Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

activities. Two of the lab activities analyze automotive transmissions. The twotransmission labs utilize a three-speed manual shift transmission and a planetary transmission.The three-speed transmission illustrates the operation of manual shift transmissions (withsynchros, sliding gears and collars, and dry plate clutch) while the planetary transmissionillustrates a simplified version of the operation of automatic transmissions (shifting using brakebands and a wet plate clutch). By "reverse engineering" these transmissions, many gear designconcepts make better intuitive sense to students.Gear design jargon can be complex. Over 80 terms are used to define gear geometry 1. Inanalyzing the transmissions in our lab, a number of the terms take on deeper

Conference Session

Pedagogical Innovations in Laboratory Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Chiou, Drexel University; Yongjin (James) Kwon, Ajou University; Robin Kizirian, Drexel University; Matthew Dordai; Bret Alan Davis, Drexel University

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

the PLC ladder logic in a virtualenvironment before it is run on a physical PLC. PLCStudio’s design process can be broken downinto three main steps; the component model, logical I/O model and cell model. These three stepsare performed in hierarchical phases to produce the final virtual model. Page 22.1073.3 Figure 1: Component ModelComponent 3D ModelThe first step in building a virtual cell is to design 3D solids to be used in a component model.The 3D solids can either be generated with PLCStudio’s CAD tools or imported from other CADapplications such as AutoCAD or SolidWorks. For devices with movable parts

Conference Session

ELOS Best Paper Nominations

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Loren Limberis, East Carolina University; Jason Yao, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

program outcomes is based on: 1) How well the studentscommunicate specific design aspects in the formal report; 2) How well they communicate theirlinearization methods using MATLAB; 3) A survey on how well the students believe they aremeeting the course objectives associated with the laboratory project; and, 4) the successfulcompletion of embedded questions in quizzes the final exam associated with the design project.IntroductionThe general engineering program at East Carolina University was started in 2004 to help supportthe need of broadly-skilled, general engineers for the regional industries and business located Page 22.1420.2among the small

Conference Session

ELOS Best Paper Nominations

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Ridgely, California Polytechnic State University; Brian P. Self, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

tooptimize financial results for the institution rather than learning outcomes for the students.Model Eliciting Activities, or MEA's, provide a framework which assists the design of projectswhich ensure that students meet learning outcomes associated with professional competence aswell as problem-solving and communication skills3. Projects designed as MEA's share many ofthe same characteristics as other Problem- and Project-Based Learning activities, such as theassignment of open-ended problems which are (or closely resemble) tasks performed inprofessional practice. However, MEA's are built upon six guiding principles that differentiatethem from PBL. The guiding principles of MEA's are as follows: 1) The Reality Principle: The task provided to

Conference Session

Innovative Teaching Methods and Learning Models

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Douglas Sugg, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division; John V Fishell, Science and Technology Education Partnership (STEP) ; Arman Hovakemian, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

for Engineering Education, 2011 Navy Metrology Engineering Center STEM Outreach through the STEP Program: Challenges, Lessons Learned and Application to DoD StrategyBackground:The United States and especially the Department of Defense (DoD) has historically reliedheavily upon scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians to innovate, design, produceand maintain a technically superior capability to defend and advance the interests of the UnitedStates, both at home and globally. The United States maintained a leading edge technologicadvantage through and beyond World War II until it was stunned by the Soviet Union‟s launchof Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957. Sputnik 1 was the first artificial