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Session 1648

An EET Project for MEAP Students Barbara Christe, Patrick Gee, Marvin Needler Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis

Abstract

The Electrical Engineering Department at Indiana University – Purdue University at Indianapolis has designed and implemented a project for participants in the Minority Engineering Advancement Program (MEAP). 6th – 12th grade students interested in engineering and technology complete a project during a summer session designed to encourage minorities to consider engineering and technology as potential careers. A volume monitor unit was chosen for the summer of 1998. A microphone was used to convert sound into electricity and then the sound is amplified. The intensity of the signal was then displayed using an LM3914N to drive a graduated number of LEDs. The project was produced in kit form containing a printed circuit board and circuit components as well as a battery and box. Throughout the project sessions, casual conversation provided the opportunities to discuss career options in electrical engineering technology as well as the educational path necessary to reach such goals. The Purdue School of Engineering and Technology faculty promotes and supports this program as a community effort as well as a recruitment tool to promote its academic programs to minority youth.

I. Introduction

The Minority Engineering Advancement Program (MEAP) was established in 1976 in response to the small number of minorities in the engineering profession. MEAP strives to circumvent some of the inhibitors that prevent minorities from selecting engineering and technology as potential careers. The summer component of the program is currently open to 6th – 12th grade students interested in engineering and technology. Public and private schools are contacted with application information to recommend possible candidates. Once the students have applied to the program, a final selection process takes place by the MEAP staff.

Participants are exposed to electrical engineering technology through the completion of a project. This project must meet three criteria. First, it must produce a product that is interesting and somewhat useful to the students when they bring it home. Secondly, the time necessary for completion must not exceed the allotted number and duration of the MEAP sessions. Third, the project should incorporate several principles of electricity and electronics to demonstrate the wide variety of techniques employed to convert electricity into a useful tool. Since MEAP students may return for two or more summers, a different project is designed each year. A volume monitor unit was chosen for the summer of 1998. A microphone was used to convert sound into electricity and then the sound is amplified. The intensity of the signal was then displayed using an LM3914N to drive a graduated number of LEDs. The project was produced in kit form containing a printed circuit board and circuit components as well as a battery and box.

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Gee, P. C., & Needler, M., & Christe, B. L. (2000, June), An Eet Project For Meap Students Paper presented at 2000 Annual Conference, St. Louis, Missouri. 10.18260/1-2--8326