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Session 2566

Introducing Emerging Technology into the Mechanical Engineering Curriculum

Gangbing Song, Jafet Lopez, Kairy Otero, Jason Ruby, Adam Shepherd, Jacob Salinas, Ross Kastor, and Richard Bannerot Department of Mechanical Engineering

Josh Blankenship, Akbar Ng, Ben Stembridge and Paul Ruchhoeft Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Houston

Abstract

In the one semester, three engineering department, capstone design course taught in the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston, multidisciplinary teams work on design projects provided by local industry and the faculty. In the spring of 2003 two of the projects, sponsored by a faculty member, were to develop museum quality, interactive demonstrations/experiments with externally mounted controls demonstrating the characteristics and useful implementations of 1) magneto-rheological fluids and 2) shape memory alloys. Both projects provided challenging problems for the teams in electro-mechanical system design and fabrication and in controls, as well as requiring considerations for ergonomic, aesthetic, and safety issues. The high quality of the design and implementation of the experiments and the overall attractiveness of the projects will assure them a prominent place in the Department of Mechanical Engineering for many years to come. These projects will provide hands-on experiences illustrating an application of two emerging technologies to many engineering students and visitors who might not otherwise have this opportunity. The paper will provide details for the design and fabrication of the demonstrations as well as pictures of the final products.

Introduction The capstone design course in the Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) at the University of Houston has existed (until recently), more or less, in its present form since 1981. At that time it was taken only by mechanical engineering undergraduates. In the mid-80’s the Department of Industrial Engineering (IE) joined the course so that project teams were composed of both ME and IE students. In 1991 after retiring from Shell (and a career as a drilling engineer and with many years experience working in Shell’s internal training programs), Ross Kastor was hired as a lecturer to teach the class. Five years ago the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) added the course as a degree requirement for all students entering in the fall 1998 and thereafter. Since then some ECE students have taken the course as an elective. That number has grown over the Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference &Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education

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Bannerot, R. (2004, June), Introducing Emerging Technology Into The Mechanical Engineering Curriculum Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--13946