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Lessons from an industry-university partnership for student research projects

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Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

Assessment-Driven Practices in ECE

Tagged Division

Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE)

Page Count

9

DOI

10.18260/1-2--43420

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/43420

Download Count

142

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Paper Authors

biography

Rebekah Turner Villanova University

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Rebekah Turner received her bachelors in Mechanical engineering from Villanova University,
and is taking courses to complete her Masters in Mechanical Engineering, a good number of
which have relied on the concepts of Systems Engineering, at Villanova University this Spring 2023.
She has been a member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the National Society of
Black Engineers (NSBE), holding a leadership position in the latter at Villanova University’s
chapter.

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biography

Jared Halsey Villanova University

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Ever since I was a child, I've been intrigued by every aspect of technology. This curiosity would propel me toward learning about technology and want to learn how items are made. Fast forward a few years, I am an electrical engineer who wishes to focus on RF & optics. It's been a hard journey getting through school but I enjoy every moment and lesson learned.

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Karla Trotman Electro Soft, Inc

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Karla Trotman is the CEO and owner of Electro Soft, an American company that creates custom electronics manufacturing solutions for clients in aviation, rail, transit, OEM, and defense. She has a background in e-commerce, online marketing, purchasing, global scheduling, and supply chain logistics. She holds an MBA from Drexel University and a bachelor’s degree in business logistics from Penn State University, where she graduated with a minor in the legal environment of business and earned a Purchasing Management Certificate.
Trotman is a member of several boards and organizations, including the Free Library Foundation of Philadelphia, Museum of the American Revolution, Drexel University Board of Governors, and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Manufacturing Alliance.

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biography

Rosalind M. Wynne Villanova University

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Rosalind Wynne received her doctorate in electrical engineering from Boston University, a M.S. in electrical engineering from Boston University, and a B.S. in physics from Norfolk State University. She is an Associate Professor at Villanova University, Villanova, PA in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her current research interests include developing fiber optic sensors based on microstructured optical fiber technology for chemical sensing and biomedical applications. Dr. Wynne is a member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), the Optical Society of America (OSA), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).

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Abstract

This paper presents a case of an industry-partnership student research project at a teaching-intensive private university. The university partnered with a local electronics manufacturing company to define the research project. The research project was funded by a state-level agency. As a part of the funding requirement, students were supported during the project in terms of stipend and tuition, the industry partner and the university participated in cost-sharing and the students presented their results to the state sponsor and company periodically during the project lifetime. In this paper, we discuss the project scope which was to improve the manufacturing process at the electronics company for the assembly and packaging of printed circuit boards (PCBs). The project findings are presented in detail including designing and prototyping a key performance indicator-based (KPI) dashboard to predict and identify industry manufacturing limitations. We also report on the student learning experience, industry-academia collaboration for student projects, lessons learned, and several instructional insights concerning project management.

Turner, R., & Halsey, J., & Trotman, K., & Wynne, R. M. (2023, June), Lessons from an industry-university partnership for student research projects Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43420

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