Engineering Commons^™

Mechatronics Education At Kettering University: Development Of Learning- Specific Hardware And Software, Jeffrey Hargrove, Theodore J. Stokes

Jeffrey Hargrove

A series of learning-specific electronic circuit boards and associated software has been developed to support mechatronics education in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Kettering University. The boards are designed to interface to the Toshiba TLCS-900H Microprocessor Trainer and Evaluation Board. The purpose of these boards is to provide mechanical engineering students of mechatronics with robust hardware that readily permits interfacing of sensors and actuators to microcontrollers used in mechatronic applications. Further, the boards feature signal conditioning circuits for use in conjunction with sensors, and driver circuits for operating high-current actuating devices. Supporting software has been written to permit ready use …

Informs Seattle Dei Final 191020.Pdf, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Learning Streams: A Case Study In Curriculum Integration, Mani Mina, Arun K. Somani, Akhilesh Tyagi, Diane T. Rover, Matthew Feldmann, Mack C. Shelley

Diane Rover

During 2004-2005, the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State University in collaboration with educational colleagues in the Research Institute for Studies in Education piloted a new curricula model to improve student learning through vertical integration of educational activities using new program structures. We offered an experimental course sequence during Fall 2004 and Spring 2005, defined as a “learning stream.” A learning stream is a basic element of a novel program structure designed specifically to vertically integrate subject matter across courses. A learning stream merges and re-organizes material to more effectively present and reinforce key …

Work In Progress - Preparation Creating Effective Faculty Of Engineering: A Technological Literacy Approach, Mani Mina, Diane T. Rover, Mack C. Shelley

Diane Rover

This paper reviews the framework and provides new result for the implementation of a new program designed to develop more effective future faculty in engineering. The core of the proposed program will be based on our efforts regarding the recently developed Minor in Engineering Studies (MES). This program will team up effective engineering faculty to train, mentor, and evaluate a select group of graduate students to teach classes in our MES program. The goal is to help the engineering graduate students (the graduate educators) become better communicator and better educators by training non-engineering students in technological literacy classes. This practice …

Data‐Enabled Cognitive Modeling: Validating Student Engineers’ Fuzzy Design‐Based Decision‐Making In A Virtual Design Problem, Golnaz Arastoopour Irgens, Naomi C. Chesler, Jeffrey Linderoth, David Williamson Shaffer

Golnaz Arastoopour Irgens

The ability of future engineering professionals to solve complex real‐world problems depends on their design education and training. Because engineers engage with open‐ended problems in which there are unknown parameters and multiple competing objectives, they engage in fuzzy decision‐making, a method of making decisions that takes into account inherent imprecisions and uncertainties in the real world. In the design‐based decision‐making field, few studies have applied fuzzy decision‐making models to actual decision‐making process data. Thus, in this study, we use datasets on student decision‐making processes to validate approximate fuzzy models of student decision‐making, which we call data‐enabled cognitive modeling. The results …

Challenges Of Erau’S First Suborbital Flight Aboard Blue Origin’S New Shepard M7 For The Cell Research Experiment In Microgravity (Crexim), Pedro Llanos, Kristina Andrijauskaite, Vijay V. Duraisamy, Francisco F. Pastrana, Erik Seedhouse, Sathya Gangadharan, Leonid Bunegin, Mariel Rico

Pedro J. Llanos (www.AstronauticsLlanos.com)

Project Excel: Web-Based Scanning Electron Microscopy For K-12 Education, L. Scott Chumbley, Connie P. Hargrave, Kristen P. Constant, Brian Hand, Thomas Andre, E. Ann Thompson

Constance P. Hargrave

Project ExCEL (Extended Classroom for Enhanced Learning) brings the capabilities of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) into classrooms. University and industry personnel, working together, have developed a web-based interface to allow schools to control a modern SEM. The interface allows a user control of the operating parameters of the microscope, stage movement, and chemical analysis. Such total control is not available on any other system. Since Iowa State University (ISU) pioneered the idea of remote SEM for education, researchers have learned that providing teachers access to sophisticated equipment does not ensure that it will be used. Teachers are busy, and structured …

Project Excel—Web-Based Sem For K–12 Education, L. Scott Chumbley, Kristen P. Constant, Connie P. Hargrave, Tom Andre

Constance P. Hargrave

The goal of Project ExCEL, the Extended Classroom for Enhanced Learning, is to bring the capabilities of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) into elementary and secondary classrooms. We have developed an entirely web-based interface to allow schools to control a modern SEM. The web interface allows a remote user complete control of all the operating parameters of the microscope, including stage movement and x-ray chemical analysis. Such total control currently is not available on any other system. Since pioneering the idea of remote SEM use for K-12 education in the early 1990s, we have learned that merely providing schools and teachers …

A Sophomore Level Introduction To Engineering Design Course, Norman Muzzy, Michelle L. Soupir, Steven J. Hoff

Norman Muzzy

Iowa State University has a sophomore level course that is known as ABE 218. The objectives of this course include learning a structured approach to engineering design, preparing the students for internships, learning the basics of project management, and connecting the theoretical engineering paper designs to physical reality. This informal paper discusses how the course is structured, identifies the lab projects that are part of the course, and discusses some of the results and challenges associated with ABE 218.

Applying What You Have Learned, Gretchen Mosher, Norman Muzzy, Dana Woolley

Norman Muzzy

Last April, a group of over 110 students presented their Capstone projects in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State University. The Capstone program serves students in engineering and technology and is a required component of all ABE undergraduates. Capstone programs in engineering and technology are divided into two phases: a first-semester focus on defining the scope of the problem, and an emphasis on solution development and evaluation in the second semester. At the end of the first semester, the teams present their accomplishments at a poster session, where they receive feedback from ABE faculty and industry …

Integrating Mathematics And Educational Robotics: Simple Motion Planning, Ronald I. Greenberg, George K. Thiruvathukal, Sara T. Greenberg

George K. Thiruvathukal

This paper shows how students can be guided to integrate elementary mathematical analyses with motion planning for typical educational robots. Rather than using calculus as in comprehensive works on motion planning, we show students can achieve interesting results using just simple linear regression tools and trigonometric analyses. Experiments with one robotics platform show that use of these tools can lead to passable navigation through dead reckoning even if students have limited experience with use of sensors, programming, and mathematics.

Finding The Balance: A Technical Writing Assignment During A Co-Op Work Experience, Lindsay Corneal, Debbie Morrow

Debbie Morrow