Other Engineering Commons^™

Designing And Implementing A Novel Graduate Program To Develop Transdisciplinary Leaders In Urban Sustainability, Megan M. Wallen, Ingrid Guerra-Lopez, Louay Meroueh, Rayman Mohamed, Andrea Sankar, Pradeep Sopory, Ryan Watkins, Donna R. Kashian

Biological Sciences Faculty Research Publications

Urban settings, where >50% of the world's population resides, are increasingly faced with environmental challenges that threaten their sustainability. Aging infrastructure, water and air pollution, and increasing recognition of environmental injustices highlight the need for professionals to employ complex scientific reasoning across disciplines where they can effectively address the multifaceted issues of urban sustainability. Here we present an innovative model for preparing the next generation of public, private, and academic leaders to address complex problems in urban sustainability. Specifically, we outline the design and implementation of an integrated, adaptable graduate training program, with the goals of science leadership, curriculum relevancy, …

Scope Process: Fostering Students' Design Outcome Effectiveness, Andrew J. Hughes, Cameron D. Denson

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to help Technology and Engineering Educators scaffold engineering design and problem-solving experiences so that students taking technology and engineering courses will develop an improved ability to design. Technology and Engineering Education seems to increasingly focus on problem-solving, design, and engineering. Technology and Engineering Education is not the only discipline with this focus. The fact that both Science and Technology and Engineering Education are similarly focused on the teaching and learning of engineering begs the question of what separates technology and engineering educators from science educators in the teaching of engineering? Lewis (2004) cautioned that …

Influencing Perceptions Of Stem Through The Best Stem Books List, Scott Bartholomew, Alexia Seymour

Faculty Publications

One day, while discussing engineering and science as potential career options with a female student, we opened a search engine and typed in “engineer” and “scientist.” However, on the first pages of image results, only one female appeared for engineering and only a few females appeared for “scientist” (see Figure 1). This disparity was disturbing—if this student never saw another person like her filling careers in STEM fields, would she ever “picture herself” in those fields?

Characterizing Students’ Engineering Design Strategies Using Energy3d, Jasmine Singh, Viranga Perera, Alejandra Magana, Brittany Newell

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

The goals of this study are to characterize design actions that students performed when solving a design challenge, and to create a machine learning model to help future students make better engineering design choices. We analyze data from an introductory engineering course where students used Energy3D, an open source computer-aided design software, to design a zero-energy home (i.e. a home that consumes no net energy over a period of a year). Student design actions within the software were recorded into text files. Using a sample of over 300 students, we first identify patterns in the data to assess how students …

Utilizing Vr For Manufacturing Learning And Training, Jetrin Wichienwidhtaya

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This paper looks into the world of virtual reality as seen from the manufacturing point of view, specifically inside manufacturing education. Virtual reality is growing within many industries including manufacturing and is a key piece in Industry 4.0. Every year, the capabilities of virtual reality grow as the resolution of screens progresses to the point where it can simulate near-perfect depictions of reality as processing power continues to grow. This opens a massive amount of potential into things like training. Especially in the current environment where learning virtually has become the norm, being able to have hands-on experience can help …

The Effects Of Computer And Information Technology On Education, Iwasan D. Kejawa Ed.D

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

In the society of ours, is it true really that computers and information technology have contributed immensely to the way we learn? After observing and reading various educational paraphernalia and scanning the environment research has shown that the educational systems have greatly been impacted by computers and information technology. With the growth of technology, the ways we learn have been improved tremendously. Innovative technologies have contributed to the innovation of learning in the education arena and outside. The traditional ways of conveying instructions to learners have been augmented with the use of computers information technologies. The educational system of our …

The Development Of A Psychometric Test Aimed At Aligning Students To A Range Of Professional Roles, Darren Brian Carthy, Brian Bowe, Kevin Gaughan

Conference papers

Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), working as part of the PREFER project, a European commission funded project, have developed a psychometric test in order to better align engineering students to three distinct professional roles within industry. This paper reports on the development process of the test, which took place between February and August of 2018.

Discrimination Against Women In The Field Of Engineering, Julia Weber

Undergraduate Voices

This article focuses on the position of women in the field of engineering, specifically why the field is male-dominated and why this condition should change. When I state the field is male-dominated, I am addressing both the proportion of men in the field in comparison to women and discrimination towards women in the workplace.

Throughout this article, I will be focusing on women in the field of engineering. I will look into why the field is so male-dominated (Chu, 2005; Hunt, 2016; Ramirez & Wotipka, 2001) and how this has begun to change over time (Hill, Corbett, & St Rose, …

Unlv Enrollment Analysis, Alexis Acosta, Juan Brena, Chaitanya Ingle, Ajanae' Williams

Math 365 Class Projects

What will be the future enrollment for UNLV between 2021 to 2025? What will be the future enrollment for the College of Engineering between 2021 and 2025?

Examining Engineering Design Cognition With Respect To Student Experience And Performance, Greg J. Strimel, Eunhye Kim, Scott R. Bartholomew, Diana V. Cantu

Faculty Publications

This study investigated the design cognition and performance results of secondary and post-secondary engineering students while engaged in an engineering design task. Relationships between prototype performance and design cognition were highlighted to investigate potential links between cognitive processes and success on engineering design problems. Concurrent think-aloud protocols were collected from eight secondary and 12 post-secondary engineering students working individually to design, make, and evaluate a solution prototype to an engineering design task. The collected protocols were segmented and coded using a pre-established coding scheme. The results were then analyzed to compare the two participant groups and determine the relationships between …

Multi-Target Extension For Beacon Foraging Methods, Christopher Sanford, Ziong Jiao, Jae Oh

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - All Scholarship

Robotic foraging is a complex problem that encompasses both the problem of exploring an area and retrieval of targets. To solve this, biologically inspired algorithms have been proposed that handle the scenario when only one target exists, but requires extension to multiple targets. In both scenarios there exists problems of robot allocation and congestion, and we analyze ways of optimizing both allocation and minimizing congestion for our algorithms. We demonstrate the results through parameterized metrics and compare the improvements in each scenario.

This is a technical report on artificial intelligence, 2017, written by Sanford, Jiao, and Oh.

Engaging Children In Engineering Design Through The World Of Quadcopters, Greg J. Strimel, Scott R. Bartholomew, Eunhye Kim

Faculty Publications

The interest in engineering education for K-12 students has been rising (Carr, Bennett IV, & Strobel, 2012; Strimel, Grubbs, & Wells, 2016), and the importance of engineering education is discussed as early as the elementary school level (Hegedus, 2014). Petroski (2003) claims that children are ready to learn engineering because their play activities are similar to engineering and design activities, such as making, moving, and rearranging things. Studies have examined how elementary school students perceive engineering or engineers (Cunningham, Lachapelle, & Lindgren-Streicher 2005) and found that elementary-aged students associated engineering with repairing, installing, driving, constructing, and improving machines and devices. …

What Do We Know About Eesd And How Do We Know It?, Eddie Conlon, Iacovos Nicolaou, Brian Bowe

Conference papers

Huckle (2004) has argued that critical realism (CR) can provide a philosophical framework for higher education for sustainability. This paper reflects on the process of researching EESD in the Irish context and the usefulness of our approach which used mixed methods and drew on CR as its guiding philosophy. We will argue that aspects of the CR approach: its emphasis on a depth ontology, the search for causal mechanisms, its model of agency/structure relations and its emphasis on the combination of extensive and intensive methods provide tools for exploring EESD as a system. CR requires us to focus on “deeper …

Engineering Ethics: Ontology And Politics, Eddie Conlon

Conference papers

“Ontology...acts as both gatekeeper and bouncer for methodology” (Archer 1995: 22). This exploratory paper, through a focus on the relationship between structure and agency, examines the underlying social ontologies informing the teaching, and researching of the teaching, of engineering ethics. It argues that current approaches are deficient and that Critical Realism can provide the basis for a more robust and inclusive research agenda for understanding engineering practice and the teaching of engineering ethics.

Exploring Programme Chairs' Understanding Of The Integration Of Sustainable Development: An Issue Of Professional Identity, Iacovos Nicolaou, Eddie Conlon, Brian Bowe

Conference papers

This paper is part of a wider study addressing the level of provision of sustainable development (SD) competencies in seven engineering programmes in three Irish Higher Education Institutions. The paper explores the influence that programme chairs’ professional identity has on their views of SD and their assessment of the extent to which SD is integrated in their programmes. The data for exploring this is taken from a thematic analysis of six interviews with programme chairs which shows that their assessments of the extent to which SD is integrated in their programmes are at odds with previous findings that highlight deficiencies …

A Critical Realist Approach To Engineering Ethics, Eddie Conlon

Conference papers

This paper is focused on the teaching of engineering ethics (EE). Through a focus on safety and the lens of what sociologists call the agency/ structure relationship it examimes various approaches to this teaching. Drawing on Critical Realism it argues there are deficiencies in both the dominant approach and a number of proposed alternatives as they suffer from various forms of conflationism . By drawing on Critical Realism (CR) a more robust agenda for teaching engineering ethics can be developed. It is argued that CR offers a basis for understanding the range of factors which lead to accidents and disasters. …

Engineering Identities: Section Introduction, Mike Murphy, Tony Marjoram

Books/Book chapters

No abstract provided.

What Role Does Mathematical Preparedness Play For Engineering Students Who Transfer From And Ordinary Degree Into An Honours Degree?, Michael Carr, Marisa Llorens, Susan O'Shaughnessy, Anne Marie Mccarrick, Domhnall Sheridan

Conference papers

Students who have not achieved a high level of mathematics at secondary school but have a pass in ordinary level mathematics have the option of entering onto a 3-year Ordinary degree (Level 7). Upon successful completion of this award students may apply to progress to the third year of the Honours degree. Up until relatively recently an upper merit (60%) was the minimum required to make this transition. In recent years this requirement has been reduced with many students with lower marks being offered the possibility of transferring.

Relatively little work has been done on the transition from an Ordinary …

The Integration Of Sustainable Development Competencies In Irish Engineering Education: Findings Of A Curriculum Content Investigation Of Four Engineering Programmes, Iacovos Nicolaou, Eddie Conlon

Conference papers

This paper presents the initial findings of an investigation of the Sustainable Development (SD) content in five professional engineering degree programmes in a large Irish Institute of Technology.

A comprehensive investigation of the modules content was conducted to see to what extent the learning outcomes for SD as set out in the Barcelona Declaration and SD competencies were covered by the modules. It was found that 40% of the 137 modules included SD learning outcomes and/or addressed SD competencies. The modules have a focus on environmental issues and tend to address only one of the three dimensions, environmental, social and …

Incorporating Reverse Engineering Methodology Into Engineering Curricula, Trevor Wanamaker

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

Wanamaker, Trevor W., M.S., Purdue University, May 2012. Incorporating Reverse Engineering Methodology into Engineering Curricula. Major Professor: Craig L. Miller.

Using a qualitative research approach, this study investigated the thoughts and feelings of students regarding the question, “what factors need to be considered when Reverse Engineering (RE) methodology is incorporated into engineering curricula?” The participants in the study were from the Introduction to Graphics for Manufacturing course at the West Lafayette campus of Purdue University. An RE survey was given to the all students enrolled in the course and 10 select students were given the opportunity to use a 3D …

Successful Engineering And Technology Student Mobility: Key Student Perspectives And Quality Determinants Before, During And After Student Exchange Under The Atlantis Programme, Mike Murphy, Donal Mchale, Michael Dyrenfurth, James Barnes

Articles

The EU-US Agreement through the Atlantis Programmes supports consortia of higher education and training institutions working together at undergraduate or graduate level to improve their educational services, to compare and modernise curricula and to develop joint study programmes with full recognition of credits and qualifications. The EU-US Atlantis Programme funds innovative projects across three strands: mobility projects, double or joint “transatlantic degrees” for students in the EU and US and policy-oriented measures. The main focus of activities must be on transatlantic rather than intra-European or intra-American interactions. Funded activities, such as the development of curricula, joint study programmes, exchanges and …

An International Comparison Of Engineering Programs In Their Emphases And Professional Skills Development, Gul Okudan Kremer, Mike Murphy, Brian Bowe

Articles

In the face of grand challenges for engineering, several efforts have been undertaken to identify the vision for what we should expect from our undergraduate engineering students. For example, one of the significant reports indicates that our graduates should aspire “to have the ingenuity of Lillian Gilbreth, the problem solving capabilities of Gordon Moore, the scientific insight of Albert Einstein, the creativity of Pablo Picasso, the determination of the Wright brothers, the leadership abilities of Bill Gates, the conscience of Eleanor Roosevelt, the vision of Martin Luther King, and the curiosity and wonder of our grandchildren.” This statement implies that …

Critical Issues And Lessons Learned In Establishing Concurrent International Ms Degree Programs In Engineering Technology, Mike Murphy, Michael Dyrenfurth, Gary Bertoline, Robert Herrick, Kathryne Newton, Sancho Maria-Ribera, Nuria Castell, James Barnes, Matthias Kuder, Gareth O'Donnell

Articles

Globalization, competitiveness, and innovation are frequently employed themes as governments, business and industry and universities attempt to respond to the challenges facing them. Clearly business as usual is not likely to be successful in the future. One strategic response for universities has been a significant impetus – in many parts of the world – towards dual, joint or concurrent degree programs involving international partners. It is perhaps not surprising that engineering is among the disciplines that make most use of international collaboration but it seems that engineering technology programs do not yet participate as extensively in this aspect of international …

Marco, Micro, Structure, Agency: Analysing Approaches To Engineering Ethics, Eddie Conlon

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

The Measurement Of Success In External Engagement Activities, Mike Murphy

Conference papers

Our ambition is to identify, through the presentations and the discussion, a number of key insights and necessary actions for development of more and deeper partnerships between Higher Education Institutions and Employers.

Concurrent Masters Degrees Across The Atlantic: Innovations, Issues And Insights, Michael Dyrenfurth, Mike Murphy, Gary Bertoline, Robert Herrick, Kathryne Newton, Gareth O'Donnell, Donal Mchale, Nuria Castell, Miquel Barcelo, Didac Balas, Maria Ribera Sancho, Jordi Garcia

Conference papers

Atransatlantic degree consortium to implement a four-semester dual masters degree initiative across a three-institution consortium consisting of Purdue University (USA), the Technological University Dublin (DIT), and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain) is presented in this paper.

Quality Indicators For Engineering And Technology Education, Michael Dyrenfurth, Mike Murphy, Gary Bertoline

Conference papers

In recent years the development and use of university rankings, comparisons, and/or league tables has become popular and several methodologies are now frequently used to provide a comparative ranking of universities. These rankings are often based on research and publication activity and also not uncommonly focus on indicators that can be measured rather than those that should be measured. Further, the indicators are generally examined for the university as a whole rather than for university divisions, departments or programs. Implicit also is that placement in the rankings is indicative of quality. This paper provides an overview of the methodologies used …

An Evolutionary Perspective On Engineering Design, William Grimson, Mike Murphy

Books/Book chapters

No abstract provided.

Universities Changing In Response To A Volatile Environment: A Case Study From Ireland, Kevin Kelly

Books/Book chapters

This paper is a short summary of a research thesis submitted for a doctoral degree in education in late 2008. The substantive issue investigated was the response of a large higher education institute (HEI) in Ireland, the Dublin Institute of Technology and hereafter referred to as the Institute, to the demands for change. The research was undertaken by an experienced academic from inside the organisation. What is happening in this institute may be significant to others because change in higher education is a key debate throughout the world at present. The research study shows that stakeholders in the Institute acknowledge …

Developing Effective, Sustainable, Mutually Beneficial International Collaborations In Engineering And Technology, Mike Murphy

Presentations

No abstract provided.