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Developing Global Competence In Engineering Students: U.S. And German Approaches, Peggy Blumenthal, Ulrich Grothus

Online Journal for Global Engineering Education

This article presents a U.S. and a German perspective on the challenges and strategies of each country in developing globally competent engineering professionals. It reviews U.S., German, and wider EU interests and strategies for attracting international students, as well as national and campus-based programs through which American and German engineering students can study abroad and gain international experience relevant to their future careers. The authors discuss the shared challenges faced by universities in both countries, and the need for further investments by government, industry and academia.

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Building Services Engineering

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Records Of Natural Fires And The Sorption Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Pahs) By Black Carbon And Carbon Chars In Sediments From Oriole Lake (Sequoia National Park), Kevyn Bollinger

Senior Honors Projects

This project investigates the interaction between Black Carbon and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in lake sediments from Oriole Lake in Sequoia National Park California. The interaction between Black Carbon and PAHs is of interest because little is known with respect to the availability and the time scale within which black carbon adsorbs PAHs in a natural system. Black Carbon and PAHs both will eventually be degraded in the environment but the relevant timescales of sorption and degradation are unknown. Field work for this project was conducted July 16-21, 2007 at Oriole Lake in Sequoia National Park California. Sequoia National Park …

Examining 4-H Robotics In The Learning Of Science, Engineering And Technology Topics And The Related Student Attitudes, Bradley S. Barker, Gwen Nugent, Neal Grandgenett, Amy Hampton

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Youths’ natural fascination and identification with robots make them an ideal teaching and learning platform. Robots would seem to be excellent hands-on tools to teach science, engineering and technology (SET) concepts. However, while research supports their use to increase interest and motivation, the effectiveness of robots to directly teach science, engineering, and technology concepts is less clear. The purpose of this study was to measure the effectiveness of a 4-H robotics program to support the learning of specific SET concepts and to examine related student attitudes towards science. This study compared the pretest and posttest scores on an assessment of …

Physics Alumni Newsletter Spring 2008, Terry Goforth

Physics Alumni Newsletter

Physics Alumni Newsletter

The Physics Alumni Newsletter is produced by the SWOSU Physics Department.

Our Engineering Physics students are recruited in fields such as electronics, aerospace, mechanical engineering, petroleum engineering and software engineering. Graduates also have careers in meteorology, architecture, education and more.

An Integrated Approach To The Teaching Of Numerical Methods To Engineering Students, Garrett Keane, Michael Carr, Patrick Carroll

Conference papers

In Technological University Dublin, historically, numerical methods were taught to engineering students using a format of traditional mathematics lectures, to a large class group consisting of students from five different engineering disciplines, complemented by small class tutorials. Assessment was by a single, written exam only.

In order to improve the overall effectiveness of the students’ learning experience, it was deemed beneficial to also introduce practical computing classes in which the students would be required to apply the general mathematical methods covered in lectures to discipline-specific examples.

Three different practical computing assignments were devised for the students to undertake, and 20% …

At Issue, Bill Feireisen, George K. Thiruvathukal

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this installment of At Issue, two of CiSE's editorial board members describe the magazine's current and future Web presence. We start with Bill Feiereisen's discussion of science on the Web and what it could mean for CiSE ("Are We There Yet?") and end with George Thiruvathukal's discussion of the challenges therein ("If We Build It, Will They Come?"). CiSE's official homepage is www.computer.org/cise; we gladly welcome comments with suggestions or feedback. You can contact lead editor (Jenny Stout; [email protected]) or write to either Bill or George (their email addresses appear at the end of their respective essays).

Complex Systems In Engineering And Technology Education: A Mixed Methods Study Investigating The Role Computer Simulations Serve In Student Learning, Douglas James Walrath

Dissertations

This research was conducted to determine if students receiving complex systems instruction in the form of software simulations recognize patterns and underlying elements of complex systems more effectively than students receiving traditional instruction. Complex systems were investigated with an analytic (reductive) approach in a control group and with a synthesis approach in the treatment group. Exploration of this top-down approach to learning complex systems counters traditional bottom-up methodologies, investigating systems and subsystems at the component level. The hypothesis was that students experiencing complex systems scenarios in a computerbased learning environment would outperform their counterparts by constructing a greater number of …

Academic Performance As A Predictor Of Student Growth In Achievement And Mental Motivation During An Engineering Design Challenge In Engineering And Technology Education, Nathan James Mentzer

Dissertations

The purpose of this correlational research study was to determine if students’ academic success was correlated with: (a) the student change in achievement during an engineering design challenge; and (b) student change in mental motivation toward solving problems and critical thinking during an engineering design challenge. Multiple experimental studies have shown engineering design challenges increase student achievement and attitude toward learning, but conflicting evidence surrounded the impact on higher and lower academically achieving students.

A high school classroom was chosen in which elements of engineering design were purposefully taught. Eleventh-grade student participants represented a diverse set of academic backgrounds (measured …

Engineering-Oriented Professional Development For Secondary Level Teachers: A Multiple Case Study Analysis, Jenny Lynn Daugherty

Dissertations

This study consisted of multiple case studies of selected professional development programs designed to prepare secondary teachers to deliver engineering-oriented education. The focus was on understanding the professional development design, fundamental content knowledge, essential pedagogies, unique challenges, and effective practices involved in this type of professional development. This was achieved by interviewing the leadership, instructors, and participating teachers; observing the in-person workshops; administering a survey to the teachers; and analyzing the project’s documentation. Five professional development programs were examined, including: Engineering the Future, Project Lead the Way, Mathematics Across the Middle School MST Curriculum, The Infinity Project, and INSPIRES. The …

Modeling Of Transient Thrust Of A Two Phase Propellant Tank, Karthik Mellechervu

ETD Archive

This thesis develops a model to predict various time-varying quantities associated with the evacuation of a pressurized container through a nozzle. The container is part of a satellite propulsion prototype used to study attitude control. Variables of interest include the thrust and mass of fluid in the tank as functions of time. A mathematical model based on transient expressions for mass and energy conservation is derived for a two-phase system representative of the conditions of the fluid inside the tank

Stratified-Drift Aquifers In New Hampshire With Potential To Serve As Future, Large Public Water-Supplies: Status, Circa 2000; Projected Losses, Circa 2025; And Data Accuracy, John Alexander Lough

Doctoral Dissertations

Given the growing national water crisis, this research quantified and refined the states of stratified-drift aquifers with potential to yield 75+ gpm (OSDA75) and 150+ gpm (OSDA150) in New Hampshire for 2000 and 2025. Surface waters, cultural features and groundwater hazards from 13 federal/state datasets were buffered according to desired well yields, and then overlain within a geographic information system onto stratified-drift aquifer (OSDA) layer. Non-buffered, highly-transmissive polygons defined the aquifer areas remaining available with potential to meet 75+gpm or 150+ gpm well yields (RSDA75 or RSDA150). Aquifer losses for 2025 were modeled by principal-components regression as function of aquifer …

Flow Through And Around Fish Farming Nets, Oystein Patursson

Doctoral Dissertations

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling, tow tank and field measurements were used to investigate current flow through and around net panels and cages. For the numerical computations a porous media model was used to represent the net allowing efficient computation of both exterior and interior flow fields. The model was calibrated using tow tank measurements on a net panel at different velocities and angles of attack. The CFD method was able to reproduce the drag- and lift coefficients of the net panel and the velocity reduction behind the net panel with satisfactory accuracy.

The approach was validated for a small …

Dynamics Of Phytoplankton Community Composition In The Western Gulf Of Maine, Timothy S. Moore

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is founded on the importance of phytoplankton community composition to marine biogeochemistry and ecosystem processes and motivated by the need to understand their distributions on regional to global scales. The ultimate goal was to predict surface phytoplankton communities using satellite remote sensing by relating marine habitats--defined through a statistical description of environmental properties--to different phytoplankton communities. While phytoplankton community composition is governed by the interplay of abiotic and biotic interactions, the strategy adopted here was to focus on the physical abiotic factors. This allowed for the detection of habitats from ocean satellites based on abiotic factors that were …

Biologically Inspired Composite Image Sensor For Deep Field Target Tracking, Pavlo Melnyk

Doctoral Dissertations

The use of nonuniform image sensors in mobile based computer vision applications can be an effective solution when computational burden is problematic. Nonuniform image sensors are still in their infancy and as such have not been fully investigated for their unique qualities nor have they been extensively applied in practice. In this dissertation a system has been developed that can perform vision tasks in both the far field and the near field. In order to accomplish this, a new and novel image sensor system has been developed. Inspired by the biological aspects of the visual systems found in both falcons …

The Effect Of Component Recognition On Flexibility And Speech Recognition Performance In A Spoken Question Answering System, Mike Dalton

Doctoral Dissertations

A spoken question answering system that recognizes questions as full sentences performs well when users ask one of the questions defined. A system that recognizes component words and finds an equivalent defined question might be more flexible, but is likely to have decreased speech recognition performance, leading to a loss in overall system success. The research described in this document compares the advantage in flexibility to the loss in recognition performance when using component recognition.

Questions posed by participants were processed by a system of each type. As expected, the component system made frequent recognition errors while detecting words (word …

Improved Estimation Of Fourier Coefficients For Ill-Posed Inverse Problems, Mikhail V. Shubov

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation we present and solve an ill-posed inverse problem which involves reproducing a function f(x) or its Fourier coefficients from the observed values of the function. The observations of the f(x) are made at n equidistant points on the unit interval with p observations being made at each point. The observations are effected by a random error with a known distribution.

First of all we present a very simple estimator for the Fourier coefficients of f(x). Then we present an iteration algorithm for improving the estimator for the Fourier coefficients. We show that the improved estimator we use …

Integrating Engineering Ethics And Research Skills In A First Year Programme, Eddie Conlon

Conference papers

A first year module which introduces students to the social dimension of engineering is described. The key teaching tool is the use of group projects to develop students’ learning skills. The importance of addressing the motivation for engineering students studying non-technical modules is emphasised. Data used to evaluate the module is presented. It is shown that the nature of the project undertaken affects the attainment of learning outcomes. The conclusion focuses on some shortcomings of the module and highlights the importance of appropriately structuring the learning environment to facilitate self-directed learning by early year students.

Evaluation Of Multiple Small Volume Aquaculture Cage Systems, Ryan R. Despins

Master's Theses and Capstones

The construction of the University of New Hampshire (UNH) American Soybean Association International Marketing (ASAIM) cage was documented and modifications were made to the original design. Testing included hydrostatics and solid modeling to ensure modifications would not violate cage parameters.

To test alternate mooring systems, the finite element package Aqua-FE was used. Five mooring designs (three for single cage, two for multi-cage systems) were reduced to two through an initial feasibility study. Results from AquaFE demonstrated that transverse loadings, loads applied perpendicular to the mooring, supplied higher anchor tensions and system motions than in-line loadings, loads applied parallel to the …

Evaluation Of The Bailey Method As A Tool For Improving The Rutting Resistance Of Mix Designs Using New Hampshire Aggregate, Felix Alexander Rivera

Master's Theses and Capstones

Currently the NHDOT uses the Superpave method to design and evaluate its asphalt pavements; however, this method lacks guidelines to adjust an aggregate blend that yields unacceptable mixtures. The objective of this project was to determine if the Bailey Method of aggregate blending would help improve the rutting resistance of mix designs that use NH aggregates. The rutting performances of six typical NH mix designs and two Bailey designs were measured using the Third Scale Mobile Model Load Simulator (MMLS3), an accelerated pavement testing (APT) device, in hot, dry conditions. Out of the two mixtures redesigned according to the Bailey …

Offshore Vertical Datum Separations Derived From Post-Processed Kinematic (Ppk) Heights Observed Along A Scheduled Ferry Route, Nathan C. Wardwell

Master's Theses and Capstones

Eight months of GPS data were used to determine tidal constituents along a ferry route across the Bay of Fundy, Canada. The GPS data were aggregated into 62 spatial zones and analyzed as if all the data within each zone were from a single Virtual Tide Gauge (VTG). Tidal models were developed from the VTG data using a weighted least-squares solution. Chart Datum with respect to the ITRF2000 was computed for each spatial zone using 8 months of predicted water-levels.

The time between ferry crossings results in sampling intervals longer than the tide signal in the Bay of Fundy, thus …

An Architecture And Technology For Ambient Intelligence Node, Tomasz M. Jankowski

Master's Theses and Capstones

The era of separate networks is over. The existing technology leaders are preparing a big change in recreation of environment around us. There are several faces for this change. Names like Ambient Intelligence, Ambient Network, IP Multimedia Subsystem and others were created all over the Globe. Regardless of which name is used the new network will combine three main functional principles---it will be: contextual aware, ubiquitous access and intelligent interfaces unified network.

Within this thesis two major aspects are defined. First, the definition of the Ambient Intelligence Environment concept is presented. Secondly the architecture vectors for the technology are named. …

Effects Of Different Push-To-Talk Solutions On Driving Performance, Oskar Palinko

Master's Theses and Capstones

Police officers have been using the Project54 system in their vehicles for a number of years. They have also started using the handheld version of Project54 outside their vehicles recently. There is a need to connect these two instances of the system into a continuous user interface. On the other hand, research has shown that the PTT button location affects driving performance. This thesis investigates the difference between the old, fixed PTT button and a new wireless PTT glove, that could be used in and outside of the car. The thesis describes the design of the glove and the driving …

Study Of Gas Diffusion Layers In Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (Dmfc), Jason Morgan

Master's Theses and Capstones

An automated single-cell fuel cell system has been designed and fabricated in this work. The apparatus is capable of operating on both hydrogen and methanol fuels, and can control the mass flow rates and humidity of the inlet gases, and temperature and pressure of the cell with a LabVIEW program. A series of experiments are conducted to determine the optimum cell operating temperature (75°C), methanol concentration (4 molar), methanol flow rate (3 mL/min) and catalyst loading on Gas Diffusion Layers (GDLs) (∼2.5 mg/cm2). A new anode GDL is fabricated by optimizing the hydrophobicity in the substrate and microporous layer (MPL), …

A Comparative Analysis Of Control Techniques For Formation Flying Spacecraft In An Earth/Moon-Sun L(2)-Centered Lissajous Orbit, Michael Farrar

Master's Theses and Capstones

In this thesis, several control techniques are applied to an occulter satellite for a given formation flying mission. This research is in collaboration with the Flight Dynamics Analysis branch at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The spacecraft is part of a leader-follower configuration which orbits about the Earth/Moon-Sun L2 libration point in a lissajous orbit. A controller is required to maintain a distance of 50,000 km between the occulter and the leader satellite in the radial direction with respect to the orbit. The occulter is allowed a tolerance range of 10 m within the "shadow" of …

Dynamic Responses Of A 20-Ton Capacity Feed Buoy In An Open Ocean Environment, Jonathan F. Horton

Master's Theses and Capstones

The 20-ton capacity feed buoy in operation at the Atlantic Marine Aquaculture Center's offshore demonstration site continues to serve as a leading model for marine aquaculture in the energetic ocean environment. Previous modeling and analysis proved survivability of the feed buoy in harsh storm driven seas, however, a field study was not performed at, or after, the time of deployment. This field program was conducted to find the dynamic responses of the buoy due to environmental forcing. Analysis of fair weather data shows small feed buoy responses in heave, surge, and pitch toward lower frequency waves commonly associated with storm …

Application Development Process For Gnat, A Soc Networked System, Christopher L. Plumlee

Master's Theses and Capstones

The market for smart devices was identified years ago, and yet commercial progress into this field has not made significant progress. The reason such devices are so painfully slow to market is that the gap between the technologically possible and the market capitalizable is too vast. In order for inventions to succeed commercially, they must bridge the gap to tomorrow's technology with marketability today. This thesis demonstrates a design methodology that enables such commercial success for one variety of smart device, the Ambient Intelligence Node (AIN). Commercial Off-The Shelf (COTS) design tools allowing a Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) approach are combined …

An Autonomous Orbit Transfer Controller For The Nasa Magnetospheric Multiscale Satellite, Michael Borrelli

Master's Theses and Capstones

With the ever more demanding goals of space exploration and research comes the need for more complex mission planning. Part of this complexity manifests itself in a satellite's orbit specifications. An increasing number of explorer missions call for a group of satellites to maneuver while arranged in a tightly controlled formation, or constellation. In order to maintain these constellations at immense distances from Earth, engineers must rely on feedback systems within the satellites' hardware. Controllers are created to manipulate the actuators, such as thrusters, and are therefore responsible for the economical use of fuel; overusing fuel can reduce a satellite's …

Rapid Test Method For Determining Alkali-Silica Reactivity Expansion In Concrete And Aggregate, Douglas R. Pac

Master's Theses and Capstones

The undesirable expansion of concrete due to a reaction between alkalis in the cement and reactive siliceous aggregates, known as alkali-silica reactivity (ASR), continues to be a world-wide problem. Current test methods for predicting ASR are either inaccurate because they are unrepresentative of field conditions or require long testing periods that become impractical for use in the field. Because of the rising interest to minimize distress caused by ASR, alternative methods must be considered.

A key factor in the prediction of ASR in concrete over time is the reactivity of the aggregate. In the present study, an attempt was made …

A Bayesian Stormwater Quality Model And Its Application To Water Quality Monitoring, Pedro M. Avellaneda

Doctoral Dissertations

Stormwater runoff is a topic of research that over the years has increasingly grown due to its impact on our water resources. Treatment systems have been developed to mitigate this impact by preserving the pre-development hydrologic and water quality characteristics of the drainage areas. Understanding of the systems' treatment capabilities is required for stormwater management. The goal of this research was to study the application of a decay treatment model as a conceptual tool for understanding the pollutant removal characteristics of stormwater systems. Three systems were studied in this research: a sand filter, a gravel wetland, and a retention pond. …