Engineering Commons^™

Leveraging Algebraic Thinking In Stem Education To Equip The Next Generation Of Problem Solvers, Asenath Odondi, Comfort Temitope Aje

Indiana STEM Education Conference

Algebraic thinking is a critical skill in mathematics education, involving pattern recognition, generalization, symbolic manipulation, and problem-solving. It is essential for success in STEM fields and should be developed throughout education, starting in early grades. This literature review synthesizes research on algebraic thinking, focusing on problem-based learning. The review indicates that incorporating algebraic thinking into problem-based learning with non-routine activities enhances students' understanding and real-world problem-solving in STEM.

Observing Evidence Of Fixation During K-12 Engineering Design Challenges Using Variables Adapted From Post-Secondary Research, Sopheak Seng, William S. Walker Iii

Indiana STEM Education Conference

Design fixation is a phenomenon impacting students when they generate ideas for an engineering challenge and subsequently hesitate to consider alternative ideas throughout the design activity. Research into fixation with post-secondary students has shown that fixation can limit the quantity and the quality of design solutions. This research brief will describe how fixation has been measured at the post-secondary level and suggest the need for complementing quantitative with qualitative analyses.

Impacts Of Informal Stem Summer Camps On Middle School Student Stem Identity, Austin R. Jenkins, Joshua Faith, Steve Heinold

Indiana STEM Education Conference

Informal or out of school STEM spaces have been documented as sites of positive STEM identity development for youth historically marginalized in formal STEM spaces (Çolakoğlu et al., 2023). To increase the number of students who develop positive STEM identities during the critical juncture of middle school, Indiana GEAR UP offered summer camps to rising 7th and 8th grade students at selected middle schools across the state. Longitudinal interviews with students indicate the importance of informal STEM spaces, like summer camps, in fostering positive STEM identity development.

Innovative Stem Learning Through Solar Oven Design: Promoting Creativity And Teamwork In Stem Education, Humphrey Chinenye Ochulor, Abigail Erskine, Comfort Temitope Aje

Indiana STEM Education Conference

STEM education benefits significantly from integrating design-based learning (DBL) which fosters student creativity and teamwork. This research brief examines how solar oven design projects for K-12 students that involve DBL promote students' creative skills and teamwork. A literature review was done to investigate how solar oven design activities impacted student learning. Research has shown that students improve creativity and teamwork when these activities are carried out using DBL strategies.

Indiana Interstate Speed Profiles 2020-2024, Rahul Suryakant Sakhare, Jairaj Desai, Deborah Horton, Darcy M. Bullock

Indiana Mobility Reports

This report presents a graphical summary of monthly mile-hours of congestion across the 8 Indiana interstates (I-64, I-65, I-69, I-70, I-74, I-94, I-465, and I-469) and the Indiana Toll Road (I-90) analyzed longitudinally over the last five years from January 2020 to December 2024. It is a continuation of speed profile summaries that are published in previous years. Such systemwide interstate performance measures provide important information for decision makers to plan capital projects and assess operations.

Hours of operation by speed bins (0 to 14 mph, 15 mph to 24 mph, 25 mph to 34 mph, 35 mph to 44 …

Crawfordsville District Interstate Speed Profiles: April 2020–March 2025, Rahul Suryakant Sakhare, Jairaj Desai, Deborah Horton, Darcy M. Bullock

Indiana Mobility Reports

This report presents a graphical summary of monthly mile-hours of congestion across the three interstates (I-65, I-70, and I-74) in INDOT’s Crawfordville District analyzed longitudinally over the last five years from April 2020 to March 2025. It is a continuation of speed profile summaries that are published in previous years. Such systemwide interstate performance measures provide important information for decision makers to plan capital projects and assess operations.

Hours of operation by speed bins (0 to 14 mph, 15 mph to 24 mph, 25 mph to 34 mph, 35 mph to 44 mph, 45 mph to 54 mph, 55 mph …

Navigating The Safety-Regulation Gap: Unraveling Systemic Challenges In Aviation Through Historical Accidents Analysis, Joshua Jackson

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Enhancing Bedside Nursing Care: An Artificial Neural Network Approach To Predicting Cardiac Arrest In Hospitalized Adults, Katharine Czech, Alec Pannunzio, Maddie Anderson, Numair Khan, Jacob Lacanienta, Jonghyeok Lee, Aneesh Poddutur, Emily Rastovski, Kira Voelker, Julie Wasyliw, Sei Zou

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Change Of Carbohydrate Concentration In Reactors From Spring To Fall 2022 After Refrigeration, Amanda Ventura

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Model For Fire Spread In Low-Gravity Conditions, Kathleen Martinus

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Perceived Participant Learning Gains Attained While Participating In An Reu Program, Mridulla Ganesh

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Engineering Faculty Perceptions Of Participating In A Sotl Professional Development Intervention, Rhea Dutta

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Predictive Maintenance Analysis Of Turbofan Engine Sensor Data, Stanley A. Melkumian

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Predictive maintenance in aviation and aerospace applications is among the most explored problems in machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), and datasets such as NASA’s C-MAPPS turbofan engine degradation simulation data have proven invaluable, helping researchers explore numerous questions on engine performance, maintenance, and failure. The purpose of this study was to extend the current research on predicting the remaining useful life (RUL) of engines and their risk classification. Starting with simple yet under-investigated nonlinear survival and random forest models, the analysis implemented eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and long short-term memory (LSTM) from TensorFlow’s Keras library. For both regression …

Optimization Of Tps Films Using An Adaptive Design Of Experiments Approach In A Bayesian Optimization Framework, Theresa Marks, Gracie White, Scott Lohman, Mayank Malhotra

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Plastic pollution, amounting to 12 million tons annually, necessitates sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics. Compostable thermoplastic starch (TPS) films show promise but lack strength and durability compared to traditional plastics. This study employs an adaptive design of experiments (DoE) approach to enhance TPS films by optimizing testing points. The research focuses on varying concentrations of plasticizers (acetic acid and glycerol) in a water and potato starch mixture, aiming to identify the optimal ratio maximizing tensile strength and % elongation at break. Gaussian process regression (GPR) with uncertainty estimation and Bayesian optimization (BO) utilizing an acquisition function (AF) are employed. The …

Identification Of Conserved Eukaryotic Gene Products In Novel Mycobacteriophage, Brandon Mar, Jade Coxon, Lily Esterline, Sydney Clifford, Gabriella Burke, Mallory Motz, Alaina Gartner, Kioni Bush, James Lin, Lizzie Adams, Sophia Palant

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Bacteriophage, a type of virus that infects bacteria, was discovered 100 years ago, initially isolated with a plaque assay in the 1940s. A mycobacteriophage is a subtype of bacteriophage that specifically infects mycobacteria. Since the introduction of DNA technologies and efforts to identify a plethora of bacteriophages, over 10,000 bacteriophages have been identified with 1,500 sequenced. Bacteriophage discovery has aided in genetic editing techniques, the development of synthetic biology tools, and disease treatment. However, to be able to expand on these capabilities, there is a need to identify more bacteriophages and sequence the genomes of these viruses, as they outnumber …

Construction Site Planning And Logistical Operations: Site-Focused Management For Builders, Second Edition, Randy R. Rapp, Bradley L. Benhart

Purdue Handbooks in Building Construction

Organizing and administering a construction site so that the right resources get to the right place in a timely fashion demands strong leadership and a well-defined, disciplined process. Good logistical operations enable profitability, and this book is the essential, muddy boots guide to such management. Written by experienced educator–practitioners, Construction Site Planning and Logistical Operations is a popular guide to the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by project superintendents, especially, but useful to all constructors. This second edition is updated to include new technologies, resources, and details of operational planning. Leadership imperatives and management techniques remain integrated throughout. The book …

Jovial Family Farm Facilitates Intergenerational Learning Opportunities Through Urban Farming, Maera Williams

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Maera Williams is a sophomore in Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University. She joined the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) Urban Farming team as a freshman and now serves as project manager of ten undergraduate students collaborating with Jovial Family Farm to design and develop three indoor hydroponics systems for a laboratory space on their property in Broad Ripple, IN. Jovial Family Farm is a nonprofit organization founded by Drs. Bobbie and Brian Jellison with the mission to provide senior citizens, their families, and their communities with meaningful engagement opportunities on an intergenerational scale through urban agricultural activities. …

Exploring How Personal And Program Characteristics Inform The Experiences Of Engineering Students Abroad, Kirsten A. Davis, David B. Knight

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Background

As more universities seek to offer international experiences for engineering students, it is important to design such programs to effectively support student learning abroad. Previous research on study abroad has focused on a limited number of outcomes and therefore failed to consider the diversity of experiences students may have in the same program and the range of learning outcomes they may develop while abroad.

Purpose

We explored student experiences across multiple types of engineering study abroad programs to address the research question: How do the types of significant experiences students highlighted from their time abroad differ based on student …

Fostering Systems Thinking Through Engineering Study Abroad Programs, Desen S. Ozkan, Kirsten A. Davis, James C. Davis, Jessica Deters, Homero Murzi

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Engineering study abroad programs are a novel setting for students to develop systems thinking, which has primarily been taught in formal learning environments. Through a situated learning perspective, we examined the impact of two engineering-focused study abroad experiences on developing students’ systems thinking skills. We conducted secondary data analysis to examine how first-year engineering students (n = 47) at a technical university in the United States (US) connect technical and contextual aspects of engineering in China and the UK/Ireland. The students on the China track drew connections more frequently (81% of excerpts) than those on the UK/Ireland track (49% …

Engineering Technology Capstone: Exploring The Current State, Rustin Webster, Matthew Turner

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The characteristics that make up the general identity of engineering technology (ET) degree programs and their graduates are well known; however, the explicit characteristics of ET capstone nationally is unknown. In other words, there are multiple gaps in the general ET capstone body of knowledge that need to be filled in order to fully understand and describe the current state. The purpose of this short paper is to provide a synopsis of 1) the current known identity of ET education, 2) existing ET capstone research, and 3) ET capstone knowledge gaps (i.e., future research areas). Internal preliminary findings comparing traditional …

Tunable Blended Collagen I/Ii And Collagen I/Iii Hydrogels As Tissue Mimics, Paulina M. Babiak, Carly M. Battistoni, Leonard Cahya, Rithika Athreya, Jason Minnich Ii, Alyssa Panitch, Julie C. Liu

School of Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications

Collagen (Col) is commonly used as a natural biomaterial for biomedical applications. Although Col I is the most prevalent col type employed, many collagen types work together in vivo to confer function and biological activity. Thus, blending collagen types can better recapitulate many native environments. This work investigates how hydrogel properties can be tuned through blending collagen types (col I/II and col I/III) and by varying polymerization temperatures. Col I/II results in poorly developed fibril networks, which softened the gels, especially at lower polymerization temperatures. Conversely, col I/III hydrogels exhibit well-connected fibril networks with localized areas of fine fibrils and …

Transition Of Buoyancy-Driven Flow From An Axisymmetric To Non-Axisymmetric Vortex Inside An Evaporating Sessile Droplet, Jialing Yu, Zhenhai Pan, Justin A. Weibel

CTRC Research Publications

The internal flow within an evaporating sessile droplet has intriguing fluid mechanics important to various microfluidics applications. In the present study, a phenomenon is observed through numerical methods wherein the buoyancy-driven flow structure inside a droplet on a non-wetting substrate transitions from an axisymmetric toroidal vortex flow to a non-axisymmetric single vortex flow with increase in the substrate temperature. As the axisymmetric nature of the droplet flow field and evaporation characteristics are broken, the internal velocity accelerates significantly. The transition, which is attributed to a flow instability inside the droplet, is more prone to occur as the droplet volume or …

Lifetimes Of Stable Solutions To The Planar Three-Body Problem, Revealed In Patterns Of Fractal Art, Charles F. Babbs

Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Faculty Working Papers

This preliminary study explores statistical prediction of the lifetimes of apparently stable orbits of three particle masses, mutually attracted by gravity in the planar three body problem. Most orbits eventually break up, commonly in an end state with two of the bodies orbiting each other and moving together in one direction, with the third body moving in the opposite direction. Studies of such escape events led to a novel hypothesis, emerging from the intersection of probability, statistics, chaos, and fractal art. Statistical estimates of a constant probability of breakup per unit time allow prediction of the times of breakup of …

Ai-Enhanced Decision-Making For Course Modality Preferences In Higher Engineering Education During The Post-Covid-19 Era, Amirreza Mehrabi, Jason Morphew, Babak Nadjar Araabi, Negar Memarian, Hossein Memarian

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled a swift transformation in higher-education methodologies, particularly in the domain of course modality. This study highlights the potential for artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve decision-making in advanced engineering education. We focus on the potential for large existing datasets to align institutional decisions with student and faculty preferences in the face of rapid changes in instructional approaches prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. To ascertain the preferences of students and instructors regarding class modalities across various courses, we utilized the Cognitive Process-Embedded Systems and e-learning conceptual framework. This framework effectively delineates the …

Fatigue-Resistant Mechanoresponsive Color-Changing Hydrogels For Vision-Based Tactile Robots, Jiabin Liu, Wei Li, Yu She, Sean Blanchard, Shaoting Lin

School of Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

Mechanoresponsive color-changing materials that can reversibly and resiliently change color in response to mechanical deformation are highly desirable for diverse modern technologies in optics, sensors, and robots; however, such materials are rarely achieved. Here, a fatigue-resistant mechanoresponsive color-changing hydrogel (FMCH) is reported that exhibits reversible, resilient, and predictable color changes under mechanical stress. At its undeformed state, the FMCH remains dark under a circular polariscope; upon uniaxial stretching of up to six times its initial length, it gradually shifts its color from black, to gray, yellow, and purple. Unlike traditional mechanoresponsive color-changing materials, FMCH maintains its performance across various strain …

Reconciling Modern Engineering Education With The Everyday Of Rural Schools And Youths, Malle R. Schilling, Jacob R. Grohs

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

We highlight the impacts of inequitable distributions of resources across geographies, structural challenges faced in partnerships with rural schools, and the importance of asset-based arguments to recognize and engage with systemic challenges. Precollege engineering education often focuses on engaging students and teachers hands-on with novel technologies and experiences that frequently distract from systemic inequities, particularly pertaining to place. Given national efforts in rural STEM education, there is a need to recognize important contextual factors influencing precollege engineering education. Through a lens of working with rural Appalachian schools, we hope to challenge practices and assumptions in precollege engineering education.

Mechanics Cognitive Diagnostic: Mathematics Skills Tested In Introductory Physics Courses, Vy Le, Ben Van Dusen, Jayson M. Nissen, Xiuxiu Tang, Yuxiao Zhang, Hua Hua Chang, Jason Morphew

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Physics instructors and education researchers use research-based assessments (RBAs) to evaluate students' preparation for physics courses. This preparation can cover a wide range of constructs including mathematics and physics content. Using separate mathematics and physics RBAs consumes course time. We are developing a new RBA for introductory mechanics as an online test using both computerized adaptive testing and cognitive diagnostic models. This design allows the adaptive RBA to assess mathematics and physics content knowledge within a single assessment. In this article, we used an evidence-centered design framework to inform the extent to which our models of skills students develop in …

Characterising Stem Ways Of Thinking In Engineering Design (Ed)-Based Tasks, Ravishankar Chatta Subramaniam, Caden L’Fontaine, Amir Bralin, Jason Morphew, Carina M. Rebello, Sanjay Rebello

School of Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Investigating students' thinking in routine classroom tasks, especially in science and engineering, is crucial. Given the rising interest in STEM Ways of Thinking (SWoT), in this exploratory study, we focus on two multi-week Engineering Design tasks within an undergraduate physics laboratory. Given that the term 'ways of thinking' has varied interpretations, we aim to further the discourse by identifying four SWoTs: Design Thinking, Physics Concepts, Mathematical Constructs, and Metacognitive Reflection. Analyzing discussions from 14 student-groups reveals notable differences in how students solve an instructor-assigned challenge given earlier in the semester and a student-generated challenge later in the semester. Students considered …

Scla 521 Ai In Society, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Provides access to information resources on societal impacts of artificial intelligence from multiple libraries databases covering multiple disciplines including government information resources.

One Possible Solution To The Endo Challenge For Earlier, Low Cost, Non-Invasive Diagnosis Of Endometriosis, Charles F. Babbs

Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Faculty Working Papers

This short paper outlines a potential solution to the ENDO Challenge posed by the US National Institutes of Health to spur development of painless, noninvasive diagnostic tools for early diagnosis in women suffering needlessly from endometriosis. Endometriosis is a common condition caused by regurgitation of menses backwards through the Fallopian tubes from the uterine cavity into the abdominal cavity during menstruation. A few still viable endometrial cells then implant widely and unpredictably throughout the abdominal cavity and become established on the surfaces of internal organs and the abdominal wall. There they live and remain responsive to cyclic hormones. The resulting …