American Society for Engineering Education
July 2001
Member Poll: Which time do you prefer for the annual Section conference?
 Fall (Usually in early October)
 Spring (Usually in late March)
Send your preference to Paul French (frenchpa@oneonta.edu, or PS113; SUNY College at Oneonta;
Oneonta, NY 13820) before the next meeting of the General Committee (October 20, 2001).
Newsletter
ASEE – St. Lawrence Section
Table of Contents:
 Minutes of the General Committee Meeting, March 31, 2001 at 7:30 AM at RIT
 Minutes of the Annual Business Meeting, March 31, 2001 at 12:30 PM at RIT
 ASEE – St. Lawrence Section – Website; Go to www.oneonta.edu/engineering and click on ASEE.
 Program from the Annual Meeting, March 30-31, 2001, Rochester Institute of Technology
Minutes of the General Committee Meeting, March 31, 2001 at 7:30 AM at RIT
Present: Barrie Jackson, Bill Beston, John Stratton, Doug Hamblin, Bill Rudge, Thomas Weber
1. Secretary's Report: The Secretary, Alex Cartwright, was not present. He had not been at the
Syracuse Planning Meeting. There were no minutes of the Syracuse meeting.
2. Treasurer's Report: Bill Beston handed out copies of his report. There hadn't been much activity.
The drop in the ASEE Allocation was noted; the allocation for Dec. 31, 1999 was $562, while that
for Dec. 31, 2000 was only $373. Thomas Weber will inquire at ASEE Headquarters about this
decrease. It is difficult to believe that our membership has dropped by 189 in a year. Has there been
that great an increase in the number of retirees?
The only anticipated expenses are those for the travel of the two teaching award winners.
3. Nominations: Barrie agreed to be Chair another year. John Stratton was nominated for Vice Chair
(vacant last year). Bill Beston will continue as Treasurer. It was suggested that Ed Tezak (Alfred)
be asked to serve as Secretary.
4. Publicity for this Meeting: Barrie suggested that material from the Conference Program at RIT be
distributed via CD to all members who could not attend this year's conference. An alternate idea
would be to post it on the website in PDF format. Maybe mailing hard copies is better. The
mechanics of the distribution were not resolved. John Stratton is in charge of this, as well as the
preparation of the list of attendees.
Minutes of the Annual Business Meeting, March 31, 2001 at 12:30 PM at RIT
(The meeting program listed this meeting as by invitation; it was supposed to be open to all attendees.
Hence the small number of attendees.)
Present: Raman Unnikrishnan (RIT), Michael Ryan (SUNY Buffalo), Tom Weber (SUNY Buffalo),
Barrie Jackson (Queens University), Bill Rudge (GE, retired), Doug Hamblin (Concordia University),
John Stratton (RIT), Bill Beston (NSF), Paul French (SUNY College at Oneonta)
1. The following members were elected to serve the section:
 Chair: Barrie Jackson, Queens University
 Vice Chair: John Stratton, Rochester Institute of Technology
 Treasurer: Bill Beston, National Science Foundation
 Secretary and Newsletter Editor: Paul French, SUNY College at Oneonta
ASEE – St. Lawrence Section
Newsletter, July 2001
p. 2
2. The following motion was passed by voice vote:
Whereas Carson P. Buck was a member of the American Society for Engineering Education
from 1938 until his death in 1999;
Whereas he received all his formal education in the Section's territory and was a faculty
member at Syracuse University for the last twenty-two years before his retirement;
Whereas he served the Society and the Section in various offices;
And whereas he demonstrated a life-long interest in the advancement of excellence in the
education of engineering students at all levels, as well as in community affairs and in the
development of young people in general:
Be it resolved that The Chairman of the Council of Sections, Zone 1 be requested to
recommend to the Board of Directors of the Society that the Award for Excellence in
Teaching at Four Year Institutions in the St. Lawrence Section henceforth be named the
Carson P. Buck Award in all publications of the Society.
3. There was a discussion of the timing of the 2002-2003 meeting (at Queens University) of the
section. Some members may prefer to meet in the fall instead of the spring. All agreed that we
should poll the membership. A fall meeting would be usually in early October. A spring meeting
would be usually in late March. The weather and working around holidays are significant factors.
4. Doug Hamblin needs something from the Alfred meeting for the Archives. Barrie Jackson agreed
to send material.
5. The date of the next meeting of the General Committee was set: October 20, 2001 in Syracuse from
10-noon.
6. It was discussed whether Jenifer Taylor was willing and able to serve as Past-Chair as specified in
Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution of the Section.
7. The Zonal Meeting at West Point (April 5-6, 2002) was discussed. There will be a student paper
competition. Barrie Jackson said he could get some industrial support to sponsor the contest.
Three Items for Consideration (submitted by Thomas Weber [?])
1. Best Section/Zone Paper Award at the Annual Conference
 Background: Currently, there are five PIC Awards, each $1000, chosen from the previous
year's papers at the Annual Conference. The "Best" of these is selected as "Best Paper Overall"
and receives $3000.
 The idea is to emulate this concept for the Sections. The best paper from each section meeting
would be submitted to a Zone Selection Committee, chaired by the Zone Chair. Each Zone
would therefore have a Best Zone Paper. Since there are four zones, there would be four Best
Zone Papers that would be presented at the Annual Conference. From these four, a Best Zone
Paper Award would be made. The logistics would seem to require that the Best Zone papers be
presented at the Annual Conference in the year following their selection.
 Last fall, Bob Ellson pointed out that many of the papers in our Section are presentations, rather
than papers. To be eligible for selection for Best Zone Paper, a paper would have to be a paper,
not a presentation.
 This award would be for $1000. Ron Barr, VP for Member Affairs, thinks the money can come
from an existing award fund that the PIC's have for their awards. This would involve discarding
the "so-called" back-fill paper idea. (Easier to explain orally than in written form!)
 Although this plan has not been implemented, I have been advised by Ron to obtain a hard
copy of the Best Paper at this meeting since it could be a candidate for review for the 2002
Annual Meeting competition.
 What is the degree of our commitment to this proposal?
ASEE – St. Lawrence Section
Newsletter, July 2001
p. 3
2. National/Section Teaching Award Endowments
 The idea is to establish a National Teaching Award based on the Section Teaching Awards.
Each section would submit its teaching award winner; there would be twelve of these if every
section made a submission. The best of these would be the National Teaching Awardee and
would receive a cash award - something on the order of $1000.
 Unlike the Best Paper Award, this award requires generating a pot of money to fund it something on the order of $24,000. The proposal is to fund this from BASS Account funds
from the twelve sections. If each were to give $2000, the goal would be met. However,
donations of say, $500, each year for four years would be possible.
 Does our Section want to participate?
 If so, would we be able to make the entire $2000 donation the first year, or would we elect to
pay it over a period of years? The latter idea was preferred.
 It is possible that "donations" would be in proportion to each section's membership.
3. Optional Donations by Institutions
 As I pointed out last year, each section has the option of having a line created on the
institutional dues billing notice, for the institutions in its section, allowing for an optional
contribution of $50. These donations go into the section's BASS account. Headquarters reports
these to the respective sections. Donations of this type could therefore be used to help create
the fund required for the Teaching Award.
 Last year, we agreed to this idea and Jenifer was to contact Headquarters to this effect. Was this
done?
ASEE – St. Lawrence Section – Website
To visit the new Section Website. Go to
www.oneonta.edu/engineering
and click on ASEE.
The website has been up and running since February 2001. Send an email to Paul French at
frenchpa@oneonta.edu if you would like to add material or links to the website.
Program from the Annual Meeting, March 30-31, 2001, Rochester Institute of Technology
Friday – Keynote Speaker
An Architecture for Learning: Designing an Initial Curriculum for Olin College
John Bourne, Electrical Engineering Department, Olin College
This talk will review the creation of Olin College (including views of scale models, maps, etc.). The
curriculum discovery process will be discussed and the creation of the curriculum described in detail.
The curriculum will not be finalized by the time of the talk; however, process to date will be
summarized.
Hands-on Modules For Use in a Chemistry of Materials Course
L.S. Schadler, J.H. Hudson, J. Moore, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
The National Science Foundation recently funded an “Instrumentation for Laboratory Improvement”
grant at Rensselaer to develop an active learning environment in the Chemistry of Materials course
ASEE – St. Lawrence Section
Newsletter, July 2001
p. 4
taken by all engineers at Rensselaer. It has been recognized that the students learn best when the time
between lecture and hands-on learning experience is as short as possible. To accomplish this we have
a set of classrooms arranged for interactive learning across the hall from ample laboratory space to
allow 120 students at a time to complete hour-long laboratories. This combined with the development
and/or purchase of tabletop units has enabled the development of laboratories that serve up to 720
students in a given day. This talk will outline the structure of the course, the educational strategy, and
present in detail the following laboratory experiments: “One Component Phase Diagram”, Kinetics of
Phase Transformations”, “Diffusion”, “Tensile Testing”, and “Brittle Failure”.
NSF Sponsored Composite Materials Manufacturing and Experimental Evaluation Facilities for
Undergraduate Engineering Students
Ronald B. Bucinell, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Union College
In the last quarter of the 20th century, the use of advanced composite materials grew rapidly in
aerospace, hydrospace, infrastructure, automotive, and sporting goods markets. The macroscopically
heterogeneous and anisotropic nature of these materials complicates their behavior and performance.
Courses covering composite material behavior and design have traditionally been offered as electives
in the senior year or more commonly in graduate programs. As a result few engineering students that
are graduating with bachelor degrees in engineering are able to optimize the performance of composite
materials through design.
With the help of the National Science Foundations ILI program, Union College has developed
manufacturing and experimental evaluation laboratories dedicated to introducing composite materials
to undergraduate students. Undergraduate students at Union College now encounter composite
materials as early as their sophomore year in their material science and mechanics of materials courses.
In the junior and senior years, students can take introductory courses to composite materials and
composite material manufacturing. These facilities are also made available to students for their senior
capstone project.
It is not practical to infer that a graduate level understanding of composite behavior can be
provided to undergraduate students. It is reasonable to provide undergraduates exposure to the unique
behavior of composite material and give them an introduction to these materials that will aid them in
the design of structures that utilize this class of materials.
Using Bulletin Boards to Build Learning Communities
S. K. Gupta, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology
In spring of 1999-2000, I volunteered to teach 0304-359: Dynamics (5 quarter credits) when a senior
colleague remarked that many students in his upper-division courses were poorly prepared in
mechanics and dynamics. My course plan included assigning 3-4 homework problems each class
period, a weekly 10-minute quiz, a bi-weekly hour exam, and a two-hour comprehensive final exam.
In the fourth week, I found that students’ performance in general was poorer than sections I had taught
a few years earlier. I found most students in my class to be bright, conscientious and hard-working so
we spent 30-minutes discussing ways to improve the class performance. Even though I had an opendoor policy and generous office-hours, from the discussions it emerged that students needed more help
in solving their homework problems at times I was not available. In response, I created an electronic
bulletin board (WWWboard) that was accessible from the course web page, and I was pleased to see
the class performance improve to course’s historical norms.
This presentation will describe what WWWboard is, how to set it up, how to administer it, and how the
students can use it.
In the subsequent Fall quarter, I set up a bulletin board for each of my three courses – two
undergraduate and one graduate. Students’ participation and response was significantly positive in only
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Newsletter, July 2001
p. 5
one undergraduate course. In the presentation, I will share my views on why the students’ response
was mixed in the Fall quarter.
Developing the Creative Edge for Engineers
Frank L. Maraviglia, SUNY-ESF
This workshop will introduce the cultivation of deliberate efforts to enhance and increase creative flow
and outputs by using the Creative Problem-solving Process (CPS). Each of the phases of CPS is
deliberately alternate between divergent and convergent thinking. Activities are designed to break
through barriers to positive change and to increase flow of design ideas. It will introduce those in
attendance to the CPS process and through an application to a design problem will permit active
participation in its use. The process is applicable to enhancing and enriching the traditional
engineering problem solving process. The workshop is designed for practitioners, educators, and
students. This interactive workshop is highly participatory.
Case Study Based Laboratories for an Undergraduate Human Factors Engineering Curriculum
Victor Paquet and Ann Bisantz, Department of Industrial Engineering , University at Buffalo
This paper describes the ongoing implementation and evaluation of a set of design-oriented laboratory
exercises for two undergraduate Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) courses, which draw from a
case study model. The case material, based on the automotive manufacturing industry, includes the
description of the overall manufacturing system; seven multi-period laboratories across the two
courses, and computer modules intended to support the design and analysis activities in the
laboratories. The goals of the redesigned laboratories are: 1. To emphasize the application of HFE
course material to real-world problems. 2. To ground the study of HFE within the context of
industrial engineering, using a manufacturing case study to motivate the laboratories. 3. To provide
students with laboratories in which they can obtain skills in the identification and investigation of
research or design questions. 4. To allow students to use current technologies and techniques in
interface prototyping and industrial ergonomics work analysis. 5. To motivate students of different
learning styles to master course material. Over the duration of the project, the courses are being taught
using the modified laboratories, and evaluations, including student surveys, grade comparisons, and
comparison of test question answers, are being conducted to compare student performance before and
after the implementation of the proposed laboratories. Results from completed evaluations are
discussed.
Establishment of an Inter-Disciplinary Curriculum and Laboratory in Surface Mount Electronics
Packaging
S. Manian Ramkumar & Russell C. McCarthy, Department of Manufacturing & Mechanical
Engineering Technology, Rochester Institute of Technology
Over the past decade, microelectronics has progressed at a rate that surpassed all expectations. Its
modules have become compact, efficient, reliable, and inexpensive. This has led to the increased
integration of electronics into a wide range of products. Statistics show that the electronics industry has
grown from $654 billion in the year 1990 to almost $1.4 trillion in the year 2000. As a result, the
electronics industry has become the largest manufacturing industry in the world, and the largest
employer, with enormous growth primarily taking place in North America and the Pacific Rim. This
growth has resulted in the increased demand for a highly skilled, multidisciplinary workforce.
To remain competitive in the global electronics market, the U.S electronics industry must be capable of
implementing new process technologies and advanced manufacturing techniques, rapidly. This poses
new challenges to the academic institutions in preparing its graduates for this industry. Traditional
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Newsletter, July 2001
p. 6
engineering and engineering technology curriculums, in the U.S, are discrete and focused only in their
fields of expertise. The lack of inter-disciplinary educational practices in these curriculums has resulted
in the shortage of adequately trained graduates, who possess multidisciplinary skills. Hence, it is
imperative for education institutions to design and implement new curriculums that address this issue,
and meets the needs of this industry.
This paper describes the development of one such interdisciplinary curriculum in Surface Mount
Electronics Packaging, at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). This is a joint venture between
the Manufacturing & Mechanical Engineering Technology and the Electrical Engineering Technology
departments, in collaboration with leading industrial partners.
An Image Sensor as an Undergraduate VLSI Project Chip
Wallace B. Leigh, Division of Electrical Engineering, Alfred University,
We have used an image sensor as a multi-year project chip for undergraduates. With this project,
students experience VLSI through an entire design cycle from start to finish. Students are involved in
the design, simulation, testing, i.e. all aspects of the project. The curriculum at Alfred is such that
Juniors and Seniors can both take courses in VLSI emphasizing such topics as systems level design,
analog design as well as other advanced topics. Students who take VLSI courses in their junior year are
then allowed to work on the project chip during their senior year. Sensors constructed are based on the
silicon retina, using transistors in sub threshold to produce signal compression at the pixel level.
Virtual Simulation for Mechanical System Design and Analysis in Mechanical Engineering
Technology Education
Ti Lin, Liu, Department of Manufacturing & Mechanical Engineering Technology/Packaging Science,
Rochester Institute of Technology
These computer simulation tools are introduced in an upper lever mechanical design courses in the
mechanical engineering technology curriculum. The combination of 3-D solid modeling with finite
element software provides a virtual reality of image generation and product performance evaluation for
mechanical design and analysis. /the software provides the ability to analyze, refine, improve,
troubleshoot, or non-destructively test the environment for a mechanical product or a system design.
The working knowledge of computer simulation tools with industrial projects in structural, dynamic,
and/or thermal events provides students a design-simulate-verify process in mechanical design courses.
Banquet Speaker
Wild Rides
Paul L. Ruben
"Wild Rides" is a 30-minute slide show celebrating the resurgence in popularity of the modern roller
coaster. Viewers will be introduced to many of today's most awesome and unusual coasters. A history
of the ride will be offered, including both an emphasis on local coaster history and a good-natured
glimpse of some bizarre early thrillers.
Saturday – Keynote Speaker
Engineering Education: An American Model Goes Abroad
Richard A. Kenyon , Rochester Institute of Technology
In recent years the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) has received an
increasing number of requests from institutions around the world to have their engineering programs
reviewed and (hopefully) designated as "substantially equivalent" to similarly named accredited
programs in the United States. Many (though by no means all) of these programs are found in
developing areas of the world and most have adopted English as the language of instruction and
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Newsletter, July 2001
p. 7
employ faculty members with one or more degrees from well-known U.S, institutions. In virtually all
cases, the model for the newer of these programs is an adaptation of the engineering programs at
comparable institutions in this country. How have these programs been adapted to their new
environments and how well are they meeting the needs of the constituencies they purport to serve?
Why has the U.S. model been so overwhelmingly selected and why is the pseudo-accredtation of
"substantial equivalency" seemingly so important to these schools (and the host nation)? This short
paper, based on growing experience as an ABET evaluator for such programs and as a consultant to
several institutions with these programs will suggest some of the reasons that the American model is
currently the paradigm of choice.
Integration of Electronics, Math, & English and Its Impact on Retention
Ramesh Gaonkar, Electrical & Commuter Engineering Technology, Onondaga Community College
At present, three forces are converging: 1) industry must compete globally in a rapidly changing
technology, 2) the nature of the workforce is changing; new employees will be older and ethnically
diverse, and will include more women, 3) the basic mathematical and communication skills of
incoming students are steadily declining. The project is concerned with preparing underprepared
students for the technical workforce in an environment of globalization, rapidly changing technology,
and the declining of basic skills (communication and mathematics) of incoming students.
Our traditional approach to resolve these issues of underprepared students has been to offer disciplinebased remedial courses. However, this “compartmentalized” teaching has not succeeded in meeting
the expectations of these students and reducing the attrition rate, which is higher than 70%.
This project is attempting to build a bridge between the skills of incoming students and the skills they
must have to meet the demands of the future workforce. This bridge is being built on a strong
foundation of interdisciplinary concepts supported in a learning community of students and faculty
members.
An Integrated Interdisciplinary Program (IIP) that includes electronics, mathematics,
writing/reading, and computing skills was designed and implemented in the environment of a learning
community that emphasized collaborative learning and teamwork.
The IIP is truly an integrated program since the students experience it as a single entity and not as a
group of separate experiences. The integration of courses and the environment of learning community
has had dramatic positive impact on retention; it increased considerably. This presentation focuses on
the issues of integration of courses, the environment of a learning community, and designing of an
interdisciplinary program.
Project Lead The Way®, A Pre-engineering Program for Secondary Schools
Guy Johnson, Rochester Institute of Technology
Project Lead The Way® (PLTW) is a national program forming partnerships among public schools,
higher education institutions and the private sector to increase the quantity and quality of engineers and
engineering technologists graduating from our educational system. The Rochester Institute of
Technology has joined in a partnership with PLTW by establishing a National Technology Training
Center to work on the professional development of new and existing teachers in schools that have
adopted the PLTW curriculum. Currently operating in 26 states from New York to California, PLTW
also partners with the High Schools That Work initiative of the Southern Regional Educational Board
(SREB) with schools in 23 states.
PLTW has developed a four year sequence of courses which, when combined with traditional
mathematics and science courses in high school, introduces students to the scope, rigor and discipline
of engineering and engineering technology prior to entering college. The courses are Introduction to
Engineering Design, Digital Electronics, Computer Integrated Manufacturing, Principles of
Engineering, and Engineering Design and Development. Introduction at this level will attract more
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Newsletter, July 2001
p. 8
students to engineering, and will allow students, while still in high school, to determine if engineering
is the career they desire. The PLTW graduate will be better prepared for college engineering programs
and more likely to be successful, thus reducing the attrition rate in these college programs, which
currently exceeds 50% nationally.
A comprehensive organizational structure has been created by PLTW to ensure continued participation
and success. Key elements promote support at every level of the program. PLTW provides local, state
and national organization for leadership and support, a model curriculum, teacher training and
development, and a network of consultants throughout the country. The participating school districts
implement the 5 course sequence based on a plan developed in partnership with colleges and
universities, operate a Partnership Team with members drawn from higher education and the private
sector, and serve as a model for other school districts. Colleges and universities provide strategic
regional leadership, involve industry, and assist school districts to establish partnership teams. Private
Sector members provide advisors, supporters, mentors and financial support, and assist the colleges
and school districts achieve the goals of the program. School Partnership Teams advise and support the
school districts in their operational plans.
For more detailed information, please check the PLTW web site: http://www.pltw.org
Autonomous Robots in Engineering Teaching: SPARKy and RITBug
Ferat Sahin, Department of Electrical Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology
The design of autonomous mobile robots is used as an effective teaching tool in engineering schools
such as Rochester Institute of Technology R.I.T and Virginia Tech. The autonomous robots have some
challenging design issues that can teach the students how to be approach and attack to these issues in a
team. The dynamics of the robots, controller design, and mobility are major design issues. Social
skills are also an important part of a design project such as leadership skills, task distribution in the
team, and communication in the team.
R.I.T has two senior design project groups designing autonomous mobile robots, namely Sparky and
RITBug. Sparky is a Speech Processing And Robotic K-9. The robot receives motion commands
from an infrared transmitter or a speech command from its owner. The group has applied to the
international DSP Challenge sponsored by Texas Instruments. They will be competing against other
international teams. R.I.T has another senior design project group to design the first generation
RITbug, which is based on a six-legged robot, Stiquito™. The idea is to create multiple robots and
study the interaction and cooperation between the robots using a host computer.
Virginia Tech. is another school, which has been using autonomous mobile robots as an educational
tool. They attend to a autonomous vehicle competition as a school every year. Students volunteer for
the project and get independent study credit for their course work. It is a multidisciplinary project,
which involves mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer engineering. Two or
three vehicles are designed each year to experience certain design issues such as size, sensors, and
control.
The projects in both schools target the major design issues and let the student experience the teamwork
and a design of a complete system. These types of robotics projects attract students easily and give
them the social and engineering experience. Therefore, the engineering schools should form and
support design groups, particularly autonomous mobile robots.
Reconfigurable Interactive Platforms for use in Undergraduate Laboratories
Kimberly E. Newman, Department of Electrical Engineering , Rochester Institute of Technology
As part of the introductory course in digital logic and systems, students are exposed to sophisticated
development platforms in their laboratory sequence. While the students are learning the fundamentals
of combinational and sequential logic design, they are able to develop, simulate, and implement a wide
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p. 9
variety of designs using professional quality design packages. The students also work in teams to
implement designs on reconfigurable development boards and verify their circuits using simulators and
actual devices. The availability of low cost sensors, CPLDs and FPGAs also make is possible to
design autonomous robotic platforms that can be controlled using simple logic circuits.
The early introduction of these systems into the undergraduate environment helps to bridge the gap
from theory to application early in the engineering cycle and stimulate the involvement of the student
in the classroom and laboratory environment.
Harnessing Industry-Standard Software for the Classroom
M. A. Hopkins, Department of Electrical Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology
Introducing students to industry-standard software is good for their careers. What is more, in the
classroom, industrial-strength software can be tremendously helpful, for students and teachers both, in
visualizing complex, interrelated engineering concepts.
This talk presents a well-developed example of how industrial software (MATLAB®) can be extended
to help students visualize concepts during classroom lectures, and help them explore the same concepts
on their own time.
MATLAB® is a powerful, extendable language and programming environment. It can be used as a
tool for making other, more customized, tools. Given its easy accessibility (student discounts,
educational discounts), MATLAB® has long been a favorite at universities. In the past ten years, it
has also become a standard in many industrial environments.
This presentation is about pzgui, a MATLAB® toolbox written by Dr. Hopkins. It is a graphical user
interface that helps in teaching and learning automatic control system design concepts (e.g., Laplace
transforms, Z-transforms, frequency response plots, and root locus), without requiring the user to be
familiar with MATLAB®. The many features in pzgui were developed over the past five years for the
express purpose of enhancing classroom lectures, but it turns out to be a very useful tool for practicing
engineers, too.
Successful Methods Which Improved Math Skills of Engineering Technology Students at Buffalo State
College
Steven Barker, Buffalo State College
The engineering technology curriculum for the 21st Century should address diversity issues other than
race and gender - such as academic preparation, personality, age, and academic maturity. Specifically,
some (but not all) of our engineering technology students struggle through the theoretical parts of our
program, because they lack basic math skills. It is easy to blame others, including high school teachers,
or the students themselves, or perhaps a low engineering aptitude is to blame, which indicates that
another major would be more appropriate. The reality is that these students have selected engineering
technology at our school, and we have several options. We could develop screening methods that
ensure students have the basic skills before entering our program; or we could deny that a problem
even exists; we could continue with our traditional teaching methods which seem to be adequate for
most students; or we could attempt to address their needs. I believe that we can and should work with
these students to help them improve their math skills.
This presentation will describe the successful methods used to improve math (primarily algebra) skills
of engineering technology students at Buffalo State College (BSC). The difficult and sensitive nature
of the task will be explored along with failed attempts over a five year period. The ingredients of the
successful methods for improving math skills will be itemized. Proof that math skills actually
improved will be presented.
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Newsletter, July 2001
p. 10
Cooperative Learning as a Teaching Tool
Philip D. Krasicky and Robert M. Fulbright, Department of Physics, Cornell University
Research has shown that small-group learning experiences can have significant positive effects on
students' achievement in, persistence in, and attitudes towards science, mathematics, engineering, and
technology disciplines. Students can benefit from working in cooperative groups with peers who are in
the process of learning the same concepts, who are aware of key difficulties and useful approaches to
learning, and who can exchange meaningful insights at their own level. Cooperative learning can also
enhance the development of transferable skills in communication and teamwork. At Cornell
University, cooperative learning is used in a variety of ways in engineering, physics, and mathematics
courses. This talk surveys our experiences with cooperative learning in introductory physics courses
for engineering and science majors, including ideas about pedagogy and methodology as well as
examples of activities.
The Inexperienced Educator's Guide To Managing A Large Hierarchical Staff
David I. Schwartz, Department of Computer Science , Cornell University
Often "fresh" graduates face the challenge of teaching a large course with a correspondingly large staff
for their first time. Employing a "learn-as-you-go" approach means that mistakes will occur, many of
which committed by myself while teaching a relatively large introductory programming class. To
address mistakes an inexperienced educator might make, I consider a staffing model borrowed from a
mix of industry and academia management-structures.
An educator with a large staff might be viewed as a "chair" of a "department within a department". But
this staff still forms a hierarchical structure, which sometimes suffers because of the academic
demands on everyone, many of whom resemble part-time employees. To balance the needs of the
course and staff with regard to time management, I will focus on strategies that flatten portions of the
hierarchy. For example shared duties and bartering allow teaching assistants to adjust responsibilities
but still contribute equally to the course. I will illustrate these and other ideas to provide a guide to
these new "chairs" to help them save time without sacrificing the quality of their teaching.
Using Self-Directed Learning Modules to Prepare Students for Life Long Learning
William Beston, Peter Ruggieri, Joseph Biegen / Sharon Fellows, Richard Culver, Broome
Community College/Binghamton University
Abstract: At the 2000 ASEE Annual conference, a paper describing activities being introduced in the
DTeC course at Binghamton University (BU) and the engineering science program at Broome
Community College (BCC) to start students toward becoming self-directed learners (SDL) was
presented. This paper describes developments during the past year in implementing the SDL program
at the two institutions. The developed Modules and Assessment results is shared. Many of the modules
assume the student will complete the module in Asynchronous Learning (ASL) mode. The approach
used for assessing the effectiveness of these modules is described.
Module topics include:
Number Systems: Base 10, 2, 8, 16
Preferred Learning Styles: Testing, Assessment, Reflection
Time Management: Being a Master Student
Using Excel to Make Charts
Total Quality Assurance: Being Competitive in the Global World Market
Introduction
A successful program for teaching Self Directed Learning (SDL) must have two components. First, it
must motivate the students to aspire to be self-directed learners. This is not easy. In the traditional
program, the instructor assumes responsibility for organizing the learning, defining what is to be
ASEE – St. Lawrence Section
Newsletter, July 2001
p. 11
learned, and assessing the success achieved by each student. All the student has to do is show up and
do the work. The reasons for developing the SDL skills must be made explicit, using terms that the
student can understand and accept. Second, the program must structure the development of the critical
skills for SDL in order for the students to master them, practice them, and adopt them as the natural
approach to learning any new topic. For the past two years, engineering faculty at Broome Community
College ( BCC) and Binghamton University have been collaborating on the development of SDL
modules which can be introduced into a regular course in order to build these skills in the students.
The early work and theoretical basis for this effort has been reported previously. 1,2 In this paper,
details of the modules, their development and their assessment are presented.
Blurring the Boundaries: The EE/CE/CS Continuum
Raman Unnikrishnan, Department of Electrical Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology
The discipline of computer engineering has emerged as an identifiable discipline attracting many new
students. In a few places this discipline is administered separately as opposed to being a part of
electrical engineering. Computer Science could trace its root to mathematics and science. However, CS
departments and faculty appear to migrate towards engineering as evidenced by the recent proliferation
of ‘computer science and engineering’ departments. This talk will focus on the curricular synergies of
these three disciplines and the strategies for utilizing the strengths of faculty, students and facilities to
meet professional needs. It will also address some of the difficulties in such an ecumenical approach.
Concurrent Product/Package Design Concepts
Daniel Goodwin, Department of Packing Science, Rochester Institute of Technology
Product designs can be developed with manufacturing, use and disposal or remanufacturing needs in
mind, but often omit the need to store, handle and transport the products within the distribution system.
Package designs can be developed much more effectively if the product designer has taken these
factors into consideration. Knowledge of the product's inherent physical integrity, the packaging
materials and container system performance capabilities and the demands of the distribution
environment will contribute to more successful movement of goods from point of manufacture to the
ultimate consumer. Distribution testing procedures provide an excellent way to evaluate all of these
factors in the laboratory and design or redesign package systems in the most cost-effective way
possible.
Teaching Technical Electives Based on Hands-on Research Projects
Satish G. Kandlikar, Department of Mechanical Engineering , Rochester Institute of Technology
Some of the advanced courses in specific topics are intended to enable the students to undertake
independent project work from conceptualization to design, fabrication, data collection and data
analysis. Such approach has been adopted in teaching Heat Transfer II in the Mechanical Engineering
Department at RIT for past decade.
The course is divided into two parts. Fifty percent of the course and the grade is based on regular
lectures on selected advanced topics, and related homework and tests. The lectures were directed
toward topics directly related to the overall project. The other fifty percent of the grade is based on a
team project conducted by students in groups of two, three or, in some cases, four students. The
individual team projects form subsystems of a large major research project.
As an example, one of the projects conducted in the past was entitled “Investigation of an Air-Water
Flow System.” It included heat transfer, flow pattern and pressure drop studies of air-water flow in a
horizontal tube. The aim of the project was to design a test facility to obtain high quality data to add to
the available information in the literature. Five student groups were formed – air system group, water
system group, test section group, instrumentation group, and system design and data analysis group.
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Newsletter, July 2001
p. 12
The groups operated at two levels, one level with all other groups to resolve proper interfacing, and
other in their own groups to resolve individual system level concerns.
Some other projects studied in the past are – flow boiling investigation in rectangular channels, surface
tension effects on droplet impingement heat transfer, and critical heat flux studies. In many cases, a
student registered for the combined BS/MS degree program chose to continue the project for his/her
thesis work.
The experience gained by the students prepared them to handle complex projects involving multiple
groups. Technical content was the major focus of each group. At the same time, written and verbal
communication skills were developed. At the same time, the students enjoyed the work since they
were contribution to the literature by creating new systems or generating new data. It was an enjoyable
part for me as an instructor to interact excitedly about a research topic, bring it to the classroom
example level, and then see the students solve it.
An Innovative, Hands on Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory Class
Kevin Kochersberger, Josef Torok, Alan Nye and Jason Kostyshak, Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology
Recently, the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Rochester Institute of Technology has created
an automotive option within its mechanical engineering curriculum. In support of this option, students
take four technical electives in the automotive field: Intro to Automotive Engineering, I.C. Engines,
Vehicle Dynamics, and Automotive Controls. A capstone senior design course is also required that
focuses in the automotive field.
To support the vehicle dynamics course, a lab portion has been created that allows students to
configure and drive a test vehicle on a track and acquire experimental dynamic data. The test vehicle
has been designed to be safe for any driver, and is configurable with variable center of gravity and
suspension stiffness. The vehicle is fully instrumented to acquire engine and operating parameters
such as throttle position, manifold air pressure, steering wheel position and suspension travel.
Additionally, lateral and longitudinal accelerometers and a yaw rate sensor has been installed to
determine the vehicle motion.
This paper presents laboratory activities that have been created to take a student from measuring
vehicle dynamic parameters to driving a course that demonstrates typical dynamic response. The lab
complements analytical predictions of vehicle handling so that the students can experience, first-hand,
the characteristics of understeer and oversteer by driving standard skid-pad and step-steer experiments.
Simulations can be performed on new vehicle configurations while the lab is occurring to immediately
see the effects of changing suspension parameters.