2014 Departmental Excellence in
Teaching Award
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Jharna Chaudhuri
Mechanical Engineering Department, Box : 41021
(806) 742-3563
Prepared by Dr. Atila Ertas
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Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
Description of Department’s Role and Mission
To offer students nationally recognized educational opportunities grounded in the fundamentals of mechanical engineering and involving state-of-the-art technology. The department
programs support technological development and innovation to meet many goals, including
the needs of society. Faculty and student participation in design projects, research, or other
similar activities is considered essential to their professional development. The educational
opportunities are to take place in a collegial environment of effective instruction and counsel.
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Departmental Activities to Improve Teaching
Colloquiae — Starting 1994, the interdisciplinary Senior Student Design Symposiums were
held annually to provide a forum to discuss engineering capstone design education. The
main objective of this effort was to provide a formal platform to our senior students to give
a presentation on their capstone design project. Every year, during the symposium dinner
awards and students scholarships were given. After six years, in 2000, we have discontinued
this educational symposium and started TTU-ME co-sponsored series of workshops and
international conferences to address the engineering educational issues. So far, TTU ME
Department co-sponsored more than 30 international worshops and conferences on education.
Currently, In Design-I and Design-II capstone design courses project teams required to
meet weekly with their advisor to discuss problems, technical approaches, and progress.
Moreover, all the student project teams meet every week in the ME conference room to
make oral presentation. The interviewing process and expectations that industry has for
new engineering employees are discussed at length. Communication skills, project planning,
team work and professionalism are stressed in these two design courses so that students will
be ready to easily adapt themselves in industrial setting when they take a job.
Faculty Mentored Undergraduate Research Experiences — Faculty in ME Department
understands the positive effects of an undergraduate research experience on student learning, attitude, and career choice. Promote the achievements of our undergraduate students
many faculty members active in undergraduate research mentoring. Table B-1 shows the
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Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
undergraduate research experience for the year of 2013 (see Appendix B-1 )
Undergraduate Student Advising and Mentoring — Each Mechanical Engineering undergraduate student is assigned a faculty adviser, however, this role is more that of a mentor
in nature than specific registration advising. Almost every faculty member provides a connection between students and faculty member to help and mentor the students who are
experiencing the stress of college life. In some cases, when the situation gets critical, those
instances are discussed in the faculty meeting. In our Department, we have a policy, to help
our students reach their full potential we do have officially announced open door policy to
support and encourage students for their success.
The faculty members are active in the professional development of their advisees. For
example, Dr. Darryl James serves as the faculty adviser for the Pi Tau Sigma; Dr. Jeff Hanson
advises the ASME Student Chapter; Dr. Jharna Chaudhuri advises Women in Mechanical
Engineering (WIME) and Society of Professional Hispanic Engineers (SHPE).
Graduate Student Development, Advising, and Mentoring — More than 30 faculty members are fostering positive and productive advising and mentoring graduate students. Our
dedicated faculty members devote significant time to ensure their success. All TAs attends
a mandatory departmental orientation at the beginning of each semester, where they are
trained with regard to teaching effectiveness, FERPA, academic integrity, and other issues.
They are also trained technically and supervised by the faculty member in charge of the
course/lab. Some of the TAs/ GPTIs are trained by the TLTC program for teaching.
Student and Faculty Incentives and Rewards — The award committee is composed of
three full professors (Dr. Chaudhuri, Dr. Rasty, and Dr. Ertas). Every year, the Mechanical
Engineering Department gives awards to faculty who are role models in teaching, research,
and service. Award selection process recognizes the achievements of young faculty, senior
faculty, graduate students, and staff. List of faculty awards for education is given in Table
B-2 (see Appendix B-2).
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Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
What Contribution Does the Department Make to Scholarship on Teaching
Authoring Text Book — The promotion of scholarship on teaching in the Mechanical Engineering is an important part of the Department’s mission. During the last 20 years, many
faculty members in the ME Department have written text books and educational research
books. One of the text book entitled “The Engineering Design process,” co-authored by Dr.
Atila Ertas and published by John Wiley & Sons in 1993 was the bestselling book in the
nation and brought a lot of recognition to ME Department as well as our University. Revised
version (1996) of this book still being used by many universities. Text books entitled “Thermodynamics,” written by Dr. E. E. Anderson published by PWS in 1994 and Dr. Hashemi
entitled ”Foundations of Materials Science and Engineering” published by McGrawhill in
2009 have been used and still being used by universities.
Dr. Alan Barhorst coauthored “Dynamics for Engineering Practice” published by McGrawHill in 2004. Second edition was published by M3P Engineering Publications (2011). Dr.
Alan Barhorst also written text book “Interactive Notebook Analysis of Nonlinear Ordinary
Differential Equations.” This is a work in progress, 7 out of 13 chapters of live Mathematica
notebooks have been created.
Recently, Dr. Ertas has written a supplementary text book for design courses in 2010 entitled “Prevention through Design (PtD): Transdisciplinary Process,” funded by the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Text book for design courses entitled “Engineering Mechanics and Design Applications, Transdisciplinary Engineering Fundamentals,”
published CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group in 2011; Educational research book entitled
Transdisciplinary Education, Philosophy, and Applications, published by ATLAS publication
in January 2014. Dr. Ertas also has written four modules in engineering education published
by ATLAS in 2013 for NSF project (see http://www.theatlas.org/index.php?option=com−
phocadownload&view=section&id=1&Itemid=93. They are: Prevention throgh Design and
Case Studies; Statistical Decisions and Reliability Modeling; Materials; Design for Fatigue.
Dr. Ertas will complete and provide 15 modules in engineering education by May of 2015.
Selecting modules from 15 modules to make a custom book will be free, comprising trans-
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Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
disciplinary learning modules that cut across multiple disciplines. Through this effort, the
70,000 engineering students that are seniors each year in the U.S. as well as those from other
scientific disciplines such as business and marketing, environmental and health sciences, and
economics will benefit.
Dr. Jharna Chaudhuri and Archis Marathe have published a laboratory text book entitled
“Materials & mechanics: Laboratory Experiments,” published by Cognella in 2014. This text
book gives a step by step instruction on how to perform each experiment, calculate results
and display them in a tabular and graphical form, and interpret results through discussion
and error analysis which helps students to be a better experimentalist, data analyzer and
laboratory report writer.
List of educational technical papers written by ME faculty during the last 5 years is shown
in Table B-3 (see Appendix B-3).
Conducting Research — Professor Anderson conducts research on computer-based instruction (CBI) and student problem solving. His work was recognized by a National award for
excellence in educational software by Engineering Pathways. He has won several very competitive research grants on CBI and problem solving. The total for these grants now exceeds
$1,000,000. He received a national award for his contributions to distance learning. He has
been recognized by the Texas Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation, TTU Chancellors Council,
and several industrial groups for his effective teaching.
Professor Hashemi, formerly with the department, also conducted research on CBI and
student learning. His decision tree instructional model was adopted by a major publisher
and distributed with their textbook.
Most recently Dr. Michelle Pantoya received $400,000 as a Co-PI of the research project
entitled ”Effective Practices Integrating Engineering and Literacy in the Early Years,” from
National Science Foundation (Duration: June 2013 -2015). The project pairs an engineering
and education faculty member together to perform collaborative research on examining the
impact of engineering children’s literature on STEM content understanding and engagement
for Kinder-2nd grade students.
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Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
On February 24, 2014, Dr. Ertas will be submitting a proposal entitled “A Transdisci-
plinary Research Approach to Engineering Senior Design Course,” to NSF (approximately
$1.3 M, see Appendix B-4 for project summary).
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How Does the Department Make Use of a Variety of Teaching Pedagogies?
Almost every faculty in our department collaborates in teaching and/or research with other
faculty from other disciplines and colleges at TTU and other universities in Texas. Some of
the most important cross-disciplinary educational activities are explained below.
Over the last couple of years, Dr. Rasty has voluntarily taught a graduate level course
at Texas Tech Forensic Science Institute (FSI) in two different semesters. During Spring
and Fall 2013, a new graduate-level course was developed and taught by Dr. Rasty as a
“distance-learning” course for both FSI and College of Engineering graduate students entitled “Introduction to Legal Principles in Forensic Science and Forensic Engineering”. This
course was designed to familiarize students with legal principles involved in various types
of crimes (murder, burglary, embezzlement, arson, etc.), evidence collection and processing
techniques, products liability, premises liability, and intellectual property matters that are
often the subject of Forensic Science and Forensic Engineering investigations. Also 15 credit
hour (5 courses) certificate program is designed by Dr. Rasty for engineering students who
have completed a BS degree in any engineering discipline, who seek a post graduate certificate in Forensic Engineering. The purpose of the newly established graduate-level Forensic
Engineering program is to complement our existing curriculum by teaching real-world principles that are currently learnt only through many years of experience. It is anticipated that
students completing the requirements of this program will have a much faster career growth
path in the fields of failure-analysis and forensic engineering.
Dr. Chyu has single-handedly established, and has been in charge of a new Healthcare
Engineering Option in the Master of Engineering Degree since 2009 (http://www.depts.ttu.
edu/coe/academics/healthcare− engineering/ ). Today, the Healthcare Engineering students
account for the majority of the Master of Engineering enrollment in the College of En-
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Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
gineering.
On January 8, 2014, TTU Online Engineering Programs, including Health-
care Engineering, are ranked in top 20 in the nation in U.S. News & World Reports 2014
Best Online Graduate Programs (http://today.ttu.edu/2014/01/texas-tech-ranked-amongbest-online-graduate-programs/).
Dr. Chyu has developed and is currently teaching a new graduate and an undergraduate
elective courses, Healthcare Engineering, that covers Engineering involved in all major aspects
of Healthcare delivery processes and systems. The purpose of this highly interdisciplinary
course is to prepare students of various engineering majors (Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical,
Industrial, Computer, Civil, Construction, etc.) for: (a) research in Healthcare/Biomedical
Engineering, (b) other courses in Healthcare/Biomedical Engineering, and (c) a career in
Healthcare industry.
Dr. Parameswaran teaches “Technology Commercialization Cross-Campus Course”
jointly with Prof. Ron Mitchell (BA). Same course is offered again in of spring 2014. Through
this educational collaboration they try to engage students in entrepreneurship and the transfer of technology into commercial application. The program combines many students from
many disciplines. University technology transfer activities are increasingly important as a
source of regional economic development, revenue for the university, and for practice and
productivity of researchers at TTU.
In 1999, Dr. Ertas, created a Master of Engineering distance-learning program in Transdisciplinary Design and Process at Texas Tech University for Raytheon Company engineers.
In 2006, Dr. Ertas expanded the program to create a Ph.D. track in Transdisciplinary Design, Process, and Systems that is offered by the Mechanical Engineering Department at
Texas Tech University. Since 1999 the Raytheon Company has invested more than $4.5 million for these transdisciplinary educational programs, and more than 130 students (mostly
Raytheon engineers) have graduated under these two programs. Currently twenty-five Ph.D.
students are enrolled in the transdisciplinary Ph.D. program. Since 1999 Dr. Ertas has
been responsible for the development of the dynamically changing curriculum for both the
Master’s and Ph.D. degrees. This Ph.D. program exposes students to a wide range of topics
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Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
and emphasizes collaborative, crossdiscipline t eam based r esearch efforts. Students who have
a bachelor’s degree i n one of t he engineering disciplines or one of t he quantitative s ciences
(physics, s tatistics, mathematics, computer s cience) are accepted t o t he program. The primary objective of t his program i s t o provide t he opportunity f or practicing engineers t o earn
advanced degrees while continuing t heir employment. To i mprove t he curriculum, Dr. Er-tas
has organized yearly conferences and workshops on transdisciplinary education to solicit input
from the international transdisciplinary community.
Specific i mpacts of these activities are —Visibility of our Department as well as t he College of
Engineering at TTU; Contributing t o s tudents l eaning; Help s tudents develop i nterdisciplinary/transdisciplinary critical t hinking and problem-solving s kills t hereby allowing
them t o become creative and i nnovative engineers; Engage s tudents f rom different disciplines
with an ability t o adapt t o changes and t o be able t o work at t he i nterface of different
disciplines; Teach s tudents i nnovation and collaboration s kills, educating t hem broadly and
preparing t hem f or an i ncreasingly t ransdisciplinary, collaborative, and global j ob market.
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What is the Quality of the Various Program(s) (Undergraduate and Graduate)
or Majors Managed by the Department?
The undergraduate program is assessed in several ways such as accreditation reviews, performance on standardized tests, placement of graduates, and alumni surveys (see Figs B-1 and
B-2 in Appendix B-5 for assessment processes).
Accreditation review — Accreditation review is performed by the Accreditation Board for
Engineering and Technology. We receive a full accreditation every six years with strength
being identified to our faculty, students and curriculum.
Placement of Graduates — Our graduates are highly recruited by companies after graduation (90% of the senior students who were invited for exit interview get job offer before
they graduate). Approximately 10% of the graduates pursue a MS or Ph. D. right after
graduation at well reputed universities.
Standardized Tests — To improve the teaching, student learning, and the quality of the
program, ME faculty work very closely to organize multiple sections of the same course (ME
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Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
2301, Statics and ME 2322, Thermo I) to have one standard with common syllabus, course
materials, text book, and with common or similar exams. Approximately 50% of our students
take the standardized FE (fundamental of Engineering). The typical passing rate in The FE
exam is 80 to 90 % in past several years (see Fig. B-3 in Appendix B-5). Figure B-3 indicates
that a significant drop in FE passing rate in 2011. Immediate action was taken for correction—
In 2012, senior students were required to prepare themselves and take exit exam (similar to FE
exam) before they take the FE exam. This requirement affected the FE passing rate in 2012
and 2013 significantly (see Fig B-3).
Student Evaluations — More than 80% of our faculty receives well above average student
evaluation rating. As an example, ME Transdisciplinary Ph.D. program survey results for
evaluation of the program is summarized in Appendix B-6-7. Tables B-4, 5, and 6, and
students comments indicate that ME Transdisciplinary Ph.D. program is contributing to
meet the immediate higher skills need of State of Texas employers, in particular, defense
industry.
Alumni Surveys — The outcome of our alumni survey is very positive with a very high
rating of our program educational objectives (see Appendix B-8, Table B-7)
External Reviews — Each semester the department Chair meets with the Mechanical Engineering Industry Advisory Board (MEIAB) Members to update them on the State of the
department and to discuss with them the program educational objectives and curriculum.
The department considers the input of the MEIAB members extremely valuable for the
advancement of our program and train our students.
Teaching qualification — All the courses in our program are taught by experienced faculty.
We should realize that the new young faculty may not have enough experience, but they are
well qualified to teach courses in their area of research expertise. The new faculty are mentored
by experienced faculty and they are doing excellent job.
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Describe in Some Detail the Planned Use for the Award Money
Laboratory instruction is an essential component of mechanical engineering undergraduate
education. Currently throughout the world engines, either spark or compression ignited,
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Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
combusting fossil-based fuels are the primary devices used in transportation. It is the responsibility of engineers to maximize engine performance and minimize its deleterious impact.
Engines are complicated engineering components working to harvest the energy of combustion to convert to mechanical power and include all mechanical engineering specialty areas.
The purpose of the Thermal-Fluids Laboratory class is to integrate theoretical concepts from
thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer through experimentation. It is imperative that mechanical engineering students have engine experiments that will allow them to
investigate engine performance. Currently we have no engine experiments and have an urgent
need to develop an engine lab experiment.
In the spring 2014 semester, the Thermal-Fluids Laboratory will acquire a SuperFlow
engine dynamometer (dyno). This is a high torque water brake engine dynamometer that
can be interfaced with almost any engine. For safety purposes, the dyno will be located in
a separate room (122a) that will require some modification to accommodate exhaust gas,
coolant, controls, dust/dirt elimination, and visual access from the adjoining room.
We need two basic engines — one spark ignition and the other compression ignition so that
we can alternate engines and tests to be performed. We also need to obtain the respective
engine controller that can be interfaced with LabVIEW software. An exhaust gas analyzer
is also needed so that we can evaluate the environmental impact for a specific test.
Estimate cost: Diesel engine with fuel controller — $8,000. Spark ignition engine with
fuel controller — $7,000. Room modification for engine exhaust, safety window installed in
existing wall between room 122 and 122a, closing floor to ceiling vents to eliminate dust —
$10,000. Total spending is $25,000.
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Concluding Remarks
RISING STAR OF THE NATION
TTU MECHANICAL ENGINEERING!
Our faculty are devoted and spent extra time with students and did their part to lift Mechanical Engineering enrollment and graduation rate to its highest level in the history of
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Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
Mechanical Engineering Department. Here are the results of our efforts:
• The highest enrollment and graduation rate at TTU College of Engineering and also in
our history (see Figures B-4 and B-5 in Appendix B-7 and Figure B-6 inAppendix B-9).
• For the first time in our history, number one in Texas and top seven in the Nation
in number of bachelor’s degrees awarded (see Figures B-9 in Appendix B-10).
• For the first time in our history, number one in Texas and top five in the Nation
in enrollment (see Figures B-10 in Appendix B-10). During the last one year, ME
Department enrollement increased 9.9% (see Appendix B-9, Figure B-7 and Appendix
B-10, Figure B-10) and undergraduate degree awarded increased 25% (see Appendix
B-9, Figure B-8 and Appendix B-10, Figure B-9). We think that this is an impressive
accomplishment.
We believe that last year was the breakthrough year for the Mechanical Engineering
Department. After many years of dedication, the Mechanical Engineering Department is
better-positioned for the 21st century education than any other school in the Nation. While
during the last five years we have seen and enjoyed 38% increase in student enrollment, recent
ABET review indicated that the quality movement in TTU ME education is both active and
continuously improving.
Texas Tech University and the College of Engineering wish to both increase the number
of student enrollment while also increasing the academic quality of the student body. Drastically raising student enrollment while simultaneously raising the FE test scores and GPAs
of students could be extremely challenging. Considering the state and nation wide recognition that TTU ME department has established over the decades in student enrollment and
undergraduate degree awarded, the need for improved infrastructure and facilities is a high
priority. Continuation of department growth and prestige will strongly depend on providing
better equipped state of the art research and teaching facilities, while projecting academic
excellence and curb appeal representative of a premier engineering school.
Appendix A-1
Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
Table 1 List of Mechanical Engineering Faculty Members.
Faculty Name
Dr. Burak Aksak
Dr. Edward Anderson
Dr. Alan Barhorst
Dr. Jordan Bergt
Dr. Sukalyan Bhattacharya
Dr. Jerzy Blawzdziewicza
Dr. Luciano Castillo
Dr. Jharna Chaudhuri
Dr. Hanna Cho
Dr. Gordon Christopher
Dr. Ming Chyu
Dr. Stephen Ekwaro-Osire
Dr. Atila Ertas
Dr. Zhaoming He
Dr. Qing Hui
Dr. Fazle Hussain
Dr. Alexander Idesman
Dr. Darryl James
Dr. Alan Jankowski
Dr. Jungkyu Kim
Dr. Golden Kumar
Dr. Todd Lillian
Dr. Yanzhang Ma
Dr. Timothy Maxwell
Dr. Hanna Moussa
Dr. Michelle Pantoya
Dr. Siva Parameswaran
Dr. Jingling Qiu
Dr. Jahan Rasty
Dr. Beibei Ren
Dr. Jian Sheng
Dr. James Yang
Dr. Changdong Yeo
Faculty Rank
Assistant Professor
Professor
Professor
Professor
Associate Professor
Professor
Professor
Professor
Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor
Professor
Professor
Professor
Associate Professor
Assistant Professor
Professor
Associate Professor
Professor
Professor
Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor
Professor
Professor
Assistant Professor
Professor
Professor
Assistant Professor
Professor
Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor
Professor
Assistant Professor
Appendix A-2
Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
Table 2: List of Mechanical Engineering Instructors/Lecturerss.
Instructor Name
Ms. Colleen Berg
Mr. Dave Branson
Mr. Scott Fanning
Mr. George Gray
Dr. Seon Han
Dr. Jeff Hanson
Mr. Andrew Mosedale
Dr. Craig Snoeyink
Position
Instructors/Lecturers
Instructors/Lecturers
Instructors/Lecturers
Instructors/Lecturers
Instructors/Lecturers
Instructors/Lecturers
Instructors/Lecturers
Instructors/Lecturers
Table 3: List of Mechanical Engineering Teaching Assistantss.
Student Name
Akash, Jain
Asadi, Keivan
Basu, Avik
Baturalp, Turgut
Bilbao, Alejandro
Gao, Yang
Gursoy, Ali
He, Muyang
Imam, Senay Tewelde
Lee, Joohyung
Lei, Zhipeng
Li, Bin
Liu, Lianci
Liu, Lili
Maharjan, Pawan
Patel, Amar
Rashid, Al
Razu, Md Enayet Ullah Khan
Su, Siheng
Wang, Jilong
Zhang, Kailang
Zhang, Xianwen
Zhang, Zhenhaun
Position
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Teaching Assistants
Appendix A-3
Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
Table 4: List of Mechanical Engineering GPTI- Instructors.
Student Name
Annasiwatta, Chandika
Bakirci, Cagri Mert
Brannigan, Eric
Chen, Jinhao
Clark, Billy
Das, Kaushik
Endeshaw, Haileyesus
Gorumlu, Serdar
Gragg, Jared
Green, Christopher
Haputhanthri, Shehan
Henry, Philip
Imam, Senay Tewelde
Liyanage, Ambeygoda Li Sanka
Lozano, Ricardo Cruz
Marathe, Archis
Mayer, Luke
McDonough, Peter
Ozsoy, Burak
Sridhar, Narendran
Position
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
GPTI- Instructors
Appendix A-4
Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
Total Undergraduate Enrollment During the Last 5 Years
Although Figure A-1 indicates that the number of graduate student’s enrollment is increasing
steadily — the increase in five years is significant (37.6%). Note that, since all undergraduate
students enrolled in ME declared ME as a major, we assumed that the total undergraduate
enrollment is the same as number of undergraduate majors.
Figure A-1 Total Undergraduate Enrollment During the Last 5 Years.
Appendix A-5
Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
Total Graduate or Professional Enrollment During the Last 5 Years
Figure A-2 indicates that, number of graduate student’s enrollment is increasing steadily. It is
interesting to note that Ph.D. students in the Mechanical Engineering increased significantly
since 2010. In 2013 number of MS student enrollment was 53 and the number of Ph.D.
enrollment was 94.
Figure A-2 Total Graduate or Professional Enrollment During the Last 5 Years.
Appendix B-1
Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
Table 6: Undergraduate Research Experience.
Faculty Name
Jahan Rasty
Student Name
Naveed Mughah
Jahan Rasty
Jahan Rasty
Jonathan (Kyle) Smith
Olivia Smacher
Jahan Rasty
Jahan Rasty
Lillian Todd
Changdong Yeo
David Dukich
David Dukich
David Dukich
Jayendra Maharjan
Jenny Qiu
Steven Jacob
Jenny Qiu
Jenny Qiu
Carla Shelton
Joshua Castro
Gordon Christopher
Gordon Christopher
Jungkyu Kim
Jungkyu Kim
James Yang
Samuel Castellanos
Stephen Fixter
Stephen Kenney
Phillip Carmack
Ganesh Chapagain
Ryan Hellman
Tiffany Ethridge
Jesse Latimer
James Yang
James Yang
James Yang
James Yang
Qing Hui
Kate Lewisr
Rebeca Cunha
Victoria Banuelas
Joseph B. Schuelke
Javier Najera
Burak Aksak
Burak Aksak
Abbas Ahsan
Carlton Johnson
Scott Watlkins
Chris McWilliams
Burak Aksak
Research Topic
1. UV Degradation of Polymeric Webbing Materials
2. UV Degradation of Polymeric Webbing Materials
3. Effectiveness of Various Floor Traction Enhancing
Treatments in Increasing the Dynamic Coefficient
of Friction
Failure Analysis of Wind Turbine Blades
Experimental Setup & Measurement of Dynamic
Coefficient of Friction on Flooring Surfaces with
Varying Textures
Sources of Corrosion and Non-Destructive Techniques
for Corrosion Evaluation in Nuclear Reactors
Modeling and Simulation of DNA Dynamics
Investigation of Intermolecular Surface Interactive
Forces under System Dynamics
Graphene Enhanced FKM Elastomers; Self-Healing
ptnanocomposites
Antibacterial Behaviors of Graphene Quantum Dots
Gene Delivery in the Treatment of HCC
(Hepatocellular Carcinoma)
Elastic Instabilities in Microfluidics
Development of Rheology Methods to Study Biofilms
Wireless Microfluidic Control System
Development of Biomimetic cardiovascular system
Technological and Aesthetic Investigation of the
Physical Movement of Pianists
Risk Injuries in Mining
Ride Comfort
ACL Injury
Mobility and Age
Coupled Spring Forced Multiagent Coordination
Optimization
Design of Bio-inspired Wall Climbing Robots
Line Tracing Robots and Evolutionary Control Algorithms
Design and Manufacture of a High Resolution Force
Sensing Setup
Appendix B-2
Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
Table 5: Faculty Educational Awards (Last 5 Years ME, TTU, and National Awards.)
Faculty Name
Jungkyu Kim
T. T. maxwell
Burak Aksak
Darryl James
Alan Barhorst
Gordon Christopher
Todd Lillian
Walt Oler
James Yang
James Yang
E. E. Anderson
E. E. Anderson
E. E. Anderson
Stephen Ekwaro-Osire
Stephen Ekwaro-Osire
Stephen Ekwaro-Osire
Andrew Mosedale
Jahan Rasty
Andrew Mosedale
Award Name
Pi Tau Sigma ME Outstanding Professor Award
Outstanding ME Teaching Award
Outstanding ME Teaching Award
Outstanding ME Teaching Award
Outstanding ME Teaching Award
Outstanding ME Teaching Award
Outstanding ME Teaching Award
Outstanding ME Teaching Award
SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award
Society of Automotive Engineers - International
Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award
Texas Tech Center for Undergraduate Research
Engineering Pathways Premier Award for
Excellence in Engineering Education Sourseware
TTU Chancellors Council Distinguished Teacher
Ray Butler Distinquished Engineering Educator
Pi Tau Sigma ME Outstanding Professor Award
George T. and Gladys Abell-Hanger Faculty Award
Outstanding Graduate or Undergraduate Teaching Award
Pi Tau Sigma ME Outstanding Professor Award
Pi Tau Sigma ME Outstanding Professor Award
Pi Tau Sigma ME Outstanding Professor Award
Award Year
2013
2013
2013
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2011
2011
2008
2010
2009
2009
2009
2009
2008
Appendix B-3
Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
Table 4: Educational Technical Papers (Last 5 Years).
Faculty Name(s)
E. E. Anderson, Taraban, R.,
& Sharma, M. P
E.E. Anderson
D. Tate, T. Maxwell, A. Ertas,
H-C., Zhang, U. P. Flueckiger
W. Lawson, A. D. Fontenot,
J. Chandler
E.E. Anderson, R. Taraban
S.J. Robertson
R. Taraban, C. Craig
E. E. Anderson
A. Ertas
Paper Title
Implementing and Assessing Computer
Based Active Learning Materials In
Introductory Thermodynamics
Application of Statistical Classification:
Analysis to Engineering Student
Recruitement
Transdisciplinary Approaches for Teaching
Teaching and Assessing Sustainable Design
Publisher
International Journal
of Engineering Education,
in press.
NSF ECEG Conference,
Washington, DC,
Feb. 2009.
International Journal of
Engineering Education
Vol 26, No.2, pp.1-12, 2010.
M-MODEL: An Online Tool for Promoting
Student Problem Solving Utilizing Mental
Models
Using Paper-and-Pencil Solutions to Assess
Assess Problem Solving Skill
Understanding of Transdiscipline
and Transdisciplinary Process
Journal of Online
Engineering, 1(2), 2010.
A. Ertas
T. Kollman
Transdisciplinary Educational Performance
Evaluation through Survey
P. Chillakanti
A. Ertas
LENSOO – Collaborative Learning and
Social Networking Platform for
Continuing Education
M. Pantoya,
P. C. Hughes,
J. S. Hughes
A Case Study in Active Learning:Teaching
Undergraduate Research in an Engineering
Classroom Setting
JEE, 100(3), 498-519, 2011.
Transdisciplinary Journal
of Engineering & Science
1(1), 1–12, 2010.
The International Journal
of Engineering Education,
27(5)5, pp. 1094–1106, 2011.
Engineering Education, Vol 8,
International Conference on
E-learning, E-Business
Enterprise Information
Systems and E-Government
(EEE2012), Worldcomp 2012
pp. 219-223, CSREA Press.
Engineering Eduacation, Vol 8
Issue 2 (December 2013).
Appendix B-4
Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
A Transdisciplinary Research Approach to Senior Design Courses
Dr.
Dr.
Dr.
Dr.
Atila Ertas (PI), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas Tech University
Kellilynn M. Frias, Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech University
Susan M. Back (Co-PI), College of Education, Texas Tech University
Felecia M. Nave, Department of Chemical Engineering, Prairie View A&M University
The purpose of this study is to design and test transdisciplinary (TD) approaches to undergraduate engineering education. Recent studies suggest engineering education must evolve to teach a
more holistic approach to problem solving in order to prepare students for the growing complexity of problems inherent in todays society. The expected results of (TD) research and education
are: emphasis on teamwork, bringing together non-academic experts and academic researchers from
diverse disciplines, developing and sharing of concepts, methodologies, processes, and tools; all to
create fresh, stimulating ideas that expand the boundaries of possibilities [1, 2]. This project is a
quasi-experimental longitudinal study of the cumulative impact of engaging students with transdisciplinary project-based learning and teaching modules in STEM education, an open-source learning
platform, and a diverse cohort of undergraduate students.
Intellectual Merit: TD research includes the key components of interdisciplinarity, along with
the incorporation of external non-academic knowledge, applied to solve ill-defined problems [3, 4]
PIs will employ TD teaching strategies that effectively engage students in TD skills development,
help students learn and retain engineering fundamentals, and guide them to apply and understand
the processes of collaborative TD research. This project builds upon experience and knowledge
gained through: (1) TD Master of Engineering and Ph.D. Programs in Design, Process and Systems
at Texas Tech University, which was developed for Raytheon engineers. The primary intellectual
contributions of this work are: (1) modules and modular textbooks (iTextBook), (2) end-of-module
research projects, (3), final modular research project, and (5) student teamwork and collaboration
on research projects that is transdisciplinary.
Broader Impacts of the Proposed Activity: Teams are the primary unit of performance for
increasing numbers of organizations [5]. The proposed approach will prepare students for the 21st
century workplace need for those who are scientifically competent and able to function in highperformance teams which encourage the participation of those who have traditionally been underrepresented in engineering. Students proficient in disciplined, TD, cross-cultural problem-solving
will be positioned to address societys wicked problems, e.g., those with inter-connected influences
and requirements such that the proposed such solution causes other problems, i.e., climate change;
response to natural disasters; enhanced national security [6]. Demonstration of improved pedagogy
in the form of student projects and learning will inform institutional curriculum reform across all
segments of engineering education. The immediate impact of the project will be seen when Internet
Text Books (iTextBooks) are made freely available to the world academic community and transsector organizations in the public and private sphere (the target is approximately 70,000 senior-level
engineering students in the U.S. as well as those from other scientific disciplines such as business,
economics , and environmental and health sciences). Educational partnerships and global networks
will be developed among international collaborators.
Appendix B-6
Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
Evaluation of Mechanical Engineering Transdisciplinary Ph.D. Program
On November 15, 2013, survey questions were developed and sent out to 37 Raytheon engineers by Dr. Ertas
for the evaluation of ME, Ph.D. program on Design, Process, and Systems in conjunction with the Raytheon
Company in Dallas, Texas. We have recived The survey questions was divided into three groups. They are,
implementation, project related, and curriculum and program related. Response rate for the survey was
better than expected. We have received 30 responses.
1. How this program affected your job performance? Please rank from 1 (low) to 5 (high).
2. How much you are using the knowledge you learned from this program for the work related projects?
Please rank from 1 (low) to 5 (high).
3. How strongly you recommend this program to others? Please rank from 1 (low) to 5 (high).
4. Working on collaborative team projects allowed me to build confidence in problem solving. Please rank
from 1 (low) to 5 (high).
5. Evaluate student interaction, communication, and collaboration for the team project. Please rank from
1 (low) to 5 (high).
6. Evaluate the value of individual project. Please rank from 1 (low) to 5 (high).
7. How would you rank the non-traditional curriculum of this transdisciplinary Ph.D. program? Please
rank from 1 (low) to 5 (high).
8. Is this a technology driven project based program? Please rank from 1 (low) to 5 (high).
9. How would you rank the overall quality of this transdisciplinary Ph.D. program? Please rank from 1
(low) to 5 (high).
10. 10. How would you rank your communication and discussions with the instructors teaching the TD
courses? Please rank from 1 (low) to 5 (high).
11. Your general comment about the Transdisciplinary Ph.D. Program.
Table B-4 Group I results
Q #1
Excellent (5)
14(46.6%)
Good (4)
13(43.3%)
Average(3)
3(10%)
Poor(2)
0
Very poor(1)
0
Total
30(100%)
Mean
4.3667
Standard Dev. 0.6687
— Implementation.
Q #2
Q #3
15(50%)
27(90%)
6(20%)
2(6.67%)
9(30%)
1(3.33%)
0
0
0
0
30(100%) 30(100%)
4.2000
4.8667
0.8867
0.4342
Some Examples Response to Q#11
• Opens doors I didnt even know were there. Wished Id had this opportunity ten years earlier so I could
have applied it ten years sooner.
• The Ph.D. program was well organized around the areas of technical matter that develops the process
and thinking required to focus on research driven by applications. I found myself jumping into the guts
of technical aspects of engineering and the science behind it such that the systems that we studied and
did research on proved to be helping me widen my horizon and helped me identify and break down
problems into smaller parts to come up solutions.
Appendix B-7
Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
Table B-5 Group II results — Project
Q #4
Q #5
Excellent (5)
18(60%)
14(46.67%)
Good (4)
8(26.67%) 13(43.33%)
Average(3)
2(6.67%)
3(10%)
Poor(2)
2(6.67%)
0
Very poor(1)
0
0
Total
30(100%) 30(100%)
Mean
4.4000
4.3667
Standard Dev. 0.8944
0.6687
Table B-6 Group III results
Q #7
Excellent (5)
22(73.33%)
Good (4)
7(23.33%)
Average(3)
1(3.33%)
Poor(2)
0
Very poor(1)
0
Total
30(100%)
Mean
4.7000
Standard Dev. 0.5350
Related.
Q #6
19(63.33%)
4(13.33%)
6(20%)
1(3.33%)
0
30(100%)
4.3667
0.9279
— Curriculum and Program Related.
Q #8
Q #9
Q #10
10(33.33%) 22(73.33%) 19(63.33%)
13(43.33%) 8(26.67%)
9(30%)
6(20%)
0
2(6.67%)
1(3.33%)
0
0
0
0
0
30(100%)
30(100%)
30(100%)
4.0667
4.7333
4.5667
0.8277
0.4498
6261
• The TD Ph.D. Program is tailored to the needs of working engineers looking to continue their education.
The topic of transdisciplinarity and associated courses provide a bridge between traditional disciplines
and allows the students to better integrate knowledge from multiple functions in their academic and
professional work.
Appendix B.8
Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
Table B.7 Alumni Survey.
No.
Question
1 What was your BSME graduation date?
To what degree did your technical training prepare you for
2
your job?
Does the breadth of your training match your current and
3
probable future responsibilities?
4 What degree of team work is required for you work?
5 To what degree were you prepared to work in a team?
To what degree has your job performance been recognized
6
(e.g. raises, awards, bonus, etc.)?
7 Rate the growth in your professional responsibilities.
8 Characterize your performance evaluations.
To what degree were you prepared to address professional
9
ethical issues?
What additional degrees have you begun or completed since
10
earning Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering?
Please estimate the number of professional training
11 programs, seminars, or conferences in which you
have participated.
12 How well were you prepared for further study?
Do you participate in research and development, and
13 other creative and innovative efforts in science, engineering
and technology, and/or pursue entrepreneurial endeavors?
If you are not ina mechanical engineering career, are you
14 successfully transitioning in another career such as education,
business,legal, medical or government career (please mark one)?
Do you demonstrate a commitment to the community and
15 profession through involvement with community and/or
professional organizations?
Responses
May-11
Dec-10 May-08
Average
Meaning
3
3
3
3.3125
Well
3
3
3
3.28125
Adequate
3
4
4
2
4
4
3.59375
3.375
Frequent -Always
Well
2
2
3
3.375
3
3
4
3
4
3
3.6875
3.15625
3
2
4
3.125
1
3
1
1.516129
2
3
4
2.8125
4-7
1
3
4
2.9375
Well
4
2
2
2.875
Well
3
3
2.818182
Well
2
2
2.78125
Well
4
Well
High
Exceeding Expectations
Well
None - Masters