Engineering Tour Script
Fall 2013
Introduction
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Introduce guide(s) – name, major, year, hometown
Have guests introduce themselves – name, major, hometown
Ask if there are any professional engineers in the group
There are just over 7,100* undergraduate and around 1000* graduate students within 12
degree programs in the College of Engineering. Throughout this tour, we will touch on each of
the programs. Are there any questions before we begin?
*Fall 2013 Enrollment figures
Tour Order
Building
Marston Hall
Hoover Hall (lobby near main stairs)
Hoover Hall (Lobby near the South Exit)
Hoover Hall (near Boyd Lab)
Howe Hall
Inside/Outside Howe Hall (North Doors)
Sweeney Hall
Outside of Coover (Point to Town Engineering)
Coover Hall (near West Entrance)
Coover Hall TLA
Topic
Admin., Undeclared, Career Services, Int’l
Programs
Materials, Industrial
Mechanical
Lab Examples
Aerospace, VRAC
Agricultural, Biological Systems
Chemical
Civil, Construction
Electrical, Computer, Software
Walk through
Marston Hall
Engineering Admin., Undeclared, Career Services, International Engagement
Marston Hall is the administrative home of the College of Engineering. On the first floor, you
will find several resources, including the office of the dean, Sarah Rajala.
Engineering Student Services includes undeclared advisors who are located in room 110
Marston. Around one-fifth of engineering students come in undeclared. If you are not sure
which engineering degree program you want to pursue, that’s okay. As a part of the basic
program classes in engineering, all first-year students takes a class called Engineering 101 which
introduces all of the different engineering majors. Advisors will also work with you one-on-one
to figure out what engineering major fits you best.
Also on the first floor you will find the Engineering International Engagement office. They will
help you find programs around the world that will have classes that can transfer back to ISU
and count towards your engineering degree.
Engineering Career Services is located on the third floor in this building. They are a wonderful
resource to help you get an internship, co-op, or a job offer after graduation. They offer things
like resume and cover letter workshops and mock-interviews. Engineering Career Services also
hosts the fall and spring career fairs which take place in Hilton Coliseum. The fall career fair is
one of the largest in the nation. Additionally, they have 20 high-end interview suites – more
than 4,000 interviews are conducted on campus each year.
Hoover Hall (lobby)
Materials Engineering
Materials engineering involves creating new materials or making existing materials better. They
are able to make alterations at the atomic and molecular level to enhance desired properties.
They might make the material more heat resistant, more flexible, stronger, lighter, etc.
At Iowa State, materials engineering faculty have the largest research budgets in the College. As
a result, undergraduates have a lot of opportunities to have paid research opportunities.
A materials engineering student will choose a specialty from among:
 Polymers (anything plastic is a polymer)
 Ceramics (examples are bricks, glass, and NASA heat-shield tiles)
 Metals (steel, aluminum, etc.)
The application of these areas can range from aerospace and automobiles to fiber-optics and
computer chips to materials used in environmentally-friendly magnetic refrigeration.
An example where materials engineers have improved the quality of life is bio-medical
implants. Has anyone ever broken a bone and needed a metal pin to be inserted to fix the
break? Researchers have now invented a ceramic implant to replace the metal pin. Adding
calcium to the implant tricks the bone into adhering to the implant and healing the
break. Researchers are now experimenting with ceramics that will dissolve so that the person is
left with natural bone, and healed.
Industrial Engineering (Mention that this department is housed in Black Engineering)
Industrial engineers enjoy finding solutions that improve both the world we live in and how we
live in it. If you like to solve puzzles, and particularly those that can make the world a better
place, ranging from how to best distribute electricity across the power grid, to how to
manufacture customized bone implants for accident victims, to how to help soldiers visualize a
battle space, then Industrial Engineering might be for you. Industrial engineering encourages
you to use both the right and left sides of your brain – both your technical problem solving skills
and your people skills – to help people thrive.
Industrial Engineers are involved in every industry on the planet because they specialize in
improving processes of any kind. Industrial Engineers have a mindset that a process can always
be better – more efficient, safer, of higher quality, or less expensive – and they take their skills
into manufacturing, hospitals, food processing, product design, energy, transportation,
government, education, forensic science, consulting, agriculture, NASA and beyond. Industrial
Engineers also lead the drive for sustainability in the environment by improving processes for
renewable power generation, industrial waste reduction, and recycled material use.
The Black Engineering Building houses the 23rd ranked Industrial and Manufacturing Systems
Engineering Department in the country. Besides conducting millions of dollars of research in
areas like manufacturing automation, virtual reality process simulation, and the application of
biomechanics for improved sports performance, Industrial & Manufacturing Systems
Engineering’s nationally recognized faculty emphasize hands-on learning in their
manufacturing, operations research, and ergonomics laboratories.
Mechanical Engineering (Mention that this department is housed in Black Engineering)
Q. Does anyone know what automotive engines, virtual reality, robotics, biomedical implants,
and renewable energy have in common?
A. They are all touched by mechanical engineering. Mechanical engineering is found in almost
every area of technology from the aerospace industry to automotives to computers to
biotechnology.
Mechanical Engineering is the largest and broadest of all the engineering majors. It basically
deals with the science of turning energy into work and work into energy. Think of an engine.
Oxygen and fuel are put in your car in the form of energy and ignited, which then propels your
drive shaft, turns your tires and allows us to travel.
The main emphases of mechanical engineering are:
 Energy conversion which deals with the generation, distribution, and application of
energy.
 Dynamic Systems and Control which includes using mathematical formulas to model any
moving physical system (e.g. suspension of a car) and devising ways to control the
system to respond in specific ways (e.g. robotic systems)
 Materials and Manufacturing which deals processing raw materials, designing and
fabricating a product, and understanding how different materials respond to external
forces.
 Engineering Design and Optimization which includes processes to generate concepts
and solutions for any problem and to optimize the solution to balance competing
elements such as low cost, low weight and high strength.
Hoover Hall (Boyd Lab)
This lab is used in the student’s curriculum beginning sophomore year. It houses work space for many
clubs and research projects conducted around campus. Student technicians are employed in the lab for
safety training and are capable of completing parts that students may be able to design but not build.
ME 270 (sophomore design)
This lab is first used by students in their sophomore year. In this class, students gain an understanding
of how the design, fabrication, and implementation processes are dealt with in industry. Students need
to research the market they are selling to, design a product which is applicable to the topic given, and
then physically create that product in the lab using a limited set of materials all within a set budget.
ME 415 (senior design)
Senior design classes also use this lab to work on projects with real companies. These projects follow a
strict timeline based off of project schedules commonly found in engineering firms. Many of the projects
students are challenged to build are for an industry they could be in production within the next 2-5
years.
Clubs (Lunabotics, SAE, Solar car, MAVERICK)
Many clubs also find the Boyd lab as common workplace. These clubs really show the range of
disciplines that mechanical engineering has to offer. Projects range from building
an autonomous excavator intended for the moon to a small scale formula race car.
Howe Hall
Aerospace Engineering
Aerospace engineers work with anything that travels through a fluid or has a fluid traveling past
it; that means that they can work on anything from airplanes and spacecraft, to jet skis,
submarines, automobiles, combines, wind turbines, or even sports equipment. In this program,
you learn about four main areas: aerodynamics, propulsions, structures, and controls.
Here at Iowa State, the Department of Aerospace Engineering has a lot of great hands-on labs
including:
 A composites lab (where Aerospace Engineers are looking at ways to minimize weight
and still maintain strength for our structural components with the use of products such
as carbon fiber weaves)
 Tornado/Microburst Simulator (unique in that it is the largest of its kind and capable of
moving in the X‐ and Y‐ axis directions to simulate the effects of a tornado over a given
terrain).
 Four subsonic wind tunnels (the Blue, Bill James, an Icing Tunnel, and
Aerodynamic/Atmospheric Boundary Layer Wind Tunnels‐ with the largest being about
the size that if you were to assemble an older Volkswagen Beetle inside, it would fit)
 A supersonic wind tunnel (capable of approaching Mach 3, it is used to study shock
waves and expansion fans)
The best thing about all of the wind tunnels is that they are used by undergraduates as well as
graduate students. Aerospace students also get the chance to work in the structures and
composites lab. They work with carbon fiber and fiber glass composites as well as doing tests
on aluminum plates, rivets, and more.
Clubs & Projects
 Iowa State Space Society (ISSS) – A club for space enthusiasts with meetings every other
week with space‐related guest speakers. They also offer astronomy nights, as well as
many rocket building projects
 AirISU – Student‐run club that is in the process of constructing an airplane from scratch
 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) – Student branch of national
professional society
 ISU Solar car team – working with the aerodynamic design of the vehicle for energy
efficiency.
Virtual Reality Applications Center
Also located here in Howe is the Virtual Reality Applications Center (VRAC). The most
impressive tool within the VRAC is the C6. The C6 is a 10ft. cube that uses 24 high resolution
projectors to display color images on the four walls, the ceiling and the floor of the room.
Researchers and other participants are completely immersed in a detailed virtual environment
once they enter the C6. Being one of the most high resolution immersive environments in the
world with over 100 million pixels, it is not a surprise to see many outside companies using this
technology. John Deere has software developed at VRAC to redesign their tractor cabs; medical
doctors are using tools created at VRAC to see 3-D models of their patients before conducting
surgery.
Outside Nuclear Engineering Lab (while walking)
 There are five engineering minors, including nuclear engineering, bioengineering,
nondestructive evaluation, energy systems and engineering sales.
 The College of Engineering has more than 40 student organizations – some of which are
headquartered in the Nuclear Engineering Lab.
Howe Hall (North Doors)
Agricultural Engineering
Agricultural Engineers are primarily concerned with applying engineering principles and
technology to solve problems related to agriculture.
Ag Engineering has three options:
 Power and Machinery: designing new tractors, combines and field equipment; or they
can design the next generation of construction, logging equipment, or off-road vehicles;
or for a hydraulics company that designs and builds hydraulic components for
transmissions, industrial applications, or hydraulics on field equipment.
 Land and Water Resources: maximizing agricultural production while minimizing the
negative impact on the environment through the use of physical and mechanical
processes. You will study the design and evaluation of soil and water conservation
systems, GIS and natural resource management, and principles of environmental
engineering. For example, they can work for a consulting firm designing erosion control
structures like terraces and grassed waterways.
 Animal Production Systems: allows students to focus on all aspects of animal production
including structural design and analysis, environmental control options for housed
animals, and air quality issues associated with animal production.
One of the popular clubs in the department is the 1/4 scale tractor team. The group designs and
builds a pulling rig using lawnmower engines and pulls it at a national competition. A lab that
helps give the tractor team their technical knowledge is the John Deere Engines Lab, which
contains 8 full sized tractor engines that the students get to tear apart, put back together, and
hope they run.
Biological Systems Engineering
Biological systems engineering involves the sustainable production, storage, and conversion of
biobased materials into useful products. Examples range from breakfast cereals to biologically
derived fuels like today’s ethanol and biodiesel.
What will the second- and third-generation biofuels look like? How can we convert low-cost
biomass into a liquid fuel? How do we make biomass production systems more sustainable?
What are the best opportunities for improving them? Biological systems engineers at Iowa
State learn to innovate, to communicate, and to work as team members to address these sorts
of critical questions.
Biological systems engineers have high-impact careers. Maintaining air quality, a secure food
supply, and clean water is important to everyone. In today’s global marketplace, grains,
produce, and livestock are transported from country to country, and food security is
increasingly of concern. Biological systems engineers help safeguard our air, water, and food
supply by developing sensors to detect problem compounds and by developing management
plans to track materials and to minimize the chances of contamination.
The BSE program began in 2009 and has continued to grow over the years. There are 4 option
areas to choose from:
1. Bioenvironmental- Apply engineering principles, as well as biological and chemical
processes to improve and protect soil, water, and air quality. Enjoy a career that
emphasizes the management and improvement of environmental systems through
consulting, government agencies, and industry.
2. Biorenewable- Improve the economic and environmental sustainability of biorenewable
resource production systems. Enjoy a career that emphasizes the design and operation
of industrial-scale bioconversion systems, including but not limited to biodiesel and
ethanol plants.
3. Food Engineering- Design and operate modern food processing systems. Enjoy a career
that emphasizes chemistry and biology through grain processing and handling, food
engineering, and food processing.
4. Pre-professional/Pre-graduate- Prepare for a professional degree program outside of
engineering. Enjoy a career in academia, medicine, law, or industry that has a
foundation in engineering fundamentals, systems approaches, biology and chemistry.
Sweeney Hall
Chemical Engineering
Chemical engineering combines chemistry, biology and math to convert raw materials to more
useful materials on a large-scale production level. One example of chemical engineering is in
the energy industry, where chemical engineers are developing more efficient methods of
generating energy from petroleum based sources as well as alternative energy sources such as
fuel cells, wind, biorenewable sources, etc. With a chemical engineering degree, it is possible to
work in a diverse set of fields related not just to energy, but to pharmaceuticals, medicine, or
food, along with many other options.
Some research going on in modern chemical engineering includes diabetes research.
Researchers on campus are working on technologies that would require smaller blood samples,
a continuous glucose monitor built into skin, and the use of implanted microchips to measure
insulin levels. Among other things, chemical engineers are working on projects that pertain to
generating energy, saving the environment, advancing medicine, and enhancing food
production.
The Chemical engineering program at Iowa State features quite a few lab courses. The lab that
we're standing next to is a continuous distillation experiment. Students get an opportunity to
take a 2- semester course to learn methods of separating a methanol and water mixture based
on boiling temperatures.
Outside Coover Hall (near the West entrance pointing towards Town Engineering)
Civil Engineering
Civil engineers can be involved in designing and building bridges and dams, but they also are
responsible for maintaining infrastructure and protecting the environment. Like all engineering
majors at Iowa State, civil engineering has some emphasis areas:
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Structural engineers design and build bridges, buildings, and even wind turbines.
Preventive structural design for extreme events, e.g., tsunamis and earthquakes,
also involves structural engineers.
Transportation engineers design and improve systems that move not only people
but also goods and materials through the air, over land, and on the water.
Geotechnical engineers design foundations, examine stability of slopes, and
develop innovative paving materials.
Environmental engineers handle waste, and clean up contamination, and
manage air quality. They also develop and maintain our water infrastructure,
providing us with a reliable supply of drinking water.
At Iowa State, civil engineering students practice fundamental knowledge in practical
laboratories and design classes. For example, students learn surveying in a hands-on lab that
they take within the first couple of semesters, and later in the curriculum they work in teams to
design and bid on an actual project.
Also, there are enthusiastic student groups that include the steel bridge team and the concrete
canoe team. Civil engineers design the concrete with special aggregates so that it is buoyant
enough to actually float. Students plan and monitor the project, gather sponsors, and compete
with other university teams. As you can tell, Iowa State civil engineers are trained to become
successful, community-oriented engineers. For environmental engineering enthusiasts, the
Water Environment Federation student chapter allows student to mock design water treatment
facilities and demonstrate water treatment for K-12 students. Civil Ladies, a group run by
female civil engineering students, have demonstrated wind energy systems for K-12 students
through their “How Wind Turbines Work” workshop.
Construction Engineering
A construction engineer will work with civil engineers who have an emphasis in structural
engineering—as well as with architects. Construction Engineers manage people, time and
resources as they take a set of building plans and figure out how to actually construct it.
They take the idea and create the final product. In order to do this, they analyze things such as
site layout, workers and equipment needed, as well as factor in time and cost for a project,
among many other things. They ensure that all contractors working on a project know what they
need to do and when they need to do it. If a problem arises, the construction engineer has the
technical knowledge to understand the design and ensure that it is built correctly.
Students in this major can specialize in:
 Building
 Mechanical
 Electrical
 Heavy/Highway
 Energy
At Iowa State, there are five clubs for construction engineering such as Associated General
Contractors, or AGC. AGC is nationally known for its community volunteering endeavors. The
group has traveled to major reconstruction areas in the U.S., including Joplin (Missouri),
Johnson City (Tennessee), and Cedar Rapids (Iowa), to rebuild homes. AGC also is active in
communities in and around Ames.
Construction engineering is a great path for students that not only like to solve problems, but also
like to lead people.
Transition to Electrical Engineering:
Q. Does anyone know why problems with computers are referred to as “bugs”?
A. One of the first computer “bugs” was caused by a moth flying around inside an early
computer; hence the term “bug.” Therefore, a tribute has been built in the moth’s honor. (Point
out the statue).
Inside Coover Hall (near West entrance)
Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering goes far beyond just a resistor and a voltage source, or developing circuits
to put in your cell phone or computer. In fact, here at Iowa State an Electrical Engineer can
specialize in six different areas:
 Communications & Signal Processing
 Electromagnetics, Microwave & Nondestructive Evaluation
 Electric Power & Energy Systems
 Microelectronics & Photonics
 Systems & Controls
 Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Design
These specializations provide many career options for an electrical engineer. For example, as
the world continues to “Go Green,” electrical engineers play an essential role in integrating
renewable power into the existing power grid. Biomedical engineering and wireless
communication are also two key areas electrical engineers are involved in. Electrical engineers
can create technology to help doctors perform surgery without knives; or develop sensor
devices to help diabetics test their blood sugar without having to prick their finger. Electrical
engineering also can help make wireless Internet, cell phone devices, and networks better and
more reliable.
Computer Engineering
Computer Engineering goes far beyond the traditional role of building computers. Computer
engineers are crucial for everything from integrating software to hardware, networking, to
embedded systems.
Examples:
 Creating the safety-critical programs that control aircraft control systems and car antilock braking systems
 Improve real-time systems that allow things like GPS to be possible.
 Information Security. Iowa State has a highly regarded virtual cyber security center on
campus. Students who study computer security can work for the FBI to catch cyber
criminals or work for a bank or other company to secure their online transactions and
networks.
 Artificial intelligence. There also is a professor here at Iowa State who runs a
developmental robotics research lab. He is leading a team of students that built a robot
and is teaching it to learn like human children do. The robot goes through various tests
in order to collect data on specific sounds, vibrations, spacial awareness, etc. From the
data, the robot is able to detect a certain container, the best writing surface, whether or
not an object is in a bucket or something else.
Software Engineering
Software engineers use their expertise in programming as well as engineering and math
problems to design, develop and evaluate software for companies that configure and install
computer systems. Software engineers work on cutting-edge technology and manage projects
through the entire process. They design, construct, test, implement, and maintain software
used in items ranging from cell phones, MP3 players, and household appliances to automobiles,
airplanes, medical equipment and video games.
Many people have a difficult time distinguishing the difference between Computer Science,
Computer Engineering, and Software Engineering. But how I would describe it is that Computer
Science involves the theory or principles. Computer engineering involves the practice, which is
the problem solving, design and analysis, where as Software Engineering also involves the
process or the lifecycle development. An example of lifecycle development is an operating
system like Windows 7. Software engineers basically work a cycle of designing a fix for a
problem, implementing the solution, receiving feedback on new “bugs” or problems and then
addressing those again. Basically, lifecycle development means that the product is constantly
being analyzed and improvements being made.
Extra Information
Computer Labs
 Most Engineering Computer Labs have dual monitors and are for engineering students
only.
 Printing: Engineers have 2000 pages per semester which are included in student fees.
 No need to bring a computer- there are labs are available 24/7 for engineering student
use.
Senior Design Projects
 Inter-disciplinary or same-discipline groups who work on and present large-scale
projects.
 Completely real-world applications:
o Designing and building an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle with a launch system,
autopilot, and communications system for Lockheed Martin. (Electrical,
Computer, Software, and Aerospace Engineering group)
 Making hospitals less noisy since lower levels of stress help the healing process
(Industrial engineering group)
Learning Communities
At Iowa State, more than 80% of engineering students also participate in a learning community
during their first year. One example of a cool learning community project is in computer
engineering. The students in it get to do lots of hands-on, problem-solving experiments using
Wii-motes and the Rock Band video game. You can see the videos on both facebook and
YouTube.
Iowa State University’s College of Engineering has an RSS feed and is on Facebook, YouTube,
and Twitter!