Microprocessor-Based Projects at Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Worcester, MA, has an unusual educational environment based, in part, on the successful completion of a substantial project by each student in his/her major field. To meet the microprocessor (?P) computational needs of graduate thesis students and undergraduate project students in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, several reusable 8085-based ?P systems have been developed for project applications. The support and use of these systems is described within the context of the required undergraduate project and graduate thesis format. Finally, several projects are described to illustrate the wide range of applications and capabilities of our systems.     

A University-Industry Approach to Continuing Education for Engineers

A cooperative university-industry approach to satisfying continuing education needs for engineers is presented. The effort involves the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Maine at Orono, and Fairchild Semiconductor, South Portland, Maine. The program which results is a solution to a troublesome geographical problem since the industry is separated from the center of science and engineering education for the state by some 150 miles. This program includes courses offered in-house at Fairchild via a closed-circuit television-talkback system, a commuting professor and Fairchild engineers who have qualified for admission to the graduate faculty. A unique semester-on-campus grants the student-engineer a paid industrial sabbatical. Degree candidates culminate their M.S.E.E. program with a work-related thesis. However, the in-house courses, which are specifically designed to meet the joint requirements of the student and the industry, are open to all engineers, whether degree candidates or not.     

Reflections on Women Graduate Students in Engineering

During the last decade, the gap between women and men graduate students in engineering has been closing, although significant differences remain in the research environment. Some of the graduate student perceptions are explored and contrasted with performance indicators of M.I.T. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science graduate students. A major conclusion emerging from the analysis is that the gap in performance between women and men graduate students decreases as the percentage of women students increases.     

Electric power engineering education resources 1993-94: IEEE PowerEngineering Society Committee report

This subcommittee report is based on the thirteenth biennial survey of power engineering education resources in the US and Canada, eleven of which have bees previously published. This survey is conducted to determine the electric power engineering education resources available in ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) accredited engineering programs in the US and Canada for the 1993-94 academic year. The report is limited to colleges and universities that reply to a questionnaire on a voluntary basis. For the 91 colleges and universities (82 US, 9 Canadian) that submitted data on their power programs, the report contains a list of faculty active during the 1993-94 academic year, their level of academic participation and professional experience. Statistics are also presented on student enrollments at the graduate level, degrees granted and research funding. A tabulation of graduate and undergraduate electrical engineering power courses and their enrolment offered by each responding university is presented     

Electric power engineering education resources 1991-92

This subcommittee report is based on the twelfth biennial survey of power engineering education resources in the US and Canada, ten of which have been previously published. This survey is conducted to determine the electric power engineering education resources available in ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) accredited engineering programs in the US and Canada for the 1991-92 academic year. The report is limited to colleges and universities that reply to a questionnaire on a voluntary basis. For the 88 colleges and universities (80 US, 8 Canadian) that submitted data on their power programs, the report contains a list of faculty active during the 1991-92 academic year, their level of academic participation and professional experience. Statistics are also presented on student enrollments at the graduate level, degrees granted and research funding. A tabulation of graduate and undergraduate electrical engineering power courses and their enrollments offered by each responding university is presented     

Curriculum development in microelectromechanical systems inmechanical engineering

Curriculum development in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) in the Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM) Department at the University of Michigan is presented. A course curriculum structure that integrates both mechanical and electrical engineering courses is proposed for mechanical engineering students. The proposed curriculum starts from undergraduate study and finishes at the Ph.D. level. Two new graduate-level MEMS courses are proposed: “Introduction to MEMS” for senior undergraduate students and entry-level graduate students and “Advanced MEMS” for graduate students. The first course has been experimentally taught at the University of Michigan for three years and the class assessments are summarized and analyzed in this paper. It is clear from the student responses that they are interested in taking courses in emerging technologies such as MEMS and more courses in the MEMS area should be offered. Future MEMS curriculum development and a new MEMS course for undergraduate-level students in the college of engineering are discussed     

A Course Sequence for the Teaching of Digital Systems

This paper describes the two-course sequence in digital systems at the Pennsylvania State University Electrical Engineering Department, available to advanced undergraduate and first year graduate students. The philosophy of the courses and their laboratories is discussed with the special features of this approach indicated by course outlines and comments on each individual course. The importance of teaching some form of digital systems to every graduating electrical engineer is stressed throughout.     

An interdisciplinary laboratory sequence in electrical and computerengineering: curriculum design and assessment results

In the fall quarter of 1997, the Auburn University Electrical Engineering Department (USA) implemented a new, interdisciplinary core laboratory sequence. This new laboratory sequence was one outcome of a complete curriculum revision based on four years of work by the departmental Curriculum Study Committee. This paper presents the laboratory curriculum design, and the results of a multi-part assessment conducted beginning one year after implementation. Many students are initially surprised by the level of challenge provided in the first laboratory course, but readily accommodate as they progress through the sequence. A multifaceted assessment strategy has evolved which uses end-of-term student evaluations, retrospective student evaluations, student oral interviews, and faculty interviews. The assessment information is used to improve the laboratories through modification of the laboratory manuals, better instructions to graduate teaching assistants, modifications of experiments, and a purposeful effort to keep all faculty informed of laboratory course content so they can build upon the laboratory experience in classroom teaching. The overall result of the new laboratory experience is that students have a more integrated approach to design and a much better understanding of the hardware, software and instrumentation used in electrical engineering practice. In addition, students who complete the sequence have better oral and written communication skills, and are more confident in approaching job interviews and initial job challenges     

The successful grad student

This article is a collection of tips and an overview of the process through which all graduate students pass during their journey. Before starting a graduate program, it is important to realize that this is a long-term investment in career. Once the students are in graduate school, it is necessary to structure their personal life to fit the demands of the program. A graduate program starts by the choice of the advisor during the first year. Sometimes this is done even before the student is accepted into the program. During the program, interaction with the colleagues and professors is necessary. Getting to know them is essential to the program and to the life. Reading may not be enough. Read, analyze, criticize, discuss, implement. During reading note making is good. A good practice is to have a printed copy of the paper and annotate the thoughts and observations on it. Establishing the schedule with deadlines and trying to follow it. Participating in conferences and scientific events is essential. Organizing the thoughts and discussion with the colleagues drive out the fear. Students should produce at least one paper for a good conference that it will pave the way for success. This can be considered the minimal requirement to emphasize the importance/relevance of the thesis.     

Women in Engineering?1 Percent to 10 Percent in Four Years

Special programs which lead high school girls to the college registration lines for freshmen engineering students are very new to most universities. Women enrollments of up to 10% of the engineering student body is equally a new experience. The College of Engineering at the University of North Dakota has conducted summer programs for high school girls for the last four years. The effort to attract, retain, and graduate women engineers seems to be successfully established. Thirty percent of the participants in the summer programs have enrolled in engineering at UND and 85% of those are continuing their study. Fifty percent of the total female engineering students are institute participants; the other 50% enrolled directly into the college or transferred from other disciplines and other schools. Regardless of their origin, women engineering students are talented and well prepared as their average composite ACT score of about 27 indicates. The special effort by staff and students has increased the enrollment of women in engineering by a factor of 10 since 1971.     

A new degree program for students seeking a broader education inaddition to engineering training

A new degree program is proposed that provides students with broad interests a flexible way to combine their studies in engineering with studies in a wide variety of other subjects. The newly designed program in Electronics and Computing at the University of Colorado has a common core with the current Electrical and Computer Engineering programs, but the total number of required hours in the new major has been reduced to 40 hours. This makes it possible for the student to take a minor or a broad distribution of courses in other subjects. The new degree program is structured in much the same way as a liberal arts program     

A Video Tape Graduate Power Engineering Program

This paper describes and evaluates an unusual continuing education program which is offered to practicing power engineers from the Engineering College at Iowa State University. This program provides credit courses from the central campus via video tape to seven different power utility companies as well as a consulting engineering firm in the state. The program permits the power engineer to take graduate courses and if interested to complete a graduate degree without returning to campus to satisfy residency requirements. This is made possible by a system of video taping of courses taught to on-campus students. The faculty is encouraged to teach via video tape with the full knowledge that providing this educational service remote from the central campus is of considerable importance to the Engineering College. This relatively new continuing education concept has grown significantly and has enjoyed considerable success. Over a six year period 38 different courses have been offered. Nine different college departments have been involved in this off-campus effort, although the largest interest of the power engineer has been in the areas of Electrical Engineering and Industrial Engineering course offerings. Historically the power industry has had little interest in university offered continuing education programming for their practicing engineers. Through this program, however, a dramatic change has taken place with regard to continuing education and the power industry in the last few years. This may be attributed to a number of factors.     

The light applications in science and engineering research collaborative undergraduate laboratory for teaching (LASER CULT)-relevant experiential learning in photonics

An integrative undergraduate photonics curriculum has been developed that utilizes three active learning methods: case studies, team learning, and project-based learning (PBL). This two-course sequence at Oklahoma State University's Light Applications in Science and Engineering Research Collaborative Undergraduate Laboratory for Teaching (LASER CULT), is designed as an introduction to optics and photonics for electrical engineering students. The LASER CULT has three primary goals: make course concepts more relevant to students, provide students with training and positive experiences in functioning on a team, and introduce in-depth projects that require higher level problem-solving skills, such as evaluation and synthesis. To accomplish these goals, which are synergistic with Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) outcomes, LASER CULT courses use two in-depth design projects that are constructed by student teams under realistic constraints rather than focusing on hierarchical concepts. The relevance of course content to students is increased by recreating the environment of practicing engineers. Assessment data, measured through individual reflection included in team portfolios and student assessment of learning gains, demonstrate the effectiveness of this format for meeting course goals and ABET criteria and pipelining students into graduate school.     

Engineering your electrical engineering education

Electrical and computer engineering (ECE) courses are usually structured in such a way to provide the student with the basics to solve problems in the field and then challenge the student with increasingly more difficult problems to effectively stretch those basic problem-solving approaches into more advanced techniques. While most of this problem-solving focus is placed on the technical arena, this is only one part of the educational experience for an ECE student. There are many nontechnical facets to one problem-solving repertoire that require development to become a successful practicing engineer in industry or academia after graduation. This article serves to provide some of these facets in a career-direction informational guide to junior- and senior-level undergraduate students and graduate students early in their ECE career. It also serves as a guide to outline some useful strategies not found in an engineering text to maximize one's educational experience at the undergraduate and graduate levels as well as the transition between them.     

MES - a web-based design tool for microwave engineering

Microwave engineering often involves extensive circuit analysis and design, typically requiring precise calculations. To expedite the handling of complicated design calculations, a Web-based design tool named Microwave Engineering Solutions (MES) was developed as a graduate student project in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at North Dakota State University (NDSU), Fargo, and is described in this paper. JavaScript, PHP, and Perl were used to develop MES, which consists of three design tools: 1) FilTech*a design tool for analog filters, 2) LMatch*a design tool for impedance matching, and 3) MicroLines*a design tool for striplines and microwave network analysis. MES is used by Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) students studying various aspects of electromagnetics and is freely available on the Web via the link at http://venus.ece.ndsu.nodak.edu//spl sim/ronelson/MESLink/index.html.     

Student Engagement in a Structured Problem-Based Approach to Learning: A First-Year Electronic Engineering Study Module on Heat Transfer

Problem-based learning has been at the core of significant developments in engineering education in recent years. This term refers to any learning environment in which the problem drives the learning, because it is posed in such a way that students realize they need to acquire new knowledge before the problem can be solved. This paper presents the experience of a structured problem-based learning approach to the teaching of an introductory study module on heat transfer in the first year of an Electronic Engineering graduate program. A heat sink design problem was posed to students at the beginning of the module. Small groups of students worked on a cooperative learning project for eight weeks, while the teacher acted as the coach and the facilitator of knowledge acquisition. Partial, though not extensive, written reports were collected each week and the student assessments of the learning environment were measured. The paper closes with a list of recommendations intended to assist academics interested in adopting a similar approach.      

An Affiliate Research Program in Power Engineering

A highly successful cooperative program between the College of Engineering and the power industry plays an important role in power engineering education at Iowa State University. This paper describes the history, operation, student participation, and the effect on both the undergraduate and graduate curriculum of the Power Affiliate Research Program at Iowa State. An associated program, the Power System Computer Service, is also described and its educational impact on Iowa State and other institutions is evaluated.     

Television as a Tool in Off-Campus Engineering Education

Television has recently been very successfully applied to Engineering Extended Learning. This paper will review the use of this medium by the University of Florida, Colorado State University, Stanford University and the University of California, Davis Campus. Factors examined in the paper are: 1. Extent and type of system 2. Need served 3. Number and type of students 4. Cost of system a. total per student served b. cost to student 5. Results and reaction to the system The paper particularly emphasizes the University of California system and includes a report on the results of the first year of operation of a singularly successful system for bringing graduate education to the full time working engineer at reasonable cost and high quality.     

The Junior High Years: A Time for Beginning Engineering Orientation

The thesis of this paper is that the junior high school years are a key time in the development of orientation towards careers. It is suggested that since women are so grossly underrepresented in the engineering profession, efforts to attack the problem should include work with students at this period in their lives. A team-taught discussion of engineering as an interesting and vital career for women and men, accompanied by a dynamic demonstration of applied scientific principles, has been offered by Georgia Institute of Technology to two school systems in the Metropolitan Atlanta area. Three programs-Lasers and Holograms (Electrical Engineering), Polymer Chemistry (Textile Engineering), and High Temperature and High Temperature Materials (Ceramic Engineering) have been developed by faculty in the respective schools and are described in this paper. Reception has been enthusiastic and the suggestion is made that such programs can act as catalysts to produce longer range programs which can help move us toward parity for women in the engineering profession.