A radar course at undergraduate level: an approach to systems engineering

This paper describes the undergraduate radar course taught at the Escola Universitaria Politecnica del Baix Llobregat (EUPBL) of the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain. At present, the EUPBL offers a three-year degree in Technical Telecommunications Engineering. This paper briefly describes the EUPBL, the organization of the degree program, the structure of the radar course, the evaluation methods, and two practical exercises on a sonar demonstrator and a global positioning system kit.     

A systematic approach to the implementation of final year projectin an electrical engineering undergraduate course

This paper describes a computerized management system for the processing of a final year project in an electrical engineering undergraduate course including a structured project allocation to students, a comprehensive assessment procedure, an automated processing of marks, and a management supporting system. An optical reader is used to scan the project selection made by all the students, and the allocation algorithm allocates as many projects as possible in meeting the students' preferences. A new attempt using a grading category index for each assessment criterion is implemented and the assessment of the student's performance is evaluated through five main components with 31 assessment criteria. The marks for each student are scanned by an optical reader and calculated by a weighted linear conversion of all the grading category indexes. The assessment system is more valid as it has many specific criteria and is more reliable as the process is consistent. The management supporting tools and experiences in handling very large groups of students especially in the maintenance of a uniform marking standard to all the students are highlighted. It is hoped that some of our approaches can be selectively adopted for undergraduate course work on continuous assessment even for a smaller student population     

Laboratories for an undergraduate course in power electronics

Laboratory exercises to accompany an undergraduate power electronics course are discussed. Topics include inductors, periodic steady state, drive circuits, PWM control, average switch models, and startup. These laboratories present an evolutionary sequence of increasingly difficult, design-oriented power electronics laboratories     

Guidelines for writing an undergraduate engineering project

The purpose of a project report is to convey adequate information to the reader about how the tasks were implemented, the results, and what knowledge was gained by a student. It is an important aspect of the final year project since it is the only official document the student submits together with the developed device; it could even be the only document submitted to the department if the student has carried out an analysis work or study. It is imperative that students attach due importance to this aspect of the final year project, as a beautiful idea poorly packaged and presented by a student may not arouse the interest of the reader/supervisor and could lead to lower marks.     

An undergraduate system-on-chip (SoC) course for computer engineering students

The authors have developed a senior-level undergraduate system-on-chip (SoC) course at San Jose State University, San Jose, CA, that emphasizes SoC design methods and hardware-software codesign techniques. The course uses a "real world" design project as the teaching vehicle and implements an SoC platform to control a five-axis robotic arm using Altera's state-of-the-art Excalibur chip. The Excalibur chip contains both ARM Corporation's embedded processor and a programmable logic device (PLD) array. The course goes through a complete hardware-software codesign flow from implementing custom hardware devices on a PLD to developing an embedded algorithm in a state-of-the-art design environment for a complete SoC solution. Students learn the Quartus II design environment by examining the sample design files in Altera's EXPA1 development kit and following the step-by-step instructions toward creating a simple embedded application. After this familiarization process, students define the architectural specifications of a memory-mapped servo controller, implement it in the Excalibur's PLD array, and interface this device with the ARM processor's internal bus to control each robotic arm servo. Functional regression tests and post-synthesis timing verification steps are applied to the servo controller following the implementation phase. Subsequently, students integrate the servo controller with the rest of the system and perform board-level functional verification tests to observe whether the robotic arm can move an object from a source to a destination point accurately. Students also develop an embedded algorithm, which translates user inputs in Cartesian coordinates into robotic arm movements in spherical coordinates during laboratory sessions.     

Software modeling techniques for a first course in software engineering: a workshop-based approach

Computer science studies in Spain are organized in such a way that software engineering courses normally appear in the last years. This situation establishes a programming-first approach in the overall curricular structure, and the resulting situation produces several unwanted side effects. One of the main problems is that students lack the abstraction capability they need in order to model software. For this reason, the practical classes of the first software engineering course have been organized in workshop sessions, where each session is devoted to a concrete modeling technique. A workshop session is built around a problem published on the teacher's website. The session is divided into two parts. In the first part, the students are organized into work groups, and they give an initial solution to the proposed modeling problem. In the second part of the session, one volunteer group presents its solution, and afterwards, in a moderated debate, the rest of the students discuss the proposed solution. Finally, the volunteer group writes a workshop session report that contains the final agreed-on solution. This approach has been successfully applied to the software modeling practical classes of a first software engineering course during the last five years, achieving important improvements in the students' abstraction capabilities, which is much needed in software modeling.     

A handheld data acquisition system for use in an undergraduate data acquisition course

A handheld data acquisition (DAQ) system was designed and built for use in an undergraduate engineering course. The system is based on a PocketPC computer and a low-cost serial DAQ card. The DAQ system runs under WindowsCE, an embedded real-time operating system. The DAQ hardware is supported by a free development system and custom software that allows applications to be tested under emulation with simulated I/O before being downloaded to the DAQ hardware. Several lab experiments were developed that complement the DAQ hardware.     

A new undergraduate degree in control engineering

In December 1994, the Brazilian government regulated three new engineering undergraduate degrees. One such degree was in control and automation engineering. The paper discusses how, in Brazil, control engineering moved from a relatively small group of courses within electrical engineering curricula to an undergraduate degree in its own right. It presents a short review of undergraduate control education in countries around the world. The authors also present an overview of the control engineering profession, real-life applications, and state-of-the-art in Brazilian industries. Finally, the paper describes the major issues taken into account during the conception of this new engineering degree at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. In 1998 and 1999 academic years, 40 students were admitted each year for this degree. In view of the high demand of the Control and Automation Engineering degree by the prospective engineering students, since February 2000, the number of places has been increased to 80 students per year     

Virtual instruments in undergraduate biomedical engineering laboratories

It is anticipated that many undergraduate biomedical engineering (BME) students will seek jobs in industry following graduation. Therefore, it is imperative that BME programs establish a learning environment that exposes students to modem tools and equipment that best prepare them for an industrial setting. BME laboratory courses using PC-based virtual instruments can prepare students for real-world experience with minimal cost and risk. This article details various approaches for incorporating undergraduate BME laboratories in the curriculum and the use of virtual instruments. In particular, we discuss the motivations for and approaches to implementing virtual instruments and also describe a number of virtual instrument applications.     

An undergraduate laboratory course in real-time dynamic control

This work describes a real-time control laboratory course for undergraduate students. To introduce the concept of real-time control with real-time programming in a feedback-control laboratory course, a commercial software tool for a real-time operating system is adopted. Instead of using convenient graphical programming and automatic code generation methods, students in this course are required to write programs using C language to control and monitor analog dynamic simulators and experimental plants. Through step-by-step procedures, students are able to acquire the knowledge necessary for writing real-time programs to control dynamic systems.     

An engineering practices course

A so-called capstone design course at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) that maximizes engineering practices is described. The central design project is essentially used as a vehicle for the presentation and experience of engineering practices. To the extent possible, the students are afforded a real-life industry experience. They work in teams, select and propose their systems/projects, specify their systems, plan their projects in depth, design and test their systems, document and orally present their project, and demonstrate their systems. Where appropriate, practices lecture topics are synchronized with the project requirement, providing student preparation and reinforcement. Although the course is part of the Computer Science Engineering program (continuously ABET accredited since 1983), the format and most of the specifics can be applied to any engineering discipline     

Real-time systems course in undergraduate CS/CE programs

Interactions with industry hiring new software engineers from undergraduate computer science and engineering programs show, case after case, that universities do not pay enough attention to the practical aspects of software development. Another well-known deficiency of the undergraduate programs is in the area of time-critical, reactive programming. The present paper describes a senior course in a computer science undergraduate program designed to address some of the above problems. The real-time course provides the students not only with the basic concepts of real-time programming, but also provides a vehicle for development of small class projects which address methods, tools and the critical aspects of a modern software development life cycle. The experience with teaching the course may serve as a model for similar offerings in other computer science, computer engineering and software engineering college programs. The paper describes lessons learned and future plans     

A modern course in microwave engineering

A two-semester course in microwave engineering at the senior/first-year-graduate level has been developed over the last seven years at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. This course has a laboratory, and is modern in the sense that it includes contemporary topics (such as planar transmission lines, components, and circuits), the use of computer-aided design techniques, and access to state-of-the-art microwave laboratory test equipment. The course emphasizes fundamental principles and concepts, but also contains a large amount of design-oriented material with current ABET requirements in mind. The lecture material for this course has been refined to the point where a textbook is in the final stages of preparation     

Networked implementation of an electrical measurement laboratoryfor first course engineering studies

A method based on the use of computers to guide and supervise the practical work performed by the students in a basic hardware laboratory is described. The bench computer adds real-time monitoring of the work done by the student, so that most mistakes, improper measurement settings, etc., are detected and immediately fed back. This environment reinforces student motivation. The networked architecture of the laboratory permits the centralized supervision and tracking of the work done at each bench. The use of standard communication protocols allows the extension of the approach to remotely located benches under the supervision of the central server. Internet-based tools are also included in the method to complement the learning process     

An undergraduate computer engineering rapid systems prototypingdesign laboratory

This paper describes a new two-quarter undergraduate capstone design class in our computer engineering curriculum. Design groups comprised of students from several different areas of specialization (e.g., software systems, very large scale integration (VLSI) devices and circuits, and computer architecture) design, simulate, implement, and evaluate a complete computing system. Typical examples of projects in the current sequence include a pipelined 32-bit RISC processor, a four-cell systolic array processor, and a video game. The goal is to produce simulation and hardware/software codesign as early as possible in the design process. Students execute software on simulation models prior to any hardware implementation. An assembler and a compiler are developed for the new design. Throughout the sequence, students participate in design reviews and must provide documentation of their designs. The final designs are implemented using an array of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) contained in a device called a hardware emulator. This allows for ease of design modifications while still having actual hardware for experimentation     

A distribution engineering workstation for undergraduate andgraduate education

The Distribution Analysis and Economic Evaluation Workstation (DANE) provides students with an open architecture, computer aided engineering workstation environment for distribution system application program development and engineering studies. DANE is conceptually divided into four parts which are a relational database, graphical user interface, an application programmer interface, and applications used for analysis, design, and operational studies. Existing code has been developed with the help of several MS and PhD students. The code consists of C language with Embedded Structure Query Language statements, DANE is used in undergraduate design projects and graduate research     

Practicing engineering in a freshman introductory course

This paper discusses a teaching experience obtained in the undergraduate course of Control Engineering at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Brazil. The course endeavors to introduce the students to the university and to the real world of engineering and to develop an understanding of basic engineering concepts and foster professional skills. By introducing practicing engineering to the course from day one, student motivation is increased, and the relationship between theoretical and practical aspects of engineering is demonstrated more clearly. This "hands-on approach" allows the student a greater insight into the life of an engineer. It strengthens a weakness found in established teaching methods, allowing the individual to embark on his or her engineering education with greater confidence in his or her ability as an engineer.     

Bringing an emphasis on technical writing to a freshman course inelectrical engineering

The authors have recently added a strong writing component to one of their freshman courses in electrical engineering. The students prepared two kinds of reports-memoranda and formal engineering project reports. The authors' instructional objectives were to execute well these two forms: to write with a professional tone, and to make good choices about which technical material to include. To meet these objectives, model memos and engineering project reports were developed, lectures about these memos and reports were presented, a Web site for the course was developed, the technical aspects of the reports were graded by a student hourly grader, the writing aspects of the reports were evaluated by a professor, and followup debriefings were conducted at the lecture class meetings. The authors report on the development process and discuss student response to the course     

Improving ethical engineering practice

The production of knowledge in engineering is located both in science as well as in social life. Further, engineers use not only scientific knowledge in their practice but they also combine labor and capital in their application of this knowledge. Being employed in the private sector and working toward commercial ends, engineers are both the "objects and representatives of corporate power". As such, engineers are faced with ambiguities and issues concerning the use and abuse of power, which other professions are not     

Project-oriented adjustable speed motor drive course for undergraduate curricula

Adjustable speed motor drive design requires knowledge of various electrical and mechanical fundamentals. The theories of these fundamental topics are very well addressed in different courses during the undergraduate level of a typical electrical engineering education. Furthermore, related laboratory courses help students to improve their practical skills to some extent. Since they find experimental equipment ready to use, product development skills with group work cannot be improved in laboratories. Also, these separate courses and their associated laboratories regarding fundamentals, such as power electronics, electric machines, electric circuits, electronics, dynamics, and thermal analysis, are independent courses, and students usually cannot find a chance to apply all these fundamentals to a single problem before starting their professional career. This paper summarizes a project-oriented adjustable speed drive design course suitable for senior electrical engineering undergraduate students. The project was divided into several subsystems, and each subsystem was assigned to a group of students among 28 enrolled students. The paper gives enough details for each subsystem to develop an induction motor drive system.