Design in the Thermal Fluids Engineering

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadegh M. Sadeghipour ◽  
Mehdi Asheghi
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Thermal Engineering ◽  
Engineering Curriculum ◽  
Job Market ◽  
Design Engineers ◽  
Thermal Fluids ◽  
Design Competition

Design is seen as the magic word and being a design engineer is considered to be the key to success in the job market by many of the mechanical engineering students. However, it is always assumed that the mechanical systems not the thermal engineers are indeed design engineers by education and practice. This notion probably stems from the fact that most of the thermal fluid courses in mechanical engineering curriculum seem to have been defined and developed to prepare undergraduate students for going to graduate school rather than the job market. The undergraduate courses usually emphasize on the theories with less attention to the design and application aspects. Perhaps, the responsibility of thermal engineering educators is to correct this notion by emphasizing more on the application and design in the existing courses or alternatively to develop and offer new courses on more applied topics. In this paper, we will report an integrated approach in teaching topics in fins and fin assemblies, which includes class lectures, laboratory experiments, ANSYS simulations and design competition. In this manuscript, we will report on the details of this approach including the procedures, methods, our observations, and the students’ feedbacks.

CAD Course in Engineering Education

2012 ◽  
Vol 566 ◽  
pp. 304-307
Author(s):  
Marija Gradinscak
Keyword(s):  
Computer Graphics ◽  
Technological Change ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Technical Skills ◽  
Job Market ◽  
Business Decisions ◽  
Significant Change

Globalisation is accelerating and with it rapid technological change has resulted in the environment being dramatically impacted by constant and significant change. The global job market requires excellent technical skills, so we must educate students for more sophisticated jobs. Today, engineers must be practical and creative, able to work with different people, be quick to solve problems and make critical business decisions, whilst being professional and ethical. Spatial visualisation skills play a significant role in engineering fields, particularly for mechanical engineering students whose fields rely heavily on visualisation. This paper presents the CAD course with computer graphics components that would help in enhancing students’ powers of visualisation using CAD applications.

The Impact of Direct Competency Testing (DCT)

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey G. Marchetta ◽  
John I. Hochstein ◽  
Teong E. Tan
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Engineering Curriculum ◽  
Valuable Component ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Program Accreditation ◽  
Competency Testing ◽  
Faculty Survey ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
The Impact

Direct Competency Testing (DCT) was developed and implemented to measure the ability of mechanical engineering students to correctly solve problems in the fundamental areas for each course in the mechanical engineering curriculum. Almost 10 years since the inception of DCT, an effort is made to assess the efficacy of DCT as a measure of student ability. Qualitative and quantitative assessments are conducted to evaluate the impact of administration, documentation, and evaluation of DCT on students and faculty. Student surveys focus on the perception of competency testing as a component of coursework and whether DCT is a reasonable measure of learning. Faculty survey results yield historical data of student DCT and provide perceptions of the effectiveness of DCT in mechanical engineering coursework. The impact of DCT on program accreditation and the connection to EC2000 criteria are examined. Evidence is provided that competency testing helps instructors assess a minimum threshold above which to evaluate the success of their students and that the majority of students believed DCT was a valuable component of an engineering curriculum. Results are presented to support the merit of continuing and further refining the methods for DCT.

Improving students’ freehand sketching skills in mechanical engineering curriculum

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacek Uziak ◽  
Ning Fang
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Engineering Curriculum ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Modern Engineering ◽  
Computer Aided

Freehand sketching is a fundamental skill in mechanical engineering and many other engineering disciplines. It not only serves as a communication tool among engineers, but plays a critical role in engineering design and problem solving. However, as computer-aided drafting has replaced traditional drawing classes nowadays, the training of students’ freehand sketching skills has been almost completely eliminated in modern engineering curricula. This paper describes the attributes of freehand sketching and its roles in several essential aspects of engineering; in particular, in its roles in problem solving, of which current literature has ignored. Representative examples are provided to show students’ freehand sketching skills in problem solving in a foundational undergraduate mechanical engineering course. Pedagogical suggestions are made on how to teach freehand sketching to engineering students.

Sample Biomedical Projects Carried Out by Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Students

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen C. Lifer ◽  
Jason S. VanAtta ◽  
Judson M. Bauman ◽  
Jed E. Marquart ◽  
Hui Shen
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Design Theory ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Heart Valves ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Aircraft Design ◽  
Engineering Problem ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Muscle Hernia

As reported by the ASME Center for Education Task Force [1], human health will be one of the major areas in which mechanical engineers will take the leadership position to develop innovative technologies in the future. To adapt to the transforming role of the mechanical engineering profession, undergraduate education of mechanical engineering needs to guide students to apply engineering principles in this area. In this paper, the development of an undergraduate biomedical course in a mechanical engineering major is introduced. Several course projects developed by mechanical engineering undergraduate students are described. These projects focused on the study of biomedical problems using engineering problem solving skills. The projects were started with the analysis of injuries or diseases of patients. Then, injuries and/or possible treatments were analyzed from the viewpoint of a mechanical engineer. All of these students’ projects are summarized in this paper and a few projects discussed in detail. Among these projects, the flow and pressure distributions of different types of heart valves were calculated using computational fluid dynamics; the consequence of injuries of joint cartilage was analyzed with bearing design theory; the treatment of a muscle hernia was calculated using the finite element method. These projects encouraged students to appreciate engineering applications in fields other than traditional fields such as automobile and aircraft design. The results of the projects are also useful in practice. The course model is applicable for engineering programs in other small teaching universities.

Development of concept-based physiology lessons for biomedical engineering undergraduate students

2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regina K. Nelson ◽  
Naomi C. Chesler ◽  
Kevin T. Strang
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Biomedical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Organ System ◽  
Instructional Model ◽  
Engineering Curriculum ◽  
Engineering Knowledge ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Preparation For Future Learning ◽  
Future Learning

Physiology is a core requirement in the undergraduate biomedical engineering curriculum. In one or two introductory physiology courses, engineering students must learn physiology sufficiently to support learning in their subsequent engineering courses and careers. As preparation for future learning, physiology instruction centered on concepts may help engineering students to further develop their physiology and biomedical engineering knowledge. Following the Backward Design instructional model, a series of seven concept-based lessons was developed for undergraduate engineering students. These online lessons were created as prerequisite physiology training to prepare students to engage in a collaborative engineering challenge activity. This work is presented as an example of how to convert standard, organ system-based physiology content into concept-based content lessons.

Thermal Engineering Design Project: A Calorimeter That Measures the Specific Heat of Aluminum

2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-75
Author(s):  
R. S. Mullisen
Keyword(s):  
Specific Heat ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Thermal Capacity ◽  
Thermal Engineering ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Design Project ◽  
Aluminum Plates

A thermal engineering design project requiring the design, construction, and operation of a calorimeter that measures the specific heat of aluminum was assigned to a class of third-year mechanical engineering students. Before making the assignment, the author developed his own design, which consisted of two individual calorimeters — each an assembly of 13 aluminum plates with electric resistance heater wires laced between the plates. The exterior surfaces of both calorimeters and the surrounding insulation were identical. However, the interior plates were different — one calorimeter had solid interior plates and the other had perforated interior plates. By initially adjusting the electrical power into each calorimeter the temperature versus time curves for each calorimeter were matched. This curve match allowed cancellation of the unknown heat loss from each calorimeter and cancellation of the unknown heater thermal capacity. The final result was a specific heat for the aluminum alloy that deviated by 4.4% from a published value. A class of third-year mechanical engineering students, working in teams, produced designs using the method of mixtures (aluminum and water) and electrically heated aluminum samples. The 17 student groups plus the author produced 129 data points with a mean specific heat value that deviated by 19.5% from a published value.

scholarly journals Self Evaluation for Compliance with the 12 CDIO Standards

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Platanitis ◽  
Remon Pop-Iliev
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Engineering Ethics ◽  
Engineering Curriculum ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Engineering Program

Throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s, collaboration began between universities, industry, and government to improve the quality and state of engineering education. Their paramount goal was to provide better ways to help students become successful engineers, possessing the necessary technical skills and expertise, exhibiting creativity, and having awareness of social, lawful, ethical, and environmental impacts as related to their profession. Traditionally, engineering programs emphasized the theoretical aspects required, while placing little emphasis on practical applications. An approach that has been introduced to provide a better learning experience for engineering students and to educate them as well-rounded engineers to be able to develop complex, value-added engineering products and processes is the CDIO (Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate) approach. This approach has been adopted by several universities within their engineering departments. At UOIT, the Mechanical Engineering curriculum has been developed around and continually evolves to line up with the goals of CDIO in terms of course and curriculum offerings for core and complementary engineering design courses, science, math, communications, engineering ethics, and humanities courses. Herein, we present an evaluation of the Mechanical Engineering program at UOIT against the twelve CDIO standards.

Undergraduate Class Project: Design and Build a Helical Coil Heat Exchanger Experiment

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanie N. Abdelmessih ◽  
Stanely G. Cummings ◽  
Mary Jorgenson ◽  
Joel Parker
Keyword(s):  
Heat Exchanger ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Thermal Design ◽  
Student Outcome ◽  
Thermal Engineering ◽  
Helical Coil ◽  
Elective Courses ◽  
Coil Heat Exchanger ◽  
Coil Heat

At Saint Martin’s University, the Mechanical Engineering Department incorporates design throughout the curriculum, starting from the freshman course ‘Introduction to Engineering’ up through the senior capstone design. Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering students are required to take three Mechanical Engineering elective courses. Each of these elective courses is 3 credits; one of these credits must be design. For ME 436 Thermal Design of Heat Exchangers course, the students were assigned a project to meet the Accrediting Board of Engineering and Technology student outcome criteria a, b, c, d, e, g, and i. In addition to course work the students designed, market searched for parts, budgeted, manufactured and built, then tested a finned helical coil heat exchanger experiment. A limited budget was assigned for this project. Currently, the apparatus is being used as an additional experiment in the Thermal Engineering Laboratory. This article includes the preliminary design, final design, experimental results, and assessment by students and faculty.

Students Design Competition, Best Heat Sinks for Electronics Cooling

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadegh M. Sadeghipour ◽  
Mehdi Asheghi
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Electronics Cooling ◽  
Heat Sinks ◽  
Spring Semester ◽  
Thermal Systems ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Educational Benefits ◽  
Design Project ◽  
Thermal Fluids ◽  
Design Competition

The Thermal Fluids Engineering, a junior course required by the mechanical engineering students at Carnegie Mellon University, is offered in the spring semesters. The students who take this course have previous background in thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics. Therefore, the emphases of this course are mainly on the applications, including design of the thermal systems. Included in the course is a design project competition for which the students design and manufacture a heat sink for electronic cooling. The heat sinks are then tested and ranked according to their performance in cooling a mock processor. Students are usually very excited about this competition and work very hard and zealously to present the best design and, they sometimes come up with very novel ideas. The design project has proven to be of great pedagogical value to the students. In this paper we will report on the competition of the spring semester 2004, which has been between twenty-seven student groups. We will review the competition as a whole and discuss in more detail the projects that particularly performed the best and the worst. We will share our observations about the educational benefits of the design projects, as well.

Twists and Turns of a Senior Design Project

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Salim Azzouz ◽  
Jan Brink
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Cost Estimation ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Design Phase ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Senior Project ◽  
Design Project ◽  
Senior Design ◽  
Design And Construction

Teaching senior design courses and labs has not been an easy task for the two authors. It has been rather a daunting working task associated with great learning experiences. It was decided early on from the initiation of the mechanical engineering program at the McCoy School of Engineering at Midwestern State University that the senior design project within the senior design class is a testing and enriching experience for senior mechanical engineering students as well as the teaching faculty. The senior design course and labs are conducted as a research experience for undergraduate students and their assigned faculty. The proposed senior project spans over two semesters, fall and spring, where the students experience a full mechanical engineering related project from the inception phase, through the design and construction phases, and finishing with the testing and analysis phases. The inception phase stands essentially for the brainstorming phase where the students are required to come-up with a set of diverse solutions to their assigned project problem. The design and construction phases stand for choosing an optimal particular solution for their problem according to a set of defined criteria. Then, the students start the preliminary design phase with related cost estimation, and then finalize the design with a set of final drawings. After the design phase, the students start building a machine, an apparatus, a prototype or putting together the elements of a process. In this period they work intensely, with their faculty, the purchasing department, and mostly the department machinist, or the surrounding town machine shops. The testing and analysis phase stands for designing an experimental set-up, writing a testing procedure, and obtaining real time recorded data and proceeding with its analysis. In this technical paper, the authors talk about the requirements for a senior project known as the deliverables, the teaching tools used throughout the class work and labs, the students’ partial and final PowerPoints presentations and weekly and final reports. The authors describe the students overall achievements, and the archiving of the projects. Additionally, the authors talk about the twists and turns encountered during a senior project, with students, other faculty, the machinist, the lab technician, the secretary, and suppliers, and other difficulties experienced in running a full project with real final products. Finally, the authors talk about the aftermath of a senior project, eventual publications related to the project, and what is the view point of the American Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) on these senior projects.

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