NASA Student Programs and Senior Capstone Design Experience

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Parang ◽  
V. I. Naumov ◽  
L. A. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Engineering Majors ◽  
Senior Year ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Engineering Department ◽  
Design Skills ◽  
The University ◽  
Senior Students ◽  
Design Experience ◽  
Capstone Design

A significant way to attract engineering students, especially aerospace and mechanical engineering majors, to space issues is to implement exciting NASA student programs into the senior-year capstone design experience. Three years ago the University of Tennessee’s Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering Department offered two new projects, named “Microgravity” and “Lunar Rover Vehicle”, as senior capstone design projects. Both require participation, on a competitive basis, in two corresponding NASA programs: “The Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program” and “The Great Moonbuggy Race”. Three years of experience have demonstrated that both programs are very suitable in offering senior students unique opportunities to improve their analytical abilities, develop design skills, gain experience in working in multi-disciplinary teams, solve cutting-edge engineering problems, and familiarize themselves with space issues and technical problems.

Incorporation of Manufacturing Process Design Into the Senior Capstone Design Course

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas V. Gallagher ◽  
Ronald A. L. Rorrer
Keyword(s):  
Process Design ◽  
Manufacturing Process ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Cnc Machining ◽  
Senior Design ◽  
Solid Models ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
The University ◽  
Capstone Design

At the University Colorado Denver, a manufacturing process design course was specifically created to raise the level of the as constructed senior design projects in the department. The manufacturing process design course creates a feed forward loop into the senior design course, while the senior design course generates a feedback loop into the process design course. Every student and student project has the opportunity to utilize CNC mills and lathes where appropriate. Specific emphasis is placed upon the interfaces from solid models to CAM models and subsequently the interface from CAM models to the machine tool. Often the construction of many senior design projects approaches the level of blacksmithing due to time constraints and lack of fabrication background. Obviously, most engineering students have neither the time nor the ability to become expert fabricators. However, the wide incorporation of CNC machining in the program allows, an opportunity to not only raise the quality of their prototypes, but also to immerse in the hands on experience of living with the ramifications of their own design decisions in manufacturing. Additionally, some of the art of fabrication is turned into the science of fabrication. The focus of this paper will be primarily on examining the effect of formal incorporation of the manufacturing process in the capstone design course.

First Year Engineering Projects to Senior Capstone Design: Are Students Gaining Technical and Professional Skills?

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daria Kotys-Schwartz ◽  
Daniel Knight ◽  
Gary Pawlas
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Professional Skill ◽  
Engineering Project ◽  
Professional Skills ◽  
Senior Design ◽  
Design Skills ◽  
Engineering Projects ◽  
Capstone Design

Innovative curriculum reforms have been instituted at several universities and colleges with the intention of developing the technical competence and professional skills of engineering students. First Year Engineering Project (FYEP), or Freshman Design courses have been integrated into undergraduate engineering curricula across the country. Many of these courses provide students with hands-on engineering opportunities early in the curriculum. Senior Capstone Design (SCD) courses are ubiquitous in engineering programs, incorporating technical knowledge and real-world problem solving. Previous research has shown that project-driven classes like FYEP and SCD increase the professional and technical design skills of students. While research into first year and senior design skills development has been more robust, scant research investigating the transformation of skills between freshman design experiences and senior design experiences has been performed. This research project investigates the longitudinal technical and professional skill development of mechanical engineering students at the University of Colorado at Boulder. An overview of First-Year Engineering Projects and the mechanical engineering Senior Capstone Design project course is detailed. Technical and professional skill objectives are discussed within the paper. Pre and post skill surveys were utilized in both First-Year Engineering Projects and the Senior Capstone Design classes. Initial results indicate that student skills deteriorate between the end of the first-year and beginning of the senior year.

Nanofacture: Senior Design Experience in Nanotechnology

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoltán Szabó ◽  
Eniko T. Enikov ◽  
Rudolf Kyselica
Keyword(s):  
Formative Evaluation ◽  
Biomedical Application ◽  
Design Team ◽  
Senior Year ◽  
Team Meetings ◽  
Senior Design ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
College Of Engineering ◽  
Design Experience ◽  
Capstone Design

This paper describes the outcomes of an NSF-funded undergraduate engineering training project launched at the University of Arizona - College of Engineering. The program aims to engage senior-year students in a capstone design project focused on biomedical applications of nanotechnology. The senior design team has previously attended a micro- and nanofabrication and a mechatronics technical elective courses. Both courses have been adjusted to better suit the goals of the program. Modifications include a self-guided research component, requirement to utilize a nanotechnology based sensors or actuators in a biomedical application. Formative evaluation data has been gathered through personal interviews to assess changes of students attitudes towards nanotechnology. Data includes reports from junior-year members of the technical elective classes, along with graduate assistants serving as mentors of the undergraduate participants. Results indicate that students who enrolled in Fabrication Techniques for Micro- and Nano-devices gained formal knowledge about nanotechnology through lectures and hands-on activities, while those who joined a senior design team learned about nanotechnology by interfacing regularly with the faculty advisor who imparted his knowledge and enthusiasm about nanotechnology applications during design team meetings. Students who took the first course in the sequence, Guided Self-Studies in Mechatronics prior to the capstone design experience benefited most.

scholarly journals Adding a Continuous Improvement Design Element to a Sophomore-Level Thermodynamics Course: Using the Drinking Bird as a Heat Engine

2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 366-372
Author(s):  
Amy Warncke Lang ◽  
Paulius V. Puzinauskas
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Heat Engine ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Design Element ◽  
University Of Alabama ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Course Material ◽  
Design Skills ◽  
Time Required ◽  
The University

To increase the design experience gained by undergraduate engineering students and to enhance their iterative thinking skills needed in the engineering profession, a new project was developed and assigned in the sophomore-level thermodynamics class taught at the University of Alabama. Students designed a mechanism using a toy drinking bird as a heat engine with the goal of minimizing the time required to raise a small weight a given distance. Besides building teamwork and design skills, several key thermodynamic concepts were also visualized for the students, thus increasing their overall comprehension of the course material.

scholarly journals The Relationship between Communication Skills and Intellectual Health in Senior-Year Students of Paramedicine School at Kashan University of Medical Sciences 2019

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 484-488
Author(s):  
Fatemeh R. Jeddi ◽  
Faeze Ghaffary ◽  
Razieh Farrahi
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Listening Skills ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Senior Year ◽  
Statistical Population ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Senior Students

Introduction and Objective: Communication skills are the ability to communicate effectively and efficiently with others, which plays a role in people's intellectual and psychological health; therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the relationship between communication skills and intellectual health in senior students of Paramedicine School at Kashan University of Medical Sciences. Methods: The present study is descriptive-analytical, which was performed cross-sectionally in 2019 on 95 senior students of the Paramedicine School of Kashan University of Medical Sciences. The census method was used in this study due to the limitations of the statistical population. The data collection tool consisted of three parts: Participants' demographic profile, Barton's standard communication skills questionnaire (1990), and intellectual health questionnaire based on the intellectual health scale of entrepreneurs' personality traits assessment questionnaire. The questionnaire was presented to the students in person. After collecting data, it was entered into SPSS 22 software and analyzed with descriptive indices (mean and standard deviation) and analytical statistics (Pearson's correlation and t-test). Results: The total mean score of the communication skills in students was 59.61±5.82. There was a direct and significant relationship between verbal and listening skills (r = 0.32, p = 0.003), verbal and feedback skills (r = 0.43, p = 0.001), listening and feedback skills (r = 0.41, p = 0.001). The mean mental health of the participants in the study was 33.45±5.02 There was a positive correlation between communication skills and intellectual health in students (r = 0.2, p = .07). Conclusion: Communication skills affect intellectual health. Therefore, it is recommended that educational workshops on communication skills and how to communicate be held for students at the beginning and during the study, and that psychological counseling centers be set up or become more active in the university.

scholarly journals EXPERIENCES WITH INTER-YEAR CAPSTONE DESIGN TEAMS

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. D. Mann ◽  
D. S. Petkau ◽  
K. J. Dick ◽  
S. Ingram
Keyword(s):  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Design Teams ◽  
Team Leaders ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Engineering Degree ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds ◽  
The University ◽  
University Setting ◽  
Capstone Design

Design teams in industry are composed of individuals with diverse backgrounds at various stages of their careers. A unique set of group dynamics will be created with one member, likely someone with sufficient experience, assuming the responsibility of being the team leader. Design teams formed in engineering classes within the university setting typically consist of individuals at the same stage of their academic training, thus students do not experience the same group dynamics as they will find in industry. In an attempt to give undergraduate engineering students this experience, inter-year design teams were formed from engineering students registered in courses representing different stages of completion of the engineering degree. Students registered in the final-year design course were expected to assume the roles of team leaders or coleaders. This paper will discuss a number of issues that were observed with inter-year capstone design teams. It has been concluded that the disadvantages of inter-year design teams outweigh the advantages.

scholarly journals STUDENT-INDUSTRY PROJECT IDENTIFICATION OF FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS THROUGH A SUCCESS STORY

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Brousseau ◽  
Simon Bélanger ◽  
Abderrazak El Ouafi ◽  
Jean Rioux ◽  
Michael Landry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Success Story ◽  
Joint Project ◽  
Engineering Program ◽  
Industry Partner ◽  
Design Skills ◽  
Training Team ◽  
Industry Success ◽  
The University ◽  
University Training

Design is one of the key elements of any engineering program. According to the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB), design is a creative, interactive and often open-ended process subject to constraints, which may be governed to varying degrees by standards or legislations depending upon the discipline. Industry-based projects are excellent opportunities to help engineering students develop design skills. The benefits of such projects can be very valuable for both the students and the industry partner. However, they do not always lead to success. Through the presentation and analysis of a student-industry success story, the favourable conditions of a joint project are presented in this document. As expected, the most significant success conditions are the students' determination and the partner's commitment, both being correlated. In order to work towards a project's success, the university training team has to ensure that the win-win conditions remain present for the duration of the project.

A novel approach to physiology education for biomedical engineering students

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. DiCecco ◽  
J. Wu ◽  
K. Kuwasawa ◽  
Y. Sun
Keyword(s):  
Rhode Island ◽  
Biomedical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Anatomy And Physiology ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Engineering Department ◽  
Physiology Laboratory ◽  
The University ◽  
Mathematical Curriculum

It is challenging for biomedical engineering programs to incorporate an indepth study of the systemic interdependence of cells, tissues, and organs into the rigorous mathematical curriculum that is the cornerstone of engineering education. To be sure, many biomedical engineering programs require their students to enroll in anatomy and physiology courses. Often, however, these courses tend to provide bulk information with only a modicum of live tissue experimentation. In the Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering Department of the University of Rhode Island, this issue is addressed to some extent by implementing an experiential physiology laboratory that addresses research in electrophysiology and biomechanics. The two-semester project-based course exposes the students to laboratory skills in dissection, instrumentation, and physiological measurements. In a novel approach to laboratory intensive learning, the course meets on six Sundays throughout the semester for an 8-h laboratory period. At the end of the course, students are required to prepare a two-page conference paper and submit the results to the Northeast Bioengineering Conference (NEBC) for consideration. Students then travel to the conference location to present their work. Since the inception of the course in the fall of 2003, we have collectively submitted 22 papers to the NEBC. This article will discuss the nature of the experimentation, the types of experiments performed, the goals of the course, and the metrics used to determine the success of the students and the research.

A Flipped Classroom Approach to Conveying the Basics of Systems Thinking to Engineering Undergraduates

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan M. Weaver ◽  
Darrell K. Kleinke
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Verification And Validation ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
System Verification ◽  
Engineered Systems ◽  
Design Experience ◽  
Capstone Design

Engineering students spend the majority of their academic careers learning tools to enable tasks related to detailed design. For example, a mechanical engineer may learn to size a heat exchanger so that an engine would not overheat, an electrical engineer may learn to specify gains in a control system to provide desired performance, and a civil engineer may learn to size columns to avoid buckling. While these analytical capabilities are essential to the execution of engineered systems, there are tools and perspectives related to systems and their design that are historically absent in an undergraduate engineering education. Through the Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network (KEEN) and the University of New Haven, the authors have developed a flipped classroom module that provides a basis in systems thinking as related to the conception and execution of complex engineered systems. The module could be useful in several areas of the curriculum, but is primarily intended to develop perspectives and skills necessary to ensure a successful capstone design experience. The module is broken into five lessons: (1) Foundational Concepts, (2) Key Systems Principles, (3) Architecture Development, (4) Multiple Views of a System, and (5) System Verification and Validation. Lesson 1 begins with the importance of the problem statement, and then proceeds to introduce form and function, function mapping, and many key definitions (system, interface, architecture, systems engineering, and complexity). Lesson 2 introduces key systems principles, including systems thinking, systems of systems, and system decomposition. Lesson 3 overviews the systems architecting process and summarizes the four most typical methods used to develop a system architecture. Lesson 4 discusses viewing a system from six different perspectives. Lesson 5 presents the systems engineering V model, requirements cascading, and verification and validation. The module includes several interactive activities and built in knowledge checkpoints. There is also a final challenge wherein the students must apply what they’ve learned about systems thinking and systems engineering to a hypothetical problem. This paper will further describe the module content and format. The paper will also make the case that the content included in the module is essential to an efficient, effective, and rewarding capstone design experience. This is achieved by summarizing common pitfalls that occur in a capstone design project and how good systems thinking can avert them. The pitfalls covered include failure to fully understand all key stakeholders’ most important needs, failure to understand desired system function in a solution-neutral way and failure to follow a robust process to map function to form, poor choice of how to decompose the system into subsystems, errors/inefficiencies in interface definition and management, and poor (if any) planning for design verification and validation.

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