Traffic Signal Operations Education Through Hands-On Experience: Lessons Learned from a Workshop Prototype

2003 ◽  
Vol 1848 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Kyte ◽  
Ahmed Abdel-Rahim ◽  
Melissa Lines
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Education ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Traffic Signal ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Transportation Engineering ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
The University ◽  
University Of Idaho ◽  
Signal Operations

The development, implementation, and assessment of the traffic signal summer workshop (TSSW) are explored. An innovative educational prototype that has been conducted at the University of Idaho during the past two summers, TSSW addresses several critical issues, including the need to educate and train university engineering students in different ways, and the lack of adequately trained engineers and technicians prepared to design and manage today’s traffic signal infrastructure. Those issues are discussed along with the pedagogical basis for hands-on experiences in engineering education. Also discussed is how the university has responded, with the TSSW prototype, to the need to deliver transportation engineering education in a new way.

scholarly journals The Impact of Entrepreneurship on Engineering Education

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majed Jarrar ◽  
Hanan Anis
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Education ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Direct Observation ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Graduate Attributes ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Engineering schools are integrating entrepreneurship within their curriculum in order to equip their students with the capacity to adapt quickly to technological innovation. The University of Ottawa has developed an entrepreneurship course that is open to all engineering students, and aims to provide them with a hands-on approach to starting and growing a technology start-up. This paper is centred on assessing the students who took this course. The results of the survey analyze the impact entrepreneurship has had on their engineering skillset. This skillset reflects the graduate attributes that the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) expects engineering students to develop. We will observe whether this impact has changed since the inception of this course in 2012 and throughout 5 course cycles. Using the survey results as well as the direct observation during those semesters, we present our analysis on how these outcomes can be replicated in other environments.

scholarly journals Hands-on Training and International Experience in Engineering Education

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjeev Bedi ◽  
Ajayinder Singh Jawanda ◽  
Ajay Batish
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Computer Aided Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
International Travel ◽  
Shop Floor ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Hands On ◽  
The University

The holistic training of an engineer includes hands-on experience and theoretical study. Engineering at the University of Waterloo (UW) is unique because of its co-op program, which exposes students to practice of engineering in industry, interwoven with academic terms in the university.This paper details conduct of International Industrial Training Programs for the students of UW. These programs conducted over the past five years have addressed both issues of hands-on training and internationalization of engineering education. These programs provide skills and training on use of tools and machines culminating in a design and build project experience. This paper emphasizes safety and security in planning and implementing the programs in a foreign country. It also discusses issues related to international travel and cultural challenges faced by students and organisers. It summarizes the gains for the engineering students from the program based on immersive international exposure to a foreign culture through personal interactions with locals and planned trips, industrial practices, study of preparatory engineering courses like machining, welding, foundry, wood working, properties of materials and computer aided design leading to student designed and built projects.Five decades ago, when the university was founded, the students came from a demographic, that was split between a majority from rural and small urban centers. The students had some experience with tools and machines at high school and at home, as cars were simpler and home repair was a common activity. This was especially so on farms and in rural environments. This has gradually shifted to the present day when students primarily come from large urban centers and are very competent in working with high-tech gadgetry like computers, communication devices and entertainment consoles. Conversely, nowadays most high school children are not exposed to working safely with tools and machines.Over time co-op jobs have also shifted from hands-on engineering and shop floor work, to softer jobs using computers for design, analysis and managerial tasks. This has increased the challenge of engineering education where the facilities for teaching hands-on skills in the university are deterred by the lack of time in the curriculum, shortage of equipment and trained instructors. The economic environment of our nation has also evolved from a national manufacturing based economy a few decades ago, to a global economy of today. Industries have gone global in their routine functions, requiring engineers to routinely work in collaborative work with functionaries of their industry in other countries, with different culture, language and skill sets. It has thus become vital for engineering education to adapt and introduce the students to aspects of global engineering environment in the curriculum.

scholarly journals Development and delivery of a work experience week programme for mechanical engineering

2020 ◽  
pp. 030641902098104
Author(s):  
A Gonzalez-Buelga ◽  
I Renaud-Assemat ◽  
B Selwyn ◽  
J Ross ◽  
I Lazar
Keyword(s):  
Work Experience ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Impact Analysis ◽  
Legal Term ◽  
Stage 4 ◽  
Engineering Design Problem ◽  
Hands On ◽  
University Of Bristol ◽  
The University

This paper focuses on the development, delivery and preliminary impact analysis of an engineering Work Experience Week (WEW) programme for KS4 students in the School of Civil, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering (CAME) at the University of Bristol, UK. Key stage 4, is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs in England, age 15–16. The programme aims to promote the engineering profession among secondary school pupils. During the WEW, participants worked as engineering researchers: working in teams, they had to tackle a challenging engineering design problem. The experience included hands-on activities and the use of state-of-the-art rapid prototyping and advanced testing equipment. The students were supervised by a group of team leaders, a diverse group of undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students, technical staff, and academics at the School of CAME. The vision of the WEW programme is to transmit the message that everybody can be an engineer, that there are plenty of different routes into engineering that can be taken depending on pupils’ strengths and interests and that there are a vast amount of different engineering careers and challenges to be tackled by the engineers of the future. Feedback from the participants in the scheme has been overwhelmingly positive.

Critical Issues in Requirements Engineering Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 1953-1976
Author(s):  
Rafia Naz Memon ◽  
Rodina Ahmad ◽  
Siti Salwah Salim
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Education ◽  
Requirements Engineering ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Teaching Approaches ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Research Problems ◽  
Software Engineers ◽  
The University ◽  
Difficult Subject

Requirements Engineering (RE) is the most crucial process within software development projects. In order to prepare skilled requirements engineers, Requirements Engineering Education (REE) needs to be provided to students at the university level before they become software engineers and part of the workforce. However, RE is considered the most difficult subject within the software engineering curriculum for students to learn and for lecturers to teach due to its uncertain nature. This chapter examines the current and potential areas for research within REE. It first presents the current status of REE provided in universities and the REE problems reported in the literature that lead us to the potential research problems in REE. The REE teaching approaches proposed by researchers are then elaborated. The proposed approaches are mapped back to address the REE problems. The chapter closes with recommended directions for future REE research.

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.

scholarly journals A LAB TASK GROUP FOR REVIEW AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT OF THIRD AND FOURTH-YEAR LABORATORY COURSES

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Torvi ◽  
Scott Noble ◽  
Doug Bitner ◽  
Melanie Fauchoux ◽  
Rob Peace ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Task Group ◽  
Laboratory Courses ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Remote Labs ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time

Since the mid-1980’s, the mechanical engineering program at the University of Saskatchewan has included three core third and fourth-year lab courses, each of which consists of 9-10 individual labs. In 2015 a task group was set up to review these courses, including deliverables, scheduling and links to material in corecourses. Since this time, the task group has taken on the major responsibility for continuous improvement of the lab program, including reviewing student evaluations, making changes to labs, and recommending equipment purchases.  The task group has also been responsible for a major redesign of the lab program, which will improve delivery and scheduling of labs, alignment with core courses, workload of students, and experience gained by graduate teaching assistants. Smaller apparatus have been designed and built in-house to allow students to gain additional hands-on experience. Labs have been designed to build on one another in order to systematically improve students’ general laboratory skills, including the use of data acquisition systems and experimental design. This new approach was used for the first time in ME 328 in 2019-20.  This paper will focus primarily on the role of the task group in continuous improvement, and the lab program redesign.  The new ME 328 course is described, along with lessons learned from the first offering. The task group’s role in moving to remote labs during COVID-19 is also discussed.

scholarly journals COLLABORATIVE DESIGN PRACTICE INVOLVING PARTNERS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLLABORATIVE ENGINEERING EDUCATION (PACE)

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Mikkelsen ◽  
A. Steeves ◽  
W. L. Cleghorn ◽  
P. Bastani ◽  
R. Pattani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Education ◽  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
General Motors ◽  
Collaborative Engineering ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
University Of British Columbia ◽  
Automobile Components ◽  
The University

This paper describes efforts to develop a collaborative design project involving third year mechanical engineering students from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the University of Toronto (U of T). Selected students enrolled in a core kinematics and dynamics course at U of T were partnered with selected students enrolled in a core machine design course at UBC. These project groups were given the task of designing an automotive product specified by the industrial client, General Motors. The pilot project required students make full use of the advanced design resources provided under the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) program. This pilot project was performed as a simulation of real world automotive design where design offices around the globe participate in concurrent design of new automobile components and systems.

scholarly journals ENGINEERS-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAMS AS A FRAMEWORK FOR INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT IN UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING EDUCATION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcia Friesen ◽  
Nadine Ibrahim ◽  
Grant McSorley ◽  
Stephen Mattucci
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Education ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Residency Programs ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Engineering Theory ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering Education ◽  
Industry Engagement ◽  
The University

Industry engagement in undergraduate engineering education is a community-centred approach to learning that is hands-on and links the engineering theory to practice. This paper provides a review of existing Engineer-in-Residence (EIR) programs in Canada, including the University of Manitoba, Dalhousie University, University of Calgary, Ryerson University, University of Ottawa, and the University of Waterloo, as well as a brief international scan. We consider the motivations behind the institutions’ initiative to introduce EIR programs, different types of engagements, challenges, and opportunities. Programs are also examined externally relative to professional residency programs in business schools, among others, and relative to other forms of industry engagement in undergraduate engineering education. A brief overview of the history and role of EIRs within engineering programs is also presented. The paper will be of interest to those exploring a similar industry engagement framework at their institution, and offers a forward-looking perspective on ways to leverage the skills and experience of practicing engineers in preparing students to tackle the challenges of the future.

A Regional University Perspective on Engineering Education of Multi-Cultural Freshman Students From South Pacific Countries

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishnil R. Ram ◽  
Roneel V. Sharan ◽  
Mohammed Rafiuddin Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Education ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
South Pacific ◽  
Quality Teaching ◽  
First Year ◽  
Skill Sets ◽  
Ethics And Economics ◽  
Regional University ◽  
The University

Of late, there is a growing need for quality engineers who have the ability to solve complex engineering problems with reasonable knowledge of ethics and economics. This has led many universities to pursue accreditation by professional engineering bodies. While the accreditation process installs a standardized system of quality teaching, it is important that the engineering entrants have a degree of understanding that allows implementation of quality teaching methods. This study looks at the performance of first year engineering students in a bid to identify major issues that students face in a Bachelor of Engineering program. The learning of students in the School of Engineering and Physics at the University of the South Pacific is influenced by interactions of at least 12 different cultures from the 12 member countries of the university. The study looks at how students perform across cultures in the first year mechanical engineering courses, mainly engineering mechanics and engineering graphics & design. The general trend over the last five years shows that while the student numbers in the program have been increasing, student performance in one course seems to be improving but declining in the other; the two courses differ considerable in contents, required skill sets, and assessment methodologies. The study also presents possible reasons for the varied performance by considering issues such as cultural and academic backgrounds, use of teaching tools and resources, and revisions to the course and program and looks at how multi-cultural engineering education can be improved. The number of female students taking up engineering as their major is also looked at and positive trends are seen with female participation increasing from 7.6% in 2008 to 13.9% in 2013.

scholarly journals Institutional Hurdles to Student Humanitarian Groups: Lessons Learned from a Failed Project

2014 ◽  
pp. 540-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Suhr ◽  
Timothy Griswold ◽  
Riannon Heighes ◽  
Nathanael Hill ◽  
Rachel Hill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Development Project ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Complex Environment ◽  
Humanitarian Organizations ◽  
Student Chapter ◽  
Primary Institutions ◽  
The University ◽  
University Of Idaho ◽  
Engineers Without Borders

This paper examines the authors’ experience with a small scale, community level development project and the challenges of working with a network of institutions. Small-scale development projects are supported by a network of institutions that are essential to project success but create an inherent level of complication that may be daunting to student-based humanitarian organizations. Through a thorough examination of this institutional system, its complexity, and mechanisms which can lead to a project failure, this paper contributes to the knowledge base available to the development community. First presented is the background and development of a University of Idaho Student Chapter of Engineers Without Borders chapter and their initial project in Bolivia, which ultimately failed. Our discussion will focus primarily on the interactions between the chapter and the primary institutions that we worked with including the University of Idaho, Engineers Without Borders USA, and Engineers in Action Bolivia. This is followed by an analysis of these interactions, the hurdles that arose within each institution, and recommendations for addressing such challenges. By examining these institutional hurdles, our goal is to provide other organizations with information useful to navigate the complex environment of community development work.

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