scholarly journals Humanitarian Aspirations of Engineering Students: Differences between Disciplines and Institutions

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela R. Bielefeldt ◽  
Nathan E. Canney
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Helping Others ◽  
The World ◽  
Environmental Materials ◽  
Institutional Differences ◽  
Humanitarian Engineering ◽  
Motivating Factor ◽  
Attraction And Retention

This study explored the aspirations of undergraduate engineering students in regard to helping others, examining potential differences between disciplines and institutions. Over 1900 undergraduate students from 17 U.S. universities responded to a survey in spring 2014. In open-ended responses, 15.5% of the students included some form of helping people and/or the world as one of the factors that motivated them to select their engineering major; for 6.7% of the students this was the primary or only motivating factor listed. Helping as a motivation was not equally prevalent among different engineering disciplines, being much more common among students majoring in biomedical, environmental, materials, and civil and less common in computer and aerospace. Different disciplines also varied in the priority for helping people relative to other future job factors - highest in chemical/biological, moderate in civil and related majors, and lowest among electrical/computer and mechanical. Institutional differences were found in the extent to which students indicated an importance that their career would help people and the extent to which an ability to help others was a central message in their major. The results indicate the percentages of engineering students who are most likely to embrace humanitarian engineering; fostering these aspirations in students could help with attraction and retention.

Effective NEMS Education and Training in an Undergraduate Course

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nael Barakat ◽  
Heidi Jiao
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Engineering Level ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Manufacturing Techniques ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
Micro Systems

Increasing demand on workforce for nanotechnology implementation has resulted in an exponential increase of demand on educational material and methods to qualify this workforce. However, nanotechnology is a field that integrates many areas of science and engineering requiring a significant amount of background knowledge in both theory and application to build upon. This challenge is significantly magnified when trying to teach nanotechnology concepts and applications at the undergraduate engineering level. A considerable amount of time is needed for an undergraduate engineering student to be able to design and build a useful device applying nanotechnology concepts, within one course time. This paper presents an actual experience in teaching hands-on applications in nanotechnology to undergraduate engineering students through an optimized model, within a normal course time. The model significantly reduces the time needed by undergraduate students to learn the necessary manufacturing techniques and apply them to produce useful products at the micro and nano levels, by ensuring that infrastructure and legwork related to the educational process are partially completed and verified, before the course starts. The model also provides improved outcomes as all its pre-course work is also tested with students working under different arrangements of professors’ supervision. The result is an optimized infrastructure setup for micro and nanotechnology design and manufacturing education, built with students in mind, to be completed within the frame of one semester course. The model was implemented at GVSU-SOE as the core hands-on part of a senior undergraduate course titled (EGR 457 nano/micro systems engineering). Students in the course were able to go through the design and build steps of different MEMS and NEMS products, while learning and utilizing cleanroom equipment and procedures. This was based on infrastructural arrangements by students preceding this class by a semester and working closely with the professors. Assessment was conducted on both sides of the model and results were collected for evaluation and improvement of the model.

Problem Solving Techniques Taught Through Validation of an Instantaneous Rigid Force Model

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B. Mindek ◽  
Joseph M. Guerrera
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Cutting Forces ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Force Model ◽  
Limited Time ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Laboratory Courses ◽  
Milling Operations ◽  
Cutting Model

Educating engineering students in the appropriate methods for analyzing and problem solving fundamental manufacturing processes is a challenge in undergraduate engineering education, given the increasingly limited room in the curriculum as well as the limited time and resources. Although junior and senior level laboratory courses have traditionally been used as a pedagogical platform for conveying this type of knowledge to undergraduate students, the broad range of manufacturing topics that can be covered along with the limited time within a laboratory course structure has sometimes limited the effectiveness of this approach. At the same time, some undergraduate students require a much deeper knowledge of certain manufacturing topics, practices or research techniques, especially those who may already be working in a manufacturing environment as part of a summer internship or part-time employment. The current work shows how modeling, actual machining tests and problem solving techniques were recently used to analyze a manufacturing process within a senior design project course. Specifically, an Instantaneous Rigid Force Model, originally put forward by Tlusty (1,2) was validated and used to assess cutting forces and the ability to detect tool defects during milling operations. Results from the tests showed that the model accurately predicts cutting forces during milling, but have some variation due to cutter vibration and deflection, which were not considered in the model. It was also confirmed that a defect as small as 0.050 inches by 0.025 inches was consistently detectable at multiple test conditions for a 0.5-inch diameter, 4-flute helical end mill. Based on the results, it is suggested that a force cutting model that includes the effect of cutter vibration be used in future work. The results presented demonstrate a level of knowledge in milling operations analysis beyond what can typically be taught in most undergraduate engineering laboratory courses.

Introducing “Advanced” Tuned Vibration Absorbers in an Undergraduate Vibrations Course

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeong-Hoi Koo ◽  
Fernando Goncalves ◽  
Hong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Smart Materials ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Vibration Absorbers ◽  
Active Materials ◽  
New Class ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Tuned Vibration Absorbers ◽  
Real World Problems

The primary objective of this paper is to bridge the theory of tuned vibration absorbers (TVA) with the practice of implementing TVAs in systems. Often, the practice of implementing TVAs in systems is a far departure from the theory expressed in many textbooks. These departures are often required in practice to account for the less than ideal conditions that the TVAs will be operating under. Many retrofitted TVAs use “smart” or active materials along with various control techniques to improve the performance of the traditional TVA proposed in textbooks. The intent of the current paper is to demonstrate several of these modern methods of implementing retrofitted TVAs to undergraduate students. The first author introduced the methods in a junior level vibrations course, and is developing a laboratory experiment. Teaching these advanced TVAs to undergraduate engineering students will help them understand how theories learned in class are used in real world problems, and motivate them to explore new fields of research. After introducing a “textbook” vibration absorber theory, this paper describes principles and operations of a new class of vibration absorbers. In reviewing conventional TVAs, students are introduced to many of the engineering challenges encountered in the implementation of TVAs. One such challenge is inevitable off-tuning caused by system parameter changes with time. After identifying many of the challenges associated with the implementation of TVAs, the students are introduced to many modern solutions to these problems. Many of these solutions involve the use of smart materials, such as piezoceramics, magnetorheological fluids, magnetorheological elastomers, shape memory alloys, etc. Through this experience, students are introduced to many smart materials and have the opportunity to see how these smart materials can provide solutions to many engineering challenges and improve existing technologies.

A High-Flux Solar Furnace for Undergraduate Engineering Education and High-Temperature Thermochemistry Research

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Scott Duncan ◽  
Shahin Nudehi ◽  
Robert Palumbo ◽  
Luke J. Venstrom
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Optical Design ◽  
Solar Furnace ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Chemistry Research ◽  
Energy Science ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering Education ◽  
Motivating Factor ◽  
Engineering Pedagogy

The optical design and engineering features of a 10 kW solar furnace now operational at Valparaiso University are described. The solar furnace is anticipated to achieve a mean concentration ratio of 3000 suns over a 6 cm diameter focus. It will support high-temperature solar chemistry research and undergraduate engineering pedagogy. Many of the components of the solar furnace were designed and constructed by undergraduate engineering students. Some of these students cite their participation in the solar furnace project as the motivating factor for continuing to work in the area of energy science in industry or graduate school.

scholarly journals Engineering Students and Professionals Report Different Levels of Information Literacy Needs and Challenges

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 238-241
Author(s):  
Kimberly MacKenzie
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Online Forums ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering

A Review of: Phillips, M., Fosmire, M., Turner, L., Petersheim, K., & Lu, J. (2019). Comparing the information needs and experiences of undergraduate students and practicing engineers. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 45(1), 39-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2018.12.004 Abstract Objective – To compare the levels of information literacy, needs, and challenges of undergraduate engineering students with those of practising engineers. Design – Electronic survey. Setting – Large land grant university in the Midwestern United States and multiple locations of a global construction machinery manufacturing company (locations in Asia Pacific, Europe, North America). Subjects – Engineering undergraduates and full-time engineers. Methods – Two voluntary online surveys distributed to (a) students in two undergraduate engineering technology classes and one mechanical engineering class; and (b) to engineers in an online newsletter. None of the questions on the survey were mandatory. Because the call for practising engineers generated a low response rate, direct invitations were sent in batches of 100 to randomly selected engineers from a list provided by the human resources department of the company participating in the study. The surveys were similar but not identical and included multiple choice, Likert scale, and short answer questions. Data analysis included two-sided unpaired sample t-tests (quantitative data) and deductive and inductive content analysis (qualitative data). Main Results – There were 63 students and 134 professional engineers among the respondents. Survey response rates were relatively low (24.3% for students; approximately 4.5% for employees). Students rated themselves higher overall and significantly higher than did engineers on the questions “know where to look for information” (students M = 5.3; engineers M = 4.2) and “identifying the most needed information” (students M = 5.5; engineers M = 4.8) (mean values reported on a 7-point scale). Neither group rated themselves highly on “reflecting on how to improve their performance next time” or “having a highly effective structure for organizing information,” though engineers in North America rated themselves significantly higher than those in Asia Pacific on organizing information, knowing where to look for information, and using information to make decisions. Both students and engineers reported often using Google to find information. The library was mentioned by one-half of engineers and one-third of students. Engineers reported consulting with peers for information and making more use of propriety information from within their companies, while students reported using YouTube videos and online forums, as well as news and social media. More than half of students (57%) reported having enough access to information resources, while 67% of engineers felt that they lacked sufficient access. The most common frustration for both groups was locating the information (45% of student responses; 71% of engineer responses). Students reported more frustration with evaluating information (17%) compared to engineers (9%). Conclusion – Engineering students and professional engineers report differences in their levels of confidence in finding information and differences in the complexity of the information landscape. Engineering librarians at the university level can incorporate this knowledge into information literacy courses to help prepare undergraduates for industry. Corporate librarians can use this information to improve methods to support the needs of engineers at all levels of employment.

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.

scholarly journals Developing Engineering Identity in an Introductory Engineering Course: A Multi-Case Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 153-177
Author(s):  
Christine Allison Gray ◽  
Ron E. Gray ◽  
Martha M. Canipe ◽  
Shadow W. J. Armfield ◽  
Robin Tuchscherer
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Self Recognition ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Introductory Engineering Course ◽  
Engineering Identity

Research in engineering education has identified several factors relevant to the development of students’ identity as engineers. Here we examine the engineering identity of undergraduate engineering students after an introductory engineering course. The specific research question explored here is: "How do engineering students in an introductory engineering course interpret competence, performance, and recognition in relation to their identities as engineers?” We used a modified engineering identity framework to explore the development of engineering identity within the undergraduate engineering context through a multiple case study approach. Six students majoring in engineering participated in the study. The students had divergent perspectives on what it meant to be competent as an engineer. In all cases, students connected both competence and performance as an engineer with persistence. At this introductory stage, self-recognition as an engineering person took center stage for each student. All were able to identify themselves strongly as an engineering person. The findings add to the current understandings about the development of engineering identity, and suggest that engineering identity may be critically important in conversations about the steps faculty may take in working with students to promote increased retention of undergraduate students in engineering.

scholarly journals The Experiences of Women in Undergraduate Engineering

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Mazur ◽  
Bronwyn Chorlton ◽  
John Gales
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Significant Finding ◽  
Survey Question ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Experiences Of Women

While it is understood that there is an issue in retention of women in STEM fields, there is little research addressing why this is occurring. This warrants the need to begin identifying the root of this issue, and the direct causes. Undergraduate engineering programs are the first phase students undertake in their pursuit of a career as a professional engineer, and even in this early phase an issue in retention is apparent. The present study addresses factors that may be preventing female students from remaining in the field. In this study, 261 undergraduate students enrolled in engineering programs at an accredited university in Ontario completed a 17-question survey that collected demographic data and asked questions related to challenges students may experience during their education. The survey questions were formulated to understand the severity to which each challenge affects males and females in different ways. Demographic factors were correlated with students’ answers, and significant differences between men’s and women’s answers were found. 65% of female students reported more discouragement or intimidation by peers and professors in their program, compared to 45% of male students. These findings may indicate that female students may be more susceptible to a culture of intimidation than male students. Another significant finding lies within a survey question formulated to understand if female and male engineers have their contributions represented equally. This question showed that male students recognized the names of male engineers 1.75 times more often than they recognized the names of female engineers. The results of this question show that, to some capacity, male engineering students do not recognize female engineers’ contributions as frequently as male engineers’ contributions. Moving forward, there is a need to support female students in engineering as well as to educate students on respect and equity.

scholarly journals Building a Pathway to Engineering: The Influence of Family and Teachers Among Mexican-Origin Undergraduate Engineering Students

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Mein ◽  
Alberto Esquinca ◽  
Angelica Monarrez ◽  
Claudia Saldaña
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Teacher Support ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Mexican Origin ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Sociocultural Perspectives ◽  
The Family

This study draws on sociocultural perspectives of identity to understand the ways in which Mexican-origin undergraduate students are recruited into the “figured world” of engineering. The analysis of in-depth, ethnographically situated interviews with 14 participants revealed three sets of recurrent discourses in students’ accounts of their pathways to engineering: discourses about the family and the “choice” to study engineering, discourses about childhood activities tied to engineering aspirations, and discourses about teacher support to become an engineer.

scholarly journals Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of the Mental Models Deployed by Undergraduate Students in Explaining Thermally Activated Phenomena

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Fazio ◽  
Onofrio Rosario Battaglia ◽  
Rosa Maria Sperandeo-Mineo
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Mental Models ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Physics Education ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Student Responses ◽  
Thermally Activated ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering

In this contribution we describe a research aimed at pointing out the quality of mental models undergraduate engineering students deploy when asked to create explanations for phenomena/processes and/or use a given model in the same context. Student responses to a specially designed written questionnaire are initially analyzed using researcher-generated categories of reasoning, based on the Physics Education Research literature on student understanding of the relevant physics content. The inferred students’ mental models about the analyzed phenomena are categorized as practical, descriptive, or explanatory, based on an analysis of student responses to the questionnaire. A qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with students after the questionnaire administration is also used to deepen some aspects which emerged from the quantitative analysis and validate the results obtained.

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