The Implementation and Evaluation of a University-Based Outreach Laboratory Program in Electrical Engineering

In the current climate of shortages of high-quality engineering graduates, exacerbated by reduced high school enrollments in physics and mathematics, engineering faculties are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of K-12 outreach programs. Such programs can result in students being better prepared for and better informed about engineering careers, with a consequent increase in the number of engineering undergraduates. Almost all outreach programs described in the literature are school-based; by contrast, this paper describes a university-based program. The program was born out of a desire for a university department and a neighboring high school to forge closer links and a need for the high school to provide its students with certain laboratory experiences that would best be realized with the use of specialist equipment. The outreach program provides both formal laboratory experiences and informal presentations by graduate students of their research interests. Follow-up surveys showed that the high school students found the experiences both instructive and motivating, and their knowledge of and interest in electrical engineering increased significantly as a result. All final-year physics students from the high school took part in the 2007 outreach program, and 42% of these students subsequently enrolled in the Bachelor of Engineering degree at the university in 2008.      

Implementation of a Computer Engineering Program: Some Fundamental Questions and a Curriculum

Eady in 1977, the first report by the Model Curriculum Subcommittee of the IEEE Computer Society was published [1]. This report, which presented in considerable detailarecommended curriculum in computer science and engineering, came at a fortunate time for a committee in the Department of Electical and Computer Engineering (E& CE) at aemson Univemity. Although the Department of E&CE had been so named since the eady 1970's, this committee was in the process of prepaing the proposal for a computer engineerng degree to accompany the long-existing elctnical engineerng degree. This committee, along with the entire E& CE faculty, the faculty of an emerging Department of Computer Science, and the university administration, was to face, within the next two years, many problems associated with computer education. As evidence that solutions to most of the problems were found, final permission to offer the computer engineering degree, along with the computer science degree, was granted in early 1980. The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the citical questions that arose during this period, and to discuss the partial answers as determined at Clemson, in the hope that such information can be helphul to otha departments and universities encountering similar situations.     

The Development of a Power System Engineering Education Program

Because he was the recipient of the Edison Electric Institute's Power Engineering Educator award, the author was invited to contribute a paper to this issue of IEEE Transactions on Education. This paper describes the philosophy which supported the creation and development of the power systems engineering program at The University of Texas at Arlington. It discusses a sixteen-year effort of building a balanced, three-phase (undergraduate, graduate and continuing education) power program. The experiences, both encouraging and frustrating, in working colleagues, industry and government are described.     

Development of Magnetic Levitation System for Science and Technology Education: Magnetic Levitation Control by Using a Hall Element Displacement Sensor with Neural Network

In this study, we developed a magnetic levitation system using a Hall element displacement sensor with neural network for science and technology education. The sensor configured with three Hall elements was devised in order to measure displacement from an electromagnet to a levitated object with a permanent magnet. Use of the Hall element displacement sensor achieves a lower cost magnetic levitation system. Furthermore, three‐layered feedforward neural network was utilized in order to improve the precision of the Hall element displacement sensor. Finally, operation verification of the developed magnetic levitation system was conducted by designing state feedback regulator with observer.     

Engaging High School and Engineering Students: A Multifaceted Outreach Program Based on a Mechatronics Platform

If we aim to enhance the interest of students in engineering and therefore produce the best engineers, it is essential to strengthen the pipeline to high school education. This paper discusses several outreach activities undertaken by the Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa (UO), Ottawa, ON, Canada, to help the transition between high school and engineering education and to make students aware of the engineering profession. At the heart of these activities is mechatronics education, which demands an interdisciplinary approach, connects to fundamental math and science concepts, and promotes collaborative project-based learning (PBL). Connected to this focus, a multifaceted program of outreach activities has been initiated. The program includes creation of design-simulate-and-build projects by engineering and high school students, as well as an interactive presentation program whereby engineering students connect with high school students through the sharing of projects that they create in their engineering courses. The survey results indicate that for the high school students, these programs promote students' awareness of engineering and how the mathematics and science they take in school connects to engineering concepts. For the engineering students, they are provided with a meaningful context within which to share their projects and explain their own understanding of engineering principles.      

An Assessment of the ECTS in Software Engineering: A Teaching Experience

Spain is currently implementing the regulatory modifications promulgated by the Declaration of Bologna, which should result in the updating of the structure of university degrees, and the inclusion of the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) methodology. In some Spanish universities, the experimental adoption of this methodology has been encouraged, with the aim of gaining experience which could be extrapolated to other qualifications and subjects when this system becomes compulsory, which is expected to be in 2008. This paper examines the teaching methodologies that follow the experimental introduction of the ECTS in the Technical Software Engineering degree course taught at the Higher Technical College of the University of Cordoba, Spain. Based on data gathered in three specific subjects during the first and third years, this paper defines the teaching strategies implemented in order to increase the active role of students during their learning. The utility of e-learning tools in this type of teaching is discussed and the academic results are compared with results obtained in previous years using more traditional teaching methodologies.      

某110kV变电站CFG桩断桩处理的实践

CFG桩由于不配置钢筋,属于脆性桩,抗弯性能很差,在开挖与截桩时,如采取的方法不正确,往往造成断桩的工程事故,影响地基的承载与均匀性.结合吕梁某110 kV变电站CFG桩的检测与断桩处理的工程实践,介绍水泥粉煤灰碎石桩(CFG)断桩处理的工程实践,提出了用补桩与加筋垫层法相结合处理CFG桩断桩的措施与方法,为类似工程事...     

A Laboratory Environment for the Introduction of Microprocessor Systems into the Electrical Engineering Curriculum: Methodology and Experiences

Major advances in the state of the art of integrated circuit fabrication have created a revolution in computer system technology. Due to the permeation of microcomputer systems into other fields of Engineering and Science, the use of the microcomputer as a laboratory instrument can be integrated into courses other than the core digital systems courses. The development of a laboratory with high level program development tools on a dedicated timesharing system, coupled with facilities to load these programs into a variety of stand-alone microcomputers to support laboratory courses is described. The approach is inherently independent of the evolution in the microcomputer industry and can be used by "non-digital" students. The design, implementation, and use of the laboratory is described.     

Joint Development of Continuing Engineering Studies Programs: An Example of Industry Education Dialogue Using Ad Hoc Advisory Committees

This paper describes the successful use of Ad Hoc Advisory Committees drawn from universities and industry to jointly design and market continuing engineering studies (non-credit) programs. The joint Ad Hoc Committee technique has been successfully used in five different metropolitan areas to focus university offerings on the needs of its clientele. This has benefited the individual engineer, the companies and the universities involved. An example of a successful on-going continuing engineering studies program using this technique is described. Procedures, experience and "lessons learned" with use of the technique are discussed.     

Development of a Web-Based Control Laboratory for Automation Technicians: The Three-Tank System

This paper introduces a Web-based control laboratory for experimentation on a nonlinear multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) system: the three-tank plant. Using this application, automation technician students can learn in a practical way many fundamental aspects of control processes. The client-side of the virtual laboratory has been developed using the programming support provided by Easy Java Simulations (EJS), an open-source tool for teachers with limited programming skills who want to create Java applications and applets. The lab has been integrated in the collaborative Web-based experimentation environment eMersion which provides more flexibility for the students performing the laboratory experiments.     

Learning Respiratory System Function in BME Studies by Means of a Virtual Laboratory: RespiLab

One of the career areas included in the field of Biomedical Engineering (BME) is the application of engineering system analysis: physiologic modeling, simulation, and control. This paper describes a virtual laboratory and related practical sessions designed for the analysis and the study of the human respiratory system. The laboratory is based on the compilation of several models described in the literature. Presented application has been built using MATLAB/Simulink and Easy Java Simulations (EJS), combining good computation capabilities that are completely interactive. The virtual laboratory is designed in order to understand the operation of the respiratory system under normal conditions and pathological situations, and to predict respiratory variables at different levels of ventilator stimuli and conditions. The presented virtual laboratory has been used and evaluated by students of the Master of Science degree on BME. Experience has shown that this virtual laboratory is a very useful tool for learning the complex response of the human respiratory system.     

Faculty Opinions on Mathematics in the Undergraduate Engineering Curriculum: Results of a Survey

A questionnaire was distributed to a selected sample of the engineering faculties of ten midwestern state universities in order to determine faculty opinions with regard to mathematics in the undergraduate engineering curriculum. Results are given for both the overall response and for the response from electrical engineering faculty only.     

Best Practices Involving Teamwork in the Classroom: Results From a Survey of 6435 Engineering Student Respondents

A teamwork survey was conducted at Oakland University, Rochester, MI, in 533 engineering and computer science courses over a two-year period. Of the 6435 student respondents, 4349 (68%) reported working in teams. Relative to the students who only worked individually, the students who worked in teams were significantly more likely to agree that the course had achieved its stated learning objectives (p < 0.001). Regression analysis showed that roughly one-quarter of the variance in belief about whether the objectives were met could be explained by four factors: 1) student satisfaction with the team experience; 2) the presence of instructor guidance related to teamwork; 3) the presence of slackers on teams; and 4) team size. Pearson product-moment correlations revealed statistically significant associations between agreement that the course objectives had been fulfilled and the use of student teams and between satisfaction with teams and the occurrences of instructor guidance on teamwork skills. These and other results suggest that assigning work to student teams can lead to learning benefits and student satisfaction, provided that the instructor pays attention to how the teams and the assignments are set up.     

A Systems Engineering Approach for Identifying the Most Critical Links of a Highway System: A Framework Consisting of a Methodology and Mathematical Model

A systems engineering approach is used to propose and develop a methodology and mathematical model for identifying the most critical links of a highway system. There are two main benefits for using the methodology and mathematical model. The first is that it provides analysts a platform for developing efficient models pertinent to highway link criticality. The second is that it helps city officials and decision makers with the analysis and planning process involving the highway system's most critical links. The analysis and planning process includes everything from emergency contingency plans to risk analysis and mitigation.     

RFID Student Educational Experiences at the UNT College of Engineering: A Sequential Approach to Creating a Project-Based RFID Course

This paper describes radio frequency identification (RFID) projects, designed and implemented by students in the College of Engineering at the University of North Texas, as part of their senior-design project requirement. The paper also describes an RFID-based project implemented at Rice Middle School in Plano, TX, which went on to win multiple prizes both at the school and regional level. The goal of the RFID endeavor is to develop an RFID elective course that is current, industry-oriented, and methodically built to enable faculty to design, develop, and deliver the course to a diverse group of engineering students. The sequence of events through which the course evolved was as follows: conduct an industry-supported workshop for students in the College of Engineering with funding received from the National Science Foundation (NSF);      

系统安全背景下未来智能电网建设关键技术发展方向——印度大停电事故深层次原因分析及对中国电力工业的启示

从外部环境以及内部生产运行中的管理层面和技术层面对本次印度大停电事故的原因进行了深入分析,从管理层面和技术层面分别提出了促进中国电力系统安全稳定运行的基本思路。同时,考虑到电网智能化是未来电网发展的趋势,具有坚强、自愈等特点的智能电网能够有效抵御电网安全风险,提出了基于系统安全的中国未来智能电网建设关键技术发展方向,包括分布式发电并网技术、智能配电技术、智能用电技术和电力系统储能技术,能够为中国下步智能电网发展及电力系统安全稳定运行提供借鉴和参考。