Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineering technology, and related educational programs are not addressing in a sufficient way the principles associated with applying analytical investigations in solving actual engineering problems. Because of this, graduates do not have the adequate skills required to use the methods of applied dynamics in…

This work describes the educational experiences gained teaching the Senior Design I & II courses, a senior level, two-semester sequence in the Electrical Engineering (EE) program at Georgia Southern University (GSU). In particular, the authors present their experiences in using robotics as the main area to develop the capstone senior design,…

Capstone engineering design courses have been a feature at research universities and four-year schools for many years. Although such classes are less common at two-year colleges, the experience is equally beneficial for this population of students. With this in mind, Madison College introduced a project-based Engineering Design course in 2007.…

Final program projects (capstone course) in manufacturing design engineering technology at National University are intensive experiences in critical thinking and analysis, designed to broaden students' perspectives and provide an opportunity for integration of coursework in the area of manufacturing design engineering. This paper focuses on three…

Coursework that instills patterns of rigorous logical thought has long been a hallmark of the engineering curriculum. However, today's engineering students are expected to exhibit a wider range of thinking capabilities both to satisfy ABET requirements and to prepare the students to become successful practitioners. This paper presents the initial…

Integrated circuit (IC) fabrication principles is an elective course in a senior undergraduate and early graduate student's curriculum. Over the years, the semiconductor industry relies heavily on students with developed expertise in the area of fabrication techniques, learned in an IC fabrication theory and laboratory course. The theory course…

Renewable energy is the most rapidly growing discipline in today's business world and is commonly viewed as the main arena for research and development in various fields. This article summarizes the work and efforts of an educational project conducted at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU). A major goal of the project was to design renewable…

Recent engineering industry-based research has identified a number of skill deficiencies in graduating engineers. Emphasis on communication and teamwork informed by attributes of self management, problem solving and mutual accountability have been recognized as important needs by The Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET of the United…

Engineering programs suffer a high attrition rate, which causes the nation to graduate much less engineers. A survey of the literature reveals that the high attrition rate is due mainly to the fact that the first year of an engineering program is all fundamental theory and students don't see the connection to their future engineering careers. To…

Over the last few years, WTAMU Mathematics, Engineering and Science faculty has used interdisciplinary projects as the basis for implementation of a linked-class approach to Problem-Based Learning (PBL). A project that has significant relevance to engineering statics, fluid mechanics, and calculus is the Hydrostatic Pressure Project. This project…

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a problem-centered teaching method with exciting potential in engineering education for motivating and enhancing student learning. Implementation of PBL in engineering education has the potential to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Two common problems are encountered when attempting to integrate PBL into…