Unifying an Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Course through Machine Learning Laboratory Experiences

This paper presents work on a collaborative project funded by the National Science Foundation that incorporates machine learning as a unifying theme to teach fundamental concepts typically covered in the introductory Artificial Intelligence courses. The project involves the development of an adaptable framework for the presentation of core AI topics. This is accomplished through the development, implementation, and testing of a suite of adaptable, hands-on laboratory projects that can be closely integrated into the AI course. Through the design and implementation of learning systems that enhance commonly-deployed applications, our model acknowledges that intelligent systems are best taught through their application to challenging problems. The goals of the project are to (1) enhance the student learning experience in the AI course, (2) increase student interest and motivation to learn AI by providing a framework for the presentation of the major AI topics that emphasizes the strong connection between AI and computer science and engineering, and (3) highlight the bridge that machine learning provides between AI technology and modern software engineering

Implementing Mechatronics Design Methodology in Mechanical Engineering Technology Senior Design Projects at the Old Dominion University

In recent years, the nature of engineering design has changed due to advances in embedded system design and computer technologies. It is rare to engineer a purely mechanical design that does not incorporate electrical and electronic components. Mechanical engineers and mechanical engineering technologists must possess a multi-disciplinary knowledge with the understanding of both mechanical and electrical systems. For this purpose, undergraduate programs in engineering technology have added mechatronics courses to their curriculum. Mechatronics is a design process that is multi-disciplinary in nature and integrates principles of many engineering disciplines including, but not limited to, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and controls engineering. These courses typically incorporate problem-based learning and project-based pedagogy to effectively build the student’s knowledge and understanding. Old Dominion University’s Mechanical Engineering Technology (ODU MET) program offers undergraduate courses related to Advanced Manufacturing including Robotics; Automation; Lean Manufacturing; Computer Integrated Manufacturing; and Advanced Manufacturing Processes. Recently, two new courses related to mechatronics were added to the same focus area. In addition, ODU MET program has placed an increased emphasis on mechatronics for students’ senior design projects. This paper highlights the benefits of including mechatronics in the ODU MET curriculum and presents several recent senior design projects that showcase how the student has incorporated multi-disciplinary principles into the design and build of a functional mechatronic device. By embedding these experience into their senior design project, students are exposed to other engineering technology areas, learn the terminology of other professions, and feel more confident to join the workforce with the cross-disciplinary skills needed to be successful

Incorporating systems thinking and sustainability within civil and environmental engineering curricula at UVM

As part of an NSF Department Level Reform (DLR) grant, the civil and environmental engineering programs at the University of Vermont (UVM) incorporated systems thinking and a systems approach to engineering problem solving within their programs. A systems thinking approach regards social, environmental and economic factors as necessary components of the problem solution. Because it is a whole systems approach it also encompasses sustainability. We have integrated systems thinking in the following ways; 1) new material has been included into key courses (e.g. the first-year introductory and senior design courses), 2) a sequence of three related environmental and transportation systems courses have been included within the curricula (i.e., Introduction to Systems, Decision Making, and Modeling), and 3) service-learning (S-L) projects have been integrated into key required courses as a way of practicing a systems approach. This culminates in the senior design course in which many of the projects specifically focus on sustainability. A variety of assessment methods have been implemented as part of our reform including student surveys, focus groups, faculty interviews, and assessment of student work. We specifically designed a survey tool that addressed sustainability understanding (both open ended and Likert scale). The survey was given to first-year first semester (FYFS) civil and environmental engineering students, FYFS environmental science students, and senior civil and environmental engineering students. Approximately 50% of the incoming civil and environmental engineering students could not define or give reasonable examples of what sustainability means, while their counterparts in environmental science showed that almost 100% could provide a good definition and provide reasonable examples of sustainability. However, by the end of the introductory course in engineering, the majority of the engineering students had a good working definition of sustainability and examples. Female students in both groups showed a statistically significantly higher interest in learning about sustainability than their male counterparts. © 2011 American Society for Engineering Education

E-learning systems for teaching industrial automatism

The examples of e-learning systems have been successfully tested in a number of international engineering college and innovative industry and make it possible to improve  performance of production by raising the professional level of the students and staff. E-learning can directly tie education to the formation of tutorial for teaching industrial automatism, the purpose of this study is to discuss strategies for developing integrated e-learning courseware based on instructional design and technology models. The essential of this methodological approach is to specify the composition of the various teaching modules in industrial automatism to be accessible to the students with a system modeling method and to develop a digital support that can be exploited in distance learning. E-learning systems aims at a two-way knowledge, communication between academia and industry. E-learning systems provides a real-life environment for engineers to develop their skills and comprehend the challenges involved in everyday industrial practice. This paper describes the challenges for using automates in the industry, It presents the fully application of system analysis for the design of a tutorial for teaching industrial automatism

Partnering with industry: Practical considerations from two programmes (practice paper)

Reflecting on both research and anecdotal evidence from two different engineering education programmes, we have developed practical implications for engaging with industry to support learning. While through our collective experience we have determined many positive reasons to consider partnering with industry, we also present areas of caution to consider when engaging with external partners for a learning experience. The two initiatives discussed in this paper are a school outreach programme that partners a university, industry, and school systems in the United States (Programme A) and a capstone integrated civil engineering design project that partners a university and nearby engineering firms in the United Kingdom. Despite the disparate nature of these programmes, we found points of comparison in consideration of the industry partnership aspect that they share

Electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) using FPGA

FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) are finding wide acceptance in medical systems for their ability for rapid prototyping of a concept that requires hardware/software co-design, for performing custom processing in parallel at high data rates and be programmed in the field after manufacturing. Based on the market demand, the FPGA design can be changed and no new hardware needs to be purchased as was the case with ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) and CPLDs (Complex Programmable Logic Device). Medical companies can now move over to FPGAs saving cost and delivering highly-efficient upgradable systems. ECG (Electrocardiogram) is considered to be a must have feature for a medical diagnostic imaging system. This project attempts at implementing ECG heart-rate computation in an FPGA. This project gave me exposure to hardware engineering, learning about the low level chips like Atmel UC3A3256 micro-controller on an Atmel EVK1105 board which is used as a simulator for generating the ECG signal, the operational amplifiers for amplifying and level-shifting the ECG signal, the A/D converter chip for analog to digital conversion of the ECG signal, the internal workings of FPGA, how different hardware components communicate with each other on the system and finally some signal processing to calculate the heart rate value from the ECG signal

Regeneration Through Hidden Historical Landscape of Lecco. Urban Course Design Process

The article focus on the role of Historical Urban Heritage in Urban Design through the presentation of the integrated learning  path developed for Urban Design and Urban Design Studio classes of Lecco Campus of Politecnico of Milan (school of Architecture Urban Planning Construction Engineering, master degree in Building and Architectural Engineering - BAE and Architectural-Engineering– EDA). The first part of paper presents the general learning process characterizing Urban Design course and the methodological process for the Urban Master Plan development in the studio modules. The second part presents the LeccoLAB didactical path developed in the Lecco Campus focusing on the urban design issues and presenting selected results and design proposals developed by students focusing on the Lecco Historical Urban Heritage issues. During the Academic Year 2016/2017 students’ work teams (27) applied the concepts, methods and techniques presented in Urban Design course to the Lecco waterfront urban systems developing proposal for Urban Master Plan aiming the regeneration of urban complex systems through principles of Nature Based Solutions and  Urban Resilience

GIS and Introductory Environmental Engineering: A Way to Fold GIS into an Already-Existing Course

The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) was implemented in the upper-division undergraduate technical elective Introduction to Environmental Engineering at Harvey Mudd College. Students integrated technical engineering skills, newly-learned geographical information system (GIS) skills, and the engineering design process, all in the context of the design of a debris flow barrier for a wilderness land parcel acquired by a local conservancy group. Junior and senior general engineering students, the majority of whom had no experience with GIS, were taught ArcGIS (a GIS mapping program) in the context of an Introductory Environmental Engineering course. Students learned how to map locations, find and download geo-encoded data, and join data layers, in order to graphically present toxic release hazards near their home towns. ArcGIS skills and knowledge were assessed through completion of homework problems, and through the students’ use of GIS data, software, and mapping during the design of a debris flow barrier for a local wilderness land parcel. Assignment #1 consisted of students learning how to map and characterize toxic releases near their hometowns; these data were downloaded into a spreadsheet for later use in the ArcGIS software package. In Assignment #2, the students used ArcGIS to analyze these data for the potential of water, soil, and atmospheric transport. In addition to the homework assignments, the student team completed a team-based design project involving the characterization of the wilderness site; acquiring relevant GIS data; and studying the physics of debris flow. The team produced alternative designs for the barrier and chose the best design by applying design metrics. The alternative designs and rationale for the chosen design were presented to the board of directors of the local conservancy group. Pre- and post-assessment data were gathered to analyze the success of the learning objectives. The design project in particular was useful in evaluating the students’ skill, knowledge and ease in using the GIS tools for analysis of the wilderness land parcel

From STEM to STEAM: Toward a Human-Centered Education

The 20th century was based on local linear engineering of complicated systems. We made cars, airplanes and chemical plants for example. The 21st century has opened a new basis for holistic non-linear design of complex systems, such as the Internet, air traffic management and nanotechnologies. Complexity, interconnectivity, interaction and communication are major attributes of our evolving society. But, more interestingly, we have started to understand that chaos theories may be more important than reductionism, to better understand and thrive on our planet. Systems need to be investigated and tested as wholes, which requires a cross-disciplinary approach and new conceptual principles and tools. Consequently, schools cannot continue to teach isolated disciplines based on simple reductionism. Science; Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) should be integrated together with the Arts1 to promote creativity together with rationalization, and move to STEAM (with an "A" for Arts). This new concept emphasizes the possibility of longer-term socio-technical futures instead of short-term financial predictions that currently lead to uncontrolled economies. Human-centered design (HCD) can contribute to improving STEAM education technologies, systems and practices. HCD not only provides tools and techniques to build useful and usable things, but also an integrated approach to learning by doing, expressing and critiquing, exploring possible futures, and understanding complex systems