The Dean’s Racial Justice Curriculum Challenge

This Work in Progress paper will present the College of Engineering Dean’s Racial Justice Curriculum Challenge. This challenge tasks all faculty in the college to use their engineering problem-solving skills to develop creative ways to incorporate issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice in every class we teach. The challenge was inspired by our students, who requested a greater connection between the technical content of classes and real world issues, in particular the role engineers play in either fostering inclusive solutions or contributing to the propagation of inequities. The intent is to engage faculty in the development of new curriculum, and success was measured by the level of engagement, and featured direct student feedback into the curriculum ideas. Starting in 2020-2021 academic year, we challenged every faculty member to contribute to the Dean’s Curriculum Challenge. Each lesson plan was reviewed by a team of students, and at least one was highlighted each week. We received 67 lesson plans from 45 faculty members, impacting 52 courses. Several courses included more than one racial justice themed lesson during the semester. Faculty participation rates were higher in Fall 2020, but varied across departments: 33% of biomedical engineering (BME), 7% of civil engineering (CE), 61% of chemical engineering (CHE), 15% of electrical and computer engineering (ECE), and 26% of mechanical and industrial engineering (MIE). In Spring 2021, 83% of BME, 14% of CE, 26% of CHE, 5% of MIE, and 33% of our Junior Year Writing faculty participated. In total, 3 freshmen, 10 sophomore, 12 junior, 8 senior, 12 senior/graduate, and 9 graduate level classes were impacted. In Fall 2021 we added a second challenge faculty could contribute to: the Inclusive Design challenge. Thus far, we have had 5 submissions from 3 faculty members and 1 graduate student teaching fellow. In addition, the challenge inspired individual department “brainstorming sessions” to discuss pedagogy and best practices for introducing these topics into a variety of class types. This paper will describe the lessons learned as the Dean’s Curriculum Challenge has been implemented as well as plans for sustaining and further supporting the challenge. This will include types of lesson plans, activities, and class discussions that were introduced. Once the program has been established, data will be collected from faculty on what they found effective and whether they continued these or other related activities in future semesters. In the 2021-2022 academic year, several highlighted submissions were presented by the faculty to a wider audience within the college

Experimental behavior of a continuous metal connector for a wood-concrete composite system

The benefits of using shear connectors to join wood beams to a concrete slab in a composite floor or deck system are many. Studies throughout the world have demonstrated significantly improved strength, stiffness, and ductility properties from such connection sys- tems as well as citing practical building advantages such as durability, sound insulation, and fire resistance. In this study, one relatively new shear connector system that originated in Germany has been experimentally investigated for use with U.S. manufactured prod- ucts. The connector system consists of a continuous steel mesh of which one half is glued into a southern pine Parallam® Parallel Strand Lumber beam and the other half embedded into a concrete slab to provide minimal interlayer slip. A variety of commercial ep- oxies were tested for shear strength and stiffness in standard shear or push out tests. The various epoxies resulted in a variety of shear constitutive behaviors; however, for two glue types, shear failure occurred in the steel connector resulting in relatively high initial stiff- ness and ductility as well as good repeatability. Slip moduli and ultimate strength values are presented and discussed. Full-scale bend- ing tests, using the best performing adhesive as determined from the shear tests, were also conducted. Results indicate consistent, near-full composite action system behavior

The Rheological Properties of Fluid Denture-Base Resins

The rheological properties of six commercial fluid denture resins were determined by rotational viscometry. Initial viscosity ranged from 67 to 575 centipoise at a rotational speed of 10 revolutions per minute. All resins showed initial non-Newtonian flow behavior and increased viscosity with time.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66813/2/10.1177_00220345780570021301.pd

Issues and Methods for Transdisciplinary Planning of Combined Wildlife and Pedestrian Highway Crossings

Highways are increasingly understood as barriers to wildlife and pedestrian movement and as significant causes of landscape fragmentation-especially in suburban and periurban areas. FHWA\u27s Transportation, Community, and System Preservation (TCSP) Program encourages innovative solutions to reduce the impact of highways on the communities they link and traverse. This paper is based on research and public participation as part of an FHWA-TCSP sponsored feasibility study for a combined wildlife and pedestrian crossing to mitigate highway impacts on wildlife and recreation, and on the communities of Concord and Lincoln, Massachusetts. The interdisciplinary study team included representatives from landscape architecture, urban planning, wildlife biology, civil engineering, and landscape history. The study included diverse public participation and collaboration throughout the project. The paper defines significant planning issues likely to pertain to similar projects and offers a transdisciplinary method for conducting planning or feasibility studies for combined wildlife-pedestrian crossings. The method is innovative for its interdisciplinary integration and its inclusion of public officials, nongovernmental representatives, citizens, and other stakeholders. The study is being considered for further research and possible implementation by FHWA with support from the host communities and a private conservation organization