Web Publication Utilized as a Communication Tool for First Year Engineering Students

© American Society for Engineering Education, 2016. This work in progress (WIP) paper describes the effectiveness of web publication as a communication tool for first year engineering students. Although the importance of generating a professionally written report has not diminished, web publication is quickly emerging as a necessary means of communicating for engineering students. In this digital age, an engineering education should have not neglect the importance of electronic communication and web based knowledge management. Web based publications provide several benefits compared to traditional portfolios: they allow students a means of enhancing visual/multimedia illustrations, provide students a means of developing project portfolios, as well as providing better data management, knowledge sharing, and easy access and the ability to share their own work. Freshman engineering students in Introduction to Engineering and Design were required to develop web pages for their term projects and to turn in URL links or html documents instead of conventional project reports. The quality of the students\u27 reports was, measured against a rubric as a means of direct assessment along with student feedback obtained in the form of after-class surveys. When compared against the term reports from previous years\u27 students, the overall quality of communication skills improved by 14% in the overall delivery. Visual communication became enhanced by 60%; however, writing skill and technical depth decreased by 24%. According to survey results, students favored web publication over conventional term report by 92% and felt that it is an effective way to deliver their projects. The results indicate that web publication could be an exciting and effective way to develop communication skills for the digital generation. Students still need training in the art and skill of technical writing

Hyun Kwon

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to discover more of the story of one of our faculty, Hyun Kwon, chair of the Department of Engineering & Computer Science. The conversation left me inspired, reminding me yet again of the amazing faculty who work at Andrews University. Hyun was born as a second child among three siblings in South Korea. Her father was a police office, her mom a full-time mom. She was a high achiever academically and after attending an elite science track high school, she continued to the prestigious Korean Advanced Institute of Technology (KAIST) with a full governmental scholarship. She chose engineering to study because in that area math and science are applied to bring positive change to society. It was while pursuing her PhD at KAIST that Hyun visited the U.S. and it so impressed her that she decided she wanted to come and live here at some point. It happened sooner than she expected; Hyun transferred and was soon on her way to complete her PhD at the University of Louisville. Up to that time in her life Hyun had been focused on academic and professional success. She never had many Christian friends in her circle in Korea and still thinks that if she had stayed in Korea her ego would have become so big she would not have needed God! And so started her Exodus experience: Leaving her country, crossing the ocean and facing difficulties that come with that kind of transition. Read the rest of Hyun’s story in Stories of Andrews at andrews.edu/stories. Hers is a story that is part of the spirit of Andrews. Andrea Luxtonhttps://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/stories-2017-spring/1003/thumbnail.jp

Use of COMSOL Simulation for Undergraduate Fluid Dynamics Course

The COMSOL software was used to introduce CFD and teach fluid dynamics more effectively. Introduction of CFD has become an important part of fluid dynamics in recent years; however, undergraduate students have less access to practical exposure to it, unless they take additional elective courses which are seldom offered in undergrad predominant institutes. Simulation has become an essential step in designing and optimizing process in many engineering problems. Therefore, the COMSOL simulation project was assigned to undergraduate CFD as a part of their term project to enhance their exposure to simulation software and help understanding the use of simulation on the model testing. This paper presents a case study of an undergraduate fluid dynamics project where students were challenged to design a shape, estimate the drag and lift coefficient through the COMSOL simulation. The study was assessed by quizzes to evaluate the simulation enhanced understanding of the fluid concepts and student survey to evaluate how the simulation contributed their learning experience. Employing the COMSOL simulation on fluid dynamics on simple fluid problems as a part of term project could be an effective way of offering CFD to students who have limited access to CFD courses

QCM-D Monitoring of Binding-Induced Conformational Change of Calmodulin

Understanding conformational changes are important when studying a protein such as calmodulin (CaM), which activates various target enzymes and regulates numerous physiological functions. CaM is a highly flexible protein that can transitorily adopt various conformations. A quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) sensor was used to study binding-induced conformational changes of surface-immobilized CaM. Structural changes of CaM were evaluated using the Voigt’s viscoelastic model with frequency (ΔF) and dissipation change (ΔD). When Apo-CaM layer was incubated in 0.1 mM Ca2+ solution, the layer decreased by approximately 0.56 nm, due to the release of coupled water molecules and conformational change. The application of CaM itself also caused a significantly more compact layer, supporting previous findings that CaM dimerization forms a collapsed structure that exposes a hydrophobic tunnel. The binding characteristics of CaM with peptides derived from proteins in a signal transduction pathway also demonstrated diverse biophysical properties of the CaM complexes. Each peptide showed a unique ΔF/ΔD pattern indicating versatility of CaM configuration to favorably adjust to each target molecule. The study demonstrates that the QCM-D sensor is capable of simultaneously studying binding affinity and plasticity of protein configuration for target binding. The CaM data obtained on hydrated protein layer thickness is complementary to configuration measurements of a single CaM molecule

Nonchaotic Nonlinear Motion Visualized in Complex Nanostructures by Stereographic 4D Electron Microscopy

Direct electron imaging with sufficient time resolution is a powerful tool for visualizing the three-dimensional (3D) mechanical motion and resolving the four-dimensional (4D) trajectories of many different components of a nanomachine, e.g., a NEMS device. Here, we report a nanoscale nonchaotic motion of a nano- and microstructured NiTi shape memory alloy in 4D electron microscopy. A huge amplitude oscillatory mechanical motion following laser heating is observed repetitively, likened to a 3D motion of a conductor’s baton. By time-resolved 4D stereographic reconstruction of the motion, prominent vibrational frequencies (3.0, 3.8, 6.8, and 14.5 MHz) are fully characterized, showing evidence of nonlinear behavior. Moreover, it is found that a stress (fluence)−strain (displacement) profile shows nonlinear elasticity. The observed resonances of the nanostructure are reminiscent of classical molecular quasi-periodic behavior, but here both the amplitude and frequency of the motion are visualized using ultrafast electron microscopy

Simulation of Light Propagation in Skin and Subcutaneous Blood Vessels

The VeinViewer, produced by the Luminetx Corporation, projects an image of subcutaneous veins onto the surface of the skin by using the discovery that near infrared (NIR) light passes through and transmits back out of the skin issue except at the blood vessels as a result of the presence of hemoglobin1. We aim to improve the function of the VeinViewer by using computational models to interpret changes in properties of the subject,such as skin pigmentation, and settings on the device, such as light frequency. We also look to decrease error, as a result of the geometry of veins and the multiple layers of skin. A finite element model implementation the diffusion approximation of the radiation transfer equation fulfill the role in part, but questions of boundary conditions and the description of the source need clarification

Spin waves interference from rising and falling edges of electrical pulses

The authors have investigated the effect of the electrical pulse width of input excitations on the generated spin waves in a NiFe strip using pulse inductive time domain measurements. The authors have shown that the spin waves resulting from the rising- and the falling-edges of input excitation pulses interfere either constructively or destructively, and have provided conditions for obtaining spin wave packets with maximum intensity at different bias conditions

Atomic-Scale Imaging in Real and Energy Space Developed in Ultrafast Electron Microscopy

In this contribution, we report the development of ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM) with atomic-scale real-, energy-, and Fourier-space resolutions. This second-generation UEM provides images, diffraction patterns, and electron energy spectra, and here we demonstrate its potential with applications for nanostructured materials and organometallic crystals. We clearly resolve the separation between atoms in the direct images and the Bragg spots/Debye−Scherrer rings in diffraction and obtain the electronic structure and elemental energies in the electron energy loss spectra (EELS) and energy filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM)

Environmental considerations of plastic behaviors for automobile applications

AbstractIt is well known fact that the thermo-mechanical behaviors of polymeric materials are strongly influenced by environmental factors, and, for automobiles, the mechanical properties of interior plastic structures are noticeably changed by being repeatedly exposed to environments such as sun light and rains. As the properties change, mechanical fits such as fasteners and clips in automobiles lose their tightness, creating unexpected noises. To consider Buzz, Squeak and Rattle (BSR) from initial stage of the interior design, it is very important to obtain, analyze and understand the structural behaviors of the materials under environmental changes as well as time. In this report, the mechanical property changes of the plastics for automobiles are measured to investigate the temperature and humidity effects. The samples are undergone different temperature and humidity conditions, and regularly taken out to measure the thermo-mechanical properties. The data are compared with the original samples, and analyzed for the properties change. Viscoelastic characteristics such as glass transition temperatures and storage/loss modulus were also investigate