Engineering Stress Culture in Project-Based Engineering Programs

Background: This research paper examines engineering stress culture in the context of project-based learning engineering programs at the university level. Multiple authors have reported that the culture of engineering and engineering education can be stressful and exclusive. A study conducted by Jensen and Cross [9] found that measures of inclusion such as Department Caring and Department Pride were negatively correlated with stress, anxiety, and depression. We used the approach developed by Jensen and Cross to examine stress culture in the context of three project-based learning engineering programs. Purpose: Our goal was to establish a baseline of measures of mental health (stress, anxiety, and depression), professional identity, and inclusion among students in entirely project-based engineering and computer science programs. Design/Method: Our study used the instruments developed by Jensen and Cross to gather data from the perspective of students pursuing integrated engineering and computer science degrees in entirely project-based learning environments. Data collection and analysis for this study were informed by the methodology used by Jensen and Cross, allowing us to establish baseline measures for stress culture within the context of project-based learning environments in engineering and computer science. Results: We present results from statistical analyses reporting measures of mental health (stress, anxiety, depression), professional identity, and perceptions of inclusion among students pursuing engineering and computer science degrees in entirely project-based learning environments. Students in the project-based programs reported less stress and depression and a stronger vision of an engineering career than students in the Jensen and Cross study. The anxiety and professional identity results were comparable with the original Jensen and Cross results. Conclusions: Although the sample size for this study is smaller than that of the original Jensen and Cross study, the results show the strong potential impact of project-based engineering programs. Future work will examine performance changes as a function of time and population size, as well as triangulating and supporting quantitative results with qualitative data

Pulse Sharpening Effects of Thin Film Ferroelectric Transmission Lines

Advances in material science have resulted in the development of electrically nonlinear high dielectric thin film ferroelectrics, which have led to new opportunities for the creation of novel devices. This dissertation investigated one such device: a low voltage nonlinear transmission line (NLTL). A finite element simulation of ferroelectric transmission lines showed that NLTLs are capable of creating shockwaves. Additionally, if the losses are kept sufficiently low, it was shown that voltage gain should be possible. Furthermore, a method of accounting for material dispersion was developed. Results from simulations including material dispersion showed that temporal solitons might be possible from a continuous ferroelectric based nonlinear transmission line. Fabrication of a thin film ferroelectric NLTL required the growth of a ferroelectric material on a conductive substrate. Barium titanate (BTO), which has been gaining popularity due to its high dielectric constant, strong nonlinearity, and lack of lead, was grown. Molecular beam epitaxy and sol-gel growth were both explored and sol-gel was chosen as the growth method for the final device, in part due to its ability to grow BTO thin films on highly conductive nickel substrates. Samples approximately 330 nm thick were grown by this method. Oxygen vacancies in the as grown BTO films were filled by annealing in low pressure oxygen environments. X-ray diffraction measurements were used to determine an O2 pressure for oxidation that was slightly less than the pressure at which NiO forms to ensure maximum filling of the vacancies in the BTO. Grown samples were successfully shown to have ferroelectric properties. A lumped element transmission line was fabricated using discrete capacitors and inductors with a sample as described above. Test capacitors were fabricated and used to determine the dielectric constant of the BTO thin film. This was used to select capacitor pad sizes and inductor values to create a 50 Ohm line. The substrate was mounted to a chip carrier which was subsequently soldered to a printed circuit board with the appropriate inductors. The device was characterized electrically and the results were compared to the simulation results

Standoff Trace Analyte Detection Using Amplifying Fluorescent Polymers

Electrical Engineering Technolog

But I\u27m not an Engineer ...Collaboration between a Librarian and an Upper Division Project-Based Engineering Program

Since 2013, a librarian at Minnesota State University, Mankato has collaborated with faculty and students in an upper division project-based engineering program. While having several years of experience in university libraries plus advanced degrees in history, the librarian had a limited background in science, engineering, and technology, and lacked a formal engineering degree. At first glance, this match may appear to be a recipe for failure. Indeed, in those first few years, the librarian’s angst about the missing engineering degree caused many sleepless nights of worry and concern. However, there came a time when the words “but I am not an engineer” fell to the wayside as the librarian grew more confident and embraced the role of library liaison to the Integrated Engineering department and its project-based and co-op-based programs. This paper describes the partnership that went from self-doubt to success in supporting project teams of student engineers. The program operates at off-campus locations so providing service at a distance and developing electronic resources has been crucial for positive interactions with students and faculty. The vertically integrated student teams mean that there is some institutional memory in the student experience about the benefit of working with their librarian. This appreciation supports student learning of contextual research skills and abilities to describe their project information needs to a non-technical audience. While the successes did not happen overnight, the current status is of a positive working relationship where students understand the benefit of working with librarians, including non-engineering librarians, to solve their technical challenges. This paper presents our approach to building relationships between the library resources and engineering students and faculty, our strategies for success, and our future plans for collaboration

But I\u27m not an Engineer ...Collaboration between a Librarian and an Upper Division Project-Based Engineering Program

Since 2013, a librarian at Minnesota State University, Mankato has collaborated with faculty and students in an upper division project-based engineering program. While having several years of experience in university libraries plus advanced degrees in history, the librarian had a limited background in science, engineering, and technology, and lacked a formal engineering degree. At first glance, this match may appear to be a recipe for failure. Indeed, in those first few years, the librarian’s angst about the missing engineering degree caused many sleepless nights of worry and concern. However, there came a time when the words “but I am not an engineer” fell to the wayside as the librarian grew more confident and embraced the role of library liaison to the Integrated Engineering department and its project-based and co-op-based programs. This paper describes the partnership that went from self-doubt to success in supporting project teams of student engineers. The program operates at off-campus locations so providing service at a distance and developing electronic resources has been crucial for positive interactions with students and faculty. The vertically integrated student teams mean that there is some institutional memory in the student experience about the benefit of working with their librarian. This appreciation supports student learning of contextual research skills and abilities to describe their project information needs to a non-technical audience. While the successes did not happen overnight, the current status is of a positive working relationship where students understand the benefit of working with librarians, including non-engineering librarians, to solve their technical challenges. This paper presents our approach to building relationships between the library resources and engineering students and faculty, our strategies for success, and our future plans for collaboration

“But I’m not an Engineer”… Collaboration between a Librarian and an Upper Division Project-Based Engineering Program

Since 2013, a librarian at Minnesota State University, Mankato has collaborated with faculty and students in an upper division project-based engineering program. While having several years of experience in university libraries plus advanced degrees in history, the librarian had a limited background in science, engineering, and technology, and lacked a formal engineering degree. At first glance, this match may appear to be a recipe for failure. Indeed, in those first few years, the librarian’s angst about the missing engineering degree caused many sleepless nights of worry and concern. However, there came a time when the words “but I am not an engineer” fell to the wayside as the librarian grew more confident and embraced the role of library liaison to the Integrated Engineering department and its project-based and co-op-based programs. This paper describes the partnership that went from self-doubt to success in supporting project teams of student engineers. The program operates at off-campus locations so providing service at a distance and developing electronic resources has been crucial for positive interactions with students and faculty. The vertically integrated student teams mean that there is some institutional memory in the student experience about the benefit of working with their librarian. This appreciation supports student learning of contextual research skills and abilities to describe their project information needs to a non-technical audience. While the successes did not happen overnight, the current status is of a positive working relationship where students understand the benefit of working with librarians, including non-engineering librarians, to solve their technical challenges. This paper presents our approach to building relationships between the library resources and engineering students and faculty, our strategies for success, and our future plans for collaboration

Fates of Eroded Soil Organic Carbon: Mississippi Basin Case Study

We have developed a mass balance analysis of organic carbon (OC) across the five major river subsystems of the Mississippi (MS) Basin (an area of 3.2 3 106 km2). This largely agricultural landscape undergoes a bulk soil erosion rate of ;480 t·km22·yr21 (;1500 3 106 t/yr, across the MS Basin), and a soil organic carbon (SOC) erosion rate of ;7 t·km22·yr21 (;22 3 106 t/yr). Erosion translocates upland SOC to alluvial deposits, water impoundments, and the ocean. Soil erosion is generally considered to be a net source of CO2 release to the atmosphere in global budgets. However, our results indicate that SOC erosion and relocation of soil apparently can reduce the net SOC oxidation rate of the original upland SOC while promoting net replacement of eroded SOC in upland soils that were eroded. Soil erosion at the MS Basin scale is, therefore, a net CO2 sink rather than a source.This paper is part of ongoing studies by the coauthors to determine the role of landscape erosion and deposition in material fluxes and biogeochemical cycling. Parts of this work have been supported by internal institutional support at CICESE, Emporia State University, Miami University College of Arts and Science, and the Kansas Geological Survey, and by a Kansas NASA EPSCoR grant awarded to R. W. Buddemeier and R. O. Sleezer.We thank the numerous individuals who contributed technical assistance or conceptual support to these efforts. Three reviewers have provided useful critical comments on versions of this manuscript. Of these, we would like to single out Jon Cole, who thoroughly grasped the big picture of what we were advancing and whose summary comment seems worth quoting: ‘‘The idea that soil erosion is a large net sink of atmospheric CO2 is very interesting, well supported by the arguments and data in this paper, and likely to be a huge controversy. This controversy is a good thing, as Martha Stewart might say.’

Reflections on an Introduction to Project Based Engineering in an Incarcerated Setting

Education programs in incarcerated settings have a goal of improving the current and future lives of the currently incarcerated individuals. There are many programs that support earning a GED, associate degree, or baccalaureate degree when incarcerated. The benefits of these programs include improved behavior while incarcerated, reduced recidivism, and broadening the workforce. Generally, the courses offered as a part of these programs are general education in nature. This paper discusses an Introduction to Project Based Engineering taught in a women’s prison setting. Specifically, it explores the course as a case study reflected on from several angles. Each reflection illuminates the case from a different perspective. The different perspectives are a prison administrator, the instructor, the author of one of the textbooks used in the course, a student more than a decade from release, and a student a few months from release. By taking these reflections together one is able to see the challenges, rewards, and opportunities associated with teaching an Introduction to Project Based Engineering to incarcerated women. Although each perspective highlights different aspects of the course there are common themes. There are also key differences that illustrate the unique needs and wants of the various stakeholders. The common themes and differences are examined. Together they serve as a foundation for adjusting the course to make it more effective and sustainable. Additionally, the reflections examined here shed light on how an Introduction to Project Based Engineering in a traditional setting might be improved

An Integrated Engineering Model for Advising

This evidence-based practice paper describes the theoretical foundations of the supportive advising practices used by the Integrated Engineering Department (IE) at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The driving motivation for the advising model is to support the development of student engineers as whole people. Generally in academia, faculty in traditional professor roles serve as formal advisors, mentors, facilitators, evaluators, and coaches and are joined by full-time staff that serve in roles to support student development. Integrated Engineers at Minnesota State University, Mankato are supported to become the engineer they want to be. This paper describes the unique model employed by IE of mentoring and advising that incorporates not just faculty but staff, industry mentors or facilitators, and peers that bring different perspectives to student support. Evidence of effectiveness includes high graduation rates, career placement rates of students, and student perceptions of preparation for meeting our program educational objectives. Perspectives from faculty new to the program and current and former students illustrate the personal impact of the model