20 research outputs found
Business in Engineering Education: Issues, Identities, Hybrids, and Limits
This chapter explores how engineering students are broadened in their education through the teaching of non-engineering subjects, such as business subjects, in order to develop critical thinking skills and self-knowledge of what it means to be an engineer. The goal of the chapter is to provide a commentary on the level of interaction, from design of courses to design of curricula, between business faculty and engineering faculty, and the results of that interaction. This chapter sets out to (i) explore whether there appears to be a place in engineering education curricula for reflective critique of assumptions related to business thinking, and why; (ii) discover what kinds of business issues are reflected in engineering education curricula, and for what purpose; (iii) explore the degree of business hybridization in engineering degree programs; (iv) ask who teaches business issues within engineering education? To this end a taxonomy of engineering enlightenment is proposed, and this is used to discuss evidence of broadening with engineering curricula. The approach adopted is to describe all relevant engineering degree programs in Ireland, based on their publicly available program information; examine the accreditation reports for these same programs; and then survey deans from colleges or schools of business to examine whether the business college/school is involved in the education of engineering students in the institution or university. If yes, how the business college or relevant business faculty are engaged in the design of engineering curricula. In order to enable a comparative discussion, the chapter will focus on Irish engineering programs that seek accreditation from Engineers Ireland for professional engineering. A number of hybrid engineering programs of study are also explored, and their apparent strengths discussed, including hybridity limits
Novel spin-precession method for sensitive EDM searches
We demonstrate a spin-precession method to observe and analyze multi-level coherence between all hyperfine levels in the ground state of barium monofluoride (BaF). The signal is sensitive to the state-preparation Rabi frequency and external electric and magnetic fields applied in searches for a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM). In the obtained interference spectrum, the electric field and Rabi frequency become observable simultaneously with the EDM. This method reduces systematic biases and the number of auxiliary measurements for such precision measurements
Novel spin-precession method for sensitive EDM searches
We demonstrate a spin-precession method to observe and analyze multi-level coherence between all hyperfine levels in the ground state of barium monofluoride (BaF). The signal is sensitive to the state-preparation Rabi frequency and external electric and magnetic fields applied in searches for a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM). In the obtained interference spectrum, the electric field and Rabi frequency become observable simultaneously with the EDM. This method reduces systematic biases and the number of auxiliary measurements for such precision measurements
Deceleration and Trapping of SrF Molecules
We report on the electrostatic trapping of neutral SrF molecules. The
molecules are captured from a cryogenic buffer-gas beam source into the moving
traps of a 4.5 m long traveling-wave Stark decelerator. The SrF molecules in
state are brought to rest as the velocity of the moving
traps is gradually reduced from 190 m/s to zero. The molecules are held for up
to 50 ms in multiple electric traps of the decelerator. The trapped packets
have a volume (FWHM) of 1 mm and a velocity spread of 5(1) m/s which
corresponds to a temperature of mK. Our result demonstrates a factor 3
increase in the molecular mass that has been Stark-decelerated and trapped.
Heavy molecules (mass100 amu) offer a highly increased sensitivity to probe
physics beyond the Standard Model. This work significantly extends the species
of neutral molecules of which slow beams can be created for collision studies,
precision measurement and trapping experiments
A supersonic laser ablation beam source with narrow velocity spreads
A supersonic beam source for SrF and BaF molecules is constructed by combining the expansion of carrier gas (a mixture of 2% SF6 and 98% argon) from an Even-Lavie valve with laser ablation of a barium/strontium metal target at a repetition rate of 10 Hz. Molecular beams with a narrow translational velocity spread are produced at relative values of Δv/v = 0.053(11) and 0.054(9) for SrF and BaF, respectively. The relative velocity spread of the beams produced in our source is lower in comparison with the results from other metal fluoride beams produced in supersonic laser ablation sources. The rotational temperature of BaF is measured to be 3.5 K. The source produces 6 × 108 and 107 molecules per steradian per pulse in the X2ς+ (ν = 0, N = 1) state of BaF and SrF molecules, respectively, a state amenable to Stark deceleration and laser cooling
Lifetime measurements of the A (2)Pi(1/2) and A (2)Pi(3/2) states in BaF
Time resolved detection of laser induced fluorescence from pulsed excitation
of electronic states in barium monofluoride (BaF) molecules has been performed
in order to determine the lifetimes of the and
states. The method permits control over experimental parameters such that
systematic biases in the interpretation of the data can be controlled to below
relative accuracy. The statistically limited values for the lifetimes
of the and states are 57.1(3) ns
and 47.9(7)~ns, respectively. The ratio of these values is in good agreement
with scaling for the different excitation energies. The investigated molecular
states are of relevance for an experimental search for a permanent electric
dipole moment (EDM) of the electron in BaF