Unpacking capabilities underlying design (thinking) process

Engineering graduates must know how to frame and solve non-routine problems. While design classes explicitly teach problem framing and solving, it is lacking throughout much of the rest of the engineering curriculum and is often relegated to capstone classes at the end of the students’ educational experience. This paper explores problem framing and solving through the lens of experiential learning theory. It captures core problem framing and solving approaches from critical, design and systems thinking and concludes with a table of learning outcomes that might be drawn upon in designing an engineering curriculum that more fully develops the problem framing and solving capabilities of its students

Pre-Testing as a Method of Conveying Learning Objectives

Teaching methodologies involving student pre-testing have been used in K-12 education for a number of years. Although pre-testing has been conducted in some collegiate classrooms, there have been very few studies published regarding the effectiveness of the concept. This paper reports the results of a study in which one Introduction to Aerospace class was given a pre-test at the start of each unit of study, while a second class received a list of specific learning objectives at the start of each unit. The post-test unit test results of the two classes were then compared. The results of the study indicate that pre-testing may be a very effective means of communicating course expectations to students

A Comparison of the Effectiveness of PC-Based Aviation Training Devices and Conventional Flight Training Devices for Instrument Flight Training

Since the time instrument flight became common, ground training devices have been used to teach students basic instrument flight skills. The skills which students learn in these ground trainers are then transferred to an aircraft during later stages of training. There are three types of ground training devices that are recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration for flight training purposes. The first type of device is called a simulator, which is a device “that exactly duplicates the performance and physical aspects of a specific airplane (Butcher, 1996). Simulators are multi-million dollar machines, which are mounted on hydraulic legs and have full visual displays. These machines are so realistic that it is possible for a pilot to be trained to certificate completion in such a device, with no time in an actual aircraft. The use of these devices is typically limited to airline use, due to both their initial and operating costs

Modeling of reaction-diffusion transport into a core-shell geometry

Fickian diffusion into a core-shell geometry is modeled. The interior core mimics pancreatic Langerhan islets and the exterior shell acts as inert protection. The consumption of oxygen diffusing into the cells is approximated using Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The problem is transformed to dimensionless units and solved numerically. Two regimes are identified, one that is diffusion limited and the other consumption limited. A regression is fit that describes the concentration at the center of the cells as a function of the relevant physical parameters. It is determined that, in a cell culture environment, the cells will remain viable as long as the islet has a radius of around $142 \mu m$ or less and the encapsulating shell has a radius of less than approximately $283 \mu m$. When the islet is on the order of $100 \mu m$ it is possible for the cells to remain viable in environments with as little as $4.6\times10^{-2} mol/m^{-3}$ $O_2$. These results indicate such an encapsulation scheme may be used to prepare artificial pancreas to treat diabetes

Active primate simulator Final report

Systems engineering data and design specifications for Biosatellite active primate simulato