L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM First-Year Design Experience: Assembling the Big Picture Through Innovative Product Design Kelly Crittenden – Louisiana Tech David Hall – Louisiana Tech Mark Barker – Louisiana Tech Patricia Brackin – Rose-Hullman College of Engineering and Science ASEE 2009 Annual Conference Austin, TX Session 1125

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM College of Engineering and Science ASEE 2009 Annual Conference Austin, TX Session 1125 Ruston, LA20,000 people Louisiana Tech 11,000 students Seven Engineering Programs 1,100 students Science and Technology 440 students

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM College of Engineering and Science Freshman Curriculum – all engineering freshmen

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Living with the Lab Each student owns their own lab consisting of –a laptop –tools (multimeter, dial caliper, wire strippers,...) $80 –software (Mathcad, SolidWorks, MS Office) –a microcontroller (the Boe-Bot) to provide a personal lab $100 Student owned labs provide a way to boost hands-on learning beyond what is possible using traditional university laboratories College of Engineering and Science

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM College of Engineering and Science Freshman Projects Laboratory Two classrooms designed to support the curriculum (40 students, 24 students) Classrooms allow us to easily switch between lecture, laboratory and shop activities within a single 110 minute class period.

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM College of Engineering and Science Engineering 122 Video

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM College of Engineering and Science Innovation books and methods are presented

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Bug List – from the Art of Innovation College of Engineering and Science Individual students keep a list of bugs At least one new bug for each class period At least seven total bugs per student Teams of four students combine lists

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Electronic Design Journal College of Engineering and Science Teams keep an e-journal of their progress Many class assignments included in the journal Attempt to guide students through the recording process Journals turned in at end of quarter

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Mind Maps – How to think like Leonardo da Vinci College of Engineering and Science Mind Maps and Concept Maps are demonstrated Students are given time in class to construct a mind map of their bug as a team No right or wrong, just get the ideas flowing and communicate as a team

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Nightline Video – The Deep Dive College of Engineering and Science 20 minute video showing the major creative processes used by IDEO Still interesting to students, even after 10 years Not very heavy on the actual design though Very good brainstorming examples

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Pugh Method – decision making College of Engineering and Science Pugh charts are used to rank the teams top ideas Simple, begin learning a logical decision making process Content is delivered online – supports life-long learning

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Prototyping – Fail early to Succeed sooner College of Engineering and Science Three main prototyping stages are assigned as homework Spatial – represent components and connections Functional – demonstrate operation Final – ready to take to venture capitalist

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Freshman Design Expo College of Engineering and Science Teams demonstrate their prototypes to judges and spectators Various awards are distributed – DaVinci, Rolex, Shoot the Moon, Can-do, 1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd... Best ideas encouraged compete in next years Pick of the Litter business plan competition

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Some Facts and Results College of Engineering and Science 35 teams of 4 complete the course in the Spring 15 teams of 4 complete the course in the Fall 10 teams of 4 complete the course in the Winter Total of 240 students per year complete the course 8 different engineering faculty teach in the ENGR12x series Surveys of student confidence and activity levels have been administered over a period of years, pre LWTL implementation and post implementation

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Some Facts and Results College of Engineering and Science Excerpts from student confidence surveys (1 to 6 Likert): Item OLD Course Spring NEW Course Spring Work collaboratively with one or more other students Generate 3D models of engineering components and assemblies using SolidWorks Locate specifications and prices for the supplies, parts and systems used in course projects from manufacturers and on-line retailers Purchase supplies and parts for an innovative product Use creative techniques to overcome at least one project difficulty When I set a goal, I keep going after it no matter what the obstacles I enjoy developing technical tools that improve the quality of life for people I intend to develop new products/processes during my career as an engineer I prefer improving products/processes that already exist instead of developing something new Explain the roles of the ten Faces of Innovation as discussed in The Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelley Create a Mind Map to organize ideas around a central topic Apply the Pugh method to evaluate concept ideas Conceive a functional prototype of an innovative product that utilizes one or more sensors, actuators or other output devices, and the BASIC Stamp II microcontroller Design a functional prototype of an innovative product that utilizes one or more sensors, actuators or other output devices, and the BASIC Stamp II microcontroller Fabricate a functional prototype of an innovative product that utilizes one or more sensors, actuators, or other output devices, and the BASIC Stamp II microcontroller Test a functional prototype of an innovative product that utilizes one or more sensors, actuators, or other output devices, and the BASIC Stamp II microcontroller Develop a work plan to manage your time and resources to successfully produce a prototype of an innovative product

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Some Facts and Results College of Engineering and Science Frequency data reported by the students indicates an increase in how often certain hands-on tasks are performed

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Some Facts and Results College of Engineering and Science The projects external evaluator commented that: There were 33 projects on display. A list of the projects is contained in Attachment E. Each project was assigned a table. Students from the project team displayed posters and gave explanations of their projects. The variety of projects was impressive. Among the 32 projects there were 26 distinct ideas. Students interviewed at the Expo demonstrated the ability to explain their projects clearly. Students also demonstrated pride in their prototypes and what they had learned. Students reported that the design project was difficult and rewarding.

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Acknowledgments NSF CCLI Grant No Louisiana Tech University College of Engineering and Science

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM College of Engineering and Science Questions?

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Seven Threads Define the Freshman Experience 1.SYSTEMS – one major project per quarter 2.ELECTROMECHANICAL – breadboarding, sensors, control 3.FABRICATION AND ACQUISITION – shop activities; locate, specify and purchase components 4.SOFTWARE – Excel, Mathcad, SolidWorks, Programming 5.FUNDAMENTALS electricity and DC circuits conservation of energy basic chemistry and electrochemistry conservation of mass statics engineering economics 6.COMMUNICATION – formatting problem solutions, oral presentations, writing assignments 7.BROADENING ACTIVITES global and societal issues professional society meetings and student functions teamwork and creative problem solving techniques College of Engineering and Science

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Whisker Photoresistors IR pairs Temperature Sensor Conductivity Sensor Hall Effect Sensor RF Keychain Transmitter and Receiver LEDs Buzzers Switchable Actuators: Pumps, motors, lights, etc. Continuous Rotation Servos All students implement these electronics as part of class assignments. Students can also implement these devices, depending on their chosen project. GPS sensor Ultrasonic Range Finder Accelerometer RF ID Tags and Reader GPS Receiver Compass Force Sensor Temperature and Humidity Sensor RF Communication Modules (Boe-Bot to Boe-Bot communication) Embedded Blue Transceiver Appmod (add Bluetooth capabilities to the Boe-Bot) Color Sensor (senses RGB colors at a point) CMUcam Vision System Limited Rotation Servos LCD Display Output College of Engineering and Science

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM CONCLUSION: We have implemented a six semester hour, technology-enabled, project-based experience that impacts over 400 first-year engineering students each year. Strong analytical skills Practical ingenuity & creativity Good communication skills Business, management skills High ethical standards, professionalism Dynamic, agile, flexible & resilient Lifelong learners Able to put problems in their socio- technical and operational context Adaptive leaders College of Engineering and Science

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM College of Engineering and Science History In 2002 we offered a pilot robotics-centered curriculum to 30 students In 2006 we received $498,000 NSF CCLI grant to expand the curriculum to all engineering students In the fall of 2007 we implemented the curriculum for all students Why? We wanted freshman design to be more than mousetrap cars and straw bridges We wanted to progressively build skills and competence so that freshmen could implement significant projects We wanted to make students more innovative

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM 5. FUNDAMENTALS electricity and DC circuits (A1) conservation of energy (A1) basic chemistry and electrochemistry (A1) conservation of mass (A1) least squares fitting to calibrate sensors (A1) statics (A1) engineering economics (A1) 6. COMMUNICATION engineering format (A1,A4) tables and graphs (A4) oral presentations (A4) writing assignments (A4) 7. BROADENING ACTIVITES global and societal issues (A5,A6,A7) professional society meetings and student functions (A7,A8,A9) multidisciplinary teams (A4,A8) creative problem solving techniques for product development (A3) time and resource management for product development (A10) A1. Strong analytical skills A2. Practical ingenuity A3. Creativity A4. Good communication skills A5. Lifelong learners A6. Dynamic, agile, resilient and flexible characteristics A7. High ethical standards A8. Leadership skills A9. Professionalism A10. Business and management skills Seven Threads define the freshman experience. The outcomes that support these threads are linked to the attributes of the Engineer of 2020 through the curriculum objectives. 1. SYSTEMS centrifugal pump – model, fabricate and test (A1,A2,A3,A6) fishtank project – control temperature and salinity of water (A1,A2,A3,A6) smart product – conceive, design and prototype (A1,A2,A3,A6) 2. ELECTROMECHANICAL breadboarding skills (A1, A2) programmable controllers (A1,A2) multimeters for troubleshooting and measurement (A1,A2) electromechanical component specifications (A1,A2) 3. FABRICATION AND ACQUISITION conventional manufacturing processes (A2) RTD (temperature sensor) – design and microfabrication (A1,A2) materials and components – locate, specify and purchase (A2) specify and purchase materials, supplies or components for projects (A2) 4. SOFTWARE Excel, Mathcad and SolidWorks (A1,A2) computer programming for sensing and control (A1,A2) College of Engineering and Science

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM ENGR 120 – Sample Assignments (Engr. of 2020 Attributes) 1. Systems: Develop a 3D model of a centrifugal pump Analytical skills; ingenuity; creativity; dynamism & flexibility 2. Electromechanical: Breadboard a circuit and measure currents Analytical skills; ingenuity 3. Fabrication and Acquisition: Fabricate and test a centrifugal pump Analytical skills; ingenuity; creativity; dynamism & flexibility 4. Software: Use Mathcad to calculate efficiency of a centrifugal pump Analytical skills; ingenuity 5. Fundamentals: Calculate power dissipated by a resistor in an electrical circuit Analytical skills 6. Communication: Calculate the efficiency of a centrifugal pump using engineering format Communication 7. Broadening Activities Attend 5 professional student society meetings (high ethical standards; professionalism; dynamism) Prepare a 2-page paper on waste management and trends for the future (lifelong learning) Multidisciplinary teams (communication; leadership) Time and resource management (business and management skills)

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM College of Engineering and Science

L OUISIANA T ECH U NIVERSITY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM