1. On-line Laboratories for a Distance Engineering Program
University of North Dakota
School of Engineering and
Mines
On-line Laboratories for a
Distance Engineering Program
John Watson, SEM, UND
George Bibel, ME, UND
Kenneth Ebeling, IME, NDSU
John Erjavec, ChE, UND
Hossein Salehfar, EE, UND
Marcellin Zahui, ME, UND
Distance Engineering
Degree Program
IECC 2005
A FIPSE Project

2. Distance Engineering Degree Program (DEDP)
1989 Initiated as 3M Program
Videotaped classes, mailed to students
Assignments by and FAX
Advising by phone and
Exams proctored at student site
Enrollment - 8
1993 Corporate Engineering Degree Program
2001 Distance Engineering Degree Program
2002 FIPSE On-line Laboratory Project
2003 Electronic Delivery of Classes
2004 Enrollment - 108, 25 graduates to date

3. DEDP DETAIL ABET accredited programs in ChE, CE, EE and ME
Programs are equivalent to on-campus programs
Students are required to take labs on campus in
summer
1 CH semester lab is equivalent to 5 days of condensed
labs
To meet the laboratory requirements of the programs,
students must:
spend 5-10 days each summer on campus
bear the expense of travel and accommodation,
and use vacation time

4. On-Line Laboratory Project 2002-05
FIPSE project initiated to design and implement 3 lab courses
Each with 50% on-line content to reduce time required at UND.
On-line content to be mix of virtual and real-time assignments

5. Three Laboratory Courses Selected:
ChE 431 – Chemical Engineering Laboratory IV
EE 306 – Circuits Laboratory I
ME 486 – Mechanical Engineering Practice
Each lab course has 50% on-line content consisting of :
50% virtual assignments – Packaged or Custom
50% real-time assignments – Lab Equipment +
LabView and
Remote Panels

6. VIRTUAL ASSIGNMENTS
Packaged Software or Custom Built Programs for each Laboratory Course
Packaged – ChemCAD for ChE process design
Custom Built – LabView for EE circuits
using wiring diagrams and
front panels

7. Virtual Inverting Op-Amp EE Assignment

8. LabView VI – Wiring Diagram for Op-Amp

9. Laboratory Real-Time Assignment
Equipment Schematic

10. Real – Time Laboratory Assignments
Lab equipment operating through LabView
Front Panel
Internet publishing through Remote Panels
Incorporating real-time video image
One user in control with unlimited observers

11. Process Control Lab VI – Front Panel

12. Video Image of Process Control Equipment

13. Front Panel and Video Image for
First Order Response

14. Tank Level Image Close-up

15. Unsteady State Thermal Conductivity Lab

16. Thermal Conductivity VI – Front Panel

17. Video Image of Thermal Conductivity Equipment

18. Security and Access All laboratory instructions are on UND Blackboard
All required downloads are available from Blackboard
site or on CD
All laboratory computers are on a Virtual Private
Network (VPN)
User computer must link to VPN, and supply
authentication data
Access to the virtual and real-time assignments is from
Blackboard

19. ASSESSMENT Several of the labs were used remotely by
on-campus groups in spring semester, 2005.
DEDP students will use some of the labs in the summer,
and in the fall
HB Associates are assisting with the assessment process
which involves survey and focus groups.

20. Acknowledgements This project is sponsored in part by the Fund for the
Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE),
U.S. Department of Education. The authors would
also like to acknowledge the technical associates,
graduate students, and undergraduate students who
contributed to the project.

21. Thanks for listening
Questions ?