Integrating Electrical Engineering Fundamentals with Instrumentation and Data Acquisition in an Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Curriculum

Abstract

The Anonymous University Mechanical Engineering department was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to revolutionize its undergraduate program. The goal of the grant is to implement department wide changes that create a focus on doing engineering with engineers and fosters stronger engineering identities in students and faculty. One area of change is the program’s curriculum. This paper describes how the Electrical Engineering Fundamentals course was integrated into the Mechanical Engineering Instrumentation and Data Acquisition (DAQ) course with the goal of creating connections between electrical engineering concepts and applications in mechanical engineering. Design and implementation of this course sequence are presented. Assessment and evaluation methods are also discussed.