Senior Design Course Research Articles

Design of an optimized nuclear fuel pellet

Background The design of an improved nuclear fuel pellet for use in the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor that is more powerful than existing pellets, is less expensive to manufacture, and meets Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements for certification was undertaken to complete a senior design course in the ABET-certified nuclear engineering curriculum of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. Methods The modeling team selected the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) program for assessing how well the pellet design achieves a k-effective value of 1, designed the base model consisting of a fuel pin inside a boron-water moderator with reflector, and ran MCNP tests on the base pellet. The design team modified the base pellet and tested it at different uranium-235 enrichments, with void spheres of varying volume and silicon carbide inclusions in the void volume. The simulation team selected K-code for testing the fuel pellets. The economics team analyzed the cost of manufacturing the improved pellet from cost of raw material through its tail assay in the form of Separative Work Unit (SWUs). The impacts team researched environmental, societal, governmental, political, and public affairs aspects of nuclear fuel production. Results Multiple configurations of uranium enrichment and silicon carbide volume inclusions in the nuclear fuel pellet achieved a k eff of 1, and the price per pellet, assuming fabrication costs comparable to existing manufacturing processes, was reduced by as much as about 50% when the volume of uranium oxide replaced by silicon carbide is 0.27 cm3. At smaller replacement volumes, the price per pellet is reduced by as little as 5%. Conclusions The goal of designing an optimized fuel pellet was met. Replacing a 0.27 cm3-volume sphere of uranium oxide with silicon carbide from the center of a pellet of 4%, 5%, or 6% uranium-235 enrichment reduced the cost of the pellet by approximately 50%.

Fostering Project-Based Learning through Industry Engagement in Capstone Design Projects

Extensive studies have indicated that real-life project-based learning through industry involvement in capstone design courses provides benefits to students, faculty, and industry practitioners. This paper presents the contributions of industry participants to student experiential and project-based learning in the civil and environmental engineering senior design courses at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). Surveys were conducted to obtain insights into the contributions of industry involvement in the capstone design course from the perspectives of both students and practitioners. Practitioners have been involved in various roles, including project mentors for capstone design projects and/or judges for students’ capstone design project presentations. Practitioners, through the students, are provided with new ways of looking at and solving problems. Practitioners, through their involvement, provide valuable feedback to the faculty and students that enriches the overall experience gained in the capstone design course. This feedback helps improve student performance on their projects and provides them with additional tools to carry forward into their engineering careers. However, there was a gap in perception between students and practitioners with regard to the benefits of industry involvement. This paper also describes two successful capstone design projects and culminates success drivers from the reflection of instructors teaching these courses. The results of this study have substantial implications for faculty teaching these courses. They showed what students did well and pinpointed areas for improvement through the lens of industry practitioners.

284 Collaboration With a Bioengineering Senior Design Course to Develop a Novel Medical Device Facilitating Vessel Cannulation Under Continuous Ultrasound Guidance

Critically ill patients in the emergency department (ED) and intensive care unit (ICU) often require invasive vascular access for monitoring and treatment. The Seldinger technique has remained the standard for vessel cannulation since it was developed over 50 years ago. The current procedure requires fine motor control at several steps including needle stabilization during guidewire insertion. Ultrasound has been incorporated into the procedure but the current technique does not allow for real time visualization of guidewire advancement.

Team–based Learning of Sustainability: Incorporation of Sustainability Concept and Assessment into Chemical Engineering Senior Design Course

Abstract Design for Sustainability (DfS) becomes as an increasing important component in engineering education. One of the most effective educational strategies for sustainability integration is through undergraduate senior capstone courses. Chemical engineering as a main engineering discipline aims to prepare next-generation engineers with adequate knowledge and skills for pursing sustainable engineering in the near future. In this paper, we introduce our approach for introducing sustainability concepts and sustainability assessment methods into our undergraduate capstone design course. In the course, we guided students to conduct a sophisticated team project: Process Design, Modification, and Sustainability Assessment for Distributed Biodiesel Manufacturing. Students in teams developed and evaluated all design options from the sustainability point of view using different sustainability metrics systems and discussed for identification of most desirable solutions. Educational experience with the team-based approach was summarized through classroom evaluation.

Sample Senior Design Projects of Industrial Engineering Program at Kuwait University

A senior design course provides engineering students the opportunity to identify, formulate, and solve complex real-world engineering problems. This outcome is one of the seven student outcomes adopted by The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). Therefore, the senior design course is a part of the curriculum of most of the international engineering programs. Hence, it is also a required course in the curriculum of the Industrial and Management Systems Engineering (IMSE) program of Kuwait University (KU). In the senior design course of IMSE program at KU, students select a company and conduct their project at the company. In this paper, three of these companies are briefly described along with identified problems, proposed solutions, and obtained results. Student evaluation by the company’s representatives is also discussed. It has been shown that the senior design students improved the operations of the selected companies significantly. It has been also observed that the students are enthusiastic by applying the methodologies and tools of Industrial Engineering that they learned in their earlier courses to solve real life problems.

Analysis of Engineering Accreditation Process and Outcomes: Lessons Learned for Successful First Time Application

The aims of the paper are to share and analyze engineering accreditation experience starting from the preparation through the outcome, and to discuss lessons learned particularly for first-time applicants. Securing accreditation from a well-recognized international body, such as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) can indicate quality of an engineering program. To qualify for an accreditation up to six- to seven-year period, an engineering program must meet a set of accreditation standards or criteria. The article is not limited only for new engineering programs outside the United States who are willing to pursue engineering accreditation from ABET, but it is applicable for an existing accredited program who will undergo next accreditation cycle. The authors presented and analyzed detail accreditation experience for a new established Civil Engineering (CE) Program at Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University (PMU) in Saudi Arabia. Although the ABET website provides detail procedure for the accreditation steps, the detail cases experienced by the PMU CE program will enrich knowledge on how to prepare and handle successful international accreditation. The authors also discussed issues raised during the accreditation activities, including program compliance with the nine ABET criteria, and presented key lessons to prepare for a smooth accreditation process. The main significant result of the accreditation exercise about continuous improvement was summarized in term of the curriculum upgrade, including adding another semester for senior design course and offering new sustainability engineering course, and adding computer aided design course at the early semester.

Guest Editorial Special Issue on Project-Based, Senior Design, and Capstone Courses in Engineering Education

Senior design and capstone courses are an integral part of any engineering curriculum around the world. These courses perhaps provide the only opportunity for students to apply the theoretical knowledge and technical skills they have acquired throughout the engineering degree. Moreover, they are often the (sole) environment in which students get some of the professional and transversal skills too. In addition, such courses present a great degree of nonuniformity since the students engage in projects of different nature (e.g., research oriented versus application oriented). Furthermore, not only do these courses prepare students for real-life engineering practice, they also serve as a major component in measuring program outcomes. The survey conducted over two decades ago by Todd et al. [item [1] in the Appendix], which collected responses from 360 departments across 173 schools, highlighted many of the issues related with capstone courses that are still relevant today. Such issues include course format, different degrees of faculty involvement, and project completion requirements. Indeed, all points highlighted thus far emphasize the importance of adequately designing and assessing capstone design courses.

Using Studio Culture to Foster Epistemic Change in an Engineering Senior Design Course

Contribution: This paper furthers understanding of how to use studio culture to develop instruction that supports learners’ epistemic development in the context of an engineering senior design course, with a focus on student development of epistemic frames. Background: Current capstone engineering design courses do not integrate the educational theories and practice of cognitive apprenticeship combined with studio culture. Combined, these can be useful constructs for developing instruction that encourages creativity and innovation in a situated, student-centered, and activity-focused environment. Prior research and evidence-based instructional methods from other non-engineering contexts were used to create an instructional environment that engenders epistemic change. Research Questions: How do instructional design methods based on studio culture impact the cognitive and epistemic development of engineering students in a Senior Design course? Methods: This exploratory case study examines the effects of instructional design methods based on studio culture to change an Engineering Senior Design course from lecture-based to activity-based instruction in a collaborative environment. The case study emerges from a design-based research intervention, and uses mixed methods data collection from multiple sources, including video interviews, classroom footage, and written debrief reflections. Data analysis applied an integrated thematic approach. Implications were developed through an emergent coding process. Findings: Cognitive apprenticeship methods used in a studio culture-based classroom provide learning experiences that benefit epistemic and cognitive growth for engineering students in a Senior Design course.

Comprehensive Assessment of Capstone Senior Design Course Comprised of Students from Different Engineering Program Majors

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) is the premier organization that accredits many engineering programs in the US. Assessment by ABET that Student Outcomes are achieved is a central part of its decision to accredit any program. The programs in engineering at Western Illinois University (WIU) place significant emphasis in the Capstone Senior Design course as part of the overall plans to seek accreditation. For example, it is the only course wherein all eleven student outcomes identified by ABET are formally assessed, thereby making it a comprehensive assessment. But assessment is challenging because there are many more variables than normal in a Capstone Senior Design course compared to traditional courses. This paper discusses the framework of assessment plans, schedules, rubrics, implementation, data collection, analysis, and continuous improvements in detail under this challenging environment in the Senior Design course at WIU.

Special Issue on Project-Based, Senior Design, and Capstone Courses in Engineering Education

Special Issue on Project-Based, Senior Design, and Capstone Courses in Engineering Education

DEVELOPMENT OF PEER TEACHING SUPPORTED DESIGN FOR X MODULES FOR SENIOR ENGINEERING DESIGN PROJECTS

Abstract – This paper presents initial results from a series of modules introducing Design for X (DfX) concepts to student project teams. DfX methods are recognised as a means to facilitate decision making throughout the design process and directly support the “Design” graduate attribute as defined by the Canandian Enginering Accreditation Board.
 In this senior design course, third and fourth year students are integrated into the same project teams, with the aim of promoting peer learning and leadership. Therefore, a flipped classroom approach was applied to the modules, followed by team-based reflection and discussion after which the appropriate DfX methods were to be applied within the projects. In the second semester third year students from each team were required to update the class on how these methods had been implemented in their projects.
 Preliminary results show active participation by the fourth year students, with varying levels of application of the tools within the projects. This paper will present specific examples of student led discussion and exercises surrounding DfX topics, as well as a qualitative evaluation of the application of DfX methods by the student teams. Recommendations for future improvement include the development of additional short duration, concrete, formative DfX activities for inclusion in the modules.

Special Issue on Project-Based, Senior Design, and Capstone Courses in Engineering Education

Special Issue on Project-Based, Senior Design, and Capstone Courses in Engineering Education

A new questionnaire for assessment of a mechanical engineering senior design class

An improved course assessment questionnaire was designed and used as an assessment tool for evaluation of a design-based and team-oriented mechanical engineering senior design course. The student feedback to the evaluation questionnaire was collected and analyzed to gain a better understanding of how well this course met the learning needs of students and addressed the goal of developing their career skills, as well as its impact on Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology educational objectives, upon which a plan to improve this senior design course would be formulated. The designed assessment questionnaire is a good supplement tool to the regular student evaluation form as a means to gather more insightful and valuable information from students for this specially designed course, through which the additive value of the unique industry-tied and team-oriented education mode implemented in that course can be correctly evaluated.

Effectiveness of involving the industrial and business professions into mechanical engineering capstone course

Capstone design, along with the last courses before graduation, is one of the major performance indicators of the student outcome in an undergraduate mechanical engineering program. Educational topics on the capstone course, such as the instruction content, course design, procedures, and timeline schedule, have been deliberated by engineering instructors in higher education. Meanwhile, more and more universities started to invite mentorship or advisement from industrial personnel to the capstone design classes as practical experience is also a significant factor in the engineering study. In this article, a senior design course for undergraduate mechanical engineering program is introduced. Collaboration and mentoring by industrial and business professions are offered in the course, though optional for students. As a result, the students in the same capstone course, though got the same lecture classes and follow the same design schedule, can be divided into three different groups: Group 1 worked in traditional design format, Group 2 received mentorship not only from the instructor but also from industrial professions, and Group 3 received help from a business profession. The course and project outcome of the three groups are evaluated by various assessment and results are demonstrated and discussed.

Robotics Focused Capstone Senior Design Course

This work describes the educational experiences gained teaching the Senior Design I & II courses, a senior level, two-semester sequence in the Electrical Engineering (EE) program at Georgia Southern University (GSU). In particular, the authors present their experiences in using robotics as the main area to develop the capstone senior design, with focus in interdisciplinary interactions and teamwork for the design and implementation of autonomous mobile robots. Other main purpose of the capstone design course sequence is for the students to experience working in an engineering application project researching and analyzing the sustainability, ethical and social impact issues related to their projects. The students work for two semesters as a team to design, test and build a mobile robot project for a particular application. Some of these projects have been fabricated to participate in different robotic competitions, including the IEEE sponsored hardware competition, the lawn mower competition, and the robot waiter competition.

Optimum Frequency of Peer Evaluations in Capstone Design Courses

Peer evaluations are commonly used in design courses for developmental and evaluative purposes. Peer ratings are however often higher than the instructor ratings and this can induce fears regarding their reliability. This study examined whether it may be possible to increase the agreement between peer and instructor ratings by increasing the frequency of the peer assessments. The premise was that peers may provide less lenient assessments if the impact of single evaluations on the final grade is reduced by increasing the number of evaluations. Increasing the number of peer evaluations in our senior design course from two to six per year did not increase the accuracy of the peer ratings but provided other benefits such as earlier identification of dysfunctional teams, elimination of free riding and more frequent developmental feedback. Peer and instructor ratings can be normalized however to yield similar indicators of the relative performance of teammates. The frequency and timing of peer evaluations are critical to obtain meaningful results and maximize impact on team dynamics

Implications of big data for data scientists and engineers

ANALYTICS as a discipline is certainly a hot topic. As a member of an industrial engineering department, I am responsible for sourcing real world projects for undergrad senior design courses. I am proud of the types of analytics projects we have pursued for both social good and corporate good. Some the examples of projects include: 1. Optimizing the scheduling of nurse resources at a hospital 2. Optimizing the use of IMRT (radiation therapy) for cancer patients 3. Optimizing the placement of medical resources along the route of the Chicago (and Houston) marathons 4. Creating an analytics based fake news detector 5. Creating an algorithm for predicting housing prices based on historical data 6. Optimizing electric vehicle charging for city of Evanston 7. Optimizing the DIVVY bike locations for city of Evanston While these are very focused projects that my students have worked on in the past few years as part of a senior design project based course, it is clear that analytics is also exploding onto the scene of corporate America. I would characterize these projects as “small data” as the datasets are quite modest and focused. They are not usually available publically and are specific to a client scenario that we are asked to model and analyze.

Maximum Power Point Tracker: A Senior Design Experience

The academic calendar at Kettering University in Flint, Michigan, is based on quarters, with each term having 10? weeks of lecture time. The electrical engineering senior design course at Kettering is only a quarter-term-long project, and the projects vary each term depending on the professor. The course is structured mainly for three-student teams to work independently, and interaction with the professor is mostly limited to checking each team's progress during the milestones.

Structure and Management of an Engineering Senior Design Course

The design of products and processes is an important area in engineering. Students in engineering schools learn fundamental principles in their courses but often lack an opportunity to apply these methods to real-world problems until their senior year. This article describes important elements that should be incorporated into a senior capstone design course. It includes a description of the general principles used in engineering design and a discussion of why students often have difficulty with application and revert to trial and error methods. The structure of a properly designed capstone course is dissected and its individual components are evaluated. Major components include assessing resources, identifying projects, establishing teams, understanding requirements, developing conceptual designs, creating detailed designs, building prototypes, testing performance, and final presentations. In addition to the course design, team management and effective mentoring are critical to success. This article includes suggested guidelines and tips for effective design team leadership, attention to detail, investment of time, and managing project scope. Furthermore, the importance of understanding business culture, displaying professionalism, and considerations of different types of senior projects is discussed. Through a well-designed course and proper mentoring, students will learn to apply their engineering skills and gain basic business knowledge that will prepare them for entry-level positions in industry.

The Six Minds of a Whole New Engineer

Guest Editorial Early engineers of the 19th century were rock stars of their times, much like famous dot-com entrepreneurs of our times. Petroleum engineering got its start after this early “generalist” phase of the profession when the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) formed a standing committee on oil and gas in 1913. The first petroleum engineering degree followed suit at the University of Pittsburgh in 1915, and today SPE represents more than 140,000 professional and student members around the globe. From that early formative period of petroleum engineering, technical specialization increased and continued into the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, but more recently, engineering has faced pressures to change. Mark Somerville, a professor of electrical engineering and physics at Olin College, and I have written about this in our book, A Whole New Engineer: The Coming Revolution in Engineering Education. In particular, we spell out the six minds that all of today’s engineers need to embody to reach their full potential. They are the Analytical mind Design mind Linguistic mind People mind Body mind Mindful mind Analytical Mind Most engineers will have no trouble identifying with what we call the analytical mind. They know (and have survived) the drill of “applying” mathematics and science, so let’s move to the others. Design Mind When we talk about design mind, we are probably still within most engineers’ comfort zone. However, maximizing our design capabilities has had some ups and downs over the years. A report called the Grinter Report in 1955 ultimately led to (a) raising the math/science content of the engineering curriculum, and (b) reducing the design and practical content. Meetings in the 1960s helped redress some of the perceived harm of the Grinter changes by establishing capstone senior design courses at a number of schools, and increasing design content has been an important trend ever since. Today, these design education efforts are going further. Companies such as IDEO integrate industrial design, engineering design, and applied anthropology so that design thinking connects human usage and conceptual design directly. A required second-year class called User-Oriented Design at Olin College has students working in teams with groups of individuals (firemen, soup kitchen operators, flight instructors, bicycle messengers, to name a few) over the course of the semester. The goal of the course is to create a conceptual design of technology that will improve the work lives of the group studied.