Christopher Papadopoulos

Sustainable wellbeing education in engineering

Notions of human wellbeing can be used to evaluate and plan technological innovation and engineering design. However, current engineering practices and most engineering education curricula do not adequately deal with wellbeing. A set of interdisciplinary courses at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez are proposed by the authors to fill this gap and to provide a transition to an engineering curriculum integrated with community wellbeing. These courses will enroll engineering students alongside non-engineering students. One of such courses was offered for the first time during the Spring 2012 and its preliminary assessment results are presented. This new course incorporates the framework of Appropriate Technology to link traditional goals of engineering-technology innovation with what should be their ultimate goal: to enhance human wellbeing and flourishing. The course involves faculty members from 8 different departments and integrates topics such as ethics, economics, technology innovation, social entrepreneurship, renewable energy, agriculture, philosophy of technology, and community participation. The course is structured as a sequence of weekly modules, each focusing on one area relevant to develop a holistic perspective of appropriate technology. To promote coherence around the central theme of wellbeing, a set of faculty planning meetings, including a day long retreat, were held. This process will enable the transition from multidisciplinary convergence to interdisciplinary coherence.

Bifurcation of hemitropic elastic rods under axial thrust

In this work we consider the analysis of unshearable, hemitropic hyperelastic rods under end thrust alone. Roughly speaking, a nominally straight hemitropic rod is rotationally invariant about its centerline but lacks the reflection symmetries characterizing isotropic rods. Consequently a constitutive coupling between extension and twist is natural. We provide a rigorous bifurcation analysis for such structures under “hard” axial loading. First, we show that the initial post-buckling behavior depends crucially upon the boundary conditions: if both ends are clamped against rotation, the initial buckled shape is spatial (nonplanar); if at least one end is unrestrained against rotation, the buckled rod is twisted but the centerline is planar. Second, we show that as with isotropic rods, nontrivial equilibria of hemitropic rods occur in discrete modes, but unlike the isotropic case, such equilibria need not be compressive but could also be tensile. Finally, we prove an exchange of stability between the trivial line of solutions and “mode 1” bifurcating branches in accordance with the usual theory.

Work in progress — Leveraging accreditation efforts to foster innovation in engineering education

In its continued quest for excellence in engineering education, the College of Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez (UPRM) has unified accreditation activities, formal studies in engineering education, and work on social, ethical, and global issues under a holistic umbrella in the reformed Office for Strategic Engineering Education Development (SEED). This integrated approach is founded on the philosophy that a holistic preparation of engineering professionals with diverse academic activities will spawn important impacts beyond the borders of UPRM, and the recognition that achieving and measuring these impacts requires implementation of best practices coupled with formal assessment and research. This paper will describe the framework, strategies and procedures that underpin the new SEED Office. As leadership and active participation of the faculty are essential to advancing and maintaining educational innovation, the SEED strategy will support faculty to implement classroom best practices based on research and assessment outcomes. The authors contend that success of the new SEED Office activities will engender a world-class engineering educational environment at UPRM.

Work in progress — Interdisciplinary integration in Philosophy of Technology

Engineering Education is devoting more attention to key areas of concern such as global awareness, environmental impact, social and political considerations in decision making, and professional ethical issues. One strand of this inquiry is Philosophy of Technology, which treats social, political, and ethical issues embedded in technologies themselves. Another is Liberal Studies, in which socio-economic and sociopolitical issues that bear on engineering and technology are investigated. In an effort to organize and merge some of the ideas related to these fields, realities, and concerns, the Interdisciplinary Group on Philosophy, Engineering and Technology was established. The Groups objectives and a description of its activities, including collaborations with other efforts and future projects, are presented.