John T. Bell

The application of virtual reality to (chemical engineering) education

Virtual reality, VR, offers many benefits to technical education, including the delivery of information through multiple active channels, the addressing of different learning styles, and experiential-based learning. This poster presents work performed by the authors to apply VR to engineering education, in three broad project areas: virtual chemical plants, virtual laboratory accidents, and a virtual UIC campus. The first area provides guided exploration of domains otherwise inaccessible, such as the interior of operating reactors and microscopic reaction mechanisms. The second promotes safety by demonstrating the consequences of not following proper lab safety procedures. And the third provides valuable guidance for (foreign) visitors. All programs developed are available on the Web, for free download to any interested parties.

Vicher: A virtual reality based educational module for chemical reaction engineering

Virtual reality has the potential to be a powerful new tool in engineering education by bringing experience-based learning to all students, addressing the needs of students with alternate learning styles, and providing enhanced impact to educational presentations. As with any new tool, we must first learn how, when, and where to apply it before it becomes useful. This article describes Vicher, the first known application of virtual reality to chemical engineering education, and some of what has been discovered about virtual reality as an educational tool during Vichers development. Vicher currently consists of two programs-Vicher I and Vicher II-which deal with the topics of catalyst deactivation and nonisothermal effects in chemical reaction engineering, respectively. Between the two programs, Vicher currently simulates five different engineering areas plus support facilities. Future plans include extensive student testing, program expansion and refinement, and the development of additional virtual reality based educational modules.

27.3 Area-efficient 1GS/s 6b SAR ADC with charge-injection-cell-based DAC

To support growing data bandwidths, high-speed moderate-resolution ADCs have become vital for high-speed serial links. Interleaved SAR ADCs achieve high sampling speeds and good energy efficiency. However a challenge is that these ADCs are large and therefore suffer from interleaving artifacts related to size [1]. Compact, efficient SAR ADCs are needed to address this problem. As an alternative, multiple-bit-per-cycle SAR ADCs deliver high speed from a single SAR ADC, but at the cost of significant added complexity (i.e., extra quantizers and capacitor DACs) and die area [2,3]. This work addresses the need for a fast, compact SAR ADC, with a 1GS/s SAR ADC that has the best Walden FOM and the smallest area among 5-to-6.3b ADCs published in ISSCC (see Fig. 27.3.1).

An N-path filter enhanced low phase noise ring VCO

A novel self-filtering scheme breaks the typical tradeoff between noise and power, enabling a ring oscillator to approach the phase noise performance of an LC oscillator. The prototype N-path filter enhanced voltage-controlled ring oscillator (NPFRVCO) achieves a measured phase noise of -110dBc/Hz at a 1MHz offset frequency for an oscillation frequency of 1.0GHz. The self-clocked N-path filter reduces the phase noise by 10dB and 28dB for 1.0GHz and 300MHz oscillation frequencies, respectively. Implemented in 65nm CMOS, the NPFRVCO occupies a die area of 0.015 mm2 and consumes 4.7mW from 1.2V power supply when operating at 1.0GHz. The NPFRVCO has a measured frequency tuning range from 300MHz to 1.6GHz and achieves a FoM of 163dB at 1MHz offset.

An innovative approach to Software Engineering term projects, coordinating student efforts between multiple teams over multiple semesters

Software Engineering projects typically go through stages of development, with implementation near the end. Following the normal order in a school semester leaves students with little time to develop code and little to show for their efforts besides long written reports. Students also work in a bubble, having little contact with anyone outside their immediate group. This paper describes an innovative approach in which students work on two half-projects in parallel during a semester, implementing a design developed by previous students while simultaneously developing a new design to be implemented by a following group. This approach not only starts implementation early, it also forces the students to coordinate their efforts with two different groups of students, whom they may or may not ever meet in person. That experience has not always been enjoyable, but it has demonstrated the value of quality documentation far more effectively than any lecture ever could. An added benefit is that they experience two different approaches to software engineering, and work on problems in two different domains. This novel approach to a team-based semester project is easily applied to any field in which a term project is employed, with little adjustment needed for particular subject areas.