Michael R. Gustafson

Fundamentals of ECE: A Rigorous, Integrated Introduction to Electrical and Computer Engineering

The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department at Duke University, Durham, NC, is undergoing extensive curriculum revisions that incorporate novel content, organization, and teaching methods. The cornerstone of the new curriculum is a theme-based introductory course, fundamentals of ECE. To introduce students to the major areas of ECE in their first year of study, this course is organized around three concepts: 1) how to interface with the physical world; 2) how to transmit energy and information; and 3) how to extract, interpret, and analyze information. To provide insight and motivation, the course is designed to introduce multiple areas of ECE, emphasizing how they are interrelated and how they contribute to the design and functioning of real-world applications. Also, the course must engage its students, many of whom are evaluating ECE as a prospective major and career. To achieve these goals, the course adopts a unifying theme, tightly couples lecture and laboratory exercises, and includes a laboratory experience that emphasizes design, integration, and real applications. The interactive classroom content and laboratory exercises are developed iteratively so that each course component supports the other, rather than one being dominant and driving the other. As the context focus of the laboratory, a robotic platform enables the exploration of a broad range of ECE concepts, both independently and integrated into an entire system. For their final design project, students form small groups, which in turn combine into larger teams, to create robots that work together to overcome realistic challenges. This paper describes the curricular objectives and key course elements that guide course development, the resulting content and structure of the course, and the assessment data that indicate successful achievement of the curricular goals.

Effects of anisotropy and boundary plates on the critical values of a porous medium heated from below

Abstract We present a linear stability analysis of Horton–Rogers–Lapwood convection in an anisotropic porous medium bounded by finite-property plates of infinite horizontal extent. Critical values for the onset of convection are obtained using a continuation method. These values are compared with experimental data. The effects of plate diffusivity, plate diffusivity, plate thickness, and anisotropy in the diffusivity and permeability of the porous medium on these critical values are explored. We find that the predicted critical values from our stability analysis agree favorably with available precision experimental measurements.

Multimedia teaching modules in the engineering K-Ph.D. program at Duke University

The Engineering K-Ph.D. Program at Duke University is a partnership between the Pratt School of Engineering and N.C. elementary, middle and high schools. The mission of this program is to promote passionate interest in science and engineering in students, teachers and parents of all ages from kindergarten to Ph.D. The Engineering K-Ph.D. program leverages our NSF funded GK-12 program: Duke-NCSU Engineering Teaching Fellows in GK-12, a new Burroughs Wellcome funded program: Techtronics: Hands-on Exploration of Technology in Everyday Life, and the Pratt Multimedia Laboratory. This paper presents one aspect of our Program: multimedia module creation.

Integrating Sensing and Information Processing in an Electrical and Computer Engineering undergraduate curriculum

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University has completed a full-scale redesign of its undergraduate program based on the theme of Integrated Sensing and Information Processing. This theme provides a coherent, overarching framework that links principles of ECE to each other and to real-world engineering problems. The cornerstone of the new ECE curriculum, Fundamentals of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been designed to provide students with a holistic view of ECE and as a roadmap for the remainder of the curriculum. Each of four follow-on core courses integrates lateral and vertical connections to other courses through the use of thematic examples. Following the five core courses are seven ECE technical electives that include a theme-based culminating design course. Early and pervasive experiences with open-ended design and project-based learning are primary objectives of the curriculum redesign. Regression analyses of course/instructor evaluation data and descriptions of student design project complexity after the curriculum redesign are presented indicating a positive impact of the curriculum redesign on student learning.

Work in progress: theme-based redesign of an electrical and computer engineering curriculum

The goal of this work-in-progress is to develop an innovative ECE curriculum that focuses on ECE fundamentals within the construct of real-world integrated system design, analysis, and problem solving. The curriculum is formulated around the theme of integrated sensing and information processing (ISIP). The foundation of this new curriculum is a hands-on theme-based introductory course. This course, taken in the freshman year, introduces students to the major subdisciplines of ECE in the context of real-world applications. In the laboratory, which is tightly coupled to the lecture, students apply basic concepts of sensing, information transmission, information analysis, storage and networking to design and implement an ISIP system, such as a health or weather monitoring station. In this way, students immediately begin to understand the relationships between the major topic areas of ECE as well as be motivated to explore these topics in further depth. Other components of the redesign include the integration of core and upper-level courses into the ISIP theme, the introduction of new ISIP-related design courses, and the integration of MATLAB throughout the curriculum.

In Vitro Comparison of a Novel Single Probe Dual-Energy Lithotripter to Current Devices

PURPOSE The LithoClast Trilogy is a novel single probe, dual-energy lithotripter with ultrasonic (US) vibration and electromagnetic impact forces. ShockPulse and LithoClast Select are existing lithotripters that also use a combination of US and mechanical impact energies. We compared the efficacy and tip motion of these devices in an in vitro setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS Begostones, in the ratio 15:3, were used in all trials. Test groups were Trilogy, ShockPulse, Select ultrasound (US) only, and Select ultrasound with pneumatic (USP). For clearance testing, a single investigator facile with each lithotripter fragmented 10 stones per device. For drill testing, a hands-free apparatus with a submerged balance was used to apply 1 or 2 lbs of pressure on a stone in contact with the device tip. High-speed photography was used to assess Trilogy and ShockPulses probe tip motion. RESULTS Select-USP was slowest and Trilogy fastest on clearance testing (p < 0.01). On 1 lbs drill testing, Select-US was slowest (p = 0.001). At 2 lbs, ShockPulse was faster than Select US (p = 0.027), but did not significantly outpace Trilogy nor Select-USP. At either weight, there was no significant difference between Trilogy and ShockPulse. During its US function, Trilogys maximum downward tip displacement was 0.041 mm relative to 0.0025 mm with ShockPulse. Trilogy had 0.25 mm of maximum downward displacement during its impactor function while ShockPulse had 0.01 mm. CONCLUSIONS Single probe dual-energy devices, such as Trilogy and ShockPulse, represent the next generation of lithotripters. Trilogy more efficiently cleared stone than currently available devices, which could be explained by its larger probe diameter and greater downward tip displacement during both US and impactor functions.