Nael Barakat

Engineering ethics: A critical dimension of the profession

Engineering has always had a massive impact on human health and welfare. Unfortunately, the public only realizes the magnitude of this impact when very few engineering disasters occur, like huge oil spells in the sea or the failure of an aero-plane or a building. This is in spite of the plethora of engineering systems working perfectly around the clock to enhance every miniature aspect of public health and welfare.

Balanced Depth and Breadth in a New Interdisciplinary Nanotechnology Course.

The field of nanotechnology has outgrown the discovery phase into the application and even commercial production phases. Consequently, the need for a workforce capable of supporting this growth is more than ever. However, because of the different challenges associated with nanotechnology education, specific courses are required to be developed and implemented in engineering schools to help produce this much needed workforce. This article describes the details of developing and implementing a course entitled Fundamentals of Nanotechnology as part of an umbrella plan for nanotechnology education and awareness at multiple levels. The course is designed to overcome most of the challenges facing nanotechnology education. As an example, one of the major challenges related to teaching this topic is the lack of equipment and facility, due to high cost, among other factors. Computer based activities are proposed and implemented to overcome this challenge. The course aims at providing a multidisciplinary pool of science and engineering students with the elements needed to continue and expand into the nanotechnology field, regardless of their discipline or focus. This course was developed and first implemented during the spring semester of 2010. Results from this offering were assessed to help close the quality loop and improve the next offering, the sequel project-based course, as well as the umbrella plan.

A New Device to Quantify Human Trunk-Control Measurements

When helping in the rehabilitation of stroke and head trauma patients, physical therapists often find a need to measure the patient’s control of the muscles in their torso. This is called trunk control. Currently, there are two options for the measurement of trunk control. The first is qualitative analysis by the physical therapist, and the second is large, expensive equipment that measures the patient’s balance. The goal of this project was to create a low cost, quantitative means of measuring trunk control. The device used accelerometers placed on the back of the patient’s neck to measure the angle of the patient’s torso from vertical, as compared to acceleration due to gravity, in both left to right and forward to backward directions. The data taken from the accelerometers is stored on a micro-SD card, which is then inserted into a personal computer and analyzed using software built in the lab. The software produces a graphical representation of the data and displays useful calculations. During the course of the project, careful consideration had to be taken to stay within the bounds of professional ethics from a biomedical point of view. This included restricting the testing of the device and taking patient safety as a primary consideration during the entirety of the design process. Future iterations of the device will include technical and aesthetic improvements based on feedback from a group of physical therapy students who are currently testing the quality of the device’s measurements as well as its integration into a clinical setting. Additionally, a group of business students are constructing a business plan for the marketing and sales of this product.Copyright

Synthesis and Dynamic Analysis of a Quick-Return Mechanism Using MATLAB and SIMULINK

The approach adopted in this work is an attempt to introduce students, in kinematics and dynamics of machinery course, to a complete design and analysis of function generation mechanisms via analytical methods. Although the approach implemented in this work is for function generation type of mechanisms, the concept is indeed extendable to the other types of mechanisms as well. As a project in the kinematics and dynamics of machinery class, students designed, and analyzed a four bar quick-return mechanism using MATLAB and SIMULINK as the primary software tools. One of the aims of this project was to abandon the traditional graphical synthesis and graphical analysis, covered in all the mechanisms textbooks, and to use the powerful combination of MATLAB and SIMULINK to implement the entire design and analysis process. The project, given to an undergraduate class, serves also as a prologue to future advanced courses in mechanical engineering, such as multi-body dynamics. In implementing the dimensional synthesis portion of the project, students employed complex number arithmetic to realize the design specifications. Once the design specifications were met, a known motor torque was applied to the crank to drive the mechanism. With the known geometric and inertial properties of each link, Lagrange’s equations for constraint motion were then utilized to arrive at the second order differential equations of motion. SIMULINK, as a user friendly graphical interface, was used to carry out the integration to obtain angular position, velocity, and acceleration of the designed mechanism. The project also calculates the reaction loads on the mechanism using the concepts of Newtonian mechanics. The project, though rigorous, is an excellent way to force students to practice their knowledge of dynamics and numerical methods. The project, certainly, meets the ABET criteria for implementing design in mechanical engineering curriculum. The author received positive feedbacks from his students with regard to this project.Copyright

Panel - How do practitioners become learned professionals on ethical issues?

This panel discussion seeks to engage engineering professionals in a discussion of their responsibilities and obligations to perform duties in an ethical manner. Specifically, the panel will explore how learned professionals learn about these responsibilities and the potential consequences resulting from different responses to a myriad of unforeseen circumstances. The roles of formal education, continuing education, and on-the-job experience are examined as key components of the educational process.

Effective NEMS Education and Training in an Undergraduate Course

Increasing demand on workforce for nanotechnology implementation has resulted in an exponential increase of demand on educational material and methods to qualify this workforce. However, nanotechnology is a field that integrates many areas of science and engineering requiring a significant amount of background knowledge in both theory and application to build upon. This challenge is significantly magnified when trying to teach nanotechnology concepts and applications at the undergraduate engineering level. A considerable amount of time is needed for an undergraduate engineering student to be able to design and build a useful device applying nanotechnology concepts, within one course time.This paper presents an actual experience in teaching hands-on applications in nanotechnology to undergraduate engineering students through an optimized model, within a normal course time. The model significantly reduces the time needed by undergraduate students to learn the necessary manufacturing techniques and apply them to produce useful products at the micro and nano levels, by ensuring that infrastructure and legwork related to the educational process are partially completed and verified, before the course starts. The model also provides improved outcomes as all its pre-course work is also tested with students working under different arrangements of professors’ supervision. The result is an optimized infrastructure setup for micro and nanotechnology design and manufacturing education, built with students in mind, to be completed within the frame of one semester course.The model was implemented at GVSU-SOE as the core hands-on part of a senior undergraduate course titled (EGR 457 nano/micro systems engineering). Students in the course were able to go through the design and build steps of different MEMS and NEMS products, while learning and utilizing cleanroom equipment and procedures. This was based on infrastructural arrangements by students preceding this class by a semester and working closely with the professors. Assessment was conducted on both sides of the model and results were collected for evaluation and improvement of the model.Copyright

Balanced Integration of Theory and Applications in Teaching Robotics

Robotics has become part of the curriculum in almost every engineering school. This is mainly because it is a topic that involves different engineering knowledge bases in a medium that fosters innovation and creativity. The educational value provided by robotics makes it an ideal activity for students to integrate technical knowledge and hard skills as well as soft skills and creativity, thereby meeting several of the criteria of the US Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) in one activity. Robotics is also effective in recruiting and engaging students. Robotics is, though, a very dynamic topic, directly influenced by changes in technology, among other factors. In fact, in the history of robotics education, different themes have emerged and others disappeared, resulting in a continuous challenge for educators to accommodate these themes in their courses without compromising engineering basics. One major and continuous challenge facing educators is how to balance theory and applications in robotics courses. The design and analysis of robotic systems are essential parts of robotics engineering education, while demand is increasingly shifting towards applications and the implementation of these systems. This paper is based on the authors experience in the field. It presents a summary of the methods and benefits of incorporating robotics in engineering education as well as an analysis of the challenges facing educators. It also includes a focused discussion on balancing theory and applications in a robotics course. Experience in teaching a hands-on robotics course is provided as an example of how to handle some of these challenges. The course outcomes include industrial-grade functional robotics systems and confident students ready to take on challenges, from applications to research and development in the field of robotics.

Levels of Ethics Education in University Graduate Programs

Professional ethics are critical in guiding how professionals conduct themselves as they apply their knowledge for providing services to the public. Therefore it should be without question that during education, professional degree seeking students should be taught ethics pertaining to their field of study. However, in many graduate programs in the field of engineering sciences throughout the country, professional ethics is not required for a degree, particularly beyond undergraduate degrees. A study was performed in 2006 polling some major universities, covering most of the geographical areas and states of the United States, on the content of their graduate engineering programs pertaining to professional ethics. The results showed that only a very small percentage of universities had a full course or a subject of a course pertaining to professional ethics. These numbers reflect a significant shortage in the students’ education on how to perform in a professional setting. Five years later in 2011, the same universities were polled again to see if any change has been made to improve the ethics education at the graduate level. The data showed a small increase in the number of schools mentioning professional ethics at the graduate level, but the numbers are still very low. This paper covers the poll results along with an analysis of the findings and attempts to explore the reasons behind this lack of emphases on ethics education in engineering at the graduate level. It also discusses what Universities should be teaching students in regards to professional ethics. The analysis includes skills needed in industry as well as the supporting arguments for the importance of ethics education.Copyright

Incorporation of Hands-On Activities in Learning Nanomaterials

For decades, nanomaterials, especially nanoparticles, have received extensive attention from the research community and have gained increasing importance in many industries. Growing production and utilization of nanomaterials result in a significant need for a relevant and skilled workforce. To meet these growing needs, the course “Fundamentals of Nanotechnology” was developed in the School of Engineering (SOE) at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) as one part of the Nanotechnology curriculum development plan sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Nanomaterials is one of the main topics covered in this course. Many concepts related to nanomaterials are both theoretical and abstract, which are difficult for students to grasp. This paper describes the hands-on lab activities incorporated to enhance the students’ learning and mastery of the subject. Through these hands-on activities, students learned to synthesize zero-dimensional and two-dimensional nanomaterials and characterized different properties of these nanomaterials. Students explored the physical and optical properties of nanoparticles, particle-to-particle aggregation, and applications of nanoparticles as sensors used in different fields. This paper presents the role of these hands-on activities in enhancing the students’ understanding of the theoretical nanomaterial concepts. These lab activities were assessed and results of this assessment from the first offering of the course are presented.Copyright

Global Engineering Ethics: A Marketing Approach

There is no doubt that the world is shrinking in many ways, including the ways that engineers from various nations collaborate and share ideas. Along with major international projects such as the international space station, corporations in the United States and abroad are carrying out international engineering tasks on a daily basis. Such collaborations have been of great benefit to the engineering profession because of the free exchange of ideas and engineering talents. One of the main problems facing engineers in the international arena, however, is the lack of a common ethical background. The debate about how to create a common, global code of ethics for engineers has been carried out for several years. The aim of this paper is not add to the arguments about what should be included in a global code of ethics. The purpose of this paper is, in fact, to present a method by which an international organization tasked with the development and administration of such a code could go about attracting potential members. A common code of ethics, containing tenets that most engineering societies around the world already agree upon, is laid down as the framework. From this the basic operation of an international engineering society is outlined. With this basic starting point established the discussion proceeds to the techniques that an international society would need to employ in order grow in numbers and gain credibility among the profession. Further discussion leads to incorporation of these ideas into the education of engineers at the undergraduate level. Ethical training is currently incorporated into undergraduate curricula at many universities in the US. In many cases, however, this portion of the curriculum is limited to western ethical philosophies and the codes of ethics of the American engineering societies. Undergraduate engineering education is designed to develop the next generation to lead their engineering fields. With the prevalence of international collaboration in engineering it is almost assured that these future engineers will be international engineers, to some degree. This paper presents not only a method for attracting potential members to an international engineering society, but also means to prepare future engineers to be responsible members of the international engineering community.Copyright