Peter J. Shull

Thinking inside of the box: retention of women in engineering

The paper describes a current effort at Penn State Altoona to address the issue of low retention of women in science and engineering. This effort also is designed to contribute to the long-term advancement of women in these fields throughout their careers. The approach taken is to challenge women students to recognize their beliefs and self perceptions regarding their relationship with engineering and thus provide them with the opportunity for positive change. As a consequence, their actions have potential to change stereotypical attitudes towards women in the sciences. The particular method we chose to accomplish these goals is to design and teach a course to educate women in the area of computer problem diagnosis and repair. The course includes diagnosing and troubleshooting software and hardware problems, and upgrading and maintaining the systems, as well as an introduction to component functionality and integration. Demonstration of the proficiency attained by the women in computer technology distinguishes them among colleagues. This distinction results from the well-recognized prestige associated with this level of knowledge of computer technology.

Development and implementation of a course in instrumentation and data acquisition for the Penn State baccalaureate degree electro-mechanical engineering technology program

In support of a new four-year Bachelor of Science program in Electromechanical Engineering Technology at Penn State University, USA, an instrumentation and data acquisition course has been developed. This course is targeted at junior level students that already possess a basic knowledge of digital and analog electronics, microprocessors and physical measurements. Initially, the students develop familiarity with sensors and techniques to measure physical phenomena such as force, velocity, acceleration, pressure, temperature and electromagnetic fields. The data acquisition from these sensors is first performed using basic manual methods followed by the introduction of automated techniques using Labview/sup (C/). The course requires the students, working in teams, to complete a semester long project. The project design requires the students to use current material while considering concepts that have not formally been discussed. Planning with flexibility in their designs is crucial to the completion of the projects. As a direct assessment of this course, the students are expected to utilize their knowledge of sensors, data acquisition, product research and design methods in a subsequent laboratory course in control systems. This paper discusses the details of the development of this course.

Training student in responsibility for their own learning: True student centered learning

I often hear faculty speak of students not taking responsibility. Students who do not read the assignments, miss or turn in incomplete homework, or do not actively participating in lab assignments and still expect a good grade! Simply put, more and more students are not taking responsibility for their own learning. But I dont believe that the reason is because students dont want to do so. My question is So, what are we (faculty) going to do about it? Usually the answer I get is Its their responsibility, they are in college! This common faculty response reminds me of Einsteins definition of insanity: Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein.

BENEFIT OF CONVERTING TO RSLOGIX 5000 FROM RSLOGIX 500

Abstract In conjunction with Creative Pultrusions, Inc., a fiberglass reinforced polymer composites manufacturer in Alum Bank, PA, a senior project was designed to convert the machine operation code for their pultruders from the Rockwell Automations RSLogix500 software to the RSLogix5000 software. This project was a capstone design for the Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology program at Penn State Altoona. The specific aim was to show the benefits of RSLogix5000 while improving the pultruding system at Creative Pultrusions, Inc. By streamlining the existing code, troubleshooting could become more efficient. In order to convert the code, a complete understanding of the pultrusion process was necessary along with that of both the RSLogix500 software and RSLogix5000 software. This document will discuss background information pertaining to Creative Pultrusions, Inc., RSLogix500 software and RSLogix5000 software in addition to the machine code conversion and testing processes.

Effects of pre-stresses on impact-induced damage of CFRP laminates

The objective of this study is to experimentally evaluate the effects of the impact-induced damages of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) laminated composites under no stress and pre-stress conditions such as (1) no loading, (2) compressive loading, and (3) tensile loading. The symmetrical 4-points bending apparatus was designed and manufactured for making the pre-stressed conditions. Four kinds of test specimens having laminate configurations of (012/θ20/012) were employed, wherein their ply angles (denoted as θ) were 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°. The test specimens were impacted with an air-gun type of impact apparatus. First, a strain change caused by the impact was measured. Second, a mechanical scanning acoustic reflection microscope (SAM: pulse-wave mode) was used to detect an interior damage (e.g., delamination) of the impact-induced specimens.

Damage analysis of CF/AF hybrid fabric reinforced plastic laminated composites with scanned image microscopy

The article presents an experimental study that has been conducted to evaluate the impact loading damage within hybrid fabric laminates-carbon and Aramid fibers. The experiments have been undertaken on a series of interply hybrid specimens with different preprags stacking sequences. Impact damage was created using an air-gun like impact device propelling spherical steel balls with diameters of 5.0mm and 10.0mm and having velocities of 113m/s and 40m/s respectively. The resulting specimen surface and internal damage (e.g., micro-cracking and debonding) was visualized nondestructively by a scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) while further interrogation of specific internal damage was visualized using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) on cross-sectioned panels.

Application of a high numerical-aperture lens to visualize disbonding between metallic films and polymer substrates with SAM

Due to increased demand for design flexibility, in recent years engineers have progressively employed polymers in the design of electronics enclosures. As the circuits in these enclosures are miniaturized, dissipate more thermal energy and run at higher clock speeds, electromagnetic interference (EMI) and heat dissipation concerns become more apparent and are more problematic. The high thermal impedance of polymers slows their implementation in these situations. In addition, many electronics devices are subject to industrial and governmental regulations for EMI emission and isolation. To address these concerns it is becoming increasingly popular to apply conformal metallic films to polymer-based enclosures to increase EMI shielding and decrease thermal impedance through heat spreading. As with any coating, quality assurance of adhesion between the film and substrate is of immense importance. Without standardized testing procedures for assuring the quality of these processes, it is difficult to place them into practice. When new and alternative manufacturing processes are brought forth quality assurance is of paramount importance. The majority of existing commercial testing procedures for determination of adhesion quality for metallic films pertain to metallic substrates. This paper presents the application of a practical shear wave lens to overcome these issues. It will be demonstrated that the shear wave lens will provide sufficient resolution in this application to allow visualization of bond quality and determination of to what degree a conformal coating has been achieved.

Non-intrusive non-destructive method to detect fissile material

The detection of fissile materials is of great interest to the National Homeland Security effort. Significant advantages of a technique using nuclear acoustic resonance (NAR) over the traditional detection methods are that it will not rely on nuclear radiation signatures, will be non-intrusive, and has the potential to identify individual components of composite substances including fractional isotope composition of the material under investigation. Technique uses the unique nuclear acoustic resonance signatures generated when materials are driven by high intensity resonant acoustic waves in the presence of a constant magnetic field. This would cause shifts in the nuclear and electronic spin energy levels of the material. Nuclear energy level shifts induce changes in the unique nuclear magnetic properties of the material which can then be quantified using sensitive instruments. This paper will discuss in detail, the physics and detection principles of NAR and also provide some preliminary results.

Localized temperature control of microwave-assisted cure in SCRIMP-manufactured composites

This paper describes current efforts to apply spatially and temporally localized microwave processing techniques to ensure uniformity of material properties in polymer composite materials. In large polymer composite structures, high temperatures caused by exothermic resin cure can degrade the mechanical properties of the composite. In this work, resin cure temperature data was obtained during microwave processing from a series of thermocouples embedded at various lateral locations relative to the microwave source and uniformly through the thickness of the composite structure. Using this temperature information, the potential for localized microwave-accelerated cure to reduce the occurrence of material degradation from resin over-temperature was evaluated.

So you want to teach! [engineering teaching]

Traditionally, engineering graduate students have been trained to be top-of-the-line researchers through rigorous programs that impart both scientific knowledge and the methods of gaining new knowledge through future research and analysis. To prepare for a faculty position, to be a top-of-the-line educator, what training do we receive? We are experts at research and the attainment of knowledge in our particular field, yet we are amateurs at imparting that knowledge if we choose to do so. The author discusses his experiences as a researcher transformed into a professor which sheds some light on the process and resultant predicaments of educating the educator. The author discusses the graduate school experience and the tenure track experience, and the cyclical and self sustaining problem of the process of educating the educator.