Richard Goff

Work in progress - spiral curriculum approach to reformulate engineering curriculum

A theme-based spiral curriculum approach is being adopted to initiate the department-level reform (DLR) of the freshman engineering and the bioprocess engineering curricula at Virginia Tech. A large number of engineering faculty members are collaborating with experts in educational psychology and academic assessment to accomplish the objectives of this 3-year NSF supported project that began in September 2004. Successful implementation of the spiral approach will be used as a model for incorporating similar reforms in other engineering departments and elsewhere

Novel ductile polyaniline/sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) composites

Thermally stable, ductile, and electrically conductive composite films made from sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (BPS) and polyaniline emeraldine base (PANI) were prepared. Tensile tests were conducted for both dry and fully hydrated composite films, and the BPS copolymer. The composite films were as ductile and tough as the neat supportive matrix with up to 20 wt% PANI loading. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the 20 wt% PANI-containing composite films had better thermal stability than the unfilled BPSH supportive matrix, which reinforced the PANI quite well.

Ultralow modulus electrically conducting electrode materials

This paper describes the use of free-standing electrically conductive ultra-low modulus materials that withstand elongations up to 1000% as sensors for the measurement of large strains. NanoSonic has developed novel, high performance, multifunctional polymers for use in self-assembly processing that result in durable free-standing conductive films - with both controlled nominal conductivity and Youngs modulus. Such films exhibit a change in electrical conductivity as a function of tensile strain; whereby the magnitude of the change is controlled via chemical processing.

Commercial applications of metal rubber

This paper describes the commercial applications of Metal Rubber, the first material of its kind, a self-assembled free-standing electrically conductive elastomer in biomedical, aerospace and microelectronic areas. Metal Rubber is a novel nanocomposite formed via the self-assembly processing of metal nanoparticles and elastomeric polyectrolytes. This type of processing allows for control over bulk mechanical and electrical properties and requires only ppm quantities of metal to achieve percolation. The use of nanostructured precursors also results in transparent, electrically conductive nanocomposites. Metal Rubber elastomers are being developed as electrodes, for biomedical applications; flexible interconnects for microelectronics, and sensors to detect fatigue, impact and large strain for aerospace applications. This novel material may be formed as a conformal coating on nearly any substrate or as free standing films.

Improving learning and engagement for students in large classes

Due to increasing student enrollments and limited resources, small classes are evermore being replaced with large lectures. It is therefore essential to quality educational programs to address the challenges of student learning and engagement in large classes. This paper explains connections between basic learning research and practical strategies for engaging students in large engineering classrooms. First, we ground proposed instructional strategies with theory and empirical evidence on such key matters as how students represent ideas in memory, how these representations are elaborated and perfected over time, and how stored information can be retrieved for use. This helps us to understand how students learn to monitor and control their own learning and how large class environments can be approached as sites for significant learning. We discuss how electronic student response devices (clickers) have been useful for generating in-class interaction and active learning in large classes for individual and team activities. How to administer beneficial team-based projects for large classes is also presented, including: real-world problems that require teams to investigate and understand contemporary issues such as sustainability, working with industry, and third- world countries. Finally, personal style and characteristics of faculty who are successful with large classes is discussed.

Work in Progress – Interdisciplinary Design of Assistive Technology for the Third World

Successful design is usually a collaboration of individuals from more than one discipline. To address this important future work environment, student interdisciplinary design projects were created. For the past several years, teams of students from the first year Engineering Design Graphics course in the College of Engineering and students from the second year Industrial Design Studio in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies have teamed together to pursue design-build projects. However, there has heretofore been no effort to assess the effectiveness of this collaboration nor have there been any projects addressing significant human needs particularly in a global context. This semester the focus of the interdisciplinary project was on assistive technology applicable in third world countries. This work was an opportunity to assess quantitative and qualitative differences in process and products of homogeneous and interdisciplinary teams as well as the impact of human centered design projects

A Graphical Modeling Environment for Configuring Modular Product Families and Platforms

A significant amount of research has established that product platform planning is effective for the development of multiple products and management strategy for companies in today’s market. However, there are still significant challenges in planning and the realization of product families and platforms. This is particularly true for determining family and platform architectures—imperative assets in companies in order to pursue competitive advantages. It is a challenging task because individual customization of products generally competes with the goal of maximizing platform commonality. To address this challenge, this paper introduces a graphical computer-based modeling environment to support product design teams in configuring modular product families. In the modeling environment, a product family can be decomposed into its products, modules, and functions. Also, interfaces among the product components can be elaborated by defining the relationship types (fundamental, redundant, and operational). Further elaboration can be achieved by defining an appropriate set of module drivers from four different perspectives: financial, customer, design processes, and organizational culture/IT. These features facilitate modeling of a product family at multiple levels of abstraction as capturing design drivers, reasoning and goals. The application of the modeling environment is illustrated with a family of coffee-makers. It is demonstrated how the proposed modeling method offers a comprehensive representation and understanding of product family planning by integrating multiple perspectives on modular architecting. Moreover, a matrix-based analysis option is provided for design teams to view the relationships between the technical functions and the forms, and the design goals and the customer requirements in a preliminary manner.Copyright

Metal Rubber electrodes for active polymer devices

This paper describes the use of Metal Rubber, which is an electrically conductive, low modulus, and optically transparent free-standing nanocomposite, as an electrode for active polymer devices. With its controllable and tailorable properties [such as modulus (from ~ 1 MPa to 100 MPa), electrical conductivity, sensitivity to flex and strain, thickness, transmission, glass transition, and more], Metal Rubber exhibits massive improvements over traditional stiff electrodes that physically constrain the actuator device motion and thus limit productivity. Metal Rubber shows exceptional potential for use as flexible electrodes for many active polymer applications.

Power flow through amplifiers controlling electrostrictive actuators

In this paper, the power flow between stacked electrostrictor actuators and a pulse-width-modulated switching amplifier is analyzed. The amplifier and actuator are components of a smart skin whose function is underwater acoustic echo cancellation. An integrated model is developed with includes a dynamic structural model of the actuator, a dynamic model of the power electronics and a nonlinear electromechanical coupling mechanism of the electrostrictor actuation materials.Using a linearized model, the mechanical admittance of the actuator seen by an external force is analyzed. An outer acoustic control loop is shown to modify this mechanical admittance and optimize the power coupling between the actuator and an external fluid medium by impedance matching. Effective power flow occurs only when the frequency of the external force is within the bandwidth of the amplifier.

Engineering Design Education - Core Competencies

In the past, it was very common for students to come to the university to study engineering with basic design and build skills acquired through hands-on experiences acquired through play with friends, work on farms, work on cars and general tinkering. Engineering students were predominantly white males and eager to dive into design projects that could call upon skills in spatial reasoning, problem solving, working with others, and more. Currently, students who enter the university to study engineering are more diverse in race, gender, and background. The pervasiveness of computers, computer gaming, and social networking has also shifted the competencies of most incoming students. Many incoming students do not have the background and skills required to succeed in the design of solutions to engineering problems. This paper suggests there is a need to identify and better understand the basic set of core competencies that, if possessed by the student, would assure their success in the engineering education environment as well as in industry upon graduation. This paper identifies industry lists and critiques and academic efforts to catalogue core competencies and gives an example of one core competency, after being identified as being weak and remediated, showed dramatically improved student performance. Disciplines Engineering Education | Industrial Engineering Comments This proceeding was published in the Proceedings of the 50th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition, Paper No. AIAA 2012-1222, doi:10.2514/6.2012-1222. Posted with permission. This conference proceeding is available at Iowa State University Digital Repository: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/imse_conf/11 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 1 Engineering Design Education Core Competencies