Scott Danielson

ASME vision 2030: Helping to inform mechanical engineering education

In July 2008, the ASME Center for Education formed an engineering education task force, subsequently entitled ASME Vision 2030. The committee was composed of representatives from industry and education, including both engineering and engineering technology educators. This paper provides a summary of the extensive survey effort undertaken by ASME to gather input from industry (both supervisors and early career engineers) and academia about the strengths and weaknesses of mechanical engineering graduates. The number of survey respondents totals almost 3000. This paper summarizes data highlights and relevant issues revealed by them. Of special interest to educators are the areas where the academic view is either contradictory to, or aligned with, the view of industry practitioners. In addition, the professional development needs of early career engineers provide insight into improvements needed in both current curricula and post graduate educational offerings. The salient points stemming from these data also apply to engineering disciplines beyond mechanical engineering.

A flexible curriculum for a multi-disciplinary undergraduate engineering degree

This paper presents the curricular structure currently under development for the new undergraduate multi-disciplinary engineering program at Arizona State University at the East campus. A founding faculty team is building the new engineering program from a clean slate. The 128-credit hour program is characterized by engaged learning, flexibility, and a focus on students as individual learners. The curricular structure includes an engineering foundation of required topics in the first two years and primary and secondary areas of concentration in the third and fourth years. Most of the engineering content of the foundation as well as some of the content in the concentration areas will be available as 1-credit hour computer-based modules. The curriculum includes large projects in every semester and pervasive problem-based learning. In the sophomore year and the primary concentration, engineering content is coupled to each project through a companion course that includes and contextualizes the content modules. This agile and flexible curricular structure provides a mechanism for constructing unique multidisciplinary degrees, for incubating emerging engineering topics, and for building more traditional depth focused degrees

Engineering Technology Education in an Era of Globalization

The world has become a fundamentally different place than it was when most engineering technology (ET) curricula were devised and implemented. Graduates must interact in a global environment, as international corporations are the rule in virtually any sector where ET graduates seek jobs: electronics, automotive, aerospace, consumer goods, energy. Unfortunately, what graduates need to compete in those environments is not yet a significant part of many engineering technology programs. Engineering technology programs in the U.S. must adapt to the globalization of industry, and prepare faculty and students to face these new challenges. After setting the larger stage of engineering technology education in a global environment, specific details relating to Arizona State University, Brigham Young University, and Purdue Universitys activities towards meeting this challenge are detailed

Local and Global accessibility Evaluation with Tool Geometry

AbstractAccessibility analysis is an important step for the automatic generation of machining planning. One aim of accessibility analysis is to find a domain in which the tool can maneuver without colliding with the workpiece. Most approaches to accessibility analysis use rays or half-line projections that do not include tool geometry considerations. In this paper we present an approach for the global accessibility analysis that includes tool geometry. The paper demonstrates how local accessibility analysis forms an upper bound for the tool radius selection and how a global accessibility approach determines point and part accessibility. The results in this paper are limited to ball-endmill tool geometry. The paper also only considers tool – workpiece interference and collisions and does not consider tool holder geometry. Experiments on sample parts are shown to validate the approach.

Work in Progress - A Statics Skills Inventory

This paper focuses on assessment of student skills in statics and provides details of development of a statics skills assessment tool. The use of only concept inventories to provide proof of student learning is an incomplete assessment as important engineering knowledge consists of both conceptual knowledge and skill intertwined. A multi-step Delphi process involving a group of engineering educators was used to reach consensus on the important skills of statics. These skills are currently grouped into 10 categories. The Delphi rankings included both the average importance of the skill as judged by the Delphi participants and their judgment of the average proportion of their students whom can perform the skill. Skill-based questions are being developed to probe these areas

Concept questions for improved learning and outcome assessment in statics

Summary form only given. Students in science, math, or engineering classes often focus on plugging numbers into equations rather than understanding the basic concepts behind the equations. Eric Mazur (1997) developed materials to help physics teachers move students from juggling equations to actually thinking and learning the concepts of physics by use of concept questions and peer instruction. Statics concept questions that instructors can use to encourage students to grapple with underlying concepts as well as support active learning in statics classes are being developed. In addition, the questions are targeted at different levels of Blooms (1956) taxonomy. Use of these questions in statics classes at two different institutions and initial results are described.

Integration of manufacturing into mechanical engineering curricula

This paper focuses on enhancing the integration of manufacturing principles and concepts within curricula in mechanical engineering and mechanical engineering technology education programs. The field of manufacturing engineering covers the broad spectrum of topics derived from the definition, “Manufacturing requires that a modification of the shape, form, or properties of a material that takes place in a way that adds value”. (ABET, Inc. 2010) The ASME’s Vision 2030 surveys of industry engineering supervisors and early career mechanical engineers have illustrated that the curricula of mechanical engineering and related programs have an urgent need to enhance students’ comprehension of ‘how things are made and work,’ e.g., the knowledge and skills needed to design and efficiently produce products via high-performance systems. (Danielson, et. al. 2011) This session is designed to be primarily a dialog among the participants and the presenters, focusing on a model for the manufacturing field called The Four Pillars of Manufacturing Knowledge, developed by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME 2011a), and how it relates to mechanical engineering education. Broader issues and resources related to enhancing manufacturing education are also presented.Copyright

The body of knowledge in mechanical engineering technology

In November 2004, the ASME Council on Education promulgated a vision of the future of mechanical engineering education based on the work of the ASME Body of Knowledge Taskforce. Unfortunately, the vision gave only a cursory nod to Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) as a part of the educational and professional spectrum. This paper presents an amended vision for the future of mechanical engineering technology education and a discussion of the body of knowledge as applied to engineering technology. A case is made for how the vision of the future for MET educational programs differs from mechanical engineering (ME) programs. In this, the relation of MET education to the practitioner and industry is a recurring theme. A vision is proposed speaking to the strength of MET graduates as engineering practitioners and as implementers of technology; job-ready, and focused on applied engineering. A discussion of the body of knowledge appropriate for an engineering practitioner and the impact of that perspective on mechanical engineering technology education is offered. The challenges facing MET as a result of the perceptions and misconceptions regarding its graduates and their strengths are discussed. Following the lead of the ASME vision for ME education, considerations for reshaping MET education are also proposed. A positive view of the strengths of an MET education is taken and a dialog is opened on the challenges facing MET education.Copyright

A Clean Slate: Designing a Mechanical Systems Concentration Within a New Engineering Program

In July of 2003, a feasibility assessment and preliminary planning process began for creation of a new engineering program at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus. The process began with a blank slate and gave the founding faculty team, composed of civil, electrical, industrial and mechanical engineers, unprecedented freedom and flexibility in the design. The team adapted an engineering design process to develop the program’s curricular structure and content. A novel, flexible curriculum addressing the needs of engineering graduates in the modern, global workplace resulted. In this paper, we describe briefly the design process, the resulting curriculum structure, and, in more depth, the program’s mechanical systems concentration.Copyright

Teaching Four and Five-Axis CNC Machining

Traditional metal-based manufacturing processes are being driven to multi-axis machining. Manufacturing time studies have proven that there are significant cycle time reductions using multi-axis CNC machining as compared to multi-fixture CNC machining. Four and five-axis machining requires the use of software to produce both required part geometry and the resulting tool paths. However, while the software and machine tool technology are present, engineers with the appropriate educational background are harder to find. The skills required to design, tool, program, and machine four and five-axis parts are part of few, if any, educational programs. The manufacturing engineering technology program at Arizona State University is actively addressing this shortfall. Educational materials have been developed, tested and employed in classes supporting simultaneous 4-axis machining utilizing a Haas VF2 and HRT210 4th axis rotary table. Similar materials for a Haas VF2 with TR160 5-axis trunnion, capable of simultaneous 5-axis machining, are being beta tested.Copyright