bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
DESIGNING PLAYFUL AND INCLUSING SPACES
Authors: Bould Nicola , Bezerra Charles
Published: April 2017

Play is one of the greatest learning tools that a child may experience; yet standard public outdoor modular playgrounds exclude all but able-bodied children. The needs of children and supervising adults are the same whatever their level of ability in terms of accessibility, social interaction and safety. Since March 2004 this inclusive design philosophy has been used as an innovative educational tool and a realistic full year project for design students at the University of Otago, in New Zealand. This project is part of a deeper research on designing playful and inclusive spaces. Inspired by the work of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, several issues concerning social play behaviour and cognitive development are currently being investigated. The goal is to develop a planning methodology for designing playgrounds that are accessible, stimulating and adventurous for all children.
DESIGNING ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS FOR HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Authors: Wei M. , Marei M. I. , Salama M. M. A. , Lambert S.
Published: April 2017

Every design problem faces the need to satisfy multiple objectives; in the case of designing energy storage systems for hybrid electric vehicles, the problem is no different. This paper presents a method to design an energy storage system by combining different battery and ultra-capacitor technologies. The choice of energy storage elements depends on the desired performance of the vehicle, and the efficiency, mass and cost of the energy storage system. From knowledge of the characteristics of battery and ultra-capacitor options, a Pareto set of optimal solutions is generated to help select the best energy storage system.
DATA PRE-PROCESSING TECHNIQUES FOR MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS TO TREAT INDUSTRIAL OPERATING DATA FOR RETROFIT DESIGN
Authors: Harrison Robert P. , Stuart Paul R.
Published: April 2017

Multivariate Analysis (MVA), a statistical design tool for dealing with very large datasets, was applied to historical data from a Thermo-Mechanical Pulp (TMP) newsprint mill in Eastern Canada. Partial Least Squares (PLS) type MVA models were created to identify significant correlations between operating parameters in the woodchip refining section and variations in pulp quality. Understanding these relationships is of crucial importance to any eventual retrofit design for this process. This paper focusses on pre-selecting and pre-treating the raw process data, including infrequently measured variables, to maximize the realism and usefulness of the MVA black-box models. Key methods explored were ways of selecting low-production periods for removal, techniques for identifying and eliminating major outliers using MVA outputs, and noise filtering. A major conclusion of this work was that the PLS models were significantly improved by pre-treating the data. This paper recommends an overall design approach for applying MVA to industrial operating data, involving stringent removal of dubious periods of operation such as aberrant process behaviour, and an aggressive Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) filtering of all dependent and independent variables.
DESIGN AND TEST OF PNEUMATIC SYSTEMS FOR PRODUCTION AUTOMATION
Authors: Figliolini Giorgio , Rea Pierluigi
Published: April 2017

This paper deals with the teaching activity on the design and test of pneumatic and electro-pneumatic systems, which is carried out at the University of Cassino in Italy, since the academic year 1994 / 95. In particular, the design and test of a vacuum gripper and an automatic packaging machine, are proposed as examples of components and systems operating in on/off environment. Likewise, a proportional pressure valve and a robotic automatic packaging are presented as examples of components and systems operating in analogue environment for the production automation.
AN ATHEROSCLEROTIC CORONARY ARTERY PHANTOM FOR PARTICLE IMAGE VELOCIMETRY
Authors: Brunette Jean , Mongrain Rosaire , Mongrain Rosaire , Ranga Adrian , Ranga Adrian , Tardif Jean-Claude , Tardif Jean-Claude
Published: April 2017

Myocardial infarction, also known as a heart attack, is the single leading cause of death in North America. It results from the rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque, which occurs in response to both mechanical stress and inflammatory processes. In order to validate computational models of atherosclerotic coronary arteries, a novel technique for molding realistic compliant phantom featuring injection-molded inclusions and multiple layers has been developed. This transparent phantom allows for particle image velocimetry (PIV) flow analysis and can supply experimental data to validate computational fluid dynamics algorithms and hypothesis.
ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS INSPIRED BY CEPHALOPOD LIMBS
Authors: McMahan William , Jones Bryan , Walker Ian , Chitrakaran Vilas , Seshadri Arjun , Dawson Darren
Published: April 2017

This paper connects the investigation of the biomechanics and behavior of octopus in the performance of a wide range of dexterous manipulations to the creation of octopus arm-like robots. This is achieved via the development of a series of octopus arm models which aid in both explaining the underlying octopus biomechanics and in developing a specification for the design of robotic manipulators. Robotic manipulators which match the key features of these models are then introduced, followed by the development of inverse kinematics for the circular (constant) curvature model.
IMPLANTABLE PROSTHESES FOR THE INNER EAR
Authors: Goodvin Christina , Park Edward J.
Published: April 2017

The aim of our research is to develop a proof-of-concept implantable vestibular prosthesis. Such a device would be capable of 6 DOF motion sensing based on MEMS technology, to mimic vestibular functions, and provide stimulus to the brain. In this paper, the feasibility of a vestibular prosthesis is reviewed. Epic Biosonics is in the process of developing the next generation of multi-configuration, flexible, bio-compatible, micro-electrode arrays as neural stimulators for cochlear implants. Epic and the University of Victoria (UVic) are now investigating the concept of applying both Epic and MEMS technology towards building a vestibular prosthesis, i.e. vestibular equivalent a cochlear implant, to actively address balance disorders.
ENHANCING AND TESTING ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN SKILLS
Authors: Dunford W. G.
Published: April 2017

Experience with various design related courses is described. In particular, the use of laboratory examinations to test design skills is discussed. Examples of design projects at both junior and senior levels are outlined.
THE EMBODIMENT DESIGN OF A TWO-WHEELED SELF-BALANCING ROBOT
Authors: Salerno Alessio , Perlin Rafael , Angeles Jorge
Published: April 2017

The embodiment design of a two-wheeled self-balancing human augmentation robot for the mobility-challenged is reported. The prototype relies on a dead-reckoning multisensory system consisting of i) two optical incremental encoders and ii) a solid-state tilt sensor. The command inputs are provided to the robot controller, which is based on PC/104 technology, by means of a RF control unit. After describing the research motivation and application of the system, a set of robot design solutions is outlined along with technical discussions on component layout, payload holder and chassis design issues. A few simulation results on the motion control performance are included as well
THE DESIGN OF AN INNOVATIVE LARGE SCALE SCHÖNFLIES-MOTION GENERATOR
Authors: Morozov Alexei , Angeles Jorge
Published: April 2017

The design of a novel Schönflies-Motion Generator (SMG) is the focus of the paper. Schönflies motions are characterized by four degrees of freedom three independent translations and one rotation about one axis of fixed orientation. The two driving modules of the manipulator are based on differential transmissions. Then, the design philosophy and the layout of the SMG are discussed, along with the design procedure. This procedure includes: (i) part-modelling and visualization, with animation of the device; (ii) evaluation of the main parameters and the characteristics of the different structural realizations, as well as the selection of one single structure meeting best the design specifications; (iii) the design of the main components for the selected variant of the structure; and (iv) the production of detailed manufacturing drawings. Further results of structural and modal analyses of the SMG are considered, while the link geometry is defined based on the design specifications.
A PATTERN-BASED APPROACH TO DISTRIBUTED CONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN
Authors: Brennan Robert W. , Wang James , Norrie Douglas H.
Published: April 2017

This paper focuses on the used of software design patterns to assist in the design and development of distributed control software. In particular, the Model-View-Controller (MVC) framework is used to develop IEC 61499 function block applications. In order to test this approach, a simple example of a distributed control application is implemented on a Java-based embedded control platform.
IMPROVING THE SPATIAL VISUALIZATION SKILLS OF FIRST YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENTS
Authors: Fleisig Robert V. , Robertson Anna , Spence Allan D.
Published: April 2017

Spatial visualization skills are the aptitudes needed to mentally process three-dimensional images of objects. These skills are important to successful design engineers of all disciplines and are closely correlated to student performance in undergraduate engineering programmes. This paper reports on the metrics, curriculum, and teaching methods that have been implemented at McMaster University to improve the visualization skills of first year engineering students and modernize the course content of the mandatory first year engineering design and graphics course. Strong improvements in visualization test scores has been observed from the first week through to the last week of the course. To automate grading, the visualization tests have been implemented on WebCT. The WebCT-based visualization tests and results will be shared with other CDEN members upon request.
ENGINEERS-IN-RESIDENCE – A BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE
Authors: Symonds J M , Britton Ron
Published: April 2017

The rapid pace of new technology development has influenced both engineering education and engineering students. It is becoming evident that the education is becoming deficient in addressing new subject matter and industry required skills while attempting to maintain the basic, core engineering fundamentals. Students are also falling behind in their ability to understand and implement these fundamentals. New, integrated approaches, in the real world context, are required to address these curriculum deficiencies in innovative and cost-effective ways.
ACCREDITATION, LICENSING, AND SPECIALIZATION FOR EMPLOYMENT
Authors: Graham Jim , Alfaro Marolo
Published: April 2017

The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board directs undergraduate programs towards a broadly based education in engineering. Employers accept the need for a broad education but also want young engineers to have specialist training for practice. These very different requirements appear at first sight to be in conflict. In the United States and Europe, but not yet in Canada, licensing bodies are moving towards requiring a master’s degree or equivalent for licensing. Companies that engage in international projects are concerned they may be unable to compete if other countries require master’s degrees for licensing, while Canada does not. Universities should develop broad educational undergraduate programs that can actually be completed in four years in principal areas like civil, electrical, mechanical engineering. Additional effort should be directed towards specialist master’s programs that provide training for employability.
CHALLENGES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION OF COGNITIVE DYNAMIC SYSTEMS
Authors: Kinsner Witold , Haykin Simon , Wang Yingxu , Pedrycz Witold , Bukovsky Ivo , Widrow Bernard , Skowron Andrzej , Wasilewski Piotr , Friedman Menahem
Published: April 2017

Diverse attempts are being made to develop new computers, machines and systems that could act not only autonomously, but also in an increasingly intelligent, perceptual and cognitive manner. This paper discusses some of the educational challenges stemming from this emerging modelling and design paradigm, including teaching appropriate subjects to undergraduate and graduate students in university engineering programs.
A Laboratory-Centered Approach to Introducing Engineering Students to Electric Circuit and Electric Systems Concepts
Authors: Shafai Cyrus , Kordi Behzad
Published: April 2017

The teaching of electric circuit analysis traditionally involves problem solving to ensure understanding of analysis theorems, complemented by laboratory experience. When taught to first year Engineering students, this approach lacks a motivational component and presents difficulties due to the weaker mathematics and problem solving skills of first year students. This paper presents a laboratory-centered approach to introduce engineering students to electric devices and systems. Using open-ended design projects, students explore and construct different types of electrical systems. Laboratories are selected so as to develop student intuition in electrical concepts, scientific fundamentals, provide a historical background, and demonstrate systems-level design issues. Over the past three years in our Department, using this approach, increased student motivation and engagement has been observed, supported by a significant increase in Electrical and Computer Engineering enrollment.
CLIENT-BASED DESIGN (ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT) COMPETITION AND INSTRUCTION IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
Authors: McMartin Dena W. , Watson Lisa M.
Published: April 2017

An engineering business method of instruction around client-based projects is employed in a senior undergraduate environmental impact and design course. This instructional method provides students with experiential learning opportunities that connect them with local clients and prospective employers, engages them in applied project management activities and professional development, and endows a sense of pride in applied engineering approaches to problem solving. In week 1, students are introduced to the design competition concept and given a project overview. They are also randomly assigned to teams of 4 or 5 students in order to begin strategizing prior to the client’s project proposal presentation in week 2. The project package includes submission related and process management related resources. Students are provided documentation outlining the client’s requirements, restrictions, and deliverables. They also receive templates for taking meeting minutes and recording task assignments, recording individual commitments and involvement via timecards that include assessments of not only time but also effort, and providing in-group peer review in a supportive and critical format. Instructional material throughout the course builds upon concepts and theories, as well as practical applications, required by students to adequately manage and competently complete the client’s project requirements. A critical learning component involves evaluation of draft reports, employing double-blind peer review. Every student is assigned a de-identified draft report to evaluate and on which to provide critical feedback. Using that feedback, each group submits an edited final report and formally presents it to the client and invited guests. At the completion of the project, the client is provided with a single report that compiles the optimal solutions from each group’s analysis. In the inaugural implementation of the design competition, a single municipal client was identified. Future years will include multiple clients and a bidding process to model consulting engineering practice.
ENGINEERS TEACHING ENGINEERING COMMUNICATION: INTEGRATING DISCIPLINARY EXPERTISE INTO THE ENGINEERING COMMUNICATION CURRICULUM
Authors: Denbeigh Kathleen , Esensoy Ali Vahit , Kinnear Penny , Li Jason , Ma Wilson , MacArthur Michelle , Maloul Asmaa , Milicevic Mario , Persad Aaron H. , Sasangohar Farzan , Tihanyi Deborah , Yuan Liang Leon
Published: April 2017

The Engineering Communication Program at the University of Toronto has recently begun using engineering graduate students as Communication Instructors (CIs) in the Mechanical Engineering portfolio courses and our work in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering capstone design courses. The move was an attempt to bridge the discipline chasm between communication and disciplinary expertise; this paper begins to document the impact of this interdisciplinarity. Through an analysis of narratives of CI experiences using Engeström’s model of activity theory, we narrowed our focus to an exploration of the changing rules and division of labour that occurred over the duration of the courses. We found that while students and CIs bring different understandings of rules and division of labour to the work, these elements can be changed—and that affect plays a key role in the changes.
REALIZING CEAB GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES USING THE CASE METHOD
Authors: Effa David , Lambert Steve , Nespoli Oscar
Published: April 2017

The University of Waterloo (UW) offers seven fully accredited and internationally competitive engineering undergraduate programs. It has the largest undergraduate co-operative education program in the world, and the largest Engineering program in Canada. All UW engineering departments are refining and evaluating their undergraduate curricula in order to address the new Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) requirements, with its focus on learning outcomes and graduate attributes. This new perspective provides an opportunity for alternative pedagogical approaches for developing and assessing graduate attributes. Over the past several years, the Waterloo Cases in Design Engineering (WCDE) group at UW has been developing and promoting the use of engineering design cases throughout the curriculum. These cases are developed primarily from our own students’ work term experience. Cases provide an effective pedagogical method to integrate students’ technical knowledge as well as develop appropriate engineering skills. Engineering cases help students understand and better appreciate the complexity of engineering practice, and gain valuable experience in engineering problem solving and working in teams. They naturally complement the real-world work experience they get on their co-op terms. The primary objective of this paper is to present the use of case studies to promote active learning and assessment of engineering design with a focus on the CEAB graduate attributes. Some case studies have been developed to focus on specific CEAB attributes. An example case study will be presented, its implementation discussed, and the effectiveness of achieving the targeted learning outcomes will be discussed.
Integration of Desired Learning Outcomes in a First Year Design Course
Authors: Eggermont Marjan , Rosehart William Bill
Published: April 2017

Our first year design and communication course is an interdisciplinary course involving the application of engineering principles, design, communications, leadership and project management concepts through a sequence of team-based design projects. Integrating and translating these components from lectures to labs and vice versa is a challenge. During the upcoming Fall semester a paper project will be introduced that combines all communications deliverables into a submission for a student design challenge. The instructors expect a greater appreciation for the communications components as a part of the design course.
TEACHING ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY TO ENGINEERS IN THE BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM
Authors: Moussavi Zahra , Lithgow Brian
Published: April 2017

The merger of natural sciences with engineering and creation of biomedical engineering (BME) has brought innovation to the practice of medicine that could only be dreamed about a decade ago. By many accounts, we are now at the outset of Biomedical Century, and the need for engineers, natural scientists and physicians trained in biomedicine is greater than ever. While several universities in US and Canada have started BME program at the undergraduate level, many universities, particularly in Canada, have the BME program at graduate level with some BME related courses at undergraduate level. Therefore, we must be able to teach the fundamentals of human anatomy and physiology to students with engineering background, whom may have no background in biology.While a simple solution might be to refer students to take anatomy courses in the faculty of medicine, the author of this paper believes these courses would be much more efficient if they are taught by an engineer trained in medicine. There are three main approaches in engineering design: top-down and bottom-up and a blend of the two approaches [1-3]. There are many debates as which approach is most efficient in a particular area of science and philosophy. we believe engineers often use top-bottom approach for learning new concepts; through their main discipline, engineers, in general, learn the problem solving skills, in which they try to break a complex problem into several smaller problems and narrow down logically by cause and effect analysis; in another word they follow a top-down approach. Being trained with this approach, therefore, they may feel lost in a basic anatomy or physiology course as they often have a bottom-up approach in teaching the materials. This paper discusses the top-down approach in teaching anatomy and physiology to engineering students, and offers some insights for teaching BME courses.
SELF- AND PEER-ASSESSMENTS OF TEAM-EFFECTIVENESS IN A FIRST YEAR ENGINEERING DESIGN COURSE
Authors: Sheridan Patricia Kristine , Reeve Doug , Evans Greg
Published: April 2017

Many first-year design courses in engineering take place in large classes (100-1000 students), where a significant portion of the student’s course grade is attributed to a team project. In these large classes most students receive limited, or no, personalized assessment or feedback to guide their ongoing learning of effectiveness in teams due to resource constraints (e.g. limited interaction time with instructors or teaching assistants). As a result, students are not provided a foundation upon which to continuously improve their effectiveness as they participate in different teams throughout their degree. A web-based tool is being designed to create a safe, virtual environment in which students can learn about their team-effectiveness competencies through the use of self- and peer-assessment in their project teams [1]. Specifically, this intervention provides students with a team-effectiveness framework to create a common language by which structured feedback can be provided based on observable behaviours and competencies.A pilot study to assess the utility of this framework in facilitating useful feedback was tested in the Winter 2012 term of a 250 student cornerstone design course, Praxis II, in first year Engineering Science. The objective of the study was to assess whether students can be guided to provide useful feedback on team-effectiveness to their teammates using our team-effectiveness framework.
PRODUCT LIFECYCLE EXPERIENCE FOR PRE-UNIVERSITY STUDENTS THROUGH A HOVERCRAFT COMPETITION
Authors: Leiter Debbie , Whitehill Patty , Leiter Larry , Chaput John , Beigun Jenna , Penner Alvina , Lynn Rempel Rae , Noakes Bill , Couch Jeffrey , Schor Dario , Chapman Andres , Wallin Brad , Premark Janet
Published: April 2017

The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Discovery Program is an annual competition where teams of high school students compete to design, build, and test a remote control hovercraft. The competition exposes students to the manufacturing process, from research and development, through to the product launch. Preuniversity teams from across Manitoba compete to build the hovercraft, write a business plan, and present their work to a panel of judges from academia and industry. The winning teams receive scholarships for postsecondary studies.This paper describes the Discovery Program hovercraft competition and lessons learned from the first four years of the program.
The iPad as an alternative to conventional technology for effective teaching
Authors: Sri Ranjan Ramanathan
Published: April 2017

The iPad connected to a data projector in the class room can effectively replace conventional technology such as computers, overhead projectors, document cameras, and white boards. A selection of apps that can mimic the tasks of the existing technology will be demonstrated. The Keynote app can be used as the main tool for presenting the course content. The NotesPlus app can be used to replace the conventional overhead projector and the whiteboard. For those who are accustomed to the polythene rolls in the overhead projector, PaperView app will mimic the polythene roll with the ability to carry it around. A few apps to annotate .pdf files will be demonstrated. The BoardCam app will be used to mimic the document camera in teaching. The focus will be on demonstrating how the different apps are used seamlessly to present the course content to the students
The Application of Support Mechanisms to Increase the Success of Aboriginal Students
Authors: Herrman Randy
Published: April 2017

the Engineering Access Program at the University of Manitoba has been in existence since 1985. It started with the mandate to improve the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal people in the Faculty of Engineering by introducing a selection of supports to these students. In order to improve the recruitment of Aboriginal students the requirements necessary for them to enter engineering have been lowered while keeping the requirements to obtain a degree the same. In order to lower the entrance requirements upgrading (or preparatory) courses were introduced into the program. In addition to the upgrading courses Student supports in ENGAP are comprised primarily of academic support, social support, financial aid, and personal support. In addition to the support network prospective students must attend a mandatory summer orientation aimed at preparing them for University studies. ENGAP has been very successful and now boasts 85 graduates of Aboriginal descent that work throughout the western provinces in various areas.
IMPLEMENTATION OF A CHUA CIRCUIT TO DEMONSTRATE BIFURCATIONS AND STRANGE ATTRACTORS IN A CLASS
Authors: Byagowi Ahmad , Kinsner Witold
Published: April 2017

This paper describes the design and implementation of a Chua double-scroll circuit to demonstrate chaos in dynamical systems to students in a graduate course in order to enhance their visualization and understanding of strange attractor and Feigenbaum bifurcation trees.Teaching dynamical systems (i.e., nonlinear systems that can exhibit chaos) is often considered difficult because of the mathematical modeling involved and the inclusion of the fourth strange-attractor state, in addition to the traditional point stability, cyclic stability, and toroidal stability, as found in dynamic systems. A graduate course has been offered at the University of Manitoba for many years to provide both (i) a unified theory of fractal dimensions, together with many practical implementations of algorithms to compute the fractal dimensions, including the Rényi dimension spectrum that is required for characterization of the strange attractors using multifractal analysis.Leon Chua developed a simple nonlinear circuit capable of producing a rich collection of dynamic phenomena, ranging from fixed points to cycle points, standard bifurcations (period doubling), other standard routes to chaos, and chaos itself. The reason for selecting this specific circuit as a class demonstration tool is threefold: (i) the circuit has an analytical model and can be simulated, (ii) the circuit is implementable using available commercial off-the-shelf components, and (iii) the signals in the circuit can be acquired without affecting and altering its operation significantly.This paper describes the architecture, implementation, verification, and testing of the Chua system, as well as an analysis of the data obtained during the current phase of the development. Although there are many possible implementations of Chua’s circuit, our implementation has several innovative design features to make it more applicable to enhance students’ learning in the classroom.
Software Defined Radio Provides New Opportunities for Hands-on RF Education
Authors: Luther Erik , Dinolfo Julia , Katti Sachin
Published: April 2017

RF and communications topics are traditionally taught using a theoretical, math-focused approach where students derive formulas and build simulations. Many educators see the value of adding a lab component so students can apply the theory with prototype implementations and experiment with live signals. However, the opportunity to do so is limited by a lack of affordable, accessible, and relevant tools. This paper describes how Stanford University enabled cutting edge, hands-on RF education in an undergraduate course. We share best practices for deploying a successful and affordable hands-on RF and communications lab using NI LabVIEW software and NI USRP radios. Students rated the class 4.94/5.0 - making it one of the highest ratings among all classes in the School of Engineering at Stanford University.
Teaching Embedded System Design
Authors: Ferens Ken
Published: April 2017

For the first time in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Manitoba, a 100% hands-on course was implemented in the winter term of the 2011/2012 year. This course ECE 3730 Embedded System Design was introduced into the curriculum and designed specifically to correct an imbalance between computer and electrical engineering student pre-requisites; to address students studying only for the exam problem; and to directly assess student performance particularly in the CEAB attributes of Design, Investigation, Problem Analysis, and Tools.
INTERDISCIPLINARY CAPSTONE DESIGN STREAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO: IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Authors: Pearce Cherly , Lambert Steve , Parker Wayne
Published: April 2017

An interdisciplinary design approach is a collaborative effort involving team members from different engineering disciplines to solve a problem. An opportunity for interdisciplinary education exists in the fourth year capstone design project. Interdisciplinary capstone courses are offered at other Canadian universities but, at the University of Waterloo (UW) the co-operative undergraduate engineering program poses a logistical barrier to students interacting with students in other disciplines for capstone design projects. Currently, students can form their own interdisciplinary team but differences in course structure, project deliverables, and design terminology and method between engineering disciplines is challenging for students and instructors. An investigation into the feasibility of a new interdisciplinary capstone design course at UW is undertaken. A possible home for the interdisciplinary capstone course could be under the Chair of Design Engineering. Overall, receptivity among departments is positive but a more comprehensive analysis is required.
BLURRING THE LINE BETWEEN FOR-CREDIT CURRICULAR AND NOT-FOR-CREDIT EXTRACURRICULAR ENINGEERING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
Authors: Alajek Sal , Ham Alan , Murdock Heather , Verrett Jonathan
Published: April 2017

Engineering student experience is highly influenced by the interplay between curricular and extracurricular learning environments on campus. Bridging between the two spaces, Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Canada builds on curricular content with extracurricular opportunities which not only reinforce leadership and communications skills, but also focus on complexity and systems thinking, globalization trends,and foundational attitudes of service to society. In recent years, EWB has been working collaboratively with specific engineering faculties in an attempt to bring these attributes to the classroom. This paper examines the efficacy of these opportunities, which blur the line between for-credit engineering curricular interactions and not-for-credit extracurricular engineering focused activities. Drawing on examples from institutions that have implemented credit for extracurricular activities andbuilding on the 2013 Global Engineering Symposium’s engineering education focused discussions at the Engineers Without Borders Canada annual national conference in Calgary, Alberta, we highlight the potential for the concept from the perspective of the student and the faculty.
Lecture Material Retention: a First Trial Report on Flipped Classroom Strategies in Electronic Systems Engineering at the University of Regina
Authors: Wagner Doug , Laforge Paul , Cripps Douglas
Published: April 2017

There is increasing pressure to incorporate aspects of the online education model into Canadian Universities. There is also a valid criticism of traditional engineering education models based on the conventional classroom lecture. Whether lectures are seen as boring or extremely entertaining, maximizing student comprehension andengagement as well as retention of information presented in conventional lectures is a challenge being faced widely in engineering education. The strategy explored in this paper is the use of a flipped lecture component in Electronic Systems Engineering courses at the University of Regina.With assistance from the University of Regina’s Centerfor Teaching and Learning, the application of a flipped lecture technique was trialed in a Winter 2013 ESE Course. The results, and future plans are presented .
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH BETWEEN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES: A SUCCESS STORY
Authors: Al-Mutawaly Nafia , Piczak Michael
Published: April 2017

Since their inception over 65 years ago, the primary mandate for over 150 Canadian colleges, situated across nearly 1000 communities, has been restricted to teaching and training. In 2002, the Ontario ministry of higher education expanded college mandates, elevating applied research to the strategic level. Accordingly, college missions recognized the importance of engaging with community partners to solve problems, commercialize products and provide support services. Concomitantly, various government agencies stepped forward with increasing amounts of support and funding for college applied research initiatives. NSERC’s College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program, among others, was expressly designed to support such activity.
HOW STUDENTS PERCEIVE THE MANY ROLES THEY MUST PLAY IN AN ENGINEERING LABORATORY COURSE
Authors: Gosselin Ryan , Fauteux-Lefebvre Clémence , Abatzoglou Nicolas
Published: April 2017

This work focuses on the unit operations laboratory course given by the Chemical and Biotechnological Engineering Department at Université de Sherbrooke. In order to help students develop their organisation skills, our department developed a formula based on "directive teams" and "operative teams" in which each team is put in charge of one of 9 experimental setups for the duration of the semester. A team is said to be "directive" when they are working on their assigned unit operation and "operative" when they are working on the other unit operations. As part of a directive team, the students must elaborate an experimental plan and protocol that they will ask the other teams to carry out. The success of this formula depends both on the ability of the teaching team as well as on the student-student work environment. The present project seeks to better understand the work environment in which the students carry out this task by polling them about their experience in the unit operations laboratory course given by our department.
DEVELOPING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET IN ENGINEERING STUDENTS
Authors: Hsiao Amy
Published: April 2017

Developing engineers with entrepreneurial skills is becoming a valued objective for engineering faculties across the country. Entrepreneurship courses are being added to engineering curriculum, course options are being created to allow students to pursue an entrepreneurship or management track in their undergraduate engineering studies, and graduate programs are being developed in Engineering Management, as a more specific and alternative route to the Master of Business Administration (MBA). This paper presents the results of a six-year survey of engineering students who have elected to enroll in an upperclassmen Entrepreneurship course. It presents the approach that has been taken in an Engineering elective at Memorial University to develop entrepreneurially minded engineering students, and the students’ perspectives on why engineers become entrepreneurs, what entrepreneurial qualities they believe they possess, and how they have learned to evaluate entrepreneurial ideas not only on its technical merit, but organizationally and strategically.
Global Engineering Leadership – Design and Implementation of Local and International Service Learning Curriculum for Senior Engineering Students
Authors: Croft Elizabeth A. , Winkelman Paul , Boisvert Alaya , Patten Kristin
Published: April 2017

Engineering students are typically well- prepared with technical knowledge and skills that are prerequisite to solving problems. However, recent changes to the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board recognize that contributions made by engineers to our society also depend upon proficiency in key non- technical areas, including teamwork and leadership capacity, service, and global awareness. In this paper, we argue that service-learning pedagogy addresses many desired graduate attributes required for accreditation. We then discuss the design and implementation of a new service-learning elective course series aimed at providing students with leadership education and service experiences that address these attributes in both local and global contexts. Finally, we reflect on the short term, qualitative outcomes of the course series that has run in pilot form for the past two years with approximately 20 students per year, and has recently been approved as an ongoing part of the UBC engineering curriculum.
Design for Inclusion - A Roundtable DIscussion
Authors: Mavriplis Catherine
Published: April 2017

We propose a roundtable discussion on “Design for Inclusion” and how to integrate this concept into the undergraduate engineering curriculum. Designing devices and technology that benefit and are useful to all members of society and take into account diverse users' needs does not seem to be a common practice in industry nor in the classroom. We all know examples of devices that seem to have “missed the point” for large segments of their user base. We believe diverse teams are needed to brainstorm ideas from the start and to bring such products to market. The revolution in thinking needs to start at the source, where students are being educated. How can “design for inclusion” become integrated into our design education? The panelists who will discuss this theme will be: • Beth Kolko, Associate Professor in the Dept of Human Centered Design & Engineering, University of Washington, USA (confirmed) • Benoit Gervais, Design engineer, Principal, Futurescape, Ottawa (confirmed) • Elizabeth Croft, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia (confirmed) • Li Shu, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto (confirmed) • Sarah Shortreed, Vice-President, Enterprise Portfolio Management, BlackBerry, Research in Motion (confirmed) • Antony Hodgson, NSERC Chair in Design Engineering, University of British Columbia (confirmed) The panel will be moderated by Catherine Mavriplis, University of Ottawa. We invite the community to join in the discussion with the panelists. These could include representatives of Engineers Canada, the licensing bodies, other NSERC Design Chairs, Deans and Curriculum Chairs, professors and students, industry and government.
Experiential Learning for First Year Engineering through Outreach with a Local Community Hospital
Authors: Desjarlais Abbey , Fleisig Robert V.
Published: April 2017

The lecture is the staple of university learning. It can be effective in the teaching of fundamental engineering subjects such as calculus and physics. However, it offers little in bringing students to understand the role of the engineering profession and its practice. With limited budgets, time and resources, and large first year classes, creating a poignant learning experience for our students is immensely challenging. Yet the university classroom offers an unparalleled opportunity given its diverse pool of talent, skill, and ambition. With guidance our students have the ability to not only meet our high academic expectations but also make a real difference for people in their local communities. At McMaster University, our entire first year engineering cohort is contributing to their local community through interactions with medical professionals and their clients. With an increased emphasis on design, experiential learning, and community outreach we at McMaster University have developed a unique first year course that involves the design of rehabilitation devices in collaboration with occupational therapists, researchers, industry professionals, and local volunteers. The project provides students with a rich and real-world practice experience as well as benefiting those clients with unique problems. This paper describes the successful collaboration between the Hand Therapy Clinic at Hamilton General Hospital and the Engineering 1 programme at McMaster University. The occupational therapists at the clinic presented 800+ first year engineering students with a challenge: design a dynamic elbow orthosis for the unique problems faced by two of their clients. Volunteers from the local community of occupational therapists, industry professionals, and biomedical researchers worked with the students to help them design, build, and test their designs. The paper highlights the challenges of teaching the large class using experiential learning and outlines the approaches for challenging students with unique problems that demand creativity.
Teaching Information Literacy Skills to Senior Undergraduate Engineering Students
Authors: Zhao Jennifer Cong Yan , Rabbat Michael
Published: April 2017

Information Literacy Standards for Science and Engineering/Technology establish a set of abilities for students to recognize their information needs, access information effectively and efficiently, evaluate information critically, and use information in a legal and ethical way. The Standards aim to help students accomplish academic goals in their studies and build lifelong learning skills, and they are also well-aligned with the CEAB graduate attributes. Moreover, it is important that students acquire these skills before completing their undergraduate degrees since, upon entering the workforce, they will need to investigate problems and communicate complex ideas with colleagues and clients in both written and oral format, and they will not have the same support available as when they are in university. The authors, an engineering librarian and instructor, collaborated in the Fall 2012 semester to offer two information literacy training sessions within a final-year electrical and computer engineering course. This paper presents the topics and pedagogies used in this training and discusses the challenges that the authors encountered. Recommendations on integrating information literacy training into engineering curriculum are also provided.
An Innovative and Interactive Approach to Teaching Industrial Drawing to Engineering Students
Authors: Cincou André
Published: April 2017

This paper presents an innovative and interactive approach to teaching industrial drawing methods, which is designed to improve the way students learn about the spatial visualization of objects by means of orthographic projection and the resolution of complex orthographic projection problems, and how they master the standards and conventions of graphical representation. This new approach is supported by two innovative tools that function in accordance with the standards and prescribed approaches of the Bachelor of Engineering degree program at Polytechnique Montréal, and was validated in a classroom setting. The products of this research are a 2D/3D multimedia tutorial and a guide to the standards and conventions related to graphical representation which supports the tutorial. The examples provided in the tutorial teach students to visualize, with all the advantages of a multimedia presentation, a strategy for resolving orthographic projection problems. They are supported by the geometric laws that form the foundation of the resolution strategy itself. The strategy is based on the principles and techniques that are taught to students to develop their spatial visualization capabilities, in the belief that better visualization of those basic laws will allow students to fully grasp the nature of 3D objects in space, and obviate the need to apply a step-by-step resolution strategy. The tutorial is a tool that is supported by a reference document which outlines the standards and conventions governing graphical representation for product definition. This document is mainly composed of illustrations of examples and counterexamples which are accompanied by comments or brief descriptive para- graphs. This document is exhaustive and up to date, and, most importantly, it follows the standards prescribed by ACNOR CAN3-78-1-M83 and ISO 128-20. Used together, the tutorial and the guide save teachers time in the classroom, as well as facilitating the integration of new concepts into the course material for training future engineers, which have been approved by Polytechnique Montréal and the industry. The tutorial and guide also enable students to learn the various concepts more quickly, help them become more autonomous, and provide them with a structured method for finding valid solutions to complex orthographic projection problems.
IMPLEMENTATION OF A QUALITY APPROACH IN ENGINEERING AT UQAM
Authors: Bégin Guy , Charland Patrick
Published: April 2017

For facilitating the transition to engineering attributes, engineering professors at UQAM have teamed up with colleagues in educational sciences who have developed expertise through similar endeavors in the field of teacher training. The collaboration will allow a broadening of the reflection on professional training that will benefit both parties, as well as the creation of tools, procedures and mechanisms that can be transfered to other schools and faculties.
OVERCOMING OBSTACLES TO IMPLEMENTING AN OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION MODEL: TRADITIONAL VERSUS TRANSFORMATIONAL OBE
Authors: Akhmadeeva Liliya , Hindy Maureen , Sparrey Carolyn J.
Published: April 2017

Attempts to introduce a new outcome- based curriculum in the Mechatronic Systems Engineering (MSE) Program at Simon Fraser University (SFU) have posed a range of challenges to teaching staff and students in terms of the most effective and efficient means for transitioning the program and achieving the expected improvements in educational outcomes. However, the mechanical process of pursuing outcomes without the deliberate revision of the pedagogy, attitudes and forms of assessments fails to attain the continuous improvement concept that OBE implies. This paper analyses MSE faculty interview responses to approaches they incorporate in their teaching practices and the effect these practices have on student learning. Class size, expectations of learner characteristics and reality, teaching practice and evaluation, and student motivation were the most commonly discussed challenges. Self-reported instructor characteristics and the perceived role of the instructor often contradicted the OBE model of learning. The results inform a critical discussion of the pedagogical aspects involved in reshaping existing curriculum to satisfy the needs of the 21st century learner. The process of transitioning from the content-driven to the outcome-based curriculum is revealing opportunities in terms of transformative teacher education as well as challenges that warrant further analysis.