bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE USE OF RAPID PROTOTYPING IN UNDERGRADUATE DESIGN EDUCATION
Authors: Buchal R. O. , Phillips D.
Published: April 2017

The building and testing of physical prototypes has always been a key phase of the engineering design process. Often, students rush to the prototype stage with insufficient modeling and analysis. As a result, the process resembles “trial and error” more than systematic engineering design. Furthermore, engineering schools lack the facilities and students lack the skills to construct more than very crude prototypes with little resemblance to the CAD models or to the final design. On the other hand, engineering schools typically have state-of-the-art CAD software. As an alternative to physical prototyping, the emphasis is shifting to “virtual” prototyping using CAD models and simulation. Many design attributes like appearance, performance, etc. can be established through simulation with a high degree of reliability. Furthermore, the recent availability of low cost rapid prototyping technology makes it possible to quickly and easily produce physical parts directly from the CAD model. The University of Western Ontario Faculty of Engineering has recently established a rapid prototyping facility for undergraduate design projects. The facility is available to students from all programs and years. The facility is professionally managed by technicians from University Machine Services (UMS). Several rapid prototyping technologies are available, including Fused Deposition Modelling (Stratasys FDM 3000 and Stratasys Vantage SE) and 3D printing (Z-Corp Z510 3D Printer). The Z-Corp 3D printer is capable of processing a batch of parts with a total volume of 1120 cubic inches in 20 hours, at a cost in materials of under $5 per cubic inch. The Z-Corp printer has a resolution of 600 dpi and 256 colours, and is capable of accurately reproducing all the colours on a CAD model including texture maps. To have a part made, students simply save their CAD model as a VRML file, and submit the file for processing. Jobs are batched, and the machine is setup and run by UMS personnel. Some finishing work is completed by the students. The anticipated turnaround time is a day or two, and the typical prototype cost is under $50. These services became available in January 2006. The final paper will include experiences gained over the coming weeks.
DESIGN OF A PILOT PLANT FOR GASIFICATION OF BIOMASS, MUNICIPAL AND SOLID WASTES
Authors: Roy M. , Knox A. , Zawaideh S. , Lawrence J. , Barghi S. , Buchal R. O.
Published: April 2017

In 2004/2005, a team of undergraduate students undertook an interdisciplinary capstone design project to design a pilot plant to study the gasification of biomass and some forms of solid waste. Gasification is emerging as an environmentally friendly alternative to incineration for converting waste to energy and useful products. Due to the complexity of the reactions in the gasification process, a pilot plant is needed to optimize the process and to produce valuable data for the design of commercial scale units. The pilot plant was designed with a high degree of versatility to process different types of municipal and industrial solid wastes over a wide range of temperatures and pressures, e.g. 0 – 50 psig and 500-1000 oC. A fluidized bed gasifier was designed to maximize the efficiency of solid waste conversion. The oxygen level is carefully controlled to avoid oxidation of organic compounds. The solid waste is pretreated in three stages: drying, crushing and classification. A rotary dryer was designed to reduce the moisture content of the solids to the desired level, as a low level of moisture is required for gasification. The dried material is crushed to reduce the particle size. A fluidized bed reactor requires particles of certain size produced by sieving of crushed particles. Heated air or nitrogen is passed through a distributor plate below the bed to create fluidization. Electrical band heaters were designed to heat the fluidizing gas to the desired temperature. Feed enters the reactor via a screw feeder that is contained within a high pressure zone by a lock hopper. The high pressure zone prevents blowback of dangerous gasses through the feed system. A cross flow heat exchanger with finned tubes was designed to preheat the fluidizing gas. The system is designed to process up to 12 kg/h of feed. Pressure and temperature are measured during the operation for online control of the process. An online gas chromatograph records the composition of products, which can be related to the recorded pressure and temperature and provide useful information for reactor control and enhance the selectivity of the desired product. The students performed CAD modeling of major components, and conducted a simulation study of the gasifier over a range of pressures and temperatures. The project culminated in a final design report containing detailed engineering analysis and a comprehensive set of working drawings.
HEALTH AND SAFETY AND ENGINEERING DESIGN
Authors: Rosen Marc A. , Meston David A. G.
Published: April 2017

Health and safety issues are important in engineering, management and other fields, and particularly in engineering design. Engineering-oriented health and safety relevant to design is discussed and appropriate case studies are provided which help convey the importance of these issues concisely. The article is directed and structured for engineering, but also discusses ties outside engineering. The case studies presented here are fictitious, although they contain ideas based on actual incidents. Although the case studies are oriented towards engineering, they also incorporate management and business issues, since health and safety must be dealt with in an integrated and interdisciplinary manner.
MODEL ASSISTED DESIGN AND SIMULATION OF A PHARMACEUTICAL BATCH PROCESS; MANUFACTURING OF CLOPIDOGREL BISULFATE
Authors: Trifkovic M. , Cardoso S. , Sheikhzadeh M. , Rohani S. , Barghi S.
Published: April 2017

A novel approach was taken in the fourth year design course for Chemical Engineers. A complex pharmaceutical process for the manufacturing of Clopidogrel Bisulfate (CPG), an anti-platelet drug, was successfully designed and simulated using AspenBatch™ and SuperPro Designer (SPD) software packages. Two models were applied in the design of the crystallizer and dryer, which provided the optimal cooling rate for crystallization and the surface area of the dryer. The solubility of CPG in acetone was determined experimentally by Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) instrument. Multifunctional equipment were designed to reduce the production and maintenance costs.
ON THE FUNCTION-BEHAVIOR-STRUCTURE MODEL FOR DESIGN
Authors: Zhang W. J. , Lin Y. , Sinha Niraj
Published: April 2017

There are many proposals regarding the design model which are related to such notions as function, behavior, and structure. They have created some confusion about and debates on which one should be the most appropriate one. Naturally, a question one may ask is whether they are actually the same thing but with different names or whether they have different scopes of applications for different design problems. In this paper, we evaluate these proposals and attempt to clean up the confusion and comment on the debates. As a result, we are able to conclude a unified and general one and to show how it can be shaped into specific ones, proposed by others in literature, which are applicable to specific design problems.
ON THE COGNITIVE FOUNDATION AND ABSTRACT MEANS OF ENGINEERING DESIGNS
Authors: Wang Yingxu
Published: April 2017

Formal inference processes in all kinds of engineering designs are based on the cognitive process and means of abstraction. This paper presents a formal treatment of system design. It first discusses the differences of system designs in abstract and concrete systems. A hierarchical abstraction model of system descriptivity (HAMSD) is developed that explains the abstract levels of entities and artifacts in both the concrete world and the abstract world. The HAMSD model classifies the design of a system at five levels known as the levels of (1) analogue objects, (2) diagrams, (3) natural languages, (4) professional notations, and (5) mathematics from the bottom up. According to the HAMSD model, an architectural, functional, or behavioral design of a system should adopt a higher-level abstract means to describe the system at a given abstract level, in order to obtain more powerful descriptivity and higher accuracy. Therefore, a mechanical system may be designed by using diagrams; while an information or software system can not be precisely described by diagrams. The reason is that the former is at an abstract level lower than the descriptive means of diagrams, but not so is the latter. Applications of the above findings in dealing with complicated problems in large-scale software system designs are discussed in the context of software engineering. Real-time process algebra (RTPA) is adopted as a highly abstract means in case studies on formal methodologies of software system design and modeling for software objects and design patterns.
CURRICULUM INTEGRATION IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION AT THE UNIVERSITÉ DE SHERBROOKE
Authors: Abatzoglou Nicolas , Boulos Maher
Published: April 2017

In this paper the authors present a short description of the first two levels of the Chemical Engineering curriculum integration at the Université de Sherbrooke, followed by a more comprehensive presentation of the Final year Design project course, a 10 credits activity. This activity is already 12 years old. Its main ambition and objectives were and are to integrate all knowledge acquired by the students through the “8 academic + 5 industry work training” sessions. Such integration brings the Chemical Engineering graduates closer to the market reality and needs by opening their minds “outside the box” and improving their creative skills and innovation desires. The echo received so far is very positive and the effort, qualified as successful by our industrial partners, provides us all with the necessary motivation to continue in this direction and improve, by remaining as creative as possible. The intermediate integration level in years 2 and 3 is the fruit of this motivation.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF INDUSTRY TO SHIP DESIGN EDUCATION
Authors: Mikkelsen J. , Calisal S. M.
Published: April 2017

This paper details the Naval Architecture program at the University of British Columbia with emphasis on the delivery of the capstone design program in ship design. Since the enrollment is a small number of highly motivated students, the program instructors can utilize innovative project based learning strategies into the program. The paper highlights the iterative nature of ship design that is traditionally represented by a design spiral. In order to reinforce relevance and ensure that practices parallel those of industry, the instructors of the computer aided ship design course rely on the local Naval Architecture design firms to provide assistance to the students. This assistance is in the form of mentorship, access to proprietary design data and software, and student evaluation. In addition, the course instructors require that the student design teams complete a ship design that meets the requirements of an industry sponsored design competition. The paper illustrates the ship design process with an example of a student ship design project entered into an international competition.
BUILDING INNOVATION COMPETENCIES
Authors: Bezarra Charles
Published: April 2017

This research explores the issues concerning innovation education. What essential knowledge and attitudes facilitates the emergence of innovative concepts? How can innovation competencies be learned or taught? What are the appropriate methods or tools for a discipline of innovation? This research is targeted at creating a program of study that combines the best approaches and practices in building innovation competencies, so students can become leaders capable of influence any business or technology. The methods and experiences of the strategic design program at the University of Otago, New Zealand, will be described.
RETHINKING AUDIO PRODUCTS: DESIGNING SOUND EXPERIENCES
Authors: Martyn D. A. , Bezerra C. D.
Published: April 2017

Audio products as expressive and communicative tools have helped bridge the boundaries of understanding between humans and sound for centuries. These products are among the most important intermediaries for this relationship, merging users’ personal and private space. From a combined systemic, strategic, and user-centered approach, this paper investigates the major issues involved with designing audio products. Initial findings are discussed and the process of on-going research is presented.
MULTIDISCIPLINARY DESIGN OPTIMIZATION OF AEROSPACE SYSTEMS
Authors: Behdinan Kamran , Perez Ruben E. , Liu Hugh T.
Published: April 2017

This paper presents the evaluation of different MDO methodologies which take into consideration optimization and other factors influencing their structures. Illustrative comparisons are made for analytic functions and a supersonic business jet design case study. Results show the promising features of the proposed evaluation metrics to define a standardized guideline when dealing with multidisciplinary optimization formulations which can be applied to aerospace systems design problems.
DESIGN OF A SIMPLIFIED-THEORY, HANDS-ON MICROCONTROLLER-BASED DESIGN LAB FOR USE BY FIRST YEAR STUDENTS
Authors: Muench T. C.
Published: April 2017

The design portion of a second term freshman course, ‘Introduction to Engineering II’, provides an overview of each of the disciplines within the College, and a representative, discipline-specific design lab. With only 2 hours of pre-lab lecture/preparation, and 3 hours in-lab time, providing the necessary theory and completing a meaningful lab is extremely challenging when the fundamental discipline-specific knowledge is still very limited. This Electrical Engineering lab requires students to modify a program to implement a microcontroller-based combination lock. It simulates a hotel room door lock, except that it uses a key pad instead of a swiped card. This paper investigates the design of the lab, its implementation, and feedback results.
ENGG 113 COMMUNICATIONS AND DESIGN: A FIRST YEAR ENGINEERING COURSE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF REGINA
Authors: Palmer R. J.
Published: April 2017

Circa 1990 the Engineering curriculum at the University of Regina was completely overhauled. Previous to this, there were small courses in communication and design. The short courses were combined into a single standard length course of 3 credit hours, ENGG 113, Communications and Design. The underlying principle was that communication was indeed a design process. An essay must be designed, a presentation must be designed and even a sentence must be created using the fundamentals of the design process. The course incorporates unorthodox practices but it covers a variety of topics that support the design process. For example, time management is not only covered, it is practiced in class by having a student moderate each class. The class is broken into four 17 minute periods, each starting with students doing random self introductions, and ending with student summaries. Student design groups do a presentation during one of these modules. The entire class is under the control of the moderator. The lab is broken into three sections, a writing activity, a computer activity and a design activity. A design is done, and is presented at the end of the course as a WEB document. This paper describes the topics, the objectives and the methodology of the course and gives an analysis as to what works and what remains lacking.
STUDENT DESIGN TEAMS AT UWO: A CASE STUDY
Authors: Buchal Ralph , Atcha Imran , Da Rocha Alberto , Jelenic Robert , Kriznic Peter
Published: April 2017

Major student design competitions like Formula SAE, Mini Baja and American Solar Challenge provide a valuable learning experience. These competitions develop skills and experience in many important areas, some of which are not well developed in the formal curriculum. This paper examines several teams at the University of Western Ontario including: Formula SAE, Mini Baja, SAE Aero, and Sunstang solar car. The focus is on common elements including team structure and management, budgets and resources, design processes, use of CAD/CAM/CAE tools, design communication, and prototype testing.
ENGINEERING DESIGN COMPETENCY: PERCEIVED BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE ENGINEERING DESIGN EDUCATION
Authors: Strong David S. , Stiver Warren
Published: April 2017

The NSERC Chairs in Design Engineering have developed a white paper on Engineering Design Competency. The Engineering Design Competency document was created to stimulate activity in engineering schools and provide a recommended knowledge and skills guideline for engineering educators. However, engineering schools and individual faculty face a number of barriers in their efforts to excel in engineering design education. To make progress, these barriers must be recognized and understood. This paper will provide a brief review and discussion of five leading barriers to the advancement of engineering design education. The barriers covered are: tenure and promotion policies and procedures, hiring practices, academic structure, funding, and facilities. These barriers are mutually supportive which compounds the challenge. The paper and presentation will also provide some examples of best practices in overcoming these barriers. The goal of these examples is to provide evidence that none of these barriers are absolute, that all can be overcome, and that some engineering schools are succeeding.
SUBSTRUCTURE COUPLING WITH JOINT IDENFICATION FOR RECONFIGURABLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS
Authors: Chae J. , Park S. S. , Lin S.
Published: April 2017

Today’s manufacturing industries require rapid production of small batch sized products with great accuracy and productivity. When compared with traditional dedicated systems, reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS) offer rapid change in system configurations, machines and controls to adjust to flexible demands. This can be achieved by combining modular substructures together with different functionalities depending on requirements. In this study, a method of assembling the known dynamics of substructures is investigated through the receptance coupling approach. The classical receptance technique is enhanced by identifying the joint dynamics between substructures through experimental and finite element (FE) analyses. This identification method also includes the translational and rotational degrees of freedom responses, which represent the mass, spring, and damping elements of the joint. The determination of rotational responses can be very challenging, and the proposed method solves the rotational responses with two separate experimental measurements using gauge tools. This novel identification method overcomes the limitations posed by other identification methods, by minimizing numerical errors and problems associated with convergence. Experimental tests, using a fastener joint, were performed to verify the effectiveness of the joint identification method.
3D SHAPE ACQUISITION USING AN FTP-BASED METHOD IN PRODUCT MODELING
Authors: Yu Chunsheng , Wu Lushen , Peng Qingjin
Published: April 2017

Three-dimensional (3D) shape modeling is one of the most fundamental processes in CAD/CAM systems. There is a variety of methods to build 3D shapes for product design and manufacturing. The methods include defining a 3D object using solid or feature modeling methods, or building a 3D shape of the existing object using reverse engineering techniques. Image-based shape recovery techniques provide effective tools in reverse engineering to acquire 3D data of objects. This paper reports a simple method to reconstruct a 3D object from its 2D (two-dimensional) image for the product modeling. A method based on FTP (Fourier Transform Profilometry) phase analysis is proposed to measure the 3D surface of an object. The comparison of the FTP method with other methods is discussed and the process of the FTP method is provided. The experiment shows the accuracy and speed of the method.
APPLICATION OF DESIGN METHODOLOGY FOR EDUCATION
Authors: Eder W. Ernst
Published: April 2017

Designing is anticipating and establishing a product to fulfill a need. Design engineering is a function of industry offering technical systems. It involves iterative and recursive processing, a design specification, searching for solutions, evaluating, decision-making, and communicating, supported by obtaining and preparing information, verifying, checking, reflecting, and representing. The steps can be performed intuitively and/or systematically, using various methods, feedback, iteration and recursion. Engineering curricula should expose students to design methodology and theory to develop the ability and skill for designing. This exposure should occur for the whole class, not just by separate attention to individual students.
INTEGRATED LIFE CYCLE DESIGN APPROACH FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Lu B. , Gu P. , Spiewak S.
Published: April 2017

Sustainable product development (SPD) requires that product design achieve minimal or zero environmental impact, while satisfying other design criteria such as functionality, quality, desirable features, and acceptable cost and time to market. Therefore, environmental evaluations must be incorporated into the design stage. This research is aimed at the development of a new approach to lifecycle design and evaluation. This paper proposes a framework to optimize functional, environmental, and economic (FEE) performance towards sustainable design. Based on the three dimensions of FEE, a systematic lifecycle design process model is proposed, which consists of: the three FEE requirements; two design objects (physical structure and lifecycle structure); and, the FEE evaluation streams of LCQ (functional lifecycle quality), LCA (environmental lifecycle assessment) and LCC (economic lifecycle costing). A new concept, called process-based analysis (PBA) is defined, and used as the base for FEE evaluations.
THE ENGINEERING DESIGN COMPETENCY
Authors: Angeles Jorge , Britton Ron , Chang Liuchen , Charron Franҫois , Gregson Peter , Gu Peihua , Lawrence Peter , Stiver Warren , Strong David , Stuart Paul , Thompson Brian
Published: April 2017

There is increasing global competition for better product and process functionality, higher quality, lower costs, and other considerations including energy and environmental challenges. This trend requires that Canadian industry be more innovative and responsive in order to stay competitive internationally. The Canadian capability in Engineering Design is at the core of our ability to achieve this goal. At both the undergraduate and graduate levels, we must improve the capability and capacity of engineering graduates so that they are capable of leading innovation, and converting research results into value-added products and services. This paper addresses the engineering design competency, identifies needs in engineering design training, and describes directions for the design content in engineering education programs.
DOCUMENTATION POUR UN PROJET DE CONCEPTION
Authors: Charron Franҫois , Desbiens Jean-Philippe
Published: April 2017

Le Département de génie mécanique de l’Université de Sherbrooke a introduit des projets majeurs de conception dans son programme de baccalauréat depuis 1992. Évidemment, un des objectifs des projets de conception est de permettre aux étudiants de développer une compétence en rédaction de rapports techniques portant sur la conception. Jusqu’à ce jour, aucun document de référence, soit l’équivalent d’un livre de référence dans un cours magistral, était disponible pour guider les étudiants dans la redaction de leurs rapports de conception. Afin de combler ce besoin, un projet majeur de conception fut donc réalisé et une documentation complète de référence a été développée.
AN INDUSTRIAL EMBEDDED CONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN PROCESS
Authors: Mosterman Pieter J. , Prabhu Sameer , Erkkinen Tom
Published: April 2017

Embedded software provides a flexible and powerful means to differentiate products and achieve competitive advantage. However, the design of embedded software tends to be difficult to manage. This paper describes the use of model-based design to help manage the design of embedded control systems. It presents typical design configurations, such as rapid prototyping, software-in-the-loop, processor-in-the-loop, and hardware-in-the-loop, and discusses their differences and usages. Finally, an overview of some of the aspects typical in developing embedded control systems using model-based design is given.
AN IMPLANT FOR A VISUAL CORTICAL STIMULATOR
Authors: Coulombe Jonathan , Hu Yamu , Gervais Jean-Franҫois , Sawan Mohammad
Published: April 2017

We present the design of an implantable micro-stimulator intended for a cortical visual prosthesis. The device is composed of several integrated modules to be assembled on a thin and flexible substrate providing placement flexibility on the cortex. The stimulator provides the user with significant usage flexibility, supplying biphasic current pulses using either monopolar or bipolar configurations, with single or distributed return electrode, and having a fixed or dynamic reference voltage. Monitoring of electrode-tissue interface condition is possible by measuring both simulation currents and voltages at any electrode for enhanced safety, and for enabling troubleshooting after implantation. In order to avoid erroneous stimulation to be executed, potentially caused by the implant's wireless transcutaneous power transfer, constant parameters stored in volatile memory are constantly monitored, and in case of data corruption, stimulation is automatically disabled. A power efficient recovery and regulation circuit is proposed for providing dual supply voltages. Also, a bidirectional wireless link with data rates up to 1.5 Mbps and 500 kbps, downlink and uplink respectively, has been designed for use with a 13.56 MHz carrier. Performances attained with a prototype, combined with the stimulator module's configurable communication protocol, are suitable for a cortical implant having more than 1000 stimulation sites, which is expected to be sufficient for providing blind subjects with a useful vision.
FAMILIARIZATION: FOSTERING CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING IN ENGINEERING DESIGN EDUCATION
Authors: Caswell D. J. , Johnston C. R. , Baraniecke E. , Douglas D. , Eggermont M.
Published: April 2017

Developing the skills of creative problem solving in undergraduate engineering education is a significant challenge in the typically analytical engineering training program. The problem lies in the fact that the skills of design and creative problem solving are primarily skills of synthesis rather than analysis. Design instructors at the University of Calgary have developed an approach to design that fosters the development of synthesis skills. This paper develops Familiarization as one component of the approach necessary for creative thinking and provides a description of the classroom requirements for developing the concept.
A THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON DESIGN CREATIVITY
Authors: Zeng Yong , Yan Baiquan , Chen Bo , Yao Shengji
Published: April 2017

This paper presents a mathematical model for understanding the factors that lead to a creative design, using the axiomatic theory of design modeling. This mathematical model provides the dynamic mechanism underlying the creative design process: design governing equation. It is pointed out that there may exist a chaotic motion behind the design process because of the nonlinearity of the design governing equation. Based on the recursive-logic based design process model for solving this equation, three routes to creative design are given. A case study from a patent and a software experiment are used to verify the presented mathematical theory.
THREE-PHASED SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT AT UNIVERSITÉ DE MONCTON
Authors: Babin Ronald
Published: April 2017

Since 2000, Université de Moncton is the site of a three-phased academic environmental research, development, creation (RDC) initiative: (1) installation in 2000 on the University’s main campus of a 4 hectares Millennium Ecological park; (2) integration since 2002 of permanent and growing nature art installations towards an open air nature art museum in the park; and (3) development project of an Atlantic Canada Housing and Environmental Technology Centre. From a societal modernization theoretical approach, we will examine the direction and scope of this partnership based initiative which seeks to develop, demonstrate and communicate sustainable practices that contribute to social change regarding environmental and climate change issues.
FLAPPING WING DEVICES FOR MARS EXPLORATION
Authors: Ania Asier , Poirel Dominique , Potvin Marie-Josée , Montminy Steeve
Published: April 2017

The use of an aerial vehicle would greatly enhance the domain of exploration on Mars. The main constraint in such a design would be the extreme Martian environment. The low-density atmosphere suggests the use of a low Reynolds number flight regime modeled after flapping wing insect flight. This flapping wing flight employs several unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms; delayed stall, wake capture, and rotational mechanisms. Two prototypes, a flapping wing and a rotary-flapping wing hybrid, have been built and will be tested in order to quantify the 'overall lift' generated and allow us to evaluate the efficacy of flapping wing flight on Mars.
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE STUDENT'S DESIGN PROCESS: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE TEACHING OF LATER PHASES OF THE MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESS
Authors: Motte Damien , Andersson Per-Erik , Bjärnemo Robert
Published: April 2017

Most methods that guide the designer through the later phases of the design process are general in nature, and it is up to the designer to organize the design work using the tools and techniques available. This process also relies greatly on experience, which is quite a challenge for students, who are mostly novices in the area. In a comparative study, the evolution of the experience and skills acquired by the students in performing design tasks during the embodiment design and detail design phases has been analyzed. The re-sults indicate the main directions for improvement in teaching the later phases of the mechanical engineer-ing design process.
AN INTEGRATED, REAL-TIME APPROACH TO PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN EDUCATION
Authors: Young Brent , Svrcek William
Published: April 2017

Throughout the chemical and process industries, ever more emphasis is being placed upon extracting increasingly greater value from plant equipment, with substantial interest in energy efficiency and responsible environmental stewardship. Improved process control is almost unique in its ability to deliver substantial operational efficiency and environmental improvements with relatively little additional capital investment. As such, process control has become one of the most sought after skills within the chemical and process industries. Industry needs graduates that are educated in the latest and most relevant skills. Industry practitioners rely heavily on commercially available process simulation tools and hands on, time domain based control strategy development techniques, e.g. [1-2]. This paper describes an integrated, real-time approach to the education of undergraduate chemical engineering students in process control system design [3-4]. The real-time approach to process control system design education integrates introductory process control education and industrial practice. The approach focuses on the more applied and practical time domain based techniques derived from modern process simulation. The use of computers is a central theme to the approach, and their use in simulations and the software is carefully introduced. The students gain a thorough understanding of instrumentation, process design versus controllability trade offs, control loop configurations and tuning, practical techniques for the control of unit operations and basic plant-wide control. This integrated, real-time approach to the education of undergraduate chemical engineering students in process dynamics and control has been taught as a capstone subject at the University of Calgary since 1997 using active, “hands on” or resource based learning [5-6]. A small number of lectures at the beginning of the course are advocated from a learning perspective to motivate students rather than to simply transmit information. A majority of “hands on” tutorial and / or simulation sessions are recommended on case studies, workshops or projects facilitated by the instructors [7]. The approach is illustrated by examples from this capstone course.
DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF AN IMPACT WEAR TESTING DEVICE FOR THE MINERALS INDUSTRY
Authors: Thakur Lokesh K. , Radziszewski Peter
Published: April 2017

Total steel media wear in a given mill (ball or SAG) grinding process is a product of three recognized wear mechanisms-impact, abrasion, and corrosion of which the contribution of each wear mechanism to total media wear has not been well established. A total media wear model can be defined on the assumption that the effect of each wear mechanism can be independently determined and this effect can be tied to mill charge motion as determined or estimated using a charge motion simulator, which allows for a total media wear model to be defined as the summation of the wear results of each mechanism. This necessitates the need for developing impact, abrasion and corrosion wear testers that will allow the study of media wear over a wide range of energy levels. Refinement of the impact test will allow studying how impact media wear at high energies behaves as a function of those energies. This work is focused on design and development of a high-energy impact wear tester. A comprehensive illustration on designing the newest version of the impact wear tester is explained in detail in order to exhibit how theoretical, virtual and experimental analyses could be integrated while designing a mechanical system.
THE ATTRIBUTE ASSESSMENT PROCESS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA
Authors: Ingram Sandra , Cicek Jillian Seniuk , Sepehri Nariman
Published: April 2017

This paper describes a recent effort at the University of Manitoba to identify how CEAB graduate attributes are manifested and measured in the engineering curriculum. For this study, four attributes were chosen: Investigation and Design, part of the engineering hard skills, and Professionalism and Lifelong learning as representative of the professional skills of engineering. One third year course each from the Departments of Biosystems, Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical and Computer Engineering were selected to examine the four target attributes during the 2011 Fall term. The respective instructors were involved in completing a self-administered checklist with the intent to survey instructors’ understanding of how the four CEAB attributes were manifest in their courses, and mapping the targeted attributes to the identified courses. Results show that there is much more research needed in this area, with continued emphasis on the manifestation of the twelve CEAB attributes in individual courses, as well as research on student proficiency, and methods of communicating assessment. Although this study did not set out to compare the attributes to one another, there was some evidence that of the four attributes being measured across the four courses, hard skills were more prominently assessed than professional skills.
ENGINEERING DESIGN FROM A SAFETY PERSPECTIVE
Authors: Iorga Christian , Desrochers Alain , Smeesters Cécile
Published: April 2017

Engineering design is an iterative decision- making process involving interactions between three elements: geometry, materials and loads. The objective is to provide an optimum combination of these design parameters. Unfortunately, the absolute optimum can rarely be achieved because the design criteria typically place counter opposing demands and uncertainties must be accommodated. To this end, the integration of both deterministic and stochastic methods into the product development process is encouraged. The deterministic method allows designers to calculate a design safety factor based on the uncertainties of a loss-of-function parameter and a maximum allowable parameter. Stochastic methods are based on the statistical nature of the design parameters and focus on the reliability of the design. Links between these elements will thus be emphasized and supported with examples from the recreational product industry.
Student-Directed Learning Opportunities for the Development of Life-Long Learning Skills
Authors: Romkey Lisa
Published: April 2017

One of the skills we aim to develop in our students is the ability to work and function as life-long learners. This paper describes two curricular initiatives designed to foster life-long learning skills through student-driven learning in a multidisciplinary engineering program. Student-directed initiatives can help build critical thinking and information literacy skills, which are essential in the information and data-rich landscape that engineers work within. The challenges and benefits in developing and facilitating these initiatives, which run counter to the more traditional pedagogical framework in higher education, are discussed.
ENGINEERING PORTFOLIOS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO: DEVELOPING SKILLS FOR COMMUNICATION,PROFESSIONALISM AND LIFE-LONG LEARNING
Authors: Ambidge Chris , Chong Alan , Kinnear Penny , Tihanyi Deborah , Wilkinson Lydia
Published: April 2017

In 2005, the University of Toronto’s Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry Department (CHE), in collaboration with the Engineering Communication Program (ECP), piloted a communications portfolio for second-year students. Over the past seven years the communication portfolio has been expanded into the third-year CHE requirements, adapted for use in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department(MIE) and next year will be used within the Civil Engineering Department. Through a discussion of the CHE and MIE portfolios we compare two different portfolio models and explain how this model has been adapted to its newest context in Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto. Through this approach we aim to show the usefulness of this portfolio model in supporting student development in communication, professionalism and life-long learning, three of the CEAB graduate attributes.
ePortfolios to Build, Demonstrate and Maintain Professional Competence
Authors: Presant Donald
Published: April 2017

This presentation provides an international "tour d'horizon" about eportfolios for engineering education and professional development. It focuses on examples of accepted and emerging learning practice, and explores some of the pedagogical, technological and business issues that engineering educators must face when building a strategy for ePortfolios in their institutions.
TEACHERS-IN-SERVICE PROGRAM IN MANITOBA
Authors: Kinsner Witold , Schor Dario , Marcynuk Kathryn , Denton Troy
Published: April 2017

This paper describes examples of a new range of activities intended to enhance the exposure of senior high-school students to engineering, technology, applied science and science. The activities are termed Teachers-in-Service Program (TISP), and have been proposed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Shortly after IEEE Canada brought TISP to this country, IEEE Winnipeg Section brought it to Manitoba. Our TISP activities to date have been very extensive and comprehensive [1].The mission of TISP is to foster interest in engineering, science and mathematics among students from grades 7 through 12 by providing teachers with tools and training (e.g., [2]) that can be used to give students interesting experience with science and engineering topics in the classroom. TISP provides a forum for IEEE volunteers to demonstrate the application of engineering, science and mathematics concepts by sharing their real-world experiences with local preuniversity educators. IEEE offers training workshops for its volunteers on how to provide the in-service program to local teachers. IEEE Canada provided two such TISP workshops, one in 2009, and one in 2011. Since 2001, over 130 in-service presentations have been developed and delivered by IEEE volunteers. Approximately 3,200 pre-university educators have participated in the in-service program, impacting almost 350,000 students worldwide. All 20 IEEE Canada Sections are now active in TISP.In Manitoba, we have expanded the TISP activities to include not only teachers, but also parents and students themselves. Our TISP activities are segmented into three classes: Tier1 that dedicated to students mostly (e.g., focused presentations, demonstrations and tours that reached over 1350 students in the previous year), Tier2 involving teachers mostly (e.g., workshops [3]), and Tier3 engaging students, teachers and parents (e.g., Space Camp [4], Near-Space Experiments, and communications with satellites through the University of Manitoba ground station [5]).
Experience with Online Delivery of an Engineering Technical Elective Course
Authors: Wallace Jim , Dhariwal Harpreet
Published: April 2017

MIE 515, Alternative Energy Systems, an engineering technical elective course open to senior undergraduates and graduate students, was delivered as an on line course for Fall 2011. This is the first time an undergraduate engineering course at the University of Toronto has been offered online. The course is also one of five pilot online courses across the University. The move online is being accomplished in two steps. For Fall 2011, a small lecture section of 25 students was used as a setting for video capture and the remaining 110 students accessed the course lectures online asynchronously. A live tutorial was offered once a week. All students were physically present for the midterm examination and the final examination. For Fall 2012, the course will be delivered entirely online, with the exception of student physical presence for the two examinations. Pedagogical and technical lessons learned during this transition year will be presented. The benefits and drawbacks of online delivery will be discussed from the perspective gained this year and compared with our expectations. Student feedback will also be presented and discussed.
INTRODUCTION TO THE FOURIER TRASNFORM: IMAGE PROCESSING LABORATORY EXAMPLE
Authors: Thomas Gabriel
Published: April 2017

Signal processing can be a mathematical intense subject and undergraduate students may not be able to appreciate the enormous importance on the applied side of things. Even if the instructor mentions some of the fascinating application areas, it might be difficult for students to attend a laboratory session in which they will have enough time to code a signal processing algorithm and see a big difference when processing data in the frequency domain. In this paper I describe a simple example in which students have an opportunity to develop a theoretical solution to enhance an image and with just a few lines of code run a program that will show a dramatic difference between an original image and the enhanced version. Different fundamental signal processing concepts are reinforced with the laboratory example and its application only requires a computer and signal processing developing software such as Matlab.
A supportive pedagogical package for distance learning and remote laboratories
Authors: Samson Geneviève , Deschênes Jean-Sébastien , Kane Hamdjatou , Mhiri Rhadi , Nerguizian Vahe , Saliah-Hassane Hamadou
Published: April 2017

Laboratories are an important and integral part of the engineering curriculum and should be well integrated into a coherent learning path. In a distance learning context, the development and integration of remote laboratories represents an important technical challenge. Consequently, it is sometimes observed that the pedagogical and socio-affective aspects are neglected in the development of such laboratories. In this project, the objective has been to develop a flexible and reusable model (a full pedagogical package) designed to support the development of remote laboratory modules as well as providing an "ideal" distance learning environment that effectively supports teamwork between geographically dispersed students. The proposed model is partly inspired from the problem-based learning pedagogy with emphasis on collaboration, mutual training and peer support. Particular efforts were made to minimize the need for supervision. It is designed to make full use of the tools and flexibility provided by an existing learning management system (LMS) such as Moodle. The collaborative approach on which relies the completion of pre- and post-lab team documents is first discussed followed by a presentation of the other elements that are included in the model. The full concept is then summarized graphically, linking each module contents to their cognitive and socio-affective objectives. In addition to its usefulness as a guide to help developers design their remote laboratory interfaces, the model provides a convenient way to evaluate different aspects of a project (including teamwork and problem resolution processes) in addition to the actual learning objectives.
INNOVATION IN GREEN PROCESS ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATE LABORATORY COURSE - INTEGRATED LABORATORIES FOR PARTICULATE OPERATIONS, HEAT TRANSFER AND MASS TRANSFER COURSES
Authors: Xu Chunbao (Charles) , Sang L. , Bao D. , Siddiqui H. , Abbott K. , Balasundharam V. , Chad J. , Freeman Z. , Vanegas J.C. , Maddox E. , Piccolo C. , Ward J. , Wu C. , Xiang D. , Young K.
Published: April 2017

In the past two years since 2011, the course instructor (Dr. Xu), along with the students in the Green Process Engineering (GPE) class and TAs, has developed an innovative undergraduate laboratory course that integrates laboratories for particulate operations, heat and mass transfer courses. The integrated lab course runs as research projects that apply and integrate the concepts reviewed in the above courses. One of the key objectives of this course is to train team work and leadership. To this end, the students are grouped into 4 groups, and each group carries out one of the following 4 projects for 6h/week and approx.6 weeks, rotates the projects and completes all by the end of this full-year course: (1) Particulate operations - heterogeneous catalyst particles (Au/MgAl2O4) formation, handling and characterization; (2) Convective heat transfer enhancement in a stirred tank reactor; (3) Liquid phase mass transfer in a gas-liquid stirred reactor system; (4) A green process for the production of acetic acid via aqueous phase oxidation of ethanol with air using Au/MgAl2O4 catalyst: effects of mass transfer and reaction kinetics. As the course learning objectives, students should be able to propose experimental methodologies and design their own experimental procedure, secure and prepare their own experimental materials and equipment and facilities, perform the experiments and collect data, interpret the experimental results using the principles and knowledge from the relevant courses, and present their results effectively.