Peter James Baker, Ph.D. (5th. year) Biomedical Engineering
Summary: Working individually in this activity the students will investigate objects at the nanometer level. First the students will conceptualize scaling, drawing analogies from monetary and distance platforms. Next, the students will be introduced to the prefix “nano” and how it relates to distance. They will then use a multimedia interface to reinforce the concept of scaling and visual objects on a nanometer scale. Finally, as homework the students will be asked to investigate currently developed nano-scale machines; discuss potential applications for these devices, limitations and potential design problems which may occur at this scale.
Peter James Baker, Ph.D. (5th. year) Biomedical Engineering
Summary: Students are presented with a brief history of plastics and examine the abundance of different types of plastics found in our day-to-day lives. They will be introduced to the mechanical properties of plastics which make them useful for industrial applications including: stress/strain relationship. These physical properties allow for plastics to be fabricated into different products. Students will be able to recognize the different roles that plastics play in our lives and the effects that plastics have on our environment. Finally, the students will act like industrial engineers and based on the cost and physical properties, they will determine which plastics will be the most cost effective for given applications.
Akim Faisal, MS (2nd. year), Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Summary: Students use LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robotics to help conceptualize and understand the force of friction. Specifically, they observe how different surfaces in contact result in different frictional forces. A LEGO robot is constructed to pull a two-wheeled trailer made of LEGO parts. The robot is programmed to pull the trailer 10 feet and trial runs are conducted on smooth and textured surfaces. The speed and motor power of the robot is kept constant in all trials so students observe the effect of friction between various combinations of surfaces and trailer wheels. To apply what they learn, students act as engineers and create the most effective car by designing the most optimal tires for given surface conditions.
Carole Chen, M.S. (1st year) Chemical and Biological Engineering
Summary: Working as a team, students discover that the value of pi (3.1415926...) is a constant and applies to all different sized circles. The team builds a basic Lego robot and programs it to travel in a circular motion. The robot is required to have a marker/highlighter attached to the chassis so that while the robot travels the programmed circular path, a circle can be traced on ground. Using students' measurement skills, they measure the circumference and diameter of the circle and calculate pi via the pi and circumference relationship; circumference of a circle divided by the diameter is the value of pi.
Teachengineering.org | Complete Activity (pdf) | Worksheet (pdf) | Pre Evaluation (pdf) | Post Evaluation (pdf)
Carlo Yuvienco, Ph.D. (2nd year) Biomedical Engineering
Summary: Students learn about the mechanical advantage that is offered by gears in an interactive and game-like manner. By virtue of the activity’s mechatronic presentation, the students learn to study a mechanical system not as a static image, but rather as a dynamic system that is under their control. The system that is presented is that of two motorized racing cars, which is built using the LEGO Mindstorms robotics platform. The variable that is altered between the two systems is their gear trains; one is geared up for speed and the other is geared down for torque. Students are charged with practicing data collection and data analysis to reinforce particular aspects/effects of mechanical advantage.
Teachengineering.org | Complete Activity (pdf) | Pre Evaluation (pdf) | Post Evaluation (pdf)
Rezwana Uddin, MS (1st. year) Computer Science
Summary: In this activity students learn how to find the perimeter of a shape. Using a ruler, students measure model rooms made of construction paper. In addition they learn how they can use other tools such as a robot to help them take measurements, the ways in which this may be advantageous or disadvantageous, and discuss real world applications. Using a robot, built from a Lego NXT kit, that has been programmed to move alongside a wall and output the length of that wall, students note down the measurements found and compare their findings for the perimeter found earlier. In both cases students also sketch a map of their area that is to scale, and labeled with the lengths found.
Teachengineering.org | Complete Activity (pdf)
Eduardo Suescun, Ph.D. (2nd. year) Civil Engineering
Summary: Students learn about contact stress and its applications in engineering. They are introduced to the concept of heavy loads, such as buildings, elephants, people and traffic, and learn how those heavy loads apply contact stress. Through the analysis of their own footprints, students determine their contact stress.
Teachengineering.org | Worksheet (pdf)
James Cox, MS (1st. year), Mechanical Engineering
Summary: Students strengthen their communicate skills about measurements by learning the meaning of base units and derived units, including speed—one of the most common derived units (distance/time). Working in groups, students measure the time for LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT robots to move a certain distance. The robots are started and stopped via touch sensors and programmed to display the distance traveled. Using their collected data, students complete a worksheet to calculate the robots' (mean/average) speeds at given motor powers.
Carole Chen, M.S. (1st year) Chemical and Biological Engineering
Summary: Working as a team, students learn the important concept of velocity using the Lego Mindstorm kit. Velocity consists within it a two-part information; speed and direction of travel. This is a hands-on activity where two light sensors are employed as the time keeper. The distance between the two light sensors is a known value; i.e. measured with a measuring tape. From measuring the elapsed time for an object to travel a known distance, one can calculate the estimated speed of the moving object. With a defined direction, the speed can be translated to velocity.
Complete Activity (pdf) | Worksheet (pdf) | Building Instructions (pdf)
Keeshan Williams, Ph.D. (2nd. year) Chemical and Biological Engineering
Summary: Using a conductivity meter constructed from the Basic stamp microcontroller, Parallax Board of Education and typical circuit elements, students measure the conductivity of various salt and water solutions. The conductivity of the salt solution is indicted by the number of LEDs (light emitting diodes) that are illuminated on the meter. Students will construct a calibration curve using known amounts of table salt dissolved in water, and their corresponding conductivity readings. This calibration curve will then be used to estimate the total equivalent amount of salt contained in Gatorade (or an unknown salt solution).
Teachengineering.org | Complete Activity (pdf) | Worksheet (pdf) | Building Instructions (pdf)
Carlo Yuvienco, Ph.D. (2nd year) Biomedical Engineering
Summary: In an interactive and game-like manner, students learn about the mechanical advantage that is offered by gears. By virtue of the activity's mechatronics presentation, students learn to study a mechanical system as a dynamic system under their control as opposed to a static image. The system presented is of two motorized racing cars built using the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robotics platform. The altered variable between the two systems is the gear train; one is geared up for speed and the other is geared down for torque. Students collect and analyze data to reinforce particular aspects and effects of mechanical advantage.