The aim of this paper was to explore whether there is a gender difference in the beneficial effects of Racing Academy, which is a video game used to support undergraduate students learning of Mechanical Engineering. One hundred and thirty-eight undergraduate students (15 females and 123 males) participated in the study. The students completed a…

For the past several years, a team in the Department of Electrical Engineering (EE), National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan, has been establishing a pedagogical approach to embody embedded systems in the context of robotics. To alleviate the burden on students in the robotics curriculum in their junior and senior years, a training platform on…

This paper presents the effects of a continuous assessment process on mechanical engineering education at Kuwait University. This process has been in place for the last five academic years and is producing results. Efforts to educate faculty and students about the process are beginning to produce accurate and consistent measurements of student…

The author discusses "Design Squad", a television program designed to introduce students to the engineering process. Each episode tells the story of how two teams tackled a particular challenge. A graphic announces each stage (e.g., brainstorm, design, build, test, and redesign) as the teams construct their solutions. These graphics make visual…

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology started the first US chemical engineering program six score years ago. Since that time, the chemical engineering curriculum has evolved. The latest versions of the curriculum are attempts to broaden chemical engineering to add product engineering, biology and nanotechnology to the traditional process…

Before leaders in technology education are able to identify a theoretical framework upon which a curriculum is to stand, they must first grapple with two opposing views of the purpose of technology education--education for all learners or career/technical education. Dakers (2006) identifies two opposing philosophies that can serve as a framework…

This paper reports the integration of supplementary training in academic literacy, for those without the assumed entry standard, into a standard electrical engineering program without compromising any other educational objectives. All students who commenced an engineering degree were tested as part of their first session's assessment activities.…

According to so-called "Bologna model," many technical universities in Europe have divided their educations into separate 3-year Bachelor and 2-year Master programs (followed by an optional Ph.D. study). Following the "Bologna model," DTU has recently transformed its 5-year engineering education into a 3-year Bachelor (B.Sc.)…

The purpose of this thesis is to introduce a new idea: using biological mimics in the detection of toxic compounds. Biological mimics imitate the active site of a given enzyme or have catalytic chemistry similar to enzymes and can be used in place of biological molecules to provide longer stability and simpler operation. In the following text the…

Ion implantation is widely used in the microelectronics industry for fabrication of source and drain transistor regions. Unfortunately, implantation causes considerable damage to the substrate lattice rendering most of the implanted dopant electrically inactive. Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) heals the damage by rapidly heating the substrate with a…

A project-specific dispute resolution ladder (DRL) typically consists of multiple alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques that are chosen to assist in mitigating the impact of change orders and claims (CCO) occurring during the project construction phase, and avoid their escalation to protracted disputes that adversely affect a…

Euler's formula for the buckling of an elastic column is widely used in engineering design. However, only a handful of engineers will be familiar with Euler's classic paper "De Curvis Elasticis" in which the formula is derived. In addition to the Euler Buckling Formula, "De Curvis Elasticis" classifies all the bent configurations of elastic rod--a…

Even before steel was a topic of formal study for structural engineers, the brilliant eighteenth century Swiss mathematician and physicist, Leonhard Euler (1707-1783), investigated the theory governing the elastic behaviour of columns, the results of which are incorporated into the American Institute of Steel Construction's (AISC's) Bible: the…

This is the third of four essays discussing John Dewey's short essay, "Education as engineering", placing the essay into its historical context while also hinting at contemporary connections. This essay aims to show that one must not take the term "engineering" in a narrow, technical sense. Dewey was concerned with how the beliefs and values of…

Task analysis in human performance technology is used to determine how human performance can be well supported with training, job aids, environmental changes, and other interventions. Early work by Miller (1953) and Gilbert (1969, 1974) addressed cue processing in task execution and recommended cue descriptions in task analysis. Modern task…