Proposal

According to the summary a recent hearing by the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Science in February of 2010, recruitment and retention of students in the STEM fields still remains a challenge¹. Close to 40% of enrolled engineering students are lost due to poor retention during the Freshman year (these rates are higher for minorities). One reason for this poor retention rate, as cited by the report, is lack of interest in and excitement about the subject matter in introductory subjects offered in the Freshman year. For example, the committee reports that calculus fails to create excitement in the students and often the students are left with a feeling that math or science is boring and, in the case of engineering students, irrelevant to their professional needs and interests. Sinilarly other courses such as Physics and Chemistry appear very one dimensional and the student fail to see the connection between these subjects and the field of engineering. As a result, a significant portion of these students drop out and pursue non-stem fields at a time when our country needs more engineering professionals than ever before. The House report suggests that new teaching methods, curricula, and hands-on learning opportunities could reverse the existing trends.  

In this proposal we will focus on addressing the above highlighted challenges in our Engineering Graphics Course offered in the first and second semesters of the Freshman year. This course deals with drawing of complex 2 and 3-D objects at various orientations in space. An engineer must be able to imagine the orientation of the any object in space and furthermore, be able to imagine various cross-sectional cuts. This skill is very hard to develop and currently, the students achieve this through cumbersome 2-D analysis and a design software called “Solid Model”. Solid Model allows the students to build and analyze 3-d objects however the visualization is still 2-D. The other shortcomings of the course are that the students have no way of automatically generating 3-D images of existing objects. They would have to use very cumbersome and outdated techniques to generate images of existing objects. In short, the students need more advanced and technological tools to help them visualize complex objects and manipulate these images for extracting information. Our obajective is to “bring the fun back to learning in engineering”.

It is important to note that, Engineering Graphics (ENG 1111C) is the only “engineering” course offered in the Freshman year. This course could serve as link between mathematics and physics subjects in the Freshman year and advanced engineering courses in the sophomore and junior year. We believe that by making this course more up-to-date and technology oriented, we can create excitement in our students and we can help them understand that engineering is fun. We wish to send the message to the freshman students that if they work hard and “get through” the freshman year, fun subjects and topics in engineering will be awaiting them.

To achieve our goals, we propose the following:

1. Assemble a high tech system for object-imaging-visualization-manipulation to support the standard techniques used in the graphics course

2. Purchase a laser scanner capable of imaging 3-D objects accurately and quickly. (http://trendsupdates.com/real-view-3-scanner-scans-3d-objects/ )

3. Purchase a Z-space system for image manipulation (https://katzcomputer.com/zspace/)

4. Purchase a 3-D printer to print the designed object (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fsl/pegasus-touch-laser-sla-3d-printer-low-cost-high-q )

Development of this system allows the student to design, visualize, manipulate, and print the component that they have designed. The virtual design and manipulation will create an environment of fun engineering design in the freshman year. Furthermore, the students become familiar with the product development cycle. We will create a competition environment where the students can test their designed and printed components for strength and durability. We believe that addition of this activity will motivate the students to work through the freshman year and know what to expect from engineering courses.

 The PIs for this project will Drs. Masory and Hashemi from Ocean and Mechanical Engineering Dept.

?1. Table top scanner (http://trendsupdates.com/real-view-3-scanner-scans-3d-objects/ ) (2 x $2000 = $4000)

2. Zspace visualization system (https://katzcomputer.com/zspace/) (2 x $5100 = $10200)

3. Pegasus 3-D printing system (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fsl/pegasus-touch-laser-sla-3d-printer-low-cost-high-q )  (2 x $2750 = $5500)

Requested budget for the proposed system = $4000 + $8190 + $5500 = 19,700

Total budget = $19,700

• The department will provide the needed software for solid works to be used by all students.
• Also, the furniture need3ed to accommodate the requested equipment will be purchased by the department at a value of $5K-$7K.