Baker College

Release for PNAS publication

Statics and Dynamics are necessary fundamental components of the engineering curriculum for Mechanical Engineering (ME), Civil Engineering (CE), and some other engineering disciplines. Students typically take these courses at the beginning of their second (sophomore) year and data suggests that many students drop out of engineering majors around this time. While this may not be directly attributed to Statics and Dynamics, it is widely agreed that these courses are challenging for many students. This paper presents the outline of a recently designed combined course in Statics and Dynamics with many new features that are not observed in the traditional courses in Statics and Dynamics. The need for designing a new combined course has been necessitated by four factors -a need for incorporating hands-on skills that are increasingly demanded by employers, navigating students through a challenging course that is a pre-requisite for other courses, attempting to improve retention of ME and CE students, and balancing the credit hour load of students in a liberal education environment where general education requirements are sizeable. This course has added new learning outcomes to accommodate laboratory experience as well as use of simulation software to enhance student engagement and at the same time provide the students with multiple options that encourage different learning styles. The course has been designed for four credit hours consisting of 180 minutes of lecture time, 120 minutes of laboratory time and 60 minutes of tutoring time every week of the fourteen week semester. The contact time has been distributed so as to promote scaffolding of the learning process. The learning outcomes established for this course include ABET 1 outcomes 'a' and 'e' as well as ABET 1 outcomes 'b' and 'k'. Although it may be argued that the inclusion of more learning outcomes may overburden the students and require them to allocate more time for this course, the feedback from students for the last two semesters has been generally positive. This paper provides the details of the curriculum and explains the rationale behind the changes in a critical course for ME and CE students. It is expected that the curriculum will lead to a broader discussion on the need to revamp critical courses in the engineering curriculum in order to enhance student engagement, and in an attempt to improve student retention in engineering.

Abstract Developing a Photonics and Laser Technician Education and Training ProgramAbstractPhotonics is the science and technology of using light to generate and control energy, andtransmit and detect information. Photonics is an enabling technology, supporting a wide varietyof industries and fields. The National Photonics Initiative1 has identified five key areas wherephotonics plays a critical role in allowing the United States regain global competitiveness andmaintain national security: advanced manufacturing, communications and informationtechnology, defense and national security, energy, and health and medicine.While photonics plays such an important role in enhancing the quality of our lives, highereducation programs to prepare technicians to work in this area are few across the country. Theexisting programs do not produce a sufficient number of graduates to fill the current andprojected industry needs for photonics technicians in our state and region as well as nationally2.Our College has started addressing this gap by developing and introducing a two-year Photonicsand Laser Technology program, the only such program in our state. This initiative has receivedenthusiastic support from the photonics industry in the state, and is also supported by a NationalScience Foundation Advanced Technology Education (ATE) Grant. The goals of the grantproject are to: a) create and implement a new Associate of Applied Science Photonics and LaserTechnology (AAS PLT) program; b) fully equip an Optics and Photonics Laboratory foreducation and training; c) train faculty to teach core courses in the AAS PLT program; d)perform outreach activities to local high schools to promote the new program; e) educate 30 ormore students or workers by the end of the project.The paper discusses the efforts and activities performed towards achieving the project goals, andthe results and outcomes obtained in the first year of the grant. Activities included convening anAdvisory Board with industry participation to provide guidance towards a current, high qualityphotonics program; developing new photonics courses with labs; building a state-of-the-artOptics and Photonics educational laboratory; providing professional development to facultymembers in photonics topics including experimental skills; training and certifying a facultymember to act as Laser Safety Officer; holding an Open House and visits to the Optics andPhotonics Laboratory; and offering a summer program introducing photonics to high schoolstudents in the area.

Based on an ABET recommendation for our undergraduate Mechanical Engineering program, and interest from students a new course was developed to introduce Mechanical Engineering students to the topics of Biomechanics and Biomaterials. The course was designed from the beginning to include hands-on activities for students in addition to traditional format lectures. Indepth analyses of various human movements were performed by students using specialized computer software capable of computing and displaying kinematic and dynamic quantities of interest. The movements analyzed included students' own movements recorded during class with a camcorder and processed with the dedicated software. Students also had access to a library of previously recorded human motions provided with the software. The second part of the course was dedicated to biomaterials and their applications in medicine.

While graduate level optics and photonics education in the state of Michigan has a rich tradition, college level programs that produce photonics technicians are virtually non-existent. Baker College has started the first two-year photonics program in the state in fall 2013. The program is leveraging support from Mi-Light, the Michigan Photonics Cluster; OP-TEC, the National Center for Optics and Photonics Education; and an NSF Project Grant awarded to the College. In its first year the photonics program has achieved important milestones - convening an Advisory Board with industry participation, developing almost the entire curriculum, and creating a fully functional optics and photonics laboratory. Outreach activities have also taken place. The paper will describe the steps taken to introduce the new program and the lessons learned along the way.

Introduction: Foot ulceration is a multifactorial, frequent and challenging complication of diabetes. There is increasing recognition of diabetes as a pro-inflammatory condition and evidence that toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) activation is involved in its systemic pathogenesis and the subsequent impairment of wound healing, however the mechanism remains unclear. We aim to study the effect of simulated diabetic-ischaemic conditions on TLR4 function in dermal fibroblasts. Method: Human fibroblasts were cultured at physiological glucose concentration (5.5mM) and subsequently exposed to glucose concentrations from 0mM to 25mM for 24 hours. Identical samples were placed within a hypoxic chamber for 8 hours. Cell lysate protein and supernatant were harvested and western blot assays for TLR4, MyD88 and cleaved Caspase 3 were undertaken. Migration was assessed by scratch wound assay. The effects of MyD88 and TRIF inhibitory peptides and TLR4 neutralising-antibody and antagonist on fibroblast migration were assessed in the 25mM glucose groups. Results: Hypoxic conditions led to an increase in TLR4 protein expression. This effect was significantly increased (p<0.05) in very high glucose concentrations (25mM), and resulted in increased apoptosis (cleaved caspase3) and IL-6 release. Hypoxic conditions resulted in impaired fibroblast migration, particularly at high glucose concentrations (p<0.05). Inhibition with a MyD88 inhibitory-peptide and a TLR4 neutralising antibody and antagonist ameliorated the effects of high glucose and ischaemia (p<0.05). Conclusion: Hypoxia leads to increased TLR4 protein expression and this effect is exaggerated by hyperglycaemia. This results in an increase in cellular apoptosis. The migration of fibroblasts in hypoxia was disproportionately impaired in the very high glucose treatment groups. TLR4 and MyD88 inhibition resulted in significantly improved fibroblast migration under these conditions. We conclude that inflammatory processes mediated via the MyD88-dependent TLR4 pathway results in reduced migration of fibroblasts and may contribute to impaired wound healing, under conditions commonly found in diabetic patients with concomitant ischaemia.

The goal of this quasi-experimental study was to investigate an academic integrity (AI) intervention in an online RN to BSN nursing program. Academic integrity is an issue in academia, with problems in this area increased by the proliferation of online and alternative learning environments. Students newly admitted to a RN to BSN nursing program were randomly assigned to a control group (n = 169), which received the usual honor code exposure, or a treatment group (n = 177), which received a faculty-designed intervention. At the completion of the semester students were asked to complete an academic integrity survey tool. Overall self-reported cheating was very low in both groups. Students in the treatment group reported higher levels of faculty and student support for AI policies and perceived these policies to be more effective (p < .05). While more research is needed in the area of AI, especially in post-licensure nursing students, faculty-initiated discussions appear to foster a culture of AI.

This paper discusses the use of fun in the workplace as an effective business strategy for recruiting and retaining talented employees as well as developing their creativity and productivity. The benefits of fun in the workplace are discussed and a few cautions are offered. Suggestions are made on creating a fun working environment using the “Be a Pal” model: Pay for fun, Allocate time for fun, and Lead the way.