Modal finite element correlation for computer aided engineering education

Engineering education is very important to prepare quality graduates. An alternative hybrid and collaborative networks approach in learning is the current choice. This study aims to explain the online learning integrated project and Kolb learning style in mechanical engineering courses to enhance students' academic achievement which is implemented through a hybrid and collaborative networks approach. The research method used is a quantitative approach with the posttest control group design method. We carry out learning activities using Project and Kolb Learning on higher education students from Mechanical Engineering Education who take part in learning this project. Students who participate are limited to small groups, which are divided according to their learning styles groups, and the implementation is carried out in a hybrid and collaborative through e-learning and face-to-face. Collecting data using Kolb Learning Styles Inventory, and achievement test. While the data analysis used descriptive analysis and one-way Anova with the help of SPSS software. The results of this study indicate that there is a difference in the average academic achievement of students based on the four learning style groups, and the thinker learning style group has the highest average academic achievement among the four. The selection of appropriate learning styles and learning models has an impact on optimal and effective academic achievement.

Engineering curricula include fundamental courses, such as Statics and Dynamics, that serve has foundations for later courses. Unfortunately, these courses often have low success rates and are described as poor educational contexts. To gain a better understanding of the learning contexts in fundamental engineering courses, we focus on the perspective of faculty teaching fundamental engineering courses in mechanical engineering. Grounded in expectancy-value theory, we specifically examined faculty perspectives on how they facilitate learning (faculty behaviors) and faculty beliefs about students as learners. Within a sub-sample of a larger dataset, we found that no participants used the exact same strategies but they each used 3 or 4 of the following: facilitating group work, cognitive modeling, scaffolding, demonstrating practical applications, and use of reinforcers. We also found that participants had unique, shared, and differing beliefs about student learning. Participants' beliefs include the ideas that students are still figuring out how to learn engineering, looking for direction from instructors, and are distracted by competing demands on their time. We found differences with regard to perceptions of student motivation, student abilities, and student engagement. Our findings are both consistent with and expand current literature.

Over the past four years, we have redesigned Harvard’s introductory mechanical engineering course to introduce the principles, practices, and pleasures of mechanical engineering in an accessible format. The main goals of the course are to provide experience in the design process, demonstrate the connection between engineering science and design early in the curriculum, and build student enthusiasm for engineering, serving to attract and retain students. Unlike most introductory mechanical engineering courses, we cover strength of materials and machine elements, material usually presented much later in the curriculum, in order to provide tools for the students to quantitatively evaluate their designs. By providing just enough of this background knowledge to allow for analysis of designs, we demonstrate the connection between engineering science and design early in curriculum and motivate in-depth coverage of these topics in later courses. The laboratories for the course build enthusiasm for engineering by incorporating exciting design projects and introducing students to some of the most attractive mechanical engineering tools. Students learn 3-D solid modeling with CAD software, create prototypes from CAD models using manual and CNC machining, and reverse engineer common consumer products. Using these tools, students build their own hardware prototypes for both a cantilever beam catapult and a model all-terrain-vehicle. These exercises, carefully chosen to reinforce the strength of materials and machine elements concepts, culminate in design contests that enhance the visibility of engineering within the larger university community and increase student interest in the field.

Naval Engineers JournalVolume 80, Issue 4 p. 643-649 PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING LIEUTENANT COMMANDER CARL M. ALBERO U.S.N., LIEUTENANT COMMANDER CARL M. ALBERO U.S.N. THE AUTHOR: graduated from Lafayette College in 1957 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. Upon graduation, he was assigned to USS NEWPORT NEWS (CA-148), followed by a tour as Chief Engineer of the USS DUPONT (DD-941). From June, 1962 to June, 1965, he attended a postgraduate course in Mechanical Engineering at the United States Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, and was awarded a Master of Science Degree. He is currently assigned to the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, U.S. Navy, Bath, Maine as Planning and Design Officer. He is a registered professional engineer, a member of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Sigma Xi, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. An article of his on cryogenic pumping has previously been published in the Naval Engineers JournalSearch for more papers by this author LIEUTENANT COMMANDER CARL M. ALBERO U.S.N., LIEUTENANT COMMANDER CARL M. ALBERO U.S.N. THE AUTHOR: graduated from Lafayette College in 1957 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. Upon graduation, he was assigned to USS NEWPORT NEWS (CA-148), followed by a tour as Chief Engineer of the USS DUPONT (DD-941). From June, 1962 to June, 1965, he attended a postgraduate course in Mechanical Engineering at the United States Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, and was awarded a Master of Science Degree. He is currently assigned to the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, U.S. Navy, Bath, Maine as Planning and Design Officer. He is a registered professional engineer, a member of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Sigma Xi, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. An article of his on cryogenic pumping has previously been published in the Naval Engineers JournalSearch for more papers by this author First published: August 1968 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-3584.1968.tb05470.x AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume80, Issue4August 1968Pages 643-649 RelatedInformation

This study aims to explore effective ways to integrate ideological and political education into university mechanical engineering courses to cultivate well-rounded engineering talents with both technical skills and moral integrity. By analyzing the core concepts of ideological and political education and the characteristics of mechanical engineering education, specific integration strategies are proposed. These include the optimization and design of course content, innovation and application of teaching methods, and the development and training of faculty. The effectiveness of these strategies is also evaluated. The research results indicate that the organic integration of ideological and political education can significantly enhance students' moral qualities and professional skills, promoting their overall development.

PurposeThe Mechanical Engineering course at the University of Campinas is composed of different disciplines in the areas of materials, mechanical design, manufacturing (production and manufacturing), computational systems, thermal and fluids. In the manufacturing area, in particular, there is a discipline entitled Productive Systems whose main objective is to offer to the student a global vision about operations management. In the field of operations management, sustainability is gaining more and more importance; thus, it is important to develop in the students a critical sense about social and environmental aspects. Thus, this paper aims to present the main initiatives developed in the discipline to promote sustainability in engineering students.Design/methodology/approachSince 2015, the professors responsible for the Productive Systems discipline, assisted by post-graduate students and professors from other universities, have begun to redesign the discipline, including debates, lectures, projects and other initiatives to provide a critical view concerning the traditional concepts taught. The discipline has been performed three times with this new conception. The methodology to structure this research was literature review, documental analyses of the discipline records and meetings with professors that participated in the initiatives. An Action Research approach was performed by two professors and a graduate student. The authors of this paper also compared the results with those obtained by initiatives performed at Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden).FindingsThis study allowed to reinforce some results from initiatives performed at Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden); however, some differences were identified. For example, similar to the initiatives mentioned, the professors of University of Campinas had problems with didactic books, as they loosely integrate the basic operations management concepts with sustainable development fundamentals. On the other hand, debates related to social sustainability were considered positive from the point of view of the professors and students, differing from initiatives performed at Chalmers University of Technology.Research limitations/implicationsResults come from one field study (University of Campinas) when professors of the Mechanical Engineering course try to integrate operations management concepts and sustainable development. Different results may be observed by other higher education institutions.Practical implicationsThe authors of this paper believe that the diffusion of these initiatives can stimulate other professors and researchers in the field to broaden the academic debate about the insertion of sustainability into engineering courses.Originality/valueThere are few papers presenting didactic experiences and empirical results about the integration of operations management concepts and sustainable development. Results of this paper reinforce some good practices and they also present other ones, in a way that extend the debate about educational engineering.

The requirements to be met by a polytechnic are reviewed and the probable pattern of mechanical engineering courses in the polytechnics is considered. The general structure of mechanical engineering sandwich courses is mentioned, and reference is made to the inclusion of design and project work and to the importance of the associated industrial training. The recruitment of students is examined and the feasibility of the transfer of students between courses is discussed. Mention is also made of the attitude towards research. The relationships of the polytechnics with the C.N.A.A., industry, the universities, and other colleges are considered, and the desirability of links between the polytechnics is examined.

With the gradual promotion of Engineering Education Accreditation, the reform of the "Engineering Mechanics" course in the electrical engineering major is particularly urgent. Based on the background of Engineering Education Accreditation, this paper discusses the importance of the "Engineering Mechanics" course in the electrical engineering major, analyzes the shortcomings of the course setting and the new requirements brought by Engineering Education Accreditation, and proposes four main ideas for curriculum reform: strengthening the combination of theory and practice, dynamically updating course content, optimizing the school-enterprise cooperation model and establishing a diversified evaluation mechanism. Through the analysis of specific teaching cases, the effectiveness of these reform measures is verified, and corresponding response strategies are provided for the challenges that may be faced during the implementation process to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of teaching reform. Finally, looking to the future, the importance of continuously promoting curriculum reform is emphasized to cultivate high-quality engineering talents that better meet the needs of the industry.

Finite element analysis model is the discretion and simplification of actual structure. Due to some uncertain factors in the process of modeling, such as element type, material properties, geometric shape, the uncertainty of boundary conditions and so on, the finite element analysis model tends to have certain error, which will affect the accuracy of the analysis results. Therefore, model updating and validation are needed to improve the accuracy and reliability of the model. Model updating method based on the first-order optimization was employed to update finite element models referring to experimental modal parameters in the paper. Taking an aero-engine simulation casing as the research object, modal test was carried out to obtain experimental modes. Then the finite element software was used to calculate the corresponding modal parameters. The calculated modal parameters were compared with the experimental ones. As the calculated results obtained by the finite element method may be not so accurate, the test modal data was utilized to update the finite element model, and the modal parameters were selected as references for optimization. With the correction of elastic moduli in each part of the finite element model, modal parameters of the updated finite element model were obtained, and modes of the revised model were in good agreement with the experimental modal parameters. The modal frequency differences between the calculated and experimental results were significantly reduced and the modal shapes of them were identical. The results demonstrated that model updating method based on the correction of elastic modulus is feasible and suitable for the accurate finite element modeling of large and complex structures in engineering.

The study described in this paper has examined whether the concept mapping strategy can be used to help students to improve their learning achievement and interest. The participants were 84 third-year undergraduate mechanical engineering students enrolled in the internal combustion engine course at a college of engineering of the University of Mumbai in India. The experimental group revealed two results. Firstly, adopting concept mapping strategy can significantly improve students' learning achievement compared to using the traditional teaching methods. There were significant differences favoring the experimental group for the knowledge recall questions and the knowledge application questions. Secondly, most of the students were satisfied using the concept mapping strategy in an internal combustion engine course. They indicated that concept maps can help them to learn, identify the key concepts, and connect the various concepts. They also thought that concept mapping could be used in other curricular areas.

Curriculum development in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) in the Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM) Department at the University of Michigan is presented. A course curriculum structure that integrates both mechanical and electrical engineering courses is proposed for mechanical engineering students. The proposed curriculum starts from undergraduate study and finishes at the Ph.D. level. Two new graduate-level MEMS courses are proposed: "Introduction to MEMS" for senior undergraduate students and entry-level graduate students and "Advanced MEMS" for graduate students. The first course has been experimentally taught at the University of Michigan for three years and the class assessments are summarized and analyzed in this paper. It is clear from the student responses that they are interested in taking courses in emerging technologies such as MEMS and more courses in the MEMS area should be offered. Future MEMS curriculum development and a new MEMS course for undergraduate-level students in the college of engineering are discussed.

This article shows the importance of applying new teaching-learning methodologies and tools to structure a potentially significant teaching unit in ​​refrigeration and air conditioning. In this study, an experimental bench was set up and different temperature and pressure measurements were taken to obtain the enthalpies of the condensation and evaporation systems of an air conditioning prototype. Initially, the focus was on the conceptual description of the methodological tools and a learning project was structured which, in short, resulted in an organized, creative and motivational laboratory product for a teaching unit of six refrigeration and air conditioning classes in an undergraduate course in mechanical engineering. After assembling the prototype, the academics visualized the physical phenomena involved in the air conditioning and thermal conformation processes. Temperatures were measured in different pressure ranges and enthalpies were determined at all specified measurement points. In this way, it was verified that the maximum efficiency of refrigeration systems occurs in the range of 90 psi – 100 psi, with the increase in performance occurring during the passage of the refrigerant fluid in the condenser. The use of these teaching-learning tools applied in the mechanical engineering course was fundamental, in addition to motivating and understanding the physical phenomena involved in refrigeration processes.

The paper deals with the development problems of economic and managerial competencies of bachelors after graduating from higher schools to meet employers’ requirements, through implementing the Federal State Education Standards (FSES) of the third generation. The case study is conducted on the basis of training programs for the bachelor’s degree in Engineering at Yurga Institute of Technology (Affiliate) of National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University. The list of economic and managerial competencies for bachelors in mechanical is specified according to the third generation FSES, enlarged with new competences based on surveys and analyses after questioning employers. The criteria and indicators are described to identify maturity levels in terms of economic and managerial competencies for bachelors. A structural and functional model for training mechanical bachelors has been tested in the implementation of the bachelor’s degree courses in Mechanical engineering at Yurga Institute of Technology (Affiliate) of National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, in the period from 2011 to 2015.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at San Diego State University recently began to redesign its introductory courses in mechanical engineering. The objectives of these newly designed courses are to incorporate the “learner as designer” strategy and engage students in real‐world applications in order to positively impact student motivation and conceptual understanding of mechanical engineering concepts. To achieve these objectives, the courses are designed to use virtual reality as a tool that integrates the fundamental concepts of design, analysis, and manufacturing. The first implementation of one of these courses afforded an opportunity to study a particular type of “learner as designer” strategy‐the “learner as instructional designer strategy.” This paper describes the four courses and the impact of the “learner as instructional designer strategy” on students' conceptual understanding of and attitude towards mechanical engineering concepts.

Spatial visualization is the ability to imagine what an object looks like from various viewpoints or after the object has been rotated in space by some amount. Numerous studies have shown the link between spatial skills and success in engineering. But how do well-developed spatial skills contribute to engineering student success? In studies with elementary students, children with good spatial skills were able to create schematic sketches—sketches that aided in the solution of the given problem. Poor visualizers drew pictorial sketches—those that did not help the student then solve the problem. A pilot study was conducted to determine the link between spatial skills and the ability to solve problems from engineering mechanics. In this study, a total of 47 students from upper division mechanical engineering courses completed a test of spatial skills and were also asked to solve 5-6 problems from introductory statics/physics. Results showed that a statistically significant positive correlation was found between spatial scores and the percent correct on the mechanics test. In this paper, we examine the quality of the sketches made by students while they were solving the problems and categorize them as either schematic or pictorial. Examination of the spatial skill levels of students who make schematic sketches will be compared to the spatial skill levels of those who make pictorial sketches.