Undergraduate Teaching & Senior Design Project Impressions at Oakland University

1. Undergraduate Teaching & Senior Design Project Impressions at Oakland University Xia Wang Department of Mechanical Engineering Oakland University Presented at University of Science and Technology Beijing May 28 , 2008

2. Outline • Introduction of Oakland University • Undergraduate Teaching • Introduction: teaching load, class size, lecture format, team work, etc. • Curriculum Setup • Teaching Assessment and innovation • Senior Design Project

3. Where is Oakland University?

4. About Oakland University • Located in Oakland County, Rochester in Michigan • Oakland County is the third most affluent (~rich) county in the United States. • OU is the Center of Automotive Valley: • 1 mile away from Chrysler Tech center • 13 miles from General Motor R&D center • 20 miles from Ford R&D center • Surrounded by more than 500 automotive suppliers.

5. Quick Facts of OU • State supported university, found in 1957 • Classified as Doctoral/Research University • Over 18,000 students • 121 baccalaureate, and 98 graduate & certificate programs • Including : • College of Arts and Sciences • School of Business Administration • School of Education and Human Services • School of Engineering and Computer Science • School of Health Sciences • School of Nursing • School of Medical School (in 2009)

6. School of Engineering and Computer Science • Comprises of four departments: • Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) • Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) • Industrial & Systems Engineering • Mechanical Engineering (ME) • Faculty: 16 full-time faculty members; 5-8 part-time adjunct faculty members • Students: 350 Bachelor; 140 Masters ; 36 PhD • External Research Funding (2007): ~ $5,000,000

7. Undergraduate Teaching

8. “Heavy” Teaching Load • 1~2 courses per academic semester • 4 Credits/course : 1h45m per class, twice per week, 15 weeks per semester • Fall Semester: Sep 4~Dec 20 • Winter Semester: Jan 7~April 26 (one week spring break) • Summer (4 months): May-August. (No Teaching, Research Time! ) • 5 courses: both undergraduate and graduate • EGR 250: Intro. to Thermal Engineering • ME 331: Intro. to Thermal and Fluid Transport • ME 456: Energy System Analysis • ME 595: Fundamentals of Fuel Cells • ME 638: Convective Transport Phenomena.

9. “Small” Class Size • Class size: • ~ 30 students per undergraduate class • Teaching assistant: 1 grader, and 1 lab assistant. • Engineering CORE courses are offered 4~6 times per year: • Winter (1~2 sessions); Fall (2~3 sessions); Summer (1 session). • The class is offered between 7:30am-9:30pm.

10. a “comprehensive” Syllabus • Syllabus should be ready when students start to register the class. • A comprehensive syllabus

11. Team Work • Team is usually formed by students • 2~4 students per group. • Students rotate as a team leader, and share the task for each project. • Students need to evaluate each others.

12. “Flexible” Curriculum Setup • See the curriculum: 128 Credits to graduate • General Education: 28 credits • Math and Science: 32 credits • Engineering Core Course: 21 credits • Professional Requirement: 35 credits • Professional Selective: 12 credits • Free selective: Students can apply for the major after they finish the engineering core course.

13. Teaching Assessment • Evaluation of a Professor: • How many new courses you’ve offered? • Lab improvement & Teaching innovation & Education Papers. • Course Evaluation • Students advised. • Colleagues: Nobody will stop your lecture without your permission.

14. Teaching Assessment • ABET will provide world leadership in assuring quality and in stimulating innovation in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology education. • Curriculum setup • Core courses and Key courses • Collect all the course materials. • Course Evaluation • Teaching innovation

15. Teaching Innovation • Traditional: • Lab Improvement-design. • Develop new teaching software. • Field Trip. • Modern: • Design project: encouraged at the sophomore level. • Multi-disciplinary teaching team: engineering, science, business, computer, law school. • Increase the presentation+ writing NSF CCLI Grant: course, curriculum & laboratory improvement

16. Senior Design Project

17. Introduction • Senior design project is required for each student. • Students can take the senior design project after they finish the professional requirements. (1~2 semesters) • Two options: ME 490 or ME 492

18. ME 490: Senior Design Project • ME 490: • 2~4 ME students form a group. • Supervised by an individual ME faculty. • Submit a proposal to ME undergraduate committee for the approval. • Final project presentation and written report. • Usually last more than a semester • $300 per project funded by ME department, and the rest is funded by students or faculty.

19. ME 492: Senior Design Project • ME 492: Multidisiplinary Approach • Each design group includes 6~8 students, and is assigned based on field, skills and experience. • Roughly 40% electrical, 40% mechanical, 15% computer/computer science, 5% systems. • 70-100 students/semester • Team-taught by three faculty members: ME, EE, ISE or computer science. • Students meet with the professors weekly to provide updates They also gave written and oral presentations throughout the semester on project progress to encourage good written and verbal communication skills.

20. Choice of Projects • Projects assigned have not been solved, or even examined in depth, by the instructors. • Product must be commercially competitive • Final project presentation audience: • All Engineering faculty and students; • Parents and friends; • Manager from the local company; • President and provost; • News reporter

21. F’04: Rope-climbing robots, to top of 100’ tower, in any weather Sample Project (04)

22. Sample Projects (W’05) • Ball-throwing robots, autonomously targeted and fired

23. W05-F07 • To develop a multidisciplinary product that could be competitive on the global market. • infant simulator with respiration and pulse • diagnostic muscular rigidity test • automatic vein locator • automatic rotating plant pots

24. Choice of Projects (W’ 08) • W’ 08 Harness Wasted Energy • Produce and store electricity without the use of fossil fuels • Product must be commercially competitive

25. Sample project 1 • 3 student groups explored the idea of "crowd farming", where the energy of people motion is captured and stored. • They built generator floor tiles that connected together to form a network of generators, making large-scale power generation possible.

26. Sample 2 • Another group developed a ball with Faraday devices inside that would generate power as it was rolled and bounced. • They thought that placing it into a clothes dryer, or into the trunk of a car, would be able to generate enough power to recharge small batteries.

27. Sample 3 • Another group built a small generator that mounted to the bottom if a door, and captured and stored some of the energy used to open the door.

28. Funding of the Project • Pre-W’06 • Project costs funded by students, usually limited by project description • Since W’06 • Projects funded by Provost’s Undergraduate Research initiative, $1000 per design group

29. Acknowledgement • Dr. Michael Latch at Oakland University

30. The End! Thank You! wang@oakland.edu