April 2003

Welcome to Connections, an e-newsletter for engineering educators. Published monthly by the American Society for Engineering Education, this newsletter is free to engineering educators across the nation. Connections will provide you with timely information about engineering education that you won't find anywhere else. We'll let you know the latest in engineering news and will tell you what's happening in Congress and how it will affect you. Connections will also include teaching tips and provide links to feature stories in Prism, the society's award-winning magazine.

We hope you enjoy Connections.

Spotlight On Our Sponsors:

• National Instruments
  http://www.ni.com/academic
  
• Autodesk's AutoCAD 2004
  http://www.autodesk.com/reseller
  
• PTC University Plus
  http://www.ptc.com/go/collegeinfo
• ASM Alloy Center & Handbooks Online
  asminternational.org/materialsinfo
  

For more than 26 years, National Instruments has revolutionized the way engineers and scientists work by delivering virtual instrumentation solutions built on rapidly advancing commercial technologies, including industry-standard computers and the Internet. NI increases productivity for customers worldwide by delivering easy-to-integrate software, such as the NI LabVIEW graphical development environment, and modular hardware, such as PXI modules for data acquisition and instrumentation.

Visit www.ni.com/academic for more information.

Autodesk's AutoCAD 2004 - Now Available at Education Pricing!

Teaching the design process just got easier-with AutoCAD 2004.

Work faster. Improve productivity. Expand creativity. It's all possible with AutoCAD® 2004-the fastest and easiest AutoCAD release ever. And especially important to you as an educator, AutoCAD 2004 delivers new features that help you reinforce the key steps of the design process.

In addition Autodesk has new releases of many of our industry-specific products built on the powerful AutoCAD® 2004 platform.

Make sure your students learn on the new industry standard.

For information and pricing, contact your local Authorized Autodesk Education Reseller by calling 800-964-6432 or going to www.autodesk.com/reseller.

PTC University Plus

"There are benefits to everyone when young engineers come to us already trained in Pro/ENGINEER."
- Angel Crespo, Mechanical Engineer/Designer
Raytheon Missile Systems

PTC University Plus is the most comprehensive, affordable program available to mechanical engineering professors - and makes it easy for you to equip your students with the real-world engineering skills they need. With University Plus, you'll receive unlimited seats of Pro/ENGINEER® Wildfire™, free professor training and classroom resources, opportunities to collaborate, and access to a community of engineers.

Visit www.ptc.com/go/collegeinfo to learn more about University Plus and to register for a Free Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire Student Edition.

At Your Fingertips: ASM Materials Information Now Online

ASM International - The Materials Information Society brings the most comprehensive materials data to the Internet with the new ASM Alloy Center Online and ASM Handbooks Online. Both offer fast access to data through an easy-to-use interface. ASM Alloy Center Online lets you quickly "drill down" through numerous ASM information sources for property data, performance charts, and processing know-how for specific metals and alloys. ASM Handbooks Online provides instant access to the entire ASM Handbooks collection: Volumes 1-20 - the world's most authoritative references on metals, materials, and processes. To subscribe, contact dlsmith@asminternational.org or visit: www.asminternational.org/materialsinfo.

ASEE would like to announce that Registration and Housing are now open for the 2003 ASEE Annual Conference. This year's conference will be held in Nashville, Tennessee from June 22-25. For conference registration on the web, please click here. If you have questions about registration, please call ASEE's Registrar, at 202-331-3517. For hotel reservations, please click here. Make sure to reserve your room now in order to guarantee your first choice of hotels. If you have any questions about the hotel reservation process, please call Expovision at 800/860-5398. For more information, visit www.asee.org/conferences/annual2003.

ASEE would like to announce that Registration and Housing are now open for the 6th WFEO World Congress on Engineering Education and 2nd ASEE International Colloquium. This year's conference will be held in Nashville, Tennessee from June 20-22. For conference registration on the web, please click here. If you have questions about registration, please call ASEE's Registrar, at 202-331-3517. Click here for hotel reservations. Make sure to reserve your room now in order to guarantee your first choice of hotels. If you have any questions about the hotel reservation process, please call Expovision at 800/860-5398. For more information, visit asee.org/conferences/international2003.

Connections is brought to you by the American Society for Engineering Education.

Over 12,000 engineering and engineering technology faculty members and administrators enjoy the many benefits and services that ASEE offers. The Society's award-winning magazine ASEE Prism and academic publications (Journal of Engineering Education and Profiles of Engineering Colleges) keep members up to date with the best and latest in engineering education, engineering research trends, and academic issues, while 47 professional interest groups and a varied selection of meetings provide professional development and networking opportunities that no other society can offer within the engineering education community. Members also receive reduced rates at local and national conferences, discounts on ASEE products, money-saving members-only discounts on financial, insurance, and travel programs, plus an ever growing variety of online services. Our goal is to focus on issues that matter the most to you in our publications, meetings, and on-line services, and to enable you to interact with others who share your specific engineering and educational interests. To join online, just go to www.asee.org/members, or contact our member services department at 202-331-3520 for further information.

To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please reply to connections@asee.org with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line - please include the email address that you would like removed from the mailing list.

In this Issue:

I. Science and Technology Briefs

• Buzzing the Enemy - Meet the Robofly - Espionage's New Spy On the Wall
• Hands-On Approach to Computing - Wearable Computers that Fit Like a Glove
• Creating Cartilage in the Lab - Bioengineers Use Stem Cells and Polymers to Build the Scaffolding for Noses, Ears, and Joints
  

II. Congressional Hotline

• Four GOP Senators Stand Between Bush and Tax Cut
• After Long Delay, NSF Gets New Engineering Leadership

III. Teaching Toolbox

• In Pursuit of the Perfect Potato Chip - Using Snack Food to Teach Heat and Mass Transfer
  
• Toying with Technology - A Class that Brings Modern Technological Innovations to Life for K-12 Teachers
  
• Engineering Gets a Makeover - Using Cosmetics Engineering to Attract 7th and 8th Grade Girls to the Field
  

IV. Feature Articles

• Engineering Their Way to the Top - An MBA is no longer the only way to climb the corporate ladder. Engineers are moving into the upper echelons of businesses and, at the same time, staying true to their roots.
• Staging Your Classes - Sure, adding a touch of drama in the classroom is fun, but it can also help students learn.

I. Science and Technology Briefs

BUZZING THE ENEMY
Forget James Bond. The next generation of super spies may be micromechanical blow flies. Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley are developing the Robofly, a 100-milligram robotic fly that the Pentagon hopes will someday be used to buzz across enemy lines to pick up valuable intelligence. Also dubbed the Microfly, the critter is the result of research led by Ron Fearing, a professor of electrical engineering. He joined forces with two other Berkeley colleagues-professors Arun Majurndar and Michael Dickinson-in 1998 to sell the idea to the Office of Naval Research, which has spent about $2.5 million on the project. Key to the bug's development is research by Dickinson on how insects fly so expertly. For his efforts, Dickinson last year won a $500,000 "genius" award, a MacArthur Fellowship that's annually given to a handful of researchers. A zoologist, Dickinson studies the nerves and muscles that enable insects to fly. Three years ago, he concluded that flying insects use three, complex wing motions. "The aerodynamic models from Professor Dickinson are critical for obtaining sufficient flight forces, and hence have guided our electromechanical thorax design completely," Fearing says. To achieve flight, the Robofly needs to have proper wing motion at a high frequency, 150 Hz, and the lab prototype is closing in on that goal. So far, it's attached to an apparatus that gives it balance and stability. Power and control come from offboard wires. But Fearing says they'll devise and install integrated electronics in the coming months, and free flight may be achieved in about a year. The Microfly's actuators are made of piezoelectric ceramic; its structure is ultrafine stainless steel; and its joints and wings are polyester. Its weight will include a 30 milligram battery that Fearing hopes will provide 10 to 20 minutes of flight time.

Beyond defense uses, Fearing thinks his Microfly could be handy for many other chores, including crop monitoring, artificial pollination, pest management, fire detection, air-quality monitoring, search-and-rescue needs, games, and kid-tracking. Electronic blow flies might even become popular as companions, he suggests. But would you pet it or swat it?

HANDS-ON APPROACH TO COMPUTING
Carsten Mehring is a mechanical engineer specializing in computational fluid mechanics at the University of California, Irvine who likes to revise his papers during his coffee breaks. Problem is, he then has to go back and type in the revisions at his desk. Wouldn't it better, he thought, if he could type in his corrections while taking his break? So when Mehring read that wearable computers would soon be a reality, it hit him that that could be a solution to his dilemma. But how would he precisely type in the revisions? That's when Mehring, a German native, set to work inventing a hand device that mimics the "qwerty" keyboard we're so familiar with. To type alphabetic letters, his device uses conductive contacts on the tips of all eight fingers and six divided between the front and back of each thumb. The contacts are meant to align with the standard keyboard. Thus, if the right index finger touches the front, top thumb contact, a "u" is produced; if it hits the middle contact, a "j" appears. Additional contacts on the sides and nails of the fingers allow for numbers and special characters, like brackets, periods and quotation marks. The prototype is a pair of gloves. But other possibilities would be a skeletal structure that clicks on or a flexible circuit wire that spirals around the hands and digits, but is rigid enough to maintain the shape of the users' hand. Mehring says one study estimates that by 2006 or so, a majority of 16- to 35-year-olds will spend at least four hours a day "wearing" computers. "That's a very good potential market," he enthuses. And one he hopes to tap into.

CREATING CARTILAGE IN THE LAB
Cartilage is a particularly useful tissue. Tough but flexible, it's a key component of our noses, ears, and joints. But once damaged, it's hard to fix. Unlike skin, it cannot regenerate itself. So today's technology requires invasive surgery and metal or plastic replacements that aren't as effective as the real thing. But researchers at Johns Hopkins University are having success in getting stem cells to grow into a cartilage-like living tissue. So far, the tests have used goats, but the Baltimore scientists are confident the technology will also work in humans.

Led by Jennifer Elisseeff, a biomedical engineer, the Johns Hopkins team mixes the stem cells with nutrients within a polymer. The resulting viscous liquid is injected into the damaged area. An ultraviolet light or visible laser is then used to turn the liquid into a hydrogel, which acts as a scaffold as the stem cells grow into tissue. Only the areas hit by the light form a gel, so surgeons can shape the scaffold as necessary.

And there appears to be no threat that the tissue will continue to grow. "Early tissue engineering research showed how tissue that is produced maintains the shape of the scaffold," Elisseeff says. "If anything, we tend to have the problem of the engineered tissue being smaller than the scaffold." The researchers are also developing hydrogels that will degrade once the tissue is formed.

If the technology works in humans, it could help patients avoid major surgery for repairing joint injuries. Scientists are excited about stem cell research because the cells renew themselves and are metamorphosized into a variety of tissues. Elisseeff's research uses adult cells, thus sidestepping the ethical debate over use of stem cells culled from human embryos and fetuses. It also means patients in need of cartilage or bone repairs could donate their own stem cells for the procedure, minimizing the chances for infection or tissue rejection.

Back to the index.

II. Congressional Hotline

FOUR GOP SENATORS STAND BETWEEN BUSH AND TAX CUT
Four moderate Republican Senators and arcane budget rules could snarl the full implementation of President Bush's proposal to cut taxes by $726 billion this year. The four-Senators Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), George Voinovich (R-Ohio), John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.)-are balking at any tax cut larger than $350 billion, enraging House GOP colleagues who have launched letter-writing campaigns against them. The senators' resistance deals a blow to hopes of Congress passing a budget resolution, despite Republican control of both chambers.

While not a true spending bill, a budget resolution would make it easier to pass tax cuts. Having one in place would enable tax cuts to pass the Senate with only a simple majority, instead of the 60 votes it would take to pass tax cuts without a budget resolution. Given the 51-49 Republican edge, securing 60 votes in favor of tax cuts anywhere near $726 billion would be a Herculean task for GOP leaders.

After offering withering criticism of Democrats' failure to bring a budget resolution to the floor of the Senate last year-when the Democrats were still in charge of the chamber-Republicans are now scrambling to avoid the same fate this year without emphasizing the gravity of the situation. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) said, "It probably would not be the worst thing in the world to not have a budget resolution." In response, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) noted to reporters, "I hope you are duly shocked, chagrined, and taken aback" by GOP threats not to pass a budget this time around.

AFTER LONG DELAY, NSF GETS NEW ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP
After nearly three years of searching, the National Science Foundation has found someone to head the agency's Engineering Directorate. John A. Brighton, provost of National-Louis University since July 2002, will start his new job in May. Brighton previously served from 1991 to 1999 as a professor and provost at Pennsylvania State University, where he was also dean of the college of engineering. Before arriving at Penn State, he held faculty positions at Georgia Tech, Michigan State, Carnegie Mellon, and Purdue. Regarded as one of the top academic administrators in the U. S., Brighton is also a well-known researcher who has authored dozens of research papers and holds numerous patents. He received a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1963, and holds bachelor's and master's of science degrees, also from Purdue.

Back to the index.

III. Teaching Toolbox

IN PURSUIT OF THE PERFECT POTATO CHIP
The quest to make the perfect potato chip has been the subject o intense research and even spawned complete industries. Doctoral dissertations have even been devoted to the popular snack food. Now Jim Smart, an assistant professor of chemical and materials engineer at the University of Kentucky, has created an exercise where students cook and evaluate potato chips to learn the principles of heat and mass transfer. First the students make potato "chips" (they found the best way to scientifically evaluate the potatoes was to cut them more like french fries) in a conventional oven and determine what cooking times and temperature make for the "optimum potato." The chips are rated in terms of surface hardness, mechanical strength, and a taste test. Then the students try to reproduce that perfect chip using other types of cookers-a convection oven, a microwave, and a pressure cooker. Smart says the exercise helps the students learn and apply the engineering principles of heat and mass transfer and also adds an element of fun to the classroom.

TOYING WITH TECHNOLOGY
In an effort to demonstrate to K-12 students the opportunities for careers in science and engineering, Iowa State University's Lawrence J. Genalo, professor and assistant chair of the materials science and engineering department has been leading a collaboration between the school's engineering and teacher education faculty. Since 1996 the Iowa State teachers have offered "Toying with Technology"-a technology literacy course for undergraduate education majors. The course focuses on widely-used technological innovations-garage door openers, remote controls, and elevators. Because studies have shown that students form many of their overall career and educational attitudes as early as when they are in elementary school, the educators suspect that schoolteachers who appreciate technology will inspire students to pursue careers in those areas. In seven years the course has grown from 15 students to 100. More recently, Genalo has begun to offer a graduate-level version of the course for practicing teachers. At the graduate level, the class learns many of the principles behind modern technological innovation through hands-on experience with simple systems constructed out of Legos and controlled by small computers. The teachers also have the opportunity to use a scanning electron microscope-something that's pretty exotic in K-12 classrooms-which they can access via Web.

ENGINEERING GETS A MAKEOVER
Each summer Rowan University hosts a week-long workshop called "AWE: Attracting Women into Engineering." Targeted at 7th and 8th grade girls, the workshop exposes these students to the challenges and excitement of engineering. These students are at an age when they are interested in eye shadow, lipstick, and the like, but they don't realize how vital engineers are to the cosmetics industry. That's why engineering professors Kathryn A. Hollar and Kauser Jahan, along with Rowan engineering students Megan Moran and Victoria Schepis, recently added a cosmetics module to the workshop. The module introduces participants to the ingredients in lipstick and the production process of lip gloss and lipstick. The students work in teams to formulate lip products with different consistencies and colors. By the end of the workshop, each team has created its own line of cosmetics which it presents to the faculty and other participants. The Rowan team hopes that the workshop will encourage young women to consider a career in engineering and bring more diversity to the workforce.

To read full-text academic articles about these and other exciting innovations in the engineering classroom, go to http://www.asee.org/conferences/proceedings/search.cfm.

Back to the index.

IV. Feature Articles

ENGINEERING THEIR WAY TO THE TOP
By Thomas K. Grose

Once upon a time in Corporate America, engineering degrees rarely ensured a career path that lead to power, prestige, big-ticket remuneration, and the ability to shape a company's future. Oh, the technologists often felt gratified. They were well compensated to do what they liked doing best, usually spending endless hours buried away in a lab. And that could pay off by leading to technological breakthroughs-work that was often recognized and applauded. But it didn't help them climb the corporate ladder to the stratospheric heights where executive vice presidents and the even more exalted roam, unless they were willing to trade in their lab coats for boardroom pinstripes and take on administrative duties. "Technical folks tend to have dead-end promotion paths as compared with managers and marketing and financial people," notes Karl Auerbach, a computer scientist whose résumé includes a stint at Cisco.

Increasingly, however, that situation is changing within America's high-tech sector. Many companies have instituted programs that enable top engineers and scientists to stay put in the lab and continue their research, while conferring on them the trappings of executive-level power, particularly the wherewithal to help direct their company's technological future and devise new processes and products. These engineering graybeards are usually called "fellows" or "distinguished engineers," depending on the company, and some firms have both. IBM, for instance, calls its most select engineers fellows, and its distinguished engineers (D.E.s) are one rung below. Microsoft calls its honored engineers D.E.s. But the titles don't matter so much as the fact that they offer talented, creative, and hard-working engineers career trajectories that have mainly been the providence of MBAs.

Go to http://www.prism-magazine.org/sept02/top.cfm to read the rest of this story.

STAGING YOUR CLASSES
By Alice Daniel

When Col. Allen Estes wants to show his engineering students at West Point how cylindrical pressure vessels can fail due to hoop stress, he introduces an American tradition: the hot dog. "Have you ever noticed how a hot dog splits along the longitudinal axis?" he asks the class before he heads to the trash can and pulls out a wiener whose bun has been doused with green food coloring to make it look moldy. He takes a bite in front of a sea of shocked faces, then continues his explanation of hoop stress before handing out hotdogs and mustard to everyone.

In another engineering course, Estes begins the class in silence. "For me to not say a word is in itself dramatic," he says. He then lights a candle, pours some wine (not for consumption, of course), sniffs a flower, and asks the students what they did in the prior class. When they say analysis of trusses, he tells them he is there to introduce them to a higher level of study, to elevate them from the "mind-numbing work of analysis to the inherent beauty of design." Before the lesson begins, he reads a Walt Whitman poem that sings the praises of engineering design.

"Engineering is not always fun, and in many cases it's hard. In every class, we try to liven it up with something," says Estes, the director of the civil engineering division of the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at the U.S. Military Academy. "It keeps the students engaged and, quite honestly, it's more fun for me as an instructor. Sometimes it's pure entertainment and sometimes it is quite meaningful and important to the material that we're teaching."

Go to http://www.prism-magazine.org/nov02/toolbox.cfm to read the rest of this story.

Back to the index.