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Session Description

Free ticketed event
This event is free and sponsored by Digilent, Inc. Attendees should bring a computer with a Windows operating system to the workshop.

Many future engineering challenges will span two or more of the traditional engineering disciplines. For example, 3D printing clearly involves electrical and mechanical engineering (not to mention materials science/chemical engineering and computer science). As another example, the creation, deployment, and maintenance of autonomous vehicles similarly involve multiple disciplines. A common denominator to many of these challenges is the use of electronics and electrical circuits for sensing and interacting with the surrounding environment.

In this workshop we will demonstrate how students can learn about circuits through hands-on, project-based, open-ended exercises. A key component to enhancing the learning experience is the use of student-owned equipment where the students are freed from the constraints associated with traditional laboratory environments. We will discuss how low-cost, student-owned hardware can be used to teach not only the fundamentals of analog and digital circuits, but also various aspects of engineering design. We will also discuss the different points throughout the curriculum (ranging from introductory courses to senior design) where the use of student-owned equipment can facilitate learning. Finally, because student-owned equipment untethers students from traditional labs, the ways in which off-campus (e.g., distance-degree students) can be engaged in laboratory courses will be presented.

Participants will leave the workshop with electronic instrumentation provided by Digilent, Inc., as well as with example instructional materials so that participants can easily adopt this innovative technique in their own courses.

Speaker

1. Dr. Kathleen Meehan

   California State University, Chico

   Kathleen Meehan earned her B.S. in electrical engineering from Manhattan College and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois under the supervision of Prof. Nick Holonyak, Jr. She worked as a member of technical staff at Lytel, Inc., following graduation. At Polaroid, she was appointed a Senior Research Group Leader, responsible for the design of laser diodes and arrays. After leaving Polaroid, she was employed at Biocontrol Technology. She moved into academia full-time in 1997 and worked at the University of Denver, West Virginia University, and Virginia Tech. She is currently the director of the University of Glasgow-University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Electronics and Electrical Engineering programme. While at Virginia Tech, she collaborated with Dr. Robert W. Hendricks, with assistance of a number of undergraduate students, to develop an instructional platform known as Lab-in-a-Box, which is used in a number of courses within the Virginia Tech B.S.E.E. program. She continues to be actively involved in the development of mobile hands-on pedagogy as well as research on other topics in STEM education, the synthesis and characterization of nanoscale optical materials, and fermentation processes.