What's New Around the EAC

ONLINE COURSE: DESIGN FOR PRODUCT SUCCESS

Instructor: Devdas Shetty, Ph.D., P.E.
CEU's: 2.25
Number of days: 48
Target Audience: Engineering professionals involved in the product design process
Dates: 06/04/07 - 07/16/07
Typical Duration: 22.5 hours
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Major Curriculum Reform Supported by National Science Foundation

The College of Engineering was awarded a grant of $600,000 from the National Science Foundation. This has reshaped the engineering programs for all the four years. The NSF�s Action Agenda for Curricular Reform facilitated the grant in an extremely competitive award program.

Key Elements

The integration of engineering and non-engineering courses with the help of design projects by using Integrative Learning Blocks.
Experiential and collaborative learning by both faculty and students.
Partnership with the industry in the creation of �real-life� engineering projects for students at all levels.

Major Curriculum Reform Supported by National Science Foundation

Partnerships
Partnerships have been formed at two levels. At the university level, the College of Engineering faculty works with faculty from the Departments of Physics and Mathematics from the College of Arts and Sciences and also with the faculty from the Department of Rhetoric, Writing and Culture. At the external level, partnership has been established with many industrial agencies.

This grant is very much tied to the Engineering Applications Center of the College of Engineering. The Engineering Applications Center has partnership and affiliation with about thirty industries that sponsor senior capstone projects.

Curriculum Innovation

Design oriented courses throughout the engineering curriculum.
Establishing linkages using Integrated Learning Blocks
A new sophomore level course entitled "Engineering by Design"
Emphasis on ethical components in design projects.

University - Industry Partnerships

Presentations (Joint presentations) were made on the topics of:

Acoustical Engineering for Industry and Community - Celmer.
Industrial Relations and Projects - Rivera.
Advances in Mechatronics - Kolk.
Research Projects in Environmental Engineering - Pines.
Neural Network Applications - Illumoka.
Research in Bio-Engineering and Rehabilitation - Fast/Nowak.
Integrated Engineering Curriculum - Alnajjar/Leone.
Luncheon Speaker was Olivier Robert, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Operations, World Headquarters, OTIS Elevator Company.

Conference Speakers

EAC Establishes Partnership with Korean Technical University

The College of Engineering has recently established a partnership with the Korean University Technology and Education in, South Korea. The partnership includes the exchange of faculty and researchers, the development of joint programs and curricula, the kind of information about the activities of each partner university, and conducting a joint research in areas of mutual interest. The Human Resources Development Institute (HRDI) is a three-year-old institute and is similar to our Engineering Application Center.

Prof. Devdas Shetty Associate Dean (Vernon. D. Roosa professor in the College of Engineering) had visited South Korea recently at the invitation of HRDI. He gave a number of lectures to the Korean engineers and faculty in the topic of Mechatronics. The memorandum of understanding was established between the HRDI and EAC was signed in a special ceremony during Prof. Shetty�s visit.

Currently Prof. Siong Choi, Professor of Mechanical engineering at KUT is on a one-year sabbatical visit at the University of Hartford. He will be spending his time on research projects and industry interaction.

Prof. Devdas Shetty (left) with Won Ki Kwon (center), president of the Korea University and Technology and Education in South Korea; and Professor Chung-Keun Kim (right), Dean of the Human Resources Development Institute, signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions.

New Community Service Award recognizes Civil Engineering Faculty

The University of Hartford has instituted a new community service award. The four faculty members of the civil engineering department, Saleh Keshawarz, Donald Leone, Beatrice Isaacs, and David Pines, are the recipients of this year�s award. The award recognizes their contribution in serving the public and in developing a community service-oriented mind-set in their students.

Their efforts have taken several forms, with the primary one being to have students work on real-life projects that are of use to neighboring communities. The projects are of benefit to the towns because they are frequently jobs that are needed but would have been delayed because of budget constraints. At the same time, students have the opportunity for real-life applications of what they are learning in class, a huge enhancement of their education.

While recent projects have been conducted for a number of neighboring, e.g. Manchester, Canton, and Bolton, in addition to Hartford, West Hartford, and Bloomfield, it is expected that Hartford will receive greater benefit.

Recent projects

CE Faculty from the left to right, Dr. Leone, Dr. Pines, Dr. Isaacs, and Dr. Keshawarz (Department Chair)>

Project for South Arsenal Neighborhood Development Corp. (SAND) Current Use, and Vacant Parcels owned by the City of Hartford
Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) in which the deteriorated drainage systems for two reservoirs in the West Hartford were redesigned.
An evaluation of innovative water treatment alternative for improving the water quality in the Elizabeth Park Pond

Parking availability and use study along Farmington Ave.
An analysis and comparison of water treatment alternatives for reservoir in West Hartford.
Preliminary designs of a road from the University of Hartford campus to Cottage Grove road in Bloomfield. The proposal was presented to the Bloomfield Planning and Zoning Commission, with the recommended alternative being approved by the Commission.

College of Engineering Contributes to Engineering Education

The faculty of the college of Engineering participated in a major way by contributing nine presentations at the recently held American society of Engineering Education Conference (ASEE) at Albuquerque, New Mexico. The annual conference of ASEE is a meeting ground for engineering educators to present innovative ideas. From the COE, there were three papers and two poster presentations related to undergraduate curriculum innovation, one paper on product design, one paper and one poster presentation on mechatronics systems and one paper on geographical information systems.

Beth Richards, Hisham Alanajjar, Andrea Ader, Beatrice Issacs, and Pat Tempel. "Integrating Critical Thinking and Writing Curriculum into Freshmen Engineering".
Ronald Adrezin, Donald Leone and Mike Nowak, "Biomedical Engineering Senior Capstone Research at the University of Hartford".
Beatrice Issacs and Donald Leone, "Combining Engineering Design with Professional Ethics Using an Integrated Learning Block".

Devdas Shetty, Hisham Alanajjar, Donald Leone, Saleh Keshawarz, Ladmir Nagurney and Leo Smith "Integrating Engineering Design with Humanities, Sciences and Social Sciences Using Integrative Learning Blocks".
Devdas Shetty, Richard Kolk, Jun Kondo, Claudio Campana, "Mechatronics Curriculum Demonstrator-An Educational Experience".
Devdas Shetty, Jun Kondo, Claudio Campana. "Online Measurement and Embedded Instrumentation Projects in Engineering Education".
Beatrice Issacs and Donald Leone, Saleh Keshawarz and David Pines, "Integration of GIS in Civil Engineering Curriculum".
Saleh Keshawarz and David Pines, "Town Government, Industry, and University Involvement in Capstone Design Course at the University".
Devdas Shetty, "Designing for Product Success".

Acoustics and Music Students win National Design Competition

Jessica Newton and Byron Harrison � recent graduates of the acoustics and music program won first place in a national student design competition held at the Acoustical Society of America meeting in Chicago last month. Both Newton and Harrison graduated summa cum laude with Bachelor of Science degrees in engineering.

In the competition, both students showed detailed designs of a new collegiate music school facility that included performing arts hall, rehearsal space, practice rooms, and HVAC considerations.