Barbara MacAlpine Mahbub Uddin

Trinity University/San Antonio, TX

Eight Semester Engineering Design Sequence

First Year

Design competitions:

•Wooden truss•Water balloon

launcher

Eight Semester Engineering Design Sequence

Second Year

Team design project:

Adaptiveequipment for Goodwill

Eight Semester Engineering Design Sequence

Third Year

Electrical & thermal:

•Traffic lightcontrol system

•Home appliances

Eight Semester Engineering Design Sequence

Fourth Year

Capstone team design:

•Year-long project•Industry/Trinity

partnerships

Expanding Horizons:Using Information in the 21st Century

A QualityEnhancement PlanFor Trinity University2008--2013

Expanding Horizons GoalsUNDERSTANDACCESSUSE ETHICALLYEVALUATECREATE

ABET CriteriaCriterion 3. Program Outcomes

… students attain(i) a recognition of the need for, and

an ability to engage in life-long learning

Information Literacy Instruction

First Year

•Databases & patents

•Exercise on written

communication•Research log

My Mini-Design Problem

A Patented Solution

Information Literacy Instruction

Second Year

•Adaptive literature

•Product sources•Govt. standards •Patent review

LibGuide (detail 2)When designing a product,

you must follow standards that are set within the industry and/or by the government. Standards sites include:

ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials)

ANSI (American National Standards Institute)

…

Information Literacy Instruction

Third Year

•Safety requirements•Component specifications

•User manuals

Who is George Foreman?

Research LogLiterature Search for Design VI Appliance

Sources Searched

Terms Searched Citation for Best Item(s)

What source was most useful and why?Time spent on research:

Information Literacy Instruction

Fourth Year

•Consultation appointments

•More to come …•Literature review

and paper

Senior design project RESULT: “Red

Rover”

1:6 scale rover model for manned Martian exploration, tested (in earth gravity), with results scaled to a full-scale rover in Martian gravity.

Anecdotal Assessment“Google Scholar gathered articles from a lot of

different journals and patents.”“The patent information and the books offered

lots of historical background.”“The Patent Office website gave more specific

descriptions of actual products.”“… library database (Academic Search

Complete) really helped.”

More Anecdotal Assessment“The library databases did not have very

current information about our product.”“Thomas Register was the least helpful.”“Google, usually the Premiere search engine,

wasn’t very useful at narrowing our search terms.”

“Research proved to be an important part of the design project.”

Most Problematic Question5. Periodicals (magazines, journals, and

newspapers) may be found in the Coates Library

a. on the first floorb. on the second floorc. on the third floord. on the fourth floore. all of the abovef. A and B and C

Early Problematic Question1. Where is the first place you would search

for authoritative information related to an engineering materials topic?

a. howstuffworks.comb. Googlec. A library database of technical articlesd. Your professor’s bookcase

Faculty AssessmentMore up-to-date information

Students have better understanding of available bibliographic sources

Improved identification, retrieval techniques, and organization of information

Students are optimizing search techniques

Future PlansAdd ethical use to second year instructionMeet with all senior design teamsRequire research logs for senior designsSystematize assessment

Make more rigorousInclude patentsStart with first year students

Develop faculty assessment mechanism

AcknowledgementsBird feeder Patent # 5,937,788 (Google Patents) George Foreman ad courtesy of Flickr (eskeleton)George Foreman Grill picture courtesy of Flickr

(nwistheone)Red Rover (http://www.trinity.edu/departments/engineering/Program.html)Squirrel picture courtesy of anonymous (apologies)Weed eater picture courtesy of Flickr (tstadler)