innovation and entrepreneurship in engineering education at muse

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Innovation and entrepreneurship in engineeringeducation at MUSER. Radharamanan a & Jeng-Nan Juang aa School of Engineering, Mercer University , Macon, GA 31207, USAPublished online: 07 Dec 2011.

To cite this article: R. Radharamanan & Jeng-Nan Juang (2012) Innovation and entrepreneurship in engineering education atMUSE, Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers, 35:1, 25-36, DOI: 10.1080/02533839.2012.624797

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Journal of the Chinese Institute of EngineersVol. 35, No. 1, January 2012, 25–36

Innovation and entrepreneurship in engineering education at MUSE

R. Radharamanan* and Jeng-Nan Juang

School of Engineering, Mercer University, Macon, GA 31207, USA

(Received 19 April 2010; final version received 2 June 2010)

Traditionally, business schools are known to promote entrepreneurship education in their undergraduate andgraduate programs. To meet the challenges due to advances in technology in the twenty-first century andentrepreneurial competition from developing nations, such as India and China, entrepreneurship programs inengineering education are being developed through grants from public and private foundations in order topromote entrepreneurial mindsets among all graduating engineers. This article highlights one such entrepre-neurship engineering education program established at the Mercer University School of Engineering (MUSE)through Kern family foundation grants in 2007. What is currently being done at MUSE in promotingentrepreneurial mindsets among undergraduate and graduate students is highlighted and presented in terms ofcurriculum development, entrepreneurship clubs for engineering students, and entrepreneurial design projectswith innovation and creativity components? This article presents the entrepreneurship engineering educationcurriculum in place at MUSE and a typical senior design project ‘Retrofitting of Tabletop CNC Lathe’undertaken by senior engineering students through this program. The results obtained from this senior designproject, the difficulties encountered by the student team, and the successful completion of the project arehighlighted and discussed.

Keywords: engineering education; innovation and creativity; entrepreneurship; retrofitting

1. Introduction

In the recent years, entrepreneurship education andresearch has focused a great deal of attention onopportunity recognition as a key aspect of research andpractice (Sager and Dowling 2009). The field ofentrepreneurship has been defined as the ‘study ofthe sources of opportunities; the process of discovery,evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities’(Shane and Venkataraman 2000). The entrepreneurhas been described as ‘an innovator or developer whorecognizes and seizes opportunities, converts theseopportunities into workable and/or marketable ideas’(Kuratko 1995).

Observations have been made on the changing roleof universities in society (Sanz-Velasco andSaemundsson 2008). The importance of entrepreneur-ship education has been emphasized in business andengineering schools (Bygrave and Zacharakis 2008,Hisrich et al. 2008). Entrepreneurship requires learningmethods, pedagogical processes, and frames for edu-cation (Blanker et al. 2008). Managing innovation,integrating technological, market, and organizationalchange have been studied (Clase 2007, Tidd and

Bessant 2009). Design for manufacture and assembly

and concurrent engineering concepts have been

addressed in technology ventures and engineering

entrepreneurship education (Boothroyd et al. 2002,

Anderson 2008, Dorf and Byers 2008).In addition to the traditional roles of knowledge

production and diffusion through research and teach-

ing, universities have become more actively involved in

the commercialization of knowledge (Sanz-Velasco

and Saemundsson 2008). Creation of academic ven-

tures and business incubation has received increased

attention lately (Gaspar 2009, Messica and Agmon

2009, Timmons and Spinelli 2009). Academic ventures

are seen as important means for enhancing local

economic development, generating income to support

research, and encouraging inventor involvement

(Shane 2004).With the changing role of universities, the role of

academics has also changed. From being more likely

to have the role of advisors, facilitating the transfer of

knowledge to the new venture, they are today more

likely to be members of the entrepreneurial team; thus,

playing greater roles in identifying and developing the

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

ISSN 0253–3839 print/ISSN 2158–7299 online

� 2012 The Chinese Institute of Engineers

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entrepreneurial opportunities, acquiring resources,and organizing the venture (Sanz-Velasco andSaemundsson 2008).

2. Entrepreneurship program at Mercer University

School of Engineering

The entrepreneurship certificate program establishedthrough Kern Family Foundation Grants in 2007 isopen to all engineering students at Mercer UniversitySchool of Engineering (MUSE). Students who com-plete the course requirements will receive a Certificateof Achievement in Engineering Entrepreneurship. Theentrepreneurship certificate program requires comple-tion of the following courses:

. MKT 361: Principles of Marketing,

. MGT 363: Principles of Management,

. MGT 427: Entrepreneurship,

. EGR 482: Engineering Innovation andCreativity,

. EGR 483: Entrepreneurship in EngineeringDesign.

Note: EGR 482 must be taken with EGR 487:Engineering Design Exhibit I and EGR 483 must betaken with EGR 488: Engineering Design Exhibit II.

In addition to the above courses, the engineeringstudents are encouraged to take ECN 150: Principles ofMicroeconomics during their sophomore year. Table 1shows the course taken by semester to complete thecertificate program in entrepreneurship. The catalogdescriptions of the entrepreneurship certificate pro-gram courses are found in the Mercer UniversityCatalog (2009).

Also, the Mercer Entrepreneurship Club has beenestablished to promote innovation, creativity, andentrepreneurial activities among engineering studentsas well as across the Mercer Campus. Students from allengineering disciplines are actively engaged in anumber of entrepreneurial activities throughout theyear: recruiting students to the entrepreneurship pro-gram, participating in the entrepreneurship certificateprogram, taking entrepreneurship-related courses, par-ticipating in entrepreneurial senior design projects,

listening to successful entrepreneurs through invitedspeakers and seminars, developing business plans andcompeting in design and business plan competitions,promoting campus wide entrepreneurial activitiesduring national entrepreneurship week, raising fundsto participate and present technical papers on theirsenior design and business plans through ‘cookout’lunches and dinners and selling T-shirts that weredesigned and made by entrepreneurship club students,and presenting technical papers at national and inter-national conferences.

3. Retrofitting of tabletop computer numerically

controlled lathe

As machine tools age and their existing controllers fail,the machine tools must be either modernized orscrapped. This project details the infusion of newtechnology and the resulting extended useful life of acomputer numerically controlled (CNC) tabletoplathe. This study was undertaken as a senior designproject by a group of senior engineering students atMUSE. Key to the success of the project was theability to have a low cost, high performance real-timecontroller that was compatible with the existingelectrical components of the lathe. The CNC lathewas more that 15 years old with no available replace-ment parts from the original vendor. EnhancedMachine Controller (EMC) Project software(LinuxCNC.org 2007) installed on a personal com-puter running an Ubuntu Linux Operating System(2007) was the basis of the new controller design. Thestudents were able to deliver a completely functionaltabletop CNC lathe along with a user manual toaddress operation and use of the EMC software indepth. Artifacts were created using G-codes fromexisting models.

With the aging of existing machine tool controllers,a suitable replacement for improved functionality andlife extension is necessary. By renovating the controllerarchitecture and user interface, many machine toolscan continue to be useful manufacturing tools. A teamof four engineering seniors at MUSE tackled thisproblem by revitalizing a CNC tabletop lathe that was

Table 1. Course taken by semester.

Sophomore-1 Sophomore-2 Junior-1 Junior-2 Senior-1 Senior-2

EGR 480 EGR 487 EGR 488MGT 427 EGR 482 EGR 483

(ECN 150) MKT 361MGT 363

Note: 1: Fall semester; 2: spring semester.

26 R. Radharamanan and J.-N. Juang

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defunct because of controller failure in two axes and

the lack of cost effective replacement components.

Little attempt to repair the lathe had been made since

1992. The students working on the project completed a

system design, then constructed and tested it for their

capstone design course. This article details the overall

system design including the CNC lathe, the EMC2

software, system integration, and operational results

obtained.Figure 1 illustrates the end goal of the project and

outlines the high level interaction between entities. The

computer is controlled with EMC2 software specifi-

cally designed to take user input and manipulate any

CNC machine in order to produce a desired part. The

actions of the machine are also recorded and fed back

into the computer to inform the user of its progress.

The computer then relays this information to the user

via EMC2’s graphical interface. The user at anytime

may wish to terminate/pause the program, and can do

so either through the software interface, or through the

emergency stop button on the front panel of the lathe.

3.1. Deliverables, goals, and criteria

The project’s end goal consisted of a working lathe

with a computer interface and a user manual. All

malfunctioning parts were repaired or replaced.

Functional safety features such as an emergency stop

and safety covers were added. A computer interface

compatible with the lathe and G-code usage was

implemented. Lastly, a user manual was created to

instruct a student in basic operations of the interface

and lathe.Repairing this lathe was an excellent method for

students of various engineering specialties to demon-

strate and extend their knowledge and ability to work

as a team. An additional motivation was to produce afunctional educational tool.

3.2. CNC tabletop lathe description

This section describes the CNC tabletop lathe that wasredesigned in this project. An outline of all keycomponents and controls is detailed. The CNC table-top lathe revitalized in this study is a four-axis machinetool, originally equipped with a dedicated controller.

It is important to note that some aspects of themachine not updated, such as some features of theelectrical systems and technical specifications, are notcovered in this article. These details may be found inStarturn Installation (1990).

As seen in Figure 2, the outer casing of the CNCtabletop lathe consists of several main components:spindle, spindle speed control, safety cover, emergencystop, spindle motor, stepper motors (X and Z tool postdirections), headstock, and tailstock. An overheadview is provided in Figure 3.

The spindle can rotate in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction as desired by the user. The green‘Start’ button on the bottom left of Figure 2 and theadjacent red ‘Stop’ button functions are also availablevia the computer interface, as well as on the controlpanel. Figure 4 depicts the stepper motor and side viewof the CNC lathe.

3.3. EMC2 software

The EMC2 software is a multi-purpose, Linux-based,CNC program. The goal of the CNC program is tointerface a computer with machine tools, such as mills,routers, or lathes. In this project, EMC2 was used asthe software interface between the host computer andthe CNC tabletop lathe. The EMC2 software has been

Emergency shut-Off

Input of code

Graphical interface

Execution of commands

Progress of program

Figure 1. System interaction flow diagram.

Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers 27

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configured to match the needs of a typical latheoperator using a graphical user interface (GUI).Applications of the software have been an active areaof research and discussion (Kommareddy 2000).

Several modes of operation are available within theEMC2 software, which completely change the way inwhich EMC2 operates. Manual, auto, and manual datainput (MDI) are the possible operational modes.Manual mode causes EMC2 to act like a digital controlpanel, similar to using hand wheels or switches.If preferred, an entire G-code program can be entered

and executed in the auto mode. Lastly, MDI mode canbe used for entering blocks of G-code and executingthem piece by piece. An Ubuntu Linux distribution ora GNU-Linux distribution is required to runEMC2, V2.0. Linux has a real-time kernel as part ofits normal installation, and EMC2 requires aGNU-Linux Operating System (Ubuntu LinuxOperating System 2007).

A typical configuration selection window from thesoftware is depicted in Figure 5, while an axismovement and control screen is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 3. Overhead view of CNC lathe.

Figure 2. Four-axis CNC tabletop lathe.


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4. Machining on CNC lathe

One of the important concepts to grasp when consid-

ering controlling the operation of the CNC tabletop

lathe is the coordinate system in which the machine

operates. Figure 7 outlines both the X-axis and Z-axis

with respect to the machine hardware. These directions

can be controlled manually or via the programmed

user interface (previously explained). A click of the

mouse will adjust the X-axis and Z-axis locations and

those coordinates will be displayed on the computer

monitor.

As seen in Figure 7, increasing distance in the

X-direction (i.e., a positive movement), will cause the

tool bit to move into the part. This is useful in facing

off operations which will be explained later on in

the manual. Additionally, decreasing distance in the

X-direction (i.e., a negative movement) will back the

tool bit away from the material being machined. These

actions, movement along the Z-axis, becomes neces-

sary, in order to achieve a desired location for the

cutting tool. In other words, it is necessary to move in

the negative X-direction to reposition the cutting tool

Figure 5. EMC2 configuration selector screen.

Figure 4. Side view with stepper motor.


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without actually making a cut in the material beingmachined. Similarly, increasing distance in theZ-direction (i.e., a positive movement) will result in ashift to the right. Conversely, decreasing distance in theZ-direction (i.e., a negative movement) will result in ashift to the left. This operation is utilized duringturning operations. This reduces the diameter of thematerial being machined and is an integral process ingeneral machining.

It should be noted that this lathe cannot beadjusted in the (vertical) Y-direction, which would

appear as the axis going into and out of the figure(unlabeled, third axis in Figure 7) while the machine isrunning. Neither the use of G-code nor manualcontrols will allow movement in the Y positive ornegative direction. The hardware must be correctlypositioned prior to machining to ensure that theY-direction (height) is properly set for correct machin-ing operations. In the case of the CNC tabletop lathe,the standard cutting tool appears as a triangular prism,as shown in Figure 8. This particular tool is used in the

Figure 7. Tool post showing X-axis and Z-axis.

Figure 6. EMC2 display areas.

Figure 8. Cutting tool.


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machining of wax material used in classroom orlaboratory.

4.1. PC to CNC lathe hardware interface

The last step in completing the new Linux PCcontroller for the lathe is the physical connectionbetween the PC and the CNC electrical devices. Theparallel port was used for data and signal communi-cation between the lathe and the PC.

The EMC2 software data can be configured to useexisting PC input/output hardware, such as the parallelport or serial port. Pin-out configurations of theparallel port were edited to provide correct informa-tion to and from the computer. To complete theconnection between the PC and CNC lathe, a breakoutboard prototype was designed using a bread board toconnect to the PC parallel port. The parallel port andcable gave high data communication integrity to the

lathe, and demonstrated accurate lathe motionresponses to the commands of the software.As expected, the stepper motors moved the tool postexactly as the G-code program indicated. Figure 9depicts the parallel port to lathe signal paths. A wire-wrapped breakout board was then used to take thebread board’s place. Tests were formulated to deter-mine the accuracy of the hardware and software.Necessary adjustments were made to ensure the pre-cision of the lathe. After all tests were completed to asatisfactory level, a more permanent finalized printedcircuit board (PCB) version of the breakout board wasfabricated and permanently installed into the lathe.

An optocoupler was used to protect and link thePC parallel port output signal line to the lathe steppercontrol board input lines, as shown in Figure 10. Foursuch optocouplers were used for each motor.

Four optocouplers were combined onto one board,with routed wires to appropriate resistors and screwposts. The optocouplers were connected to the parallel

Figure 10. Optocoupler design.

Figure 9. Parallel port to lathe signal paths.


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port pins through 330V resistors, wires connected

optocouplers to the lathe controller board pins via

1 kV resistors. A common ground was also used.While all optocouplers and resistors were wire

wrapped onto the board, the two screw posts were

soldered on because they were unsuitable for wire

wrapping. The finished prototype breakout board is

shown in Figure 11; the blue screw head connects to

parallel port pins whereas the orange screw head

connects to controller pins.To build a durable and compact breakout board

for permanent installation into the lathe, the freeware

version of EAGLE Layout Editor was employed

(EAGLE PCB Layout Editor 2007), a powerful tool

for designing PCBs. First, the breakout board sche-

matic was drawn using the Schematic Editor. It can be

noticed in Figure 12 that optocouplers 4N35 were used

instead of 4N26 simply because the freeware version of

EAGLE Layout Editor does not include the footprint

of 4N26. However, according to the General Purpose

6-Pin Phototransistor Optocouplers data sheet, 4N35

and 4N26 have identical footprints (6 pin DIP).

Therefore, using 4N35 optocouplers on the Schematic

Editor still produced an accurate board layout.Then, a set of pin heads for the screw post was

custom designed to connect to the controller pins,

because the screw post collected from the discarded,

original mother board was used, as EAGLE Layout

Editor does not have the component footprint in its

library. Figure 13 shows the finished PCB layout.This finalized PCB layout was then processed

through CircuitCAM 5.1.692. Text notes for each

optocoupler were added onto the CAM layout, a final

text message stating the purpose and construction date

of the breakout board was also added. After final

inspection, the breakout board design was sent to

BoardMaster 5.1.692 to begin the fabrication process

using the LPKF Laser & Electronics Photo Mat 542

PCB Milling Machine. After the breakout board was

fabricated (Figure 14), all components were soldered to

complete the board for installation.To install this board, the pre-designated area for

‘Computer Link’ on the back cover of the lathe was

modified, and the parallel port was secured with a

bracket. The CNC controller was connected to the

screw terminals of the breakout board, and DB-25

connector was linked to a PC parallel port using a

standard cable. The external and internal views of

breakout board installation are shown in Figures 15

and 16, respectively.

Figure 12. EAGLE schematic layout.

Figure 11. Top view of prototype breakout board.


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Finally, as the last step of installation, both theelectrical and mechanical components were thoroughlycleaned, and oil was applied to critical parts. Thestepper controller boards were secured to the baseboard. The relay board was also fastened and secured.To complete the mechanical installation, the electricalcomponents were fitted under the housing and allnecessary covers were applied.

4.2. Testing: creation of wax material artifact

Initial testing of each axis for calibration and accuracywas completed. An example program included with theEMC2 package, called lathe.ngc, was implemented totest the machining capability on a wax cylinder. It hasa graphical simulation, as shown in Figure 17. One canface-off the end of a cylinder, locate the center of the

material, and leave the tool tip at that position to beginthe program and machining. EMC2’s manual controlwas used to home both the X-axis and the Z-axis. Theprogram, lathe.ngc, was loaded and executed. It isimportant to note that Emergency Stop buttons on thefront panel of the lathe were also integrated to safelystop the machining process, if necessary.

4.3. Linear movement tests

After the first linear movement test (Amato et al. 2007)was conducted on the Z-axis, it was obvious that therewas a significant amount of inaccuracy: 0.77 inch ofZ-axis movement instead of the intended 1 inch. Alarge amount of inaccuracy was also revealed duringthe X-axis test. It was believed that this inaccuracy wasa result of software calibration error. Because EMC2software was installed on the PC without steppermotor options configured in the home directory, it wasoperating under default calibration settings. The GUIhas a calibration function under the machine menutab. There are three values in the calibration window:

INPUT_SCALE: 4000.0STEPGEN_MAXVEL: 1.4STEPGEN_MAXACCEL: 21.0

STEPGEN_MAXVEL is a value applied to thestepper pulse generator to provide a new velocitylimit for following error correction. STEPGEN_MAXACCEL is the new acceleration limit for thestepper pulse generator in following error correctionmode. INPUT_SCALE is the number of pulsesrequired to move the axis one UNIT (inch).

The value of 4000 for INPUT_SCALE means thatthe software’s pulse generator is outputting 4000 pulsesfor every inch the G-code entry is commanding. But,4000 pulses were not sufficient to allow the steppermotors to move the tool post (1 inch, but roughly

Figure 13. Finished PCB layouts.

Figure 14. Finished breakout board.


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0.77 inch instead). Therefore, the input scale’s firstvalue was adjusted.

The stepper motor requires 200 steps to completeone revolution. Each steppermotor was equippedwith agear box, geared to specific ratio through the attach-ment of timing belts. The selected approach to attain thecorrect motor parameters was based on the followinglogic. It was observed that 4000 pulses produce a traveldistance of approximately 0.77 inch (instead of thedesired 1 inch) or 77% of 1 unit, then 4000 pulses was77% of what was needed to produce a travel distance of1 inch. A simple ratio gave a sufficiently accurateapproximation for the number of pulses to begin atrial-and-error test run (number of pulses needed for1 inch of travel on the X-axis was 5195).

During the trial-and-error runs, the scale value wasedited; a scale value of 5190 pulses per revolution wasattained. The Z-axis test was conducted again to verifythe distance the tool bit traveled on a wax cylinder.Using a measured distance for reference, the commandmove of 1 inch produced a travel distance of 1.001 inch.With an acceptable error rate of less than 0.003 inch, itwas decided to save 5190 permanently as the newINPUT_SCALE value for all axes.

To save this parameter value for future machineuse, the related initialization file (*.ini) was edited andsaved through the terminal. The stepper configurationfile is located in the following directory:

‘CNCDesktop:/etc/emc2/sampleconfigs/stepper/stepper_inch.ini’.

4.4. Wax material artifact test

After editing and saving the new scale value, theCNC lathe’s ability to follow a G-code program’s

commands was tested. The lathe produced the pro-gram’s graphical simulation perfectly. It created a partout of wax with high precision and high efficiency.Figure 18 compares the graphical simulation with theactual finished part. The part and the graphical cuttingimage were nearly identical. The program specified thepiece to have a length of 1.570 inches and a basediameter of 2*0.58¼ 1.160 inches. The actual part hasa total length of 1.572 inches and a base diameter of1.161 inches. The machining process took a little over2min to complete. The CNC lathe’s capability toexecute a G-code program was declared a success.

5. Conclusions

The entrepreneurship certificate program establishedin 2007 is expanding and has achieved a number ofmilestones: engineering and business faculty membersare actively engaged in promoting the entrepreneurshipprogram across the Mercer campus. Both graduate andundergraduate students are attracted to the entrepre-neurship-related courses. Students are enrolled incross-disciplinary entrepreneurial senior design proj-ects. They are listening to successful entrepreneursthrough invited speakers and seminars, developingbusiness plans and competing in design and businessplan competitions, and presenting technical papers atnational and international conferences. Plans areunderway for expanding the entrepreneurship programby establishing a ‘Mercer Center for Innovation andEntrepreneurship’ at the Macon campus in the nearfuture.

The CNC tabletop lathe update and retrofittingproject presented in this article was a complete success,as measured by all aspects of the project deliverables.

Figure 15. Breakout board installation, external view. Figure 16. Breakout board installation, internal view.


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An optocoupler-based interconnect board wasdesigned and constructed. This design was put onto abread board for preliminary tests, where it was quicklyproven functional. Combining this interconnectionwith a Linux-based PC running EMC2 yielded amodern, fully operational CNC lathe suitable forlaboratory or research work.

With this design proven to be a success, a wire-wrapped prototype of the interconnection breakoutboard was then built and tested. These tests were aimed

at testing the lathe’s accuracy and efficiency. Theaccuracy and precision results were established and thenecessary modifications were made to the software.Lastly, the final version board was made using layouteditor software and a CNC PCB milling machine.It was then installed into the lathe. For the finalperformance validation test, a complete artifact wasfabricated.

The CNC lathe was retrofitted to operate in afashion similar to its original condition with the

Figure 18. Graphical comparison of simulation with the actual finished part.

Figure 17. Graphical simulation of artifact test.


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addition of a modern computer interface and newcontrolling software. The CNC tabletop lathe willfulfill its original purpose in educating students inusing CNC machines. Working with older technologymay be frustrating because of the lack of proprietaryparts and component specifications. The determinationof the student capstone design team was the primaryfactor in the project’s success.

Overall, the CNC lathe project was an excellentmeans for engineering students to apply electrical,mechanical, computer, and industrial engineeringknowledge in a single device. The students gainednew knowledge and teaming skills by successfullydesigning and implementing the new real-time, CNCmachine tool controller with Linux.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their sincere thanks to the KernFamily Foundation for the initial grant during 2007–2009 andthe expansion grant during 2009–2011 to promote innovationand entrepreneurship in engineering education at MUSE.

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