This paper describes a laboratory course designed to enhance education in a traditional mechanical engineering laboratory focused on controls and instrumentation. The laboratory course and specific modules are part of a broader effort to enhance the mechanical engineering laboratory curriculum with modern pedagogical methods, incorporate ethics through the curriculum, and improve student outcomes.
The laboratory course was designed to inspire a heightened awareness of engineering ethics in addition to traditional controls. A new module has been added that applies the conventional topic of Programmable Logic Controllers in the context of controlling the breathing of an artificial lung.
To assess the laboratory’s success a survey was developed for students interacting with the new module. Results indicate the new laboratory experiment has been very successful in improving student awareness of the ethical charge engineers have to perform quality work.
Dr. Timothy A. Doughty received his BS and MS from Washington State University in Mechanical and Materials Engineering and his Ph. D. from Purdue University. He has taught at Purdue, Smith College, and is now an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Portland. From 2009 to 2011 he served as a Faculty Scholar with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and has served as the Dundon-Berchtold Fellow of Ethics for the Donald. P. Shiley School of Engineering. His research is in nonlinear vibrations as it applies to structural health monitoring, and assistive technology. He is currently working on grants related to teaching in STEM fields and laboratory curricular development and is active in developing international research opportunities for undergraduates.
Dr. Heather Dillon is Professor and Chair of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington Tacoma. Her research team is working on energy efficiency, renewable energy, fundamental heat transfer, and engineering education. Before joining academia,
BSME, University of Portland, 1984
MSME, University of Portland, 1987
PhD, University of Washington, 1990
Hyster Co., 1984-1987
Boeing 1990-1998
Associate Prof, University of Portland, Current
I am a teacher educator with a special interest in teacher induction and retention.
Senior Mechanical Engineer at the University of Portland
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