 Mechanical Engineering students at the University of Rhode Island
are being taught analysis, simulation and design in a new learning environment - a
Computer
Technology Classroom. ME students from sophomores to seniors, now have portions of
their courses taught in this new facility which makes use of personal computer
workstations and multimedia presentations. The new classroom provides students and faculty
with a computer/web-based instructional facility to use modern software tools for
simulation, design and virtual prototyping. Such activities provide students with
hands-on, experiential learning by conducting their own simulations or virtual experiments
on a variety of engineering systems and processes. This new facility supports our
continual efforts to integrate design and simulation into the curriculum. The facility was designed for instructional purposes, and includes 25 PC's, two high-speed laser printers, a direct projection system for
presentations and student/instructor interaction, and local/world networking for information exchange. Applications
software consists of SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Working Model, MATLAB,
ABAQUS, Algor, Excel, Maple, Engineering Equation Solver, COMPACT 2-D(CFD) and others. The facility was created through
the generous support of the Champlin Foundations of Rhode Island, the
National
Science Foundation, and the College of Engineering Dean's Office.
Software donations from Microsoft Corporation, Knowledge Revolution
and R&D Technologies are also acknowledged.
ME faculty members Richard
Lessmann, William
Palm, Martin Sadd
and David
Taggart,have used this special classroom facility to develop
courseware related to our activities in the Engineering
Academy of Southern New England (EASNE), a National Science
Foundation sponsored Engineering Education Coalition. Examples of
this work may be found at the EASNE-URI
Mechanical Engineering Web Site. Course descriptions, Working
Model assignments, animated simulations and downloadable files may be found at this web site.
Considerable applications of this facility have occurred in a variety of mechanical engineering courses
including computer drawing, statics, dynamics, kinematics, controls, vibrations, thermal science,
finite elements and design. Example engineering simulations and
designs have included traffic signals, suspension bridges, IC engines, controllers,
accelerometers, stress analysis projects, assistive devices, aircraft wings, various
mechanisms, and some reverse engineering projects involving hand staplers and pneumatic fastening tools
from a local industry (Stanley-Bostitch).
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Hand Stapler - Reverse Engineering Project