The electronic sensing capabilities of parachute fabrics and suspension lines coated with conducting polymers, single-walled carbon nanotubes, and their composites are described. A new synthetic method is described to obtain a thin, strongly adhering coating of conducting polymers on commercial parachute fabrics and suspension lines using oligoanilines as an undercoating. The results indicate that both materials have a sensing ability; however, the coated suspension lines show superior performance compared to the coated parachute fabrics.
This paper outlines the development of a course in Ocean Engineering to be used as a technical elective for mechanical engineering students. With some modifications, the course is also being offered as a technology elective for graduate students in a marine science program. The paper covers the following sequence of events: a sabbatical leave by the course instructor to develop improved capability in this area, textbook selection, course syllabus, and first year experiences teaching the course. A small wave tank was designed and built by some students in conjunction with the first offering of the course, and this is now being used for demonstrations in future offerings of the course.
This paper summarizes five years of experiences with a mini-design module intended to develop the interest of freshmen in aerospace engineering as a career. Model rocketry was one of several modules that students participated in during the course Introduction to Engineering: Design, taught at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. The students were given a project based on designing a reconnaissance rocket to accomplish a certain mission, as outlined below. The rocket had to be designed to rise vertically as high as possible (within constraints) to take wide-angle photos of military emplacements in surrounding countries. The rocket had to deploy a parachute system to return it safely back to earth. It had to have a short total time of flight to minimize exposure time to enemy fire trying to destroy the rocket. This was especially important during the descent phase when the rocket would be moving slowly. The students had to build a small model rocket from a commercially available kit, make appropriate engine choices, and modify a parachute recovery system and other rocket features to achieve the somewhat conflicting objectives of high altitude and short time of flight. The course procedures, including lectures on dynamics and fluid mechanics appropriate to the freshman level are described, together with experiences gained during the rocket launches. Several clever ideas that the students developed to achieve the desired objectives are described in the paper. Approximately twenty-five students participated each year. Classroom evaluations conducted with the students at the end of the course each year showed that the students' interest in aerospace and mechanical engineering was heightened as a result of the rocketry module.
Learning Coordinator for the Francis College of Engineering. She is a second career Mechanical Engineer, with over twenty years of human services management. She assists faculty in all five engineering departments to develop course-based service-learning projecs to meet real community needs.
Cheryl West, University of Massachusetts-LowellProgram Manager of numerous community-university projects. Work Environment Ph.D. candidate with major emphasis on work and environmental policy with minors in cleaner production/ pollution prevention and epidemiology. MS in community psychology.
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