A PhD student in Electrical and Computer Engineering, he received both his B.S. and M. Eng. from the University of Louisville in the same field. His research interests include power electronics and controls, as well as engineering education for first-year students.
This Complete Evidence-based Practice article is primarily focused on the impact an introductory engineering makerspace course had on enrolled first-year student's interest in engineering. National retention rates for engineering undergraduate degrees continue to be well below expectations. A major contributing factor is the nature of many first-and second-year gateway courses resulting in an undesirably large number of students leaving the program. If student experiences can be implemented in the first year that augments their interest in engineering such that it offsets the discouragement resulting from certain early course experiences, then students will be more likely to persist through degree in engineering. Contemporary research has shown that there are individual constructs that not only play an influential role in retention but are even more meaningful than the question of aptitude and/or work ethic. Thus, if these factors can be effectively accounted for, then retention rates can be improved without lowering academic standards. One barrier in particular, often referred to in literature as interest (in engineering), has been the focus of pedagogy for a makerspace-based, introductory engineering course (ENGR 111) that all first-year engineering students at the J.B. Speed School of Engineering (SSoE) at the University of Louisville must take. The interest barrier, defined in this paper as "student beliefs related to the significance and/or usefulness of engineering", inherently includes student perception(s) related to the level of pleasure experienced in conducting engineering-related tasks or activities. Research has identified interest as the most significant retention impediment for SSoE students; specifically, an increase in interest predicted which students remained in engineering. Yet the significance of the interest question extends well beyond SSoE to engineering programs all over the country. First-year engineering makerspace courses can have a positive impact on first-year interest in engineering. Not only do makerspaces offer chances for young students to engage in engineering endeavors in creative ways, but makerspaces have shown great potential in addressing broader goals of education, such as the augmentation of first-year engineering student retention. Much of the research on makerspace impacts and practices have focused on K-12 and informal education. Little is known about how a well-designed, makerspace-based engineering course can address barriers to first-year students' persistence in engineering, such as the interest in engineering barrier focused on in this paper. Research also suggest that the makerspace movement provides a beneficial opportunity for student development of interests and identity. The structure of ENGR 111 provides a context and potential for addressing motivational barriers, such as interest in engineering, in a manner that traditional classrooms cannot do. Likewise, ENGR 111 provides students the situational means to experience problem solving in a way that wouldn't ...
In this paper, a nonlinear controller is proposed to manage the rotational speed of a full-variable Squirrel Cage Induction Generator wind turbine. This control scheme improves upon tractional vector controllers by removing the need for a rotor flux observer. Additionally, the proposed controller manages the performance through turbulent wind conditions by accounting for unmeasurable wind torque dynamics. This model-based approach utilizes a current-based control in place of traditional voltage-mode control and is validated using a Lyapunov-based stability analysis. The proposed scheme is compared to a linear vector controller through simulation results. These results demonstrate that the proposed controller is far more robust to wind turbulence than traditional control schemes.
This Complete Evidence-based Practice paper is focused on the development and implementation of active learning pedagogy applied within an introductory course in engineering fundamentals at the J. B. Speed School of Engineering (SSoE) at the University of Louisville (UofL). The course, titled Engineering Methods, Tools, and Practice II (ENGR 111), is the second component of a two-course sequence and is primarily focused on application and integration of fundamental engineering skills introduced and practiced in the first component of the sequence (ENGR 110). Fundamental skills integrated within ENGR 111 include 3D printing, basic research fundamentals, circuitry, communication, critical thinking, design, engineering ethics, hand tool usage, problem solving, programming, project management, teamwork, and technical writing. The course is required for all first-year SSoE students (no less than 450 per year) and is housed within and delivered via a 15,000 ft 2 makerspace. The ENGR 110/111 sequence is relatively new, resultant from the desire to restructure the previous iteration of the institution's introductory engineering course. A key motivational factor in the desire to restructure included aspiration(s) to conform to modern research in engineering education methodologies, especially the implementation of active learning.Active learning has been defined as "any instructional method that engages students in the learning process". Generally, active learning refers to activities that are introduced into the classroom, with the core elements of student activity and engagement in the learning process. In summary, active learning necessitates students to do meaningful learning activities in conjunction with thinking about what they are doing and why.In the Spring 2019 iteration of ENGR 111, students were surveyed a ten-point Likert scale on their intentions to continue pursuing an engineering major. Students were then instructed to answer a follow-up question that asked the degree of impact their ENGR 111 experience had on their answer to the previous question. Out of the 440 total students surveyed, over 80% expressed high levels (i.e. Likert values of 8-10) of intent to continue pursuit of engineering. For each of these respective identified high levels, no less than 72% stated that ENGR 111 had at least somewhat of an impact on these intentions.
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