28 Int J Learning Technology Vol 2 No 1 2006 Integration of simulation technology into undergraduate engineering courses and laboratories Frederick Stern Tao Xing and Marian Muste IIHR Hydroscience and Engineering C Maxwell Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory The University of Iowa 52242 1585 IA Iowa City USA Fax 319 335 5238 E mail frederick stern uiowa edu E mail tao xing uiowa edu E mail marian muste uiowa edu Corresponding author Don Yarbrough Center for Evaluation and Assessment 210 Lindquist Center South The University of Iowa 52242 IA Iowa City USA Fax 319 384 0505 E mail d yarbrough uiowa edu Alric Rothmayer Department of Aerospace Engineering 2271 Howe Hall 2235 Room Iowa State University 50011 2271 IA Ames USA Fax 515 294 3262 E mail roth iastate edu Ganesh Rajagopalan Department of Aerospace Engineering 2271 Howe Hall 2233 Room Iowa State University 50011 2271 IA Ames USA Fax 515 294 3262 E mail roth iastate edu David Caughey 248 Upson Hall Cornell University 14853 Ithaca NY USA Fax 607 255 1222 E mail dac5 cornell edu Copyright 2006 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd Integration of simulation technology Rajesh Bhaskaran 284C Grumman Hall 14853 Ithaca NY USA Fax 607 255 1222 E mail rb88 cornell edu Sonya Smith School of engineering and Computer Science Department of Mechanical Engineering Howard University USA Fax 202 806 5258 E mail sts6f vortex eng howard edu Barbara Hutchings and Shane Moeykens Fluent Inc 10 Cavendish Court 03766 Lebanon NH USA Fax 603 643 3967 E mail bjh fluent com E mail sam fluent com Abstract Teaching modules for complementary computational and experimental fluid mechanics and uncertainty analysis were developed to integrate simulation technology into undergraduate engineering courses and laboratories Engineering faculties from a range of public and private universities and the software partner Fluent Inc have collaborated to develop implement evaluate and disseminate web based teaching modules utilising simulation technology based on further development of the commercial software FlowLab The first two years formative and summative student evaluation data identified successful leaning outcomes as well as strategies for improvement including the need for an efficient hands on computational fluid dynamics educational interface to better simulate engineering practice Keywords simulation technology teaching module computational fluid dynamics experimental fluid dynamics uncertainty analysis Reference to this paper should be made as follows Stern F Xing T Muste M Yarbrough D Rothmayer A Rajagopalan G Caughey D Bhaskaran R Smith S Hutchings B and Moeykens S 2006 Integration of simulation technology into undergraduate engineering courses and laboratories Int J Learning Technology Vol 2 No 1 pp 28 48 Biographical notes Frederick Stern is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering with more than 20 years of experience in teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in the mechanical engineering curriculum His research interests include modelling computational fluid dynamics code development towing tank experiments and uncertainty analysis all in support development simulation based design for ship hydrodynamics Tao Xing received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in 2002 He is a Postdoctoral Associate at the C Maxwell Stanley Hydraulic Laboratory at The University of Iowa 29 30 F Stern et al Marian Muste received his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from The University of Iowa in 1995 Currently he is a Research Engineer with IIHR Hydroscience and Engineering and Adjunct Assistant Professor He oversees the Fluids Mechanics Laboratory of the College of Engineering where he applies his research expertise in experimental methods and measurement techniques Donald B Yarbrough PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Georgia 1982 is Director of the Center for Evaluation and Assessment and an Associate Professor of Educational Measurement and Evaluation in the University of Iowa College of Education His most recent research focuses on program evaluation methodology and the use of standards in student evaluation in higher education Alric Rothmayer is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics with 17 years experience in teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in Aerospace Engineering His research interests include viscous flow computational fluid dynamics asymptotic methods and boundary layer theory and aircraft icing Ganesh Rajagopalan is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering with 20 years of experience in teaching He has developed a number of undergraduate courses with emphasis on integrating experimental techniques with theory Dr Rajagopalan s research emphasis has centred on computationally efficient techniques to study the flow field and operational characteristics of rotating machines such as helicopter rotors wind turbines propellers and ducted fans David A Caughey is a Professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University He has more than 30 years research experience in developing computational fluid dynamics algorithms most recently applied to turbulent reacting flows He and Professor James A Liggett coauthored the first interactive text book for Introductory Fluid Mechanics Rajesh Bhaskaran is Director of the Swanson Engineering Simulation Program in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University He is leading efforts in the Sibley School to integrate contemporary simulation technologies into the mechanical and aerospace engineering curriculum He received a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Iowa State University in 1996 Sonya T Smith is a Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Howard University and the Director of the Computer Learning and Design Center CLDC in the College of Engineering Architecture and Computer Sciences Her research interests are in the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics applied to aerodynamic applications She received her PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia in 1995 Barbara J Hutchings is currently the Director of Strategic Partnership at Fluent Inc the leading commercial supplier of computational fluid dynamics software Barbara joined Fluent at its inception in 1983 after graduating from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College with an MS degree She has been working in the field of applied computational fluid dynamics for 20 years and has an
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