ENGR111 Syllabus

ENGR 111 – SPRING 2015FOUNDATIONS OF ENGINEERING II

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION:See your Course Page for your specific Instructor Information.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:This course introduces you to the engineering professions through multidisciplinary, societally relevant content. You will learn how to develop approaches for comprehending engineering systems and generating and exploring creative ideas and alternatives. You will be introduced to concepts in creativity, innovation, engineering fundamentals, and problem solving methodologies. You will learn, through experience, the process of design and analysis in engineering including how to work effectively on a team. Finally, you will develop skills in project management, sustainability, oral and graphical communication, logical thinking, and modern engineering tools (e.g., Excel, LabVIEW, MATLAB, CAD, Rapid Prototyping). Successful completion of this course will enable you to:

1. Describe the engineering disciplines at Texas A&M and the interrelationships among them as well as know what graduates of at least three disciplines of engineering do;

2. Individually, or as well as member of a technical team, understand and apply a structured engineering problem solving process, engineering fundamentals, basic engineering science concepts and measurement techniques to model, analyze, predict, build, and evaluate objects of engineering interest using a design process;

3. Communicate technical information to justify decisions made during problem solving situations (e.g. design, troubleshoot, or product selection), written, orally, and visually;

4. Develop algorithmic thinking using structured programming techniques and implement logical constructs (i.e., sequential structures, conditional structures, and repetition structures) to implement simple algorithmic forms of engineering models/problems using the most appropriate computer tool;

5. Develop skills for cross-cultural communication; and 6. Exhibit a work ethic appropriate for the engineering profession.

COURSE EXPECTATIONS:You are expected to:

Always use your @tamu.edu e-mail account to send correspondence between yourself and the teaching team.

Learn how to use your eCampus account (http://ecampus.tamu.edu/) to access course information, assignments and your grades.

Be an active problem solver, contributor, and discussant in class. Be prepared and accountable for class by reading the assigned

material ahead of time and be able to answer simple questions over said material.

ENGR 111 – Syllabus.v3, Spring 2015 1

Be held accountable for the material that is, or is not, explicitly discussed in class.

Have a public presence in the class. Attend class as a community expectation. Be cooperative with your team and work with them, not compete

against them. Learn interdependently and complete assignments with your team

and your peers. Learn to be accountable to your team and have your team accountable

to you. Rely on and trust, your peers, as well as the faculty and staff to help

you learn the course material.

COURSE PREREQUISITES:Co-requisite: MATH 150

COURSE GRADING:Bi-weekly Exams (5) + 30%Daily Assessments (RAT, CFU, HW, etc.):30%Project:

Subtasks 7%Design Notebook 4%Demo 10%Presentation 7%Report 6%

Attend two (2) “Departmental Seminars” and one (1) “Industry Seminar” ++ 6%

+ Administered in Class 100%++ The Student Engineering Council (SEC) sponsors the “SEC Departmental Seminars (SEC-DSs)” and the “SEC Industry Seminars (SEC-ISs).” These are informational events featuring different engineering majors (i.e., the SEC-DSs) and companies that hire engineering graduates (i.e., the SEC-ISs). You are REQUIRED to attend two (2) SEC-DSs (one of which must be from a group “A” department and one from a group “B” department) and one (1) SEC-ISs. Advanced registration for a seminar is required for attendance to count. Failure to attend a seminar for which you are registered will jeopardize your ability to complete this requirement. For each seminar you attend you should be prepared to write a 1 page (less than 250 words) summary of the presentation and how it affects your perceptions of engineering.

This course will make extensive use of student teams. As such, homework, activities, ready assessment tests (RAT’s), activity check for understanding’s (CFU’s), and project grades may reflect some combination,


in part or as a whole, your individual effort and teamwork. Exam grades will, in their entirety, represent your individual understanding of the course material. In general, your final course grade will consist of approximately 70% of your own individual contributions. You are reminded that learning team accountability (your accountability to the team and the team's accountability to you) is an essential element of this course. As such, the course instructor reserves the right to use: materials submitted by your team to reflect your individual effort (in the form of a grade); materials submitted by individuals to reflect your team's effort (in the form of a grade); materials randomly collected by individuals to reflect your team's effort (in the form of a grade); the weakest material submitted by individuals to reflect your team's effort (in the form of a grade); or materials submitted by pairs of team members to reflect your individual or team effort (in the form of a grade). This list is not intended to be completely exclusive, but representative of the possible options.

The following grading scale will be used to determine your semester course grade:

90% A < 100%, 80% B < 90%, 70% C< 80%, 60% D < 70%, and F <60%

COURSE REQUIRED TEXTBOOK / BOOK CHAPTERS:The course has one required textbook:

1. Engineering Fundamentals and Problem Solving, 6th Edition Authors: Eide, Jenison, Northup and MichelsonPublisher: McGraw-Hill Higher EducationISBN-13: 978-0073534916

OTHER REFERENCE MATERIALS:1. MATLAB: An Introduction with Applications (available through Amazon.com)

Authors: GilatPublisher: McGraw-Hill Higher EducationISBN: 13: 978-0470108772

2. Chapter # 6 – The Mechanical Design Process; Ullman3. National Academy of Engineering, “Grand Challenges for Engineering”, available at http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/, last accessed 08/2013.

OTHER REQUIRED MATERIALS/SUPPLIES:1. A Flash Drive (1 GB or higher).2. A Pad of Engineering Paper.


3. A Mechanical Pencil.4. An Eraser5. A Scientific Calculator. The calculator can have as many features as

you deem necessary. However, please note that for exams you will only be able to use the calculator’s addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, logarithmic and trigonometric functions capabilities. Any other capabilities of your calculator will specifically be forbidden from being used. Please also note, for exams your phone will not be considered a calculator even if you have a calculator app.

COURSE OFFICE HOURS:Daytime Office Hours:

Monday – 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm in EABC 311Wednesday – 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm in EABC 311Friday – 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm in EABC 311

Evening Office HoursMonday-Thursday, 6 p.m. – 10 p.m. in EABC 311

Engineering BYOD Helpdesk InformationLocation – EABC CubicleEmail – [email protected] Phone – 979.862.3671Hours of Operation:

Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. – 10 p.m.Friday – 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.Sunday – 12 p.m. – 10 p.m.


TOPICAL SCHEDULE BY WEEKWeek #

Starting Date

Topics Events Reading Assignments

Homework Assignments

Project Events

1 1/20/2015

Intro to Engineering, Teaming

MLK Monday

Eide: Chap. 1&2

2 1/26/2015

Design Process #1, Systems Thinking, Algorithmic thinking

Eide: Chap. 3

3 2/2/2015

Flow Charts, Problem Solving Method

Eide: Chap. 4 HW 1: Problem Solving Method

4 2/9/2015

LabVIEW 1 & 2; Introduction and Sequential Flow, MSP, Graphing

Exam 1 Eide: Chap. 5 HW2 : LV1&2

Assign Project

5 2/16/2015

LabVIEW 3: Data types and Structures, Estimation and Measurement

Eide: Chap. 6 HW 3 : LV3

6 2/23/2015

LabVIEW 4: File I/O & Sub-VI's; Design #2

Exam 2 Eide: Chap. 3 HW 4 : LV4 Project Design Journal

7 3/2/2015

LabVIEW EV3 Tools, Design Challenge 3

HW 5 : LV:EV3

8 3/9/2015

LabVIEW 5: Arrays and Clusters; Subtask 1

Exam 3 HW 6 : LV5 Subtask 1 (in class)

3/16/2015

Spring Break

9 3/23/2015

Design #3, Sketching

Lieu: Chap. 2 HW7 : Sketching

10 3/30/2015

ML #1 : Intro; Orthographics

Good Friday

Gilat: Chap. 1; Lieu: Chap. 10

HW 8 : Matlab1

Project Design Journal

11 4/6/2015

ML #2: Arrays, Data Load, Plotting; Pictorials

Exam 4 Gilat Chap. 2,3&5; Lieu: Chap. 12

HW 9 : Matlab2

12 4/13/2015

ML #3: Conditionals; Subtask 2

Gilat: Chap. 6 HW 10 : Matlab3

Subtask 2 (in class)

13 4/20/2015

ML #4: File I/O Exam 5 Gilat: Chap. 4 HW 11 : Matlab4

14 4/27/2015

Project Demonstrations

Project Demo (in class)


14.5 5/4/2015

Makeup for topics deferred due to University Schedule

Project Report (eCampus)

15 5/8/2015

Final Exams Begin Project Pres (in class)


IMPORTANT DATES: (EXAM AND PROJECT DATES ARE TENTATIVE)January 20 – First day of fall semester classes.January 26 – Last day (by 5 p.m.) for adding/dropping courses for the fall

semester.March 9 – Mid-semester grades.March 16-20 – Spring BreakApril 3 – Reading Day, no class scheduledApril 21 – Muster, no evening activities scheduledApril 21 – Last day (by 5 p.m.) to drop courses with no penalty (Q-drop) or

to officially withdraw from the UniversityMay 4 – Prep Day, no exams given.May 5 – A Tuesday, but regular Friday classes meet. Prep day, no exams

given. Last Day of Spring classesMay 7-12 – Project PowerPoint Presentations.SEC DEPARTMENTAL SEMINARS AND SEC INDUSTRY SEMINARS:You are required to attend: 1) two (2) SEC-DSs, one of which must be from “Group B” departments as defined below; and 2) one (1) SEC-ISs. You must pre-register for the seminars you plan to attend. Space is limited; failure to attend 2 SEC-DSs and 1 SEC-ISs, as prescribed, because of space limitations will not be considered a valid excuse.

SEC Departmental Seminar GroupingsGroup A Group B

Aerospace Engineering Biological & Agricultural Engineering

Chemical Engineering Biomedical EngineeringCivil & Ocean Engineering Computer Science & Computer

EngineeringElectrical & Computer

EngineeringEngineering Technology

Mechanical Engineering Industrial DistributionPetroleum Engineering Industrial and Systems

EngineeringMaterial Sciences EngineeringNuclear/ & Radiological Health

Engineering

Registering to attend the 2 SEC-DSs, the 1 SEC-IS:Use the “SEC – DSs & SEC – ISs Sign Up” link in your ENGR 112 eCampus course page to sign up for these events. Remember you must sign up to attend these events in advance, space is limited. For each seminar you attend you should write a 1 page (less than 250 words) summary of the presentation and how it affects your perceptions of engineering.Rules for attending the Seminars:

1. Rules for attending the seminars:2. You may only attend seminars for which they have registered.3. You are required to be in business casual attire for Industry Nights, if

you are not dressed properly you will be refused admittance.


4. You are recommended to show up 25 minutes early to compensate for any technological issues that may arise with registration.

5. You must be in attendance for the entire duration of the seminar. There are no exceptions!

6. You will not be admitted 6 minutes after the start time of the seminar.7. Once the Seminar or Industry Night has commenced, students are

expected act in a professional manner. If you are asked to leave a Seminar/Industry Night for unprofessional behavior, your attendance will not be recorded.

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) POLICY STATEMENTThe Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Department of Student Life, Services for Students with Disabilities, in Cain Hall or call 845-1637.

ATTENDANCE:Attendance in class is mandatory. TAMU policies regarding student attendance/absences are defined in Part I, Section 7 of the TAMU Student Rules. In addition to those rules, the following policies will apply in this course:

1. To excuse an absence that falls under rule 7.1.6 (Injury or Illness that is too severe or contagious for the student to attend class), will require a medical confirmation note completed by a healthcare provider with a contact phone number no matter how long the student is out of class.

2. An excused absence will be required for any day in which a graded assignment was due or exam was given.

3. There will be no opportunity to makeup in-class or out-of-class assignments, exams, RATs, CFU or any other “graded” materials due to an unexcused absence.

STUDENT RULES:TAMU Student Rules are posted at http://student-rules.tamu.edu. You should be familiar with these by now. Any issue not addressed explicitly in this syllabus will be governed by the Student Rules.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:“An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do.” Upon accepting admission to Texas A&M University, a student immediately assumes a commitment to uphold the Honor Code, to accept responsibility for learning, and to follow the philosophy and rules of the Honor System. Students will be required to state their commitment on examinations, research papers, and other academic work. Ignorance of the rules does not


exclude any member of the TAMU community from the requirements or the processes of the Honor System. For additional information please visit: http://aggiehonor.tamu.edu.

Students are expected to understand and abide by the Aggie Honor Code presented on the web at: http://aggiehonor.tamu.edu. No form of scholastic misconduct will be tolerated. Academic misconduct includes cheating, fabrication, falsification, multiple submissions, plagiarism, complicity, etc. These are more fully defined in the above web site. Violations will be handled in accordance with the Aggie Honor System Process described on the web site.

Please pay special attention to the following paragraph regarding teamwork (or working collaboratively with others). During this course, you will be working in teams and as such you are expected, and will be encouraged, to help each other. This is done because it has been shown that students learn more effectively while working together. Since course grades are not curved, there is no penalty for helping someone else. However, there is, at times, confusion over when it is ok to “collaborate with a teammate (or someone in the course)” and when collaborating with someone else turns into academic dishonesty.

When an assignment specifies that it is:1. ALL-CLASS Assignment – you should feel comfortable talking to

anyone in the course (and working side-by-side with them) about any aspect of an assignment from gaining conceptual insight to developing an appropriate model to specifying assumptions to writing out a solution. If the assignment was to develop some kind of computer tool model/solution, working side-by-side with other members of the course to gain conceptual insight, develop logic, outline syntax, and implement/debug said logic and syntax would be considered acceptable behavior. In such cases all individuals involved in the assignment should be appropriately acknowledged in the materials submitted.

2. TEAM Assignment – you should feel comfortable talking to anyone on your team (and working side-by-side with them) about any aspect of an assignment from gaining conceptual insight to developing an appropriate model to specifying assumptions to writing out a solution. If the assignment was to develop some kind of computer tool model/solution, working side-by-side with other members of your team to gain conceptual insight, develop logic, outline syntax, and implement/debug said logic and syntax would be considered acceptable behavior. In such cases all individuals involved in the assignment should be appropriately acknowledged in the materials submitted.

3. INDIVIDUAL Assignment – you should feel comfortable talking to anyone in the course about an assignment to gain conceptual insight only. Any act other than having a “conceptual conversation,” even if mutually agreed upon, would be considered academic dishonesty. If


the assignment was to develop some kind of computer tool model/solution, working with others to gain conceptual insight would be considered acceptable behavior. Any act other than having a “conceptual conversation” or “providing debugging insight,” even if mutually agreed upon, would be considered academic dishonesty.

OTHER EXPECTATIONS, RULES, OR COMMENTS:1. Hand-written work:

All hand-written homework will be submitted on Engineering Paper.

All hand-written work will be submitted with your name, your team number and section number printed in the upper right hand corner of your paper. You should clearly indicate the name of the assignment and date it is submitted. In addition, you must sign your work below your name. Your signature indicates that “this is your work and that you have a general understanding of all the information that is being submitted.”

When submitting a team hand-written homework, you should follow the same rules as stated above, except making sure to include the names of all the team members that participated. In the case of a team assignment, the signature of each individual below his/her name implies that “you were an active participant in preparing the document and that you have a general understanding of all the information that is being submitted.”

Please be aware when submitting a team homework, only one copy may be submitted. Submitting multiple copies of the same team assignment will result in a penalty of 5% times the number of works submitted. Also, please let this serve as notice: A late penalty will be awarded to a team assignment if submitted late because a team member fails to act responsibly, even if it was completed on time.

Unless there is a valid University Excused Reason, any homework submitted after the due date and time will be deemed late and NOT be accepted.

All homework assignments are due by 11:59 pm on the Friday following the week in which they are assigned, unless otherwise specified by your instructor

2. Computer Tool Assignments: You need to follow the Code Standard associated with the

particular computer tool to receive maximum credit. Computer tool assignments will always be submitted using the

appropriate header file that includes your name, your team number and section ID.

You will always provide an electronic signature (signature: your full name). The electronic signature indicates that “this is your work, or in the case of a team assignment that you were an active


participant in preparing the document, and that you have a general understanding of all the information that is being submitted.”

Please be aware when submitting team computer tool assignments, only one copy may be submitted. Submitting multiple copies of the same team assignment will result in a penalty of 5% times the number of works submitted. Also, please let this serve as notice: A late penalty will be awarded to a team assignment submitted late because a team member fails to act responsibly, even if it was completed on time.

Unless there is a valid University Excused Reason, any computer tool assignment submitted after the due date and time will be deemed late and NOT be accepted.

3. You will be assigned to a team and will remain on that team until teams are reformed or the semester ends, whichever comes first.


Documents

ENGR111 Syllabus