Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Knowledge Integration in Undergraduate

Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering

Knowledge Integration in Undergraduate Research Knowledge Integration in Undergraduate Research Projects Projects

Narayanan Komerath Professor

Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace EngineeringGeorgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta

1

March 2011


THRUST OF THE PAPER

• Innovation requires tough technical challenges across many disciplines

• Requires integration of “soft skills” and talents with “hard” technical and economics knowledge.

• Large increase needed in completeness of comprehension, and application competence in courses.

• Bold approaches needed to break out of curricular / “specialization” boxes.

• Undergraduate research participation offers an excellent vehicle for knowledge integration, retention, transfer and application.


Learning Across Disciplines

•Success in engineering innovation requires integration of many concepts and disciplines. •Most engineers and most faculty are “experts” trained in one specialty, afraid to move into •“other people’s” grazing grounds. •“No flexibility in curriculum, what we can do?” •Students are enthusiastic, but need careful, disciplined guidance. •Issues include all fields of science and engineering (incl. bio-sciences) plus:

•Economics for Business Case innovation•Local Culture•Aesthetics•Customer care skills•System design•Public Policy•Global Warming/Climate Change debate•Courage and confidence based on discipline, to depart from textbook superstitions.


Learning Across Disciplines: The NASA “EXTROVERT” project

•Course content with rigor and depth•Vertical integration of curriculum: Students expected to use previous courses to solve problems•Solutions Library of examples in problem-solving•Design-centered Gateway to engineering disciplines: students use conceptual design of a•system to build confidence and learn “common sense” estimation techniques.•Case Studies•Advanced Concept Development• Adapting to Learner Styles: “Barnstormer”: Design-Build-Fly, quick to experiment, needs examples and perspective. “Eagle”: Entrepreneur, generalist. Needs perspective “Astronaut”: Needs detailed procedures “Rocket Scientist”: Needs first-principles theory and mathematics


• What? • Why?• How?• Lessons

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PARTICIPATION


Undergraduate Research Projects: Preliminary working definition

Any project taking a semester or longer of student participation, involving use of knowledge relevant to the discipline, and leading towards solution of an unsolvedproblem. Key features must include specific objectives and independent thinking.

•Semester or longer: different from “homework assignment” or “term paper”. •Use of knowledge relevant to the discipline: may exclude purely organizing social events, or doing only “busy work” requiring no discipline-related thinking. Definition of “discipline” varies with the discipline. •Leading towards solution: Focused effort. Success is not required, but progress is required. Problem need not be small enough to be solved in 1 semester.• Unsolved problem: If the solution can be found with reasonable effort by looking at previous work, that is not research, though it may be good engineering. Diligent literature search is an essential component. • Specific objectives: Must be able to explain why & what of the project, and this must guide progress. • Independent thinking: Most important component that differentiates “research” from class work. Running lab tests for a professor may not be a good use of undergraduate talent, though it may teach some skills.•Innovation is highly desirable, and distinguishes engineering research from pure science in many cases.• “Design” and “building & testing” are perfectly fine under this definition.


Why?

Society

Students Faculty

Institution


Society

•Need trained innovators•Focus on current and future problems•Local pride and appreciation of engineering education• Way for local people to contribute to problem-solving• •??

“We are also working on nano-bio-technological genetic engineering!”


Students

•First experience of “real-life” in chosen career field•Explore interests•Gain new skills•Build confidence•Build experience with a systematic, disciplined process for solving problems•Experience in working with other people•Experience in interacting with people outside the course environment•“Launch pad” to jobs•Credentials for graduate school

Easy gradeInflate CV


Institution

• Provide students with opportunities for “practical experience”. • VERY CHEAP way of providing practical experience. • Individual mentoring.• Free advertising: word-of-mouth recruiting tool. • Free placement tool for industry• More students going to graduate school• Positive publicity with parents and community• Students win prizes/ scholarships/ competitions• Faculty generate results/ papers; reduce time to sit in staff room and complain.• Research universities: - projects may generate proposals for much larger sponsored projects.


Faculty

• Satisfaction: Provide students with opportunities.• Individual mentoring: work with interested students!• Free advertising: word-of-mouth recruiting tool. • Means of interacting with other faculty and industry• More students going to graduate school• Positive publicity with parents and community• Students win prizes/ scholarships/ competitions• Generate results/ papers; proposals.• Recruiting tool for own research program• “Free”, enthusiastic, and motivated work force.

• Frustrating: >50% failure rate, many students not motivated.• Individual mentoring: takes enormous time and thought commitment• Time better spent in working by oneself, or with graduate students. • Rarely produces publishable papers• Essentially zero help from Administration• Zero recognition in Promotion, Tenure or Salary reviews• “Senior faculty” ascribe no value to undergraduate guidance.• Time is better spent in organizational politics or serving top administrators.


How?

1. 5-year B.Tech: 2-semester, 20 credit-hour Project forms culmination of degree program2. External internship requirement. 3. 1-semester Special Problem4. Competition projects with course credit.5. Collaborative external projects6. Paid research projects (scholarship)

Vehicles For Undergraduate Research Participation

TYPES OF PROJECTS

1. Team member on a sponsored research project2. Advanced Concept Development 3. Preparation for Off-Site Projects4. Testbed development


APPLICATION OF KI/KM TECHNIQUES TO THE TEAM PROJECT PROBLEM

Knowledge CaptureEffective utilization of knowledgeIdentification and Filling of Knowledge Gaps


0:Open door acceptance policy1: Orientation Manual2: Apprenticeship Teams & Leadership3: Countdown Lists4: Assignments Lists5: Weekly Research Team Meeting6: Weekly Progress Report7: Project Document8: Paper Abstract Submission; Deadlines9: Brown Bag Seminar10: GANTT Chart11: Design Reviews

Techniques


Techniques-7: Project Document

ROTORCRAFT HUB DRAG MEASUREMENTContents•Introduction•Test Apparatus and Data Acquisition•Experimental Procedure•Experimental Results

•End Caps Off “Uncapped” Runs•End Caps On “Plugged” Runs•Hubbcapped Runs

•Combined Results•Drag Buildup•Theoretical Predictions•Drag Prediction using Hoerner’s Method•Equivalent Area Based Drag Prediction• References7. Appendix

Experimental Aerodynamics Group

Appendix CBARATRON CALIBRATIONObjective:To re-calibrate an old pitot tube so that it is more accurate for all velocities.Goals:To derive a new and more accurate calibration index.Experimental Setup:The wind tunnel speed sensor baratron measures the difference in pressures between a static pressure port and stagnation pressure port on the pitot tube and converts it into a voltage difference to give a reading. The difference in the pressures causes a change in the voltage which is then captured on a baratron. The baratron was connected to a known pressure differential through a manometer to measure known pressure difference. The voltage readings from the speed sensor baratron were recorded along with the change in pressure from the manometer. The pressure changes can be used to calculate an exacta new and improved index can be found. Procedure:Connect the speed sensor baratron to the manometer and a know pressure tapUse the manometer reading to get the true pressure differenceRecord the voltage reading by the sensorRepeat the past two steeps for at least two more differentials.Use your measured pressure changes and voltages to get a pressure change per volt graphUse the slope of the graph as your new index.Equipment:ManometerSpeed sensorPressure tapResults:.993


Summer 2010Ankit Tiwari Attila-Giovanni GaborJanek Witharana

[VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE GROUP]


Concepts being developed at Georgia

Tech MRES lab

EduKitchen: Clean woodstove thermoelectric power generator

1KW solar thermal-power

Vertical axis wind turbine

Land co-use for Algae biodiesel and dairy/ mushroom farming

11

Tesla Turbine.


Retail Beamed Power Transmission

Micro- and mm-wave – Line AC generation, transmission, beam pointing, reception.


Learning Across Disciplines: Lessons Learned

•First-year students are very receptive to cross-discipline projects. Excellent results, but extrapolation disappoints.

•3rd year students are the most resistant to going outside discipline area.

•Faculty resistance/ lack of motivation is a primary obstacle.

•Project-based team learning on undergraduate research projects is an effective approach.

•Depth in cross-discipline projects is the tough problem – requires insistence on validation •of results and Figures of Merit.

•Challenging students to use their knowledge in non-academic settings is effective, but how to grade these?

Lateral thinkers bloom suddenly, but must be given room for their own learning styles.


CONCLUSIONS

This paper summarizes a case study on undergraduate research participants in an experimental aerodynamics group over the past 25 years. There are strong reasons to enlist and mentor undergraduates in research projects, but careful and thoughtful mentoring is required. Despite some frustrations, faculty, as well as the institution and the general public, can all draw benefits from such student projects. Several mechanisms are available to recognize student participation participation, including paid experiences and academic course credit. Undergraduate participation opens up opportunities to devise several kinds of projects, with broad leeway for innovation and experimentation. Informal and formal techniques that have proven successful in motivating students, and facilitating organized progress, are summarized in the paper. Research results on knowledge capture and utilization can be formally implemented, in the context of internet-based resources. Such resources then enable deeper and swifter learning through student projects.


Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the NASA EXTROVERT project to develop resources for innovation across disciplines. Mr. Tony Springer is the Technical Monitor.


Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

1. Bicycle-based 1 meter wind turbine scale model >270rpm, >70 watts (mechanical) in wind tunnel test.

2. Bicycle-based 2meter WT designed for 1KW (mech).

Control Issues: 1. Matching optimal power curve: Tip speed ratio 2 to 5.2. Variable power transmission3. Nonlinear pitch control4. Flexible blade operation5. Benign failure modes6. Hybrid devices: power conditioning, storage


EduKitchen: Clean woodstove power generator

• Thermoelectric power extraction• Regulated fan to optimize fuel/air for best combustion/ least pollutants• Battery/charger with LED lights

Needs: • Thermo-electric conversion; Combustion fuel/air ratio control for least smoke / best heat release• DC LED lighting for kitchens: power control for storage and LED.• Heating Value and optimal equivalence ratio for Kerala wood fuels. • Expanded version: Smokeless leaf waste incinerator / biogas generator.


Tesla Turbine.

• Simple compressor for long-term use• Controller to optimize system efficiency

best distribution between thermal, mechanical, thermoelectric and PV

• Solar heat engine design for low temperature gradient

• Optimized positioning for a given location: Adaptive learning system.


Algae-Mushroom Experiment

Vigneshwar Venkat, School of AE

•Food-grade mushrooms generate CO2

•Algae grow on sunlight, water, CO2 and some nutrients.

•Algae provide biodiesel.

Larger issue: How to enable algae biodiesel farming at the single family level, with land and resource co-usage for other useful purposes?

Technical needs: Long-duration, fine precision control of optimalconditions


CONCLUSIONS

• Innovation requires tough technical challenges across many disciplines

• Requires integration of “soft skills” and talents with “hard” technical and economics knowledge.

• Large increase needed in completeness of comprehension, and application competence in courses.

• Bold approaches needed to break out of curricular / “specialization” boxes.

• Undergraduate research participation offers an excellent vehicle for knowledge integration, retention, transfer and application.

Documents

Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Knowledge Integration in Undergraduate