Simplifying equations via assumptions is integral to the "engineering method." Algebraic scaling helps in teaching the engineering skill of making good assumptions. Algebraic scaling is more than a pedagogical tool. It can create a solution where one was not possible before scaling. Scaling helps in engineering proper design…

During the first half of the twentieth century, engineers consolidated themselves as members of an early elite of technical professionals. To achieve this status, these professionals deployed a series of tools that allowed them to legtimise their own discourse. However, in addition to the use of their own resources, they also required compliance…

A Slinky is a loose helical coil spring and is a well-known educational toy. In this paper a model for a Slinky is presented. The Slinky is represented as a sequence of rigid half coils connected by torsional springs. A range of Slinky configurations in static equilibrium are calculated. Where possible the torsion spring model is compared with the…

Forum papers are thought-provoking opinion pieces or essays founded in fact, sometimes containing speculation, on a civil engineering topic of general interest and relevance to the readership of the journal. The views expressed in this Forum article do not necessarily reflect the views of ASCE or the Editorial Board of the journal.

With the growth in engineering enrollments, faculty members may find themselves in relatively large classes where they may feel the need for extra teaching assistants, may desire methods and resources to provide more individualized or small group student contact time, and may want to employ more modern teaching methodologies to improve student…

Out in the west Texas town of El Paso … is found the first ABET accredited engineering leadership degree program in the USA.

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines recognize the need for leadership development, but the lack of a professionally endorsed model has led to a patchwork of programmes across the nation, each with its unique brand of skills development. Leadership programmes in six diverse STEM fields are included.

A multistep assembly of gold nanoparticle self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on glass surfaces is proposed, as a third-year undergraduate experiment. The process includes self-assembly (SA) and electrostatic self-assembly (ESA) methods, which are central approaches in modern surface and materials engineering. The products are analyzed using…

In the early 1920s, the Chinese Ministry of Communications reformed the technical colleges under its control. The era constituted a dogmatic vacuum: Confucian elements had largely been abandoned, and Nationalist Party propaganda had not yet been instated. At Shanghai Jiaotong University, the US-educated civil engineer Ling Hongxun (1894-1981)…

Engineering education has slowly been making its way into schools with the aim of promoting engineering literacy, which is central to learning and working in a technology-oriented society. Educators and policy makers advocate the need for developing students' understanding of the nature of engineering (NOE); yet, there is an ongoing debate on the…

Teamwork is an integral part of leadership, and many teamwork skills are also leadership skills. This chapter explains how instructors can help engineering students build their capacity for leadership while working in teams.

This paper describes an innovative, new, laboratory experiment conceived as a Senior Capstone Project by the student authors to provide experience with heat pipes for students in our junior-year Process Laboratory course at the University of Utah. Heat pipes can transport energy over long distances with minimal temperature gradients and no moving…

A method is presented which can be used to obtain analytical solutions for boundary value problems (BVPs) using the matrix exponential and Maple. Systems of second order, linear differential equations are expressed as two or more first order equations in matrix form, and their solutions are obtained using the matrix exponential, matrix…

Science education and science education research have long taken a lead in educating the public about climate change by arguing that the public needs to understand the scientific models that explain the mechanisms of global warming and predict future impacts. However, as of yet, this focus on understanding climate models has failed to have an…

The bourbon production engineering course offers a comprehensive overview of chemical engineering to non-engineers. It emphasizes chemical engineering concepts such as material balances and mass transfer, making these concepts accessible and engaging. Students learn through targeted lessons on each unit operation and practical examples from grain…