
NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | September 10, 2013 |
Latest Amendment Date: | September 10, 2013 |
Award Number: | 1245657 |
Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
Program Manager: |
Abby Ilumoka
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
Start Date: | September 15, 2013 |
End Date: | August 31, 2016 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $199,959.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $199,959.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
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History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
220 PAWTUCKET ST STE 400 LOWELL MA US 01854-3573 (978)934-4170 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
One University Avenue Lowell MA US 01854-2827 |
Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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Parent UEI: |
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NSF Program(s): |
S-STEM-Schlr Sci Tech Eng&Math, TUES-Type 1 Project |
Primary Program Source: |
1300XXXXDB H-1B FUND, EDU, NSF |
Program Reference Code(s): |
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Program Element Code(s): |
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Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
This project is transforming the way students acquire engineering design and manufacturing knowledge by integrating the use of three axis desktop CNC (Computer Numerical Control) equipment into an undergraduate engineering curriculum. The initial focus of the project is on the first two years of the undergraduate engineering curriculum. The program is creating a new hands-on integrated design and manufacturing curriculum that uses CNC machines both as a design task and as a tool for product manufacture. Computer programming, mathematics, and physics are also being integrated into the curriculum. Specifically, students are required to write computer programs to control the machine.
Students at the junior and senior years are also involved because they use their design skills to help develop the inexpensive easily manufactured CNC machine tool. Because the tool development is part of the project, maintenance and upgrades are handled as part of the undergraduate curriculum.
The inquiry-based curriculum creates a hands-on experiential education for the students. As a result of this experience students have an increased knowledge of engineering design, an increased analysis capability, and much more self-confidence. The evaluation of these outcomes is performed an external evaluator. Motivation is being studied using the "Situational Motivation Scale". Self-efficacy and higher cognitive achievement is being studied using the "Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire" and the "Metacognitive Awareness Inventory".
The project is disseminating results by providing machine designs and curriculum to all interested universities, two-year colleges, and high schools.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The Hands-On MADE-4-ME project examined the introduction and integration of inexpensive computer numerical control (CNC) machines in the Mechanical Engineering Classroom. CNC technology is at the core of many of the advanced and autonomous manufacturing systems in use today. The goal was to expose students to these technologies.
By introducing 13 accessible and unintimidating off-the-shelf hobbyist desktop CNC machines in the university classroom, Phase I of this project was able to incorporate meaningful hands-on machining and programming experiences starting at the freshman level. Several courses and projects used these CNC machines to fabricate parts and molds in softer materials (wood, plastics, wax, foam, etc.). Projects ranged from open-ended innovation projects to specific mechanical component design and fabrication (e.g., Cams). Over 900 Mechanical Engineering students experienced CNC manufacturing (700 of these were freshman students).
In Phase II, the project team developed and deployed an in-house modular CNC block that allowed students to assemble a wide variety of CNC machine configurations and concepts. The modular CNC block was designed and prototyped in-house using CAD and 3D printers. Once finalized, aluminum molds were CNC milled for an injection molding process. The final modular CNC blocks were manufactured using injection molded PC-ABS plastic. The end result was a cost-economical approach to large scale deployment of CNC technology in the classroom.
In the most recent version of Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, students experientially learn how to program the modular CNC blocks using the Matlab programming language. Each student (~160 students in Fall 2016) assembled their own single axis CNC system and learned how to program it. The course mini-labs include motion prescription/characterization and precision fluid dispensing tasks. The final project used these blocks to build and program a multi-axis autonomous machine (e.g.: autonomous pancake printer, autonomous structural health monitoring system, etc).
The project examined how student motivation was affected by the introduction of hands-on CNC activities using weekly student surveys. Overall, students reported positive motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) for much of the semester. These motivation responses were higher in the hands-on learning courses involving CNC projects/activities than they were in lecture-based classes.
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Last Modified: 11/30/2016
Modified by: David Willis
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