Transcript PEM Fuel Cells Modeling and Optimization

Undergraduate Teaching & Senior Design
Project Impressions at Oakland University
Xia Wang
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Oakland University
Presented at University of Science and Technology Beijing
May 28 , 2008
Outline
Introduction of Oakland University
Undergraduate Teaching
—Introduction: teaching load, class size, lecture
format, team work, etc.
—Curriculum Setup
—Teaching Assessment and innovation
Senior Design Project
2
Where is Oakland University?
3
About Oakland University
 Located in Oakland County, Rochester in Michigan
— Oakland County is the third most affluent (~rich) county in
the United States.
— OU is the Center of Automotive Valley:
•
•
•
•
1 mile away from Chrysler Tech center
13 miles from General Motor R&D center
20 miles from Ford R&D center
Surrounded by more than 500 automotive suppliers.
4
Quick Facts of OU




State supported university, found in 1957
Classified as Doctoral/Research University
Over 18,000 students
121 baccalaureate, and 98 graduate &
certificate programs
 Including :
— College of Arts and Sciences
— School of Business Administration
— School of Education and Human Services
— School of Engineering and Computer Science
— School of Health Sciences
— School of Nursing
— School of Medical School (in 2009)
5
School of Engineering and Computer Science
Comprises of four departments:
—Computer Science & Engineering (CSE)
—Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE)
—Industrial & Systems Engineering
—Mechanical Engineering (ME)
• Faculty: 16 full-time faculty members; 5-8 part-time
adjunct faculty members
• Students: 350 Bachelor; 140 Masters ; 36 PhD
• External Research Funding (2007): ~ $5,000,000
6
Undergraduate Teaching
“Heavy” Teaching Load
— 1~2 courses per academic semester
• 4 Credits/course : 1h45m per class, twice per week, 15 weeks
per semester
• Fall Semester:
Sep 4~Dec 20
• Winter Semester: Jan 7~April 26 (one week spring break)
• Summer (4 months): May-August. (No Teaching, Research
Time! )
— 5 courses: both undergraduate and graduate
•
•
•
•
•
EGR 250:
ME 331:
ME 456:
ME 595:
ME 638:
Intro. to Thermal Engineering
Intro. to Thermal and Fluid Transport
Energy System Analysis
Fundamentals of Fuel Cells
Convective Transport Phenomena.
8
“Small” Class Size
—Class size:
• ~ 30 students per undergraduate class
• Teaching assistant: 1 grader, and 1 lab assistant.
—Engineering CORE courses are offered 4~6 times
per year:
•Winter (1~2 sessions); Fall (2~3 sessions); Summer (1
session).
• The class is offered between 7:30am-9:30pm.
9
a “comprehensive” Syllabus
Syllabus should be ready when students start
to register the class.
A comprehensive syllabus
10
Team Work
Team is usually formed by students
2~4 students per group.
Students rotate as a team leader, and share
the task for each project.
Students need to evaluate each others.
11
“Flexible” Curriculum Setup
 See the curriculum: 128 Credits to graduate
—General Education: 28 credits
—Math and Science: 32 credits
—Engineering Core Course: 21 credits
—Professional Requirement: 35 credits
—Professional Selective: 12 credits
—Free selective:
Students can apply for the major after they finish the
engineering core course.
12
Teaching Assessment
 Evaluation of a Professor:
—How many new courses you’ve offered?
—Lab improvement & Teaching innovation &
Education Papers.
—Course Evaluation
—Students advised.
—Colleagues: Nobody will stop your lecture without
your permission.
13
Teaching Assessment
ABET will provide world leadership in
assuring quality and in stimulating innovation
in applied science, computing, engineering,
and technology education.
—Curriculum setup
—Core courses and Key courses
• Collect all the course materials.
• Course Evaluation
• Teaching innovation
14
Teaching Innovation
 Traditional:
— Lab Improvement-design.
— Develop new teaching software.
— Field Trip.
 Modern:
— Design project: encouraged at the sophomore level.
— Multi-disciplinary teaching team: engineering, science,
business, computer, law school.
— Increase the presentation+ writing
NSF CCLI Grant:
course, curriculum & laboratory improvement
15
Senior Design Project
Introduction
 Senior design project is required for each
student.
 Students can take the senior design project
after they finish the professional requirements.
(1~2 semesters)
 Two options: ME 490 or ME 492
17
ME 490: Senior Design Project
ME 490:
—2~4 ME students form a group.
—Supervised by an individual ME faculty.
—Submit a proposal to ME undergraduate
committee for the approval.
—Final project presentation and written report.
—Usually last more than a semester
—$300 per project funded by ME department, and
the rest is funded by students or faculty.
18
ME 492: Senior Design Project
 ME 492: Multidisiplinary Approach
— Each design group includes 6~8 students, and is assigned
based on field, skills and experience.
• Roughly 40% electrical, 40% mechanical, 15%
computer/computer science, 5% systems.
• 70-100 students/semester
— Team-taught by three faculty members: ME, EE, ISE or
computer science.
— Students meet with the professors weekly to provide updates
They also gave written and oral presentations throughout the
semester on project progress to encourage good written and
verbal communication skills.
19
Choice of Projects
 Projects assigned have not been solved, or even
examined in depth, by the instructors.
 Product must be commercially competitive
 Final project presentation audience:
— All Engineering faculty and students;
— Parents and friends;
— Manager from the local company;
— President and provost;
— News reporter
20
Sample Project (04)
—F’04: Rope-climbing robots, to top of 100’ tower, in any
weather
21
Sample Projects (W’05)
—Ball-throwing robots, autonomously targeted
and fired
22
W05-F07
To develop a multidisciplinary product that
could be competitive on the global market.
—infant simulator with respiration and pulse
—diagnostic muscular rigidity test
—automatic vein locator
—automatic rotating plant pots
23
Choice of Projects (W’ 08)
W’ 08 Harness Wasted Energy
—Produce and store electricity without the use of
fossil fuels
Product must be commercially competitive
24
Sample project 1
3 student groups explored the idea of "crowd
farming", where the energy of people motion
is captured and stored.
—They built generator floor tiles that connected
together to form a network of generators, making
large-scale power generation possible.
25
Sample 2
Another group developed a ball with Faraday
devices inside that would generate power as
it was rolled and bounced.
—They thought that placing it into a clothes dryer, or
into the trunk of a car, would be able to generate
enough power to recharge small batteries.
26
Sample 3
Another group built a small generator that
mounted to the bottom if a door, and captured
and stored some of the energy used to open
the door.
27
Funding of the Project
Pre-W’06
—Project costs funded by students, usually
limited by project description
Since W’06
—Projects funded by Provost’s Undergraduate
Research initiative, $1000 per design group
28
Acknowledgement
Dr. Michael Latch at Oakland University
29
The End!
Thank You!
[email protected]