with hands-on experiments for students during the COVID-19 pandemic .
Associate Professor Jan Helge Bohn brought this technique into play for his Engineering Design & Economics class for the Fall 2020 semester , including six students studying overseas and seven domestic students outside the Blacksburg area . The students purchased an Arduino UNO R3 micro-controller , a USB cable to connect to their computer , and a 9-volt battery . The rest of the kit and the controlling software was provided by the department . With this equipment , students could learn electronics and microcontroller fundamentals while working remotely .
With success established , take-home kits soon began expanding . Diller was joined by fellow faculty members Al Wicks and Steve Southward to extend the idea to other classes in mechanical engineering . In addition to heat transfer , the approach will also include mechanical strain sensors , proportional – integral – derivative controllers , inertial measurement , GPS sensors , ultrasound sensors , radar sensors , pressure sensors , and wireless communication .
“ This initiative has enabled us to rethink what teaching looks like , and come up with some exciting new options for students ,” said Department Head Azim Eskandarian . “ We are seeing new levels of innovation and discovery . As part of our larger strategy , we remain focused on our goal of empowering the next generation of inventors and innovators in new ways .”
DEDICATED TEACHING LABS IN VIRGINIA TECH MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
THERMAL FLUIDS LAB
Required Connected Course : ME 3414 // FLUID DYNAMICS Comprehensive first course in fluid dynamics .
CONTROLS LAB
Required Connected Course : ME3534 // CONTROLS ENGINEERING I Fundamentals of feedback control theory , time-domain and frequency-domain analysis , automatic control system design synthesis to meet performance and stability requirements , numerical simulation and discrete real-time implementation on microcontrollers .
MECHANICAL DESIGN LAB
Required connected course : ME3624 // MECHANICAL DESIGN Comprehensive first course in mechanical design .
ROBOTICS AND MECHATRONICS TEACHING LAB
AUDIO ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY LAB
HEAT TRANSFER MOBILE LAB
EXPERIMENTATION LAB
SENIOR CAPSTONE DESIGN
A gift from Nicholas and Rebecca Des Champs helped open new teaching lab facilities in Randolph Hall . This commemorative plaque hangs in the lab .
VIRGINIA TECH MECHANICAL ENGINEERING ANNUAL REPORT • 2019-2020 • EDUCATION 11