Integrating MS Excel in Engineering Technology Curriculum

All STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields require fundamental knowledge and application of problem simplification, model synthesis, calculations, and results interpretation. As educators, it is our job to impart those skills to our students. Classic education in Engineering Technology (ET) typically involves course work in the basic sciences as well as mathematics. More advanced training is offered in specific disciplines related to engineering such as solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, materials, machines and mechanisms, etc. Beginning in the last half of the twentieth century, computers and hand held calculators became increasingly integrated in the technical problem solving process. What began as a means to quickly and accurately perform mathematic calculations has evolved into very sophisticated design, simulation, and analysis tools as computing power has increased exponentially over the past few decades. Nearly all companies and educational institutions have adopted these technological tools to solve engineering problems that only a few years ago would have been impossible to solve with anything approaching the level of efficiency, sophistication, and accuracy now possible. Along with the power and flexibility of these modern software packages comes a high cost of acquisition and maintenance, as well as demanding computer hardware requirements that sometimes drive costs prohibitively high. Additionally, most of these high end software packages come with a steep learning curve requiring specialized training to learn the intricacies of the program. Many of these advanced software suites can require many months or even years of continued use to master. Contrary to the elaborate and often expensive software used in the design and analysis arena, Microsoft (MS) Excel is bundled as part of the MS Office suite of software, typically available on most computers used in educational and industry environments. In additional to being widely available and comparatively inexpensive, MS Excel does not have strict hardware requirement to operate correctly. MS Excel has been used in several courses taught in the Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) department to reinforce fundamental concepts, model problems difficult to solve using more conventional means, reduce and interpret experimental data, and provide a platform for students to formulate and apply engineering models and approaches to solving various problems. To date, the effort to use MS Excel as an instructional tool has been effective. Students are responding well to the instruction. Not only are they being exposed to alternate approaches to problem solving, they are gaining a software skill that is very portable to future jobs in the professional sector. This paper will discuss the specific techniques used to integrate MS Excel into class curriculum. It will also describe the various courses where MS Excel has been implemented at Weber State P ge 26991.3 University, and the educational outcomes. Additionally, the paper includes step-by-step examples explaining how to recreate two of the cited examples. Background: In a traditional MET program, students will typically be required to successfully complete courses in college algebra, trigonometry, and calculus. This foundation in mathematics will become essential as they progress into engineering courses in solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, materials, and machine design. Over the centuries that humans have been developing the various branches of engineering science, equations have been derived with related systems of units to describe the physical phenomena being modeled and described. Almost all technical problems in science and engineering require quantified information to be manipulated into a useful form, with potentially many calculations being performed to arrive at the final solution. Almost without exception, in engineering coursework, students are instructed in the fundamental science of a given subject, the governing equations, and techniques used to arrive at desired solutions to problems. Typically this process involves evaluating the question being posed, and deciding which equations are appropriate for formulating a solution. Once a strategy is established, the students are taught how to interpret the known parameters, and set up the appropriate mathematics to calculate an answer. Attention to such things as dimensional consistency and units are also emphasized. Once a solution is arrived at, students are taught how to evaluate the accuracy of the solution, as well as interpretation of the significance of the answer as it relates to the question at hand. For the most part, conventional mathematics is employed to perform the required calculations. If a closed form solution to the problem does not exist, students are taught basic strategies to make assumptions to simplify the problem such that a solution can be accomplished. Alternately, if a problem has a level of uncertainty or sophistication beyond conventional techniques, numerical or iterative schemes may be employed to achieve an approximate solution. For these types of solutions, an electronic computer capable of billions of calculations per second is an extremely useful tool. In fact, for most cases, solving problems of this nature without a computer would be an impossible task. In select MET curriculum, using a computer to help solve various engineering problems is implemented to achieve the following two educational goals: First, students develop a better understanding of the fundamental science and mathematics of a particular problem, as they are required to construct a computational model. Second, students gain a basic understanding of a specific software tool which is portable to industry, thus making them more marketable and prepared to enter the work force. For classes where computer software is employed, it is typical to use the customary commercial codes that are available. Basic instruction into the operation of this software is presented as part of the standard course curriculum. One required course (MET 3300 Computer Programming Applications in MET) requires students to learn a high level programming language to formulate P ge 26991.4 solutions to various engineering problems by coding a solution and running their software to validate the approach. Hence, our students are given basic instruction in fundamental computer programming as well as exposure to various specialized engineering software. The introduction of MS Excel examples in select courses, is used to further expand students understanding of possible analytical tools that can also be exploited to solve problems. Discussion: With the rise of the electronic computer during the mid-twentieth century, tremendous strides were made with regards to the speed, accuracy, and sophistication of mathematic calculations. As computer technology continued to evolve, not only in lower costs of acquisition and use, but in speed and the level of graphic display sophistication possible, very advanced analysis and simulation software became increasingly available in engineering fields both commercial and academic. At present, the market is full of useful software tools to assist in performing engineering calculations. In most modern engineering and engineering technology programs throughout institutions of higher learning around the world, many of these commercial software codes have become staples in degree curriculum. Software packages such as AutoCAD, SolidWorks, PTC Creo Elements (formerly Pro/E), CATIA, NX (formerly Unigraphics), and many other are capable of not only CAD modeling, but are useful tools for motion analysis and geometric simulation and measurement. Many of these CAD tools have add on or bundled Finite Element Analysis (FEA) or Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software available. These advanced analytical tools are capable of very complex simulations of structures, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, etc. In addition to the CAD and analysis software, programs such as MathCAD, Mathmatica, Maple, TK Solver, Matlab etc. offer advanced computational capabilities, calculation automation, programing, and technical documentation functionality. Detailed instruction in many of these various software packages is available in courses offered throughout the curriculum provided in our program. Although, good foundational instruction is provided in our various coursework, expert level mastery of most advanced engineering software tools is beyond the scope of a typical undergraduate level class. Given the overall sophistication of these software packages, learning to become proficient in their use requires a great deal of experience. Most of these software packages take months or even years of use to become an expert user. Many of these software suites also come with very high acquisition and maintenance costs, and require very powerful computer hardware to operate correctly. As such, they are not typically available in a wide fashion such as more common word processing or spreadsheet software. Additionally, most of the mathematic and algorithm details occur behind the scenes as the code executes, forcing the user to trust that programs are indeed functioning correctly and providing an accurate solution. Hence, the user approaches the software as somewhat of a “black box” by feeding in design parameters and trusting the corresponding output to be correct. With the actual solution to the problem obscured as the software executes, students get little or no exposure to the mechanics of the problem solving itself. They gain valuable experience in setting up the appropriate simulation model with correct design P ge 26991.5 assumptions and boundary conditions, and they are required to assess the accuracy and correctness of the output solution, but have little or no visibility to the mechanics of the problem solving. As with all Mechanical Engineering and Mechanical E