About the Book
THINKING LIKE AN ENGINEER: AN ACTIVE LEARNING APPROACH is specifically designed to utilize an active learning environment for first year engineering courses.
• In-class activities include collaborative problem-solving, computer-based activities, and hands-on experiments, encouraging guided inquiry.
• Homework assignments and review sections reinforce and expand on the activities.
• Content can be customized to match the topic organization in your course syllabi.
Table of Contents:
PREFACE ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xvii
PART 1
ENGINEERING ESSENTIALS 1
CHAPTER 1 - EVERYDAY ENGINEERING 5
1.1 CHOOSING A CAREER 5
1.2 CHOOSING ENGINEERING AS A CAREER 6
1.3 CHOOSING A SPECIFIC ENGINEERING FIELD 8
1.4 GATHERING INFORMATION 16
1.5 PURSUING STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES 18
CHAPTER 2 - ETHICS 28
2.1 ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING 29
2.2 ENGINEERING CREED 34
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 36
CHAPTER 3 - DESIGN AND TEAMWORK 43
3.1 THE DESIGN PROCESS 43
3.2 BRAINSTORMING IN THE DESIGN PROCESS 45
3.3 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: PERIOD ANALYSIS 46
3.4 PROJECT TIMELINE 48
3.5 CRITERIA AND EVALUATION 50
3.6 WORKING IN TEAMS 55
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 58
CHAPTER 4 - ENGINEERING COMMUNICATION 63
4.1 BASIC PRESENTATION SKILLS 64
4.2 SAMPLE PRESENTATIONS 66
4.3 BASIC TECHNICAL WRITING SKILLS 69
4.4 COMMON TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION FORMATS 72
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 79
ENGINEERING ESSENTIALS REVIEW 89
PART 2
PROBLEM PARADIGMS 97
CHAPTER 5 - ESTIMATION 101
5.1 GENERAL HINTS FOR ESTIMATION 104
5.2 SIGNIFICANT FIGURES 105
5.3 REASONABLENESS 109
5.4 NOTATION 113
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 116
CHAPTER 6 - SOLVEM 119
6.1 DEFINING SOLVEM 119
6.2 REPRESENTING FINAL RESULTS 125
6.3 AVOIDING COMMON MISTAKES 125
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 129
CHAPTER 7 - GRAPHING GUIDELINES 132
7.1 GRAPHING TERMINOLOGY 132
7.2 PROPER PLOTS 133
7.3 GRAPH INTERPRETATION 140
7.4 MEANING OF THE LINE SHAPES 143
7.5 GRAPHICAL SOLUTIONS 149
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 153
CHAPTER 8 - INTERPOLATION 165
8.1 SINGLE INTERPOLATION 166
8.2 COMPLEX INTERPOLATION 169
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 172
CHAPTER 9 - STATISTICS 176
9.1 HISTOGRAMS 177
9.2 STATISTICAL BEHAVIOR 180
9.3 DISTRIBUTIONS 183
9.4 CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS 190
9.5 STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL (SPC) 192
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 200
PROBLEM PARADIGMS REVIEW 206
PART 3
UBIQUITOUS UNITS 223
CHAPTER 10 - FUNDAMENTAL DIMENSIONS AND BASE UNITS 235
10.1 THE METRIC SYSTEM 236
10.2 OTHER UNIT SYSTEMS 239
10.3 CONVERSION PROCEDURE FOR UNITS 239
10.4 CONVERSIONS INVOLVING MULTIPLE STEPS 242
10.5 CONVERSIONS INVOLVING “NEW” UNITS 247
10.6 DERIVED DIMENSIONS AND UNITS 248
10.7 EQUATION LAWS 250
10.8 CONVERSION INVOLVING EQUATIONS 253
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 256
CHAPTER 11- UNIVERSAL UNITS 261
11.1 FORCE 261
11.2 WEIGHT 263
11.3 DENSITY 264
11.4 AMOUNT 269
11.5 TEMPERATURE 272
11.6 PRESSURE 275
11.7 GAS PRESSURE 280
11.8 ENERGY 282
11.9 POWER 286
11.10 EFFICIENCY 287
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 293
CHAPTER 12 - DIMENSIONLESS NUMBERS 302
12.1 COMMON DIMENSIONLESS NUMBERS 302
12.2 DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS 304
12.3 RAYLEIGH’S METHOD 308
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 316
UBIQUITOUS UNITS REVIEW 320
PART 4
SCRUPULOUS SPREADSHEETS 333
CHAPTER 13 - EXCEL WORKBOOKS 341
13.1 CELL REFERENCES 341
13.2 FUNCTIONS IN EXCEL 344
13.3 LOGIC AND CONDITIONALS 349
13.4 LOOKUP AND DATA VALIDATION 355
13.5 CONDITIONAL FORMATTING 358
13.6 SORTING AND FILTERS 361
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 367
CHAPTER 14 - EXCEL GRAPHS 376
14.1 AVAILABLE GRAPH TYPES 377
14.2 STATISTICS IN EXCEL 379
14.3 AUTOMATED CALCULATIONS 383
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 389
CHAPTER 15 - MODELS AND SYSTEMS 396
15.1 LINEAR FUNCTIONS 397
15.2 LINEAR RELATIONSHIPS 400
15.3 POWER FUNCTIONS 414
15.4 EXPONENTIAL FUNCTIONS 417
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 423
CHAPTER 16 - MATHEMATICAL MODELS 429
16.1 SELECTING A TRENDLINE TYPE 429
16.2 INTERPRETING LOGARITHMIC GRAPHS 438
16.3 CONVERTING SCALES TO LOG IN EXCEL 445
16.4 DEALING WITH LIMITATIONS OF EXCEL 445
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 452
SCRUPULOUS SPREADSHEETS REVIEW 459
PART 5
PUNCTILIOUS PROGRAMMING 483
CHAPTER 17 - ALGORITHMS, PROGRAMS, AND FUNCTIONS 489
17.1 SCOPE 489
17.2 WRITTEN ALGORITHMS 491
17.3 GRAPHICAL ALGORITHMS 493
17.4 PROGRAMS IN MATLAB 498
17.5 DEBUGGING MATLAB CODE 510
17.6 FUNCTIONS IN MATLAB 511
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 516
CHAPTER 18 - INPUT/OUTPUT IN MATLAB 519
18.1 INPUT 519
18.2 OUTPUT 521
18.3 PLOTTING 523
18.4 STATISTICS 527
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 532
CHAPTER 19 - LOGIC & CONDITIONALS 540
19.1 TRUTH TABLES 540
19.2 BINARY NUMBERS 542
19.3 LOGIC AND RELATIONAL OPERATORS IN MATLAB 544
19.4 CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS IN MATLAB 545
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 549
CHAPTER 20 - LOOPING STRUCTURES 554
20.1 for LOOPS 554
20.2 while LOOPS 560
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 563
PUNCTILIOUS PROGRAMMING REVIEW 566
COMPREHENSION CHECK ANSWERS 577
INDEX 588
EXCEL FUNCTIONS 598
MATLAB FUNCTIONS 599
GREEK LETTERS 600
NOMENCLATURE AND UNIT ABBREVIATIONS 601
MISCELLANEOUS EQUATIONS 602
EQUATIONS AND GEOMETRIC FORMULAS 603
SI UNITS AND PHYSICAL CONSTANTS 604
About the Author :
Elizabeth A. Stephanis the Director of the General Engineering Program at Clemson University. She earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from The University of Akron. During her undergraduate work, she completed a cooperative education experience with Dow Chemical in Midland, MI, conducted research on coal purification methods, and was named the College of Engineering Outstanding Senior. After graduation, she was employed by Boride, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical in Traverse City, MI, specializing in high-performance ceramics. She returned to The University of Akron on a College of Engineering Fellowship, earning her PhD in Chemical Engineering focusing on multiphase transport processes. She has taught at The University of Akron and Wayne College, and served in several post-doctoral positions. She joined the faculty at Clemson in January, 2002 in the General Engineering Program, assuming the role of Director in 2007. Beth has served as a national official as a district director in Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, since 1996. She is the chief advisor for the South Carolina Alpha Chapter of Tau Beta Pi, and an advisor for the Clemson chapter of Alpha Omega Epsilon, a professional sorority.
David R. Bowman has been teaching in the General Engineering Program at Clemson University since January, 2006. He earned his degrees from Clemson University, including a BS and MS in Computer Engineering and is currently pursuing a PhD. A member of ASEE, David has experience in the design and development of software tools for engineering education research and pedagogy. During his undergraduate and graduate work, David hosted All Screams Considered, an award winning radio show on WSBF-FM, whose name apes the popular NPR program All Things Considered. In addition to broadcasting, David enjoys performing music on acoustic, electric, and bass guitars.
William J. Park is currently an associate professor in the Engineering and Science Education Department at Clemson University. Following a few years as a cattle farmer, he completed three degrees at Clemson University: a BS in Ornamental Horticulture with a particular emphasis on xerophytic plants, an MS in Electrical Engineering focusing on electronic music synthesis, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering conducting research in electronic counter-counter measures. Bill is currently faculty advisor for a student team renovating a very large 1970’s vintage electronic organ, and is a moderately accomplished pianist.
Benjamin L. Sill is Alumni Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering, having retired in 2008 after 32 years at Clemson University. He earned a BS and MS from N.C. State University in Aerospace Engineering and a PhD from Virginia Tech in Aerospace and Ocean Engineering. Before he joined Clemson, Ben was employed by the Naval Ordnance Station, Indian Head, MD, and by Duke Power Company, Charlotte, NC. At Clemson, he was a founder of Clemson’s Wind Load Test Facility. Beginning in 1999 he served as the Director of Clemson’s General Engineering Program. In 2007, he helped establish a new Engineering and Science Education Department at Clemson, and served as its chair until his retirement. He is the recipient of numerous teaching and research awards, including the prestigious Clemson Class of 1939 Award. Outside the university, he gives numerous presentations with topics ranging from humorous to educational — including talks on ancient coins, old maps, wildflowers, houseplants, snakes, birds, and hurricanes. Ben has authored three bird books, has published technical articles on snakes, frogs, fish, volleyball, and bromeliads and has created and registered many new bromeliad hybrids.
Matthew W. Ohland is currently an associate professor of Engineering Education at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. He earned a BS in Engineering and a BA in Religion from Swarthmore College, MS degrees in both Mechanical Engineering and Materials Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida. Matt was an NSF postdoctoral fellow for science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education and joined the faculty of General Engineering at Clemson University in 2001. In 2006, he joined the faculty at Purdue University. He was the 2002-2006 National President of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society. He currently serves as the Chair of the Educational Research and Methods division and an ABET Program Evaluator for the American Society of Engineering Education, on the Administrative Committee of the IEEE Education Society, and as the Chair of the Steering Committee of the IEEE Transactions on Learning Technology.
Review :
“Thinking Like an Engineer is excellent in its emphasis on student mastery of the topics and active learning and it is a great introduction to the analytical skills that are important in engineering. I am very much an advocate for active learning and the earlier we introduce students to this method the better for their learning.”
Andrew Lau, PENN STATE UNIVERSITY
“The ICA (In-Class Activities) are a really nice feature…this takes the lecture part of a class away for the most part and allows the instructor to let students do things in class…keeping them engaged and active.”
Christopher Rowe, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
"I agree very strongly with the authors' point of view that students learning should be self-driven as much as possible and doing work in class and reporting back on results is a very effective way of accomplishing this."
Mario Gomes, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
"The text definitely focuses on having the students practice with the material through the ICAs (In-Class Activities). The importance of students doing these kinds of activities in the classroom with an instructor to guide them cannot be overstated. This book uses the same student-centered approach that I strive to use in my own classes."
Elliot Douglas, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
"Thinking Like an Engineer is truly one-stop shopping for an introduction to the wonderful and diverse world that is engineering."
Howard M. Fulmer, VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY
