In recent years, interest has developed in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and the related concussions that occur in sports at both professional and amateur levels. Subsequently there is interest in developing new types of athletic helmets to both absorb energy to detect and reduce concussions. To test these helmets, an appropriate head form must be used that will fit the helmet and also exhibit the dynamic properties of the human head. While much effort has gone into creating biofidelic heads containing instrumentation for automotive crash testing, these heads can cost upwards of $10,000. The goal of this project is to create a head form for a few hundred dollars with the appropriate dynamic properties for testing linear and angular accelerations of a helmet. The specific goals of this project are to create a head form with the following characteristics: 1) External size and shape that will properly fit a hockey helmet; 2) Weight representative of an adult head; 3) Robust enough to withstand a thousand impact tests. The manufacture of the head form and the verification that the design goals are described.

Criteria 3 of ABET 2000 includes professional skills that have not traditionally been explicitly taught in undergraduate engineering programs. In addition the criterion related to "modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice" provides for the instruction of a wide range of topics that are useful for the young engineer. Engineering faculty have limited experience and resources on teaching professional skills. Most engineering programs do not have the luxury of adding a professional skills course to their already overcrowded curriculum. Therefore, a suite of modules has been developed for the professional skills of lifelong learning, project management, teaming, and time management. Each module has been designed to fit within three 50-minute class periods in a standard course and includes bridge material to transition back to the original course. Each module was beta-tested by another instructor with a multi-disciplinary group of student evaluators. The beta-testing was done as a highly controlled stand-alone experience instead of part of a regular class. Many of these modules have not yet been used in the traditional classroom. Overall, the students had a positive reaction to each of the modules. Details of each of the modules and specific results of the beta-testing are included in the paper. While the modules are still undergoing improvement, they are at a stage where they can be used by other faculty. Thus, the modules are available at http://ece.ua.edu/faculty/rpimmel/public_html/ec2000-modules.

“The Coach” is a web-based tool developed to guide students through the technical writing process. It provides instruction about form as well as critique of different aspects of the students’ writing. It goes beyond the Microsoft word spell check and grammar check. It gives feedback about writing complexity and appropriateness for different word choices in a technical document. It also gives background about the appropriate contents for technical writing in addition to example documents. The latter is extremely important for the novice writer who may not have much experience in working with technical reports. The initial document type in “The Coach” is a lab report. If the lab report can be developed into the web-based tool, other forms will be more easily implemented. In addition to developing the website, the development team is preparing a document and a video for a professor to use to instruct students on the use of “The Coach.” The instructional materials and “The Coach” were beta tested with a freshman engineering class. A baseline writing sample was collected before the introduction of “The Coach.” Students in some sections were instructed in use of “The Coach,” and other sections were controls. Additional beta testing is ongoing.

ASME student sections have a strong tradition of serving the needs of undergraduate students at universities across the country and around the globe. Similar to senior sections, student sections can learn from one another by sharing best practices. This paper describes best practices in four areas of student section programming: 1) membership, 2) STEM outreach, 3) section leadership development, and 4) inclusion of graduate students. Through these and other best practices, student sections can remain effective in their role as a partner in workforce development.

A low-cost hanging system was requested by the Theatre Department for the production of Henry V. Design constraints were developed with an emphasis on the actor’s safety. To that end, biomechanical literature related to head and neck injury was reviewed. During testing of the device, acceleration measurements were made for comparison with literature values. Finite element analysis was performed on the structural support to determine its effectiveness. The final design met all of the criteria and was tested extensively by the designers.

Seeking to improve the quality of life for a disabled child, Stephen Horne of Birmingham, AL, designed and built a device to allow a person in a wheelchair to bowl. Although wheelchair bowling is not a new concept, Stephen's Wheeling Striker was anything but common. Unlike similar devices, the Wheeling Striker provides the bowler a more independent bowling experience. The simple u-shaped device allows more control over the ball, yielding a more fulfilling and independent method of participating in the sports arena. The Wheeling Striker, however, was originally designed for one style wheelchair. This presented a need to make the device applicable for all wheelchairs, Because wheelchairs vary in size and configuration, designing a device that is capable of attaching to most wheelchairs is complex. The design of the universal attachment could not compromise the capability of the Wheeling Striker, the function of the wheelchair, or the safe operation of the wheelchair. The result was a universal attachment engineered to adapt to any wheelchair configuration and allow the Wheeling Striker to be a safe and effective bowling aid for the disabled.

An experimental study of the dynamic response of a commercial fuel cell system is presented in this work. The primary goal of the research is an examination of the feasibility for using fuel cells in a load-following mode for vehicular applications, where load-following implies that the fuel cell system provides the power necessary for transient responses without the use of additional energy storage elements, such as batteries or super-capacitors. The dynamic response of fuel cell systems used in the load-following mode may have implications for safe and efficient operation of vehicles. To that end, a DC–DC converter was used to port the power output of the fuel cell to a resistive load using a pulse-width-modulating circuit. Frequency responses of the system were evaluated at a variety of DC offsets and AC amplitudes of the PWM duty cycle from 1 out to 400Hz. Open-loop transient responses are then evaluated using transitions from 10% to 90% duty cycle levels, followed by dwells at the 90% level and then transitions back to the 10% level. A classical proportional–integral controller was then developed and used to close the loop around the system, with the result that the fuel cell system was driven to track the same transient. The controller was then used to drive the fuel cell system according to a reference power signal, which was a scaled-down copy of the simulated power output from an internal combustion engine powering a conventional automobile through the Federal Urban Driving Schedule (FUDS). The results showed that the fuel cell system is capable of tracking transient signals with sufficient fidelity such that it should be applicable for use in a load-following mode for vehicular applications. The results also highlight important issues that must be addressed in considering vehicular applications of fuel cells, such as the power conditioning circuit efficiency and the effect of stack heating on the system response.

A significant problem of studying surface integrity using FEA simulation is the severe element distortions on the machined surface. The severe distortions raise significant numerical problems in performing a simulation and analyzing surface integrity. In this study, adaptive meshing techniques of initial angle control (IAC) and mesh constraint control (MCC) were exploited to improve mesh quality of the machined surface. Simulations with and without adaptive meshing and different adaptive techniques were conducted and compared to evaluate their effectiveness on surface mesh quality. The simulation results have shown that the use of adaptive mesh in metal cutting simulations improves the stability of saw-tooth chip formation. Adaptive mesh can significantly mitigate element distortions, stresses, strains, and temperatures in the subsurface and therefore improve mesh quality. IAC and MCC adaptive meshing at high frequency give similar results which are consistent with experimental observations, while a low adaptive frequency tends to give deviated results. The importance of using adaptive mesh has been demonstrated if surface integrity is considered.

Purpose of the Work . To reduce pressure sore (decubitus ulcer) incidence among wheelchair users (particularly those with muscle paralysis and loss of sensation due to spinal cord injury), cushion development concentrates on minimizing pressure at the surface between the buttocks and the cushion . Stress (force per area) levels throughout the tissue of the buttocks have been calculated to provide designers with a better indication of the mechanical effects of a cushion on the skin . Subjects/Procedures . To demonstrate the procedure, computer models of the buttocks tissues were created for a male and a female subject . Both subjects were young ablebodied adults . Results . For the male subject, stress was 3 .5 to 4.5 times greater in internal tissues than at the buttock-cushion surface. For the female subject, stress in internal tissues was 11 to 13 .5 times greater . Relevance to Veteran Population . Research studies suggest that pressure sores form deep within internal tissues of the buttocks and progress toward the surface of the skin . Knowledge of where the stress sites are throughout the soft tissue will be useful to cushion designers, thereby reducing the incidence of pressure sores. Beth A . Todd, PhD

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alabama offers its Bachelors of Science degree through a distance education program to non-traditional students located in an industrial region in southeast Alabama. The degree program includes the challenge of delivering Capstone Design, a team-based engineering project, to these off-campus students. In fall 2004 three distance education students, one in Montgomery and two in Dothan, Alabama, were combined with four on-campus students into a design team. For their design-build experience, the instructor provided this team with a larger budget (approximately $1000) and more access to machine shop time than other teams consisting solely of on-campus students. The local group set up a webpage, bulletin board, and group email account to foster communication amongst all group members. The paper discusses the way that the group dealt with the extra challenges it faced and also describes the resulting design project.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alabama offers its BSME degree through distance education to students in Dothan, Alabama, located approximately 240 miles from the campus in Tuscaloosa. These off-site students are full-time employees, many are machinists or technicians working swing shift, with the desire to become engineers. The goal of the program described here is to provide these non-traditional students with the same technical and professional content in their courses as students on campus. As the first group of students finished their degree program, the lates challenge has been to create a team-based design experience with traditional student team members and these distance education students. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges and solutions for teaching capstone design to teams with members at multiple locations. For companies with multiple and multi-national locations, these students should be seen as having an important skill set as new employees.

The development of highly advanced computer simulation software packages has enabled design engineers to more effectively integrate safety features into their designs. Designs can be tested long before any physical construction ever begins. This saves money, allowing more extensive testing to be performed, and it also saves time, expediting the process of moving concept to reality. In the automotive industry, such software can be especially useful, since computer simulations can be run over and over again, making it possible to observe the effects of adjusting single variables in dynamic situations. This has opened the door for testing of non-typical occupants. Restraints and safety devices are no longer designed to suit the needs of the average person; they can be tailored to account for all body types, or even for the disabled.

In a zero-gravity environment, astronauts exhibit Bone Mineral Density (BMD) loss in their spine and lower extremities with no net changes in the upper extremities [1]. Astronauts use their upper extremities for locomotion in flight by pushing off of the walls of the spacecraft, but since their lower extremities are not supporting their mass, as in gravitational loading, there is significant BMD loss in these areas.

Bone mineral density loss has been observed in astronauts who have spent a significant amount of time in a micro-gravity environment [1]. The lack of mechanical stress placed on the bones while in this environment is a major factor in the decrease in bone mineral density. To counteract these effects, resistive exercise has been the focus of many studies. Weighted plates have been used to provide a constant force resistance in ground-based bed rest studies. Bed rest has been established as one of the best ways to simulate the long-term effects of micro-gravity on earth [2]. In weightlessness, however, an alternate source of resistive force is required Some exercise devices provide resistance with elastic bands. Unfortunately, these elastic bands tend to lose their mechanical stiffness with use, requiring many spare elastic bands to be available for long duration missions in space. A more robust system that requires less maintenance would be preferable. Metallic helical springs meet this requirement The mechanical properties of helical springs are predictable, and these springs have a long life, making them well suited for long duration missions. However, helical springs exhibit linear behavior. That is, the resistive force provided by the spring is directly proportional to the amount of deflection. Therefore, a mechanism was designed to interact with the linear springs to provide a constant output force over a given length of travel.

An exercise device for use on Space Station was instrumented to determine the force and position of the exerciser. The device was tested in both 1-G and 0-G environments. Differences were found in the performance of the exercise in the two environments. Additionally significant variation was found in the load settings.

Human bodies depend on a steady flow of oxygen for the heart and lungs. When a person has Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD), a device called an oxygen concentrator can be used to improve quality of life. An oxygen concentrator is an electrically powered device that takes in room air and converts it to an oxygen rich gas mixture suitable for breathing. Although a few models are battery powered, oxygen concentrators are not easily portable because they are bulky and weigh between 25–50 lbs. In this study, components were identified for re design to reduce the overall weight of the device. For instance, the concentrator casing was identified as its heaviest component. Using finite element analysis, changes in wall thickness and dimensions can be investigated to reduce weight while maintaining structural integrity. By reducing the weight of the casing, the oxygen concentrator will be easier to transport.