Purdue University recently developed a multifaceted tutorial to provide just-in-time assis tance for students seeking technical information. The tut orial incorporates an instructional, animated component that stresses the reasons why different kinds of technic al information are important in an engineers' career. It also includes an expert system, developed locally, that allows students to type a question and receive a list of t ypes of resources that may be helpful sorted by relevancy. Each type of resource included links to a list of possib le sources to answer the question entered. By incorporating ac tive and interactive elements, this tutorial helps stude nts effectively fill their information needs whenever a nd wherever they are. This tutorial was created as par t of an instructional grant to meet the needs of an introdu ctory mechanical engineering technology design course that is famous for sending flocks of students to the librar y to find properties, standards, patents and other techn ical information. The course spawns intense loyalty of students that have completed the assignment, as the y come back to campus to explain how they use information skills on the job, and contribute new questions to the course. The tutorial components wi ll be discussed, along with a synopsis of the assessment of its effectiveness.

Mechanical engineering technology graduates must exhibit a number of skills as industrial practitioners. While certain skills are learned on the job, fundamental knowledge acquired in school coursework actually forms the basis for successful development of that necessary skills set. Within the skill set, one given great emphasis is that of communications. At Purdue University, the emphasis on communications skills crosses many courses but is divided among four veins: 1) written communications dealing with papers, reports, etc.; 2) oral communications dealing with effective presentations and interpersonal relationships; 3) computational communications, mathematical problem-solving, be it via hand, calculator or computer; and 4) graphics communications dealing with 3D modeling and the development and interpretation of specifications documented on engineering drawings. This paper describes a project where a simple mechanical device is used to teach complex topics, bridging multiple communications veins. In this case the project centers on the design and modification of an arbor press, but could be based on any number of devices. The simple arbor press forms the foundation for the development of a complex industry-driven knowledge set. Included are topics common to practitioners employed in design, manufacturing and quality - all of which are typical industrial assignments for MET graduates. The assignment is part of Production Design & Specifications (PD&S), a core course and the second in a two-course CAD-based freshman sequence. Where the first course teaches 3D modeling skills, PD&S concentrates on the cognitive aspects of problem-solving using modeling, calculations and extracted drawings. Students complete the project in three phases over an eight-week period. Each phase is driven by an Engineering Change Order (ECO), a common industrial practice. Contained in the ECOs are both detailed requirements and open-ended requirements. While fulfilling the ECOs, students must make decisions on interconnected requirements that ripple through design, manufacturing, and quality assurance. Requirements include: • Design based on ISO preferred numbers. • Selection of standard parts and stock materials. • Determination of cost/benefit ratios. • Manufacturing tolerances and tolerance stack-ups. • Fits calculations based on ASME B4.2 standards. • Calculation of mass properties. • Use of geometric dimensioning & tolerancing. • Documentation of product lifecycle changes. Together, these and other varied topics, when woven around the simplicity of an arbor press, give students real-world experiences without the process becoming daunting due to the sheer complexity of the mechanism.

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Purdue University recently developed a multifaceted tutorial to provide just-in-time assistance for students seeking technical information.The tutorial incorporates an instructional, animated component that stresses the reasons why different kinds of technical information are important in an engineer's career.It also includes an expert system component, created with the open source program CLIPS, that allows the student to type in a question and receive a list of potential sources that could answer that question, with reasons why those sources might be relevant.By incorporating active and interactive elements, this tutorial will help students effectively fill their information needs whenever and wherever they are.This tutorial was created as part of an institutional grant to meet the needs of an introductory mechanical engineering technology design course that is famous for sending flocks of students to the library to find properties, standards, patents, and other technical information.The course also spawns intense loyalty of students that have completed the assignment, as they come back to campus to explain how they use their information skills on the job, and contribute new questions they have run across to the course.The components of the tutorial will be demonstrated, along with a synopsis of the assessment of its effectiveness.It's relevance to lifelong learning for students will also be discussed.

In the internet age, practitioners of engineering and technology may find themselves lacking information literacy skills so necessary in a modern global work environment.The needs may be manifested as researching technical and non-technical information, the basis for a price quote, equipment specifications, company profiles, standards compliance and a myriad of other types of information.Throw in issues of ethics and determining the validity and reliability of sources among the millions on the internet, information literacy becomes a critical instrument in the practitioners toolbox.Yet few classes address practitioner's needs for broad information research literacy skills.This paper details strategies for a student research project that new faculty may use to enhance undergraduate technical research experiences in an information literacy context within any engineering or engineering technology discipline.It leverages the internet plus the resources of a well-endowed, or even a modestly-endowed, campus library and is readily adaptable to changing technology.As implemented at Purdue University, the project has been cited by multiple ABET re-accreditation teams for innovation and as an excellent example of continuously improved instruction.Over the years, it has grown to become one of the more noteworthy experiences cited in both student exit surveys and in postgraduate surveys.Also discussed are specific information literacy skills identified by national organizations and their relationship to accreditation requirements especially relevant for engineering and technology students.Ultimately, whether student acquire the skills through a single project or through gradual skill acquisition in several classes, students need experiential avenues to learn these critical research skills.

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract WHAT DO EMPLOYERS WANT IN TERMS OF EMPLOYEE KNOWLEDGE OF TECHNICAL STANDARDS AND THE PROCESS OF STANDARDIZATION? Abstract Products and processes considered everyday conveniences would not be possible without standardization. That standardization making today's technology possible was developed over the last few decades by practitioners, many of whom are on the brink of retirement. Consequently, a growing concern exists among standards practitioners and standards developing organizations (SDOs) alike as to the source of the next generation of standards expertise. Over the last decade standards developing organizations and educational institutions alike endeavored to foster standards education by developing multidisciplinary curricula directed toward advanced education on standardization. While studies have been initiated within academia to determine the current use of standards in the classroom, numerous impediments remain to growing this area of education. The study discussed in this paper was undertaken in 2009 by Purdue University to determine both the demand by industry for engineering practitioners possessing standardization expertise prior to employment, and also the interest in industrial collaboration with local colleges and universities to establish courses on standardization. This paper presents the results based on industry segments. These include alternative energy, automotive, aerospace, computers and electronics, construction, medical, military/ government and health/public safety. Standards in practice today Practitioners of the 'baby boomer' generation are generally the standardization experts of today. As that generation begins to retire, there seems to be waning interest among recent engineering or technology graduates to fill the looming void in standardization expertise. Despite the daily interaction humans have with standardized products or processes, rarely is the time taken to consider the various standards that form the foundation of products and process development, let alone why such requirements are even necessary. For example, without standardization, telephony among cellular phones across different carriers would simply not be possible. Yet even among technical users, the assumption is that phones will just work -- society simply takes it for granted. Is this lack of knowledge about the importance of standardization hindering both new creation and innovation within American companies? In order for innovation to occur, it is imperative that one not just accept items at face value, but rather continually question the specifications and processes that go into developing such items. Despite this apparent lack of interest, standards continue to affect every aspect of today's society and economy, from basic electronic devices, to the financial sector, and global trade.