Tag Archives: mechanics

Slam dunk

Here is another lesson plan for use in teaching engineering science. This one is based on the stress generated by a slam dunk in basketball. Sports provide many potential Everyday Examples but caution needs taken in selecting them because not all students are interested in or participate in sports. Research has shown that the context of examples should be familiar to all students in a class. Otherwise students will be worrying about the context and will not be listening to the explanation of the engineering science. Examples will be perceived as tedious intellectual exercises unless that allow questions to be posed that have interesting or useful answers. Student motivation is closely linked to their perception of the usefulness of the exercise.

When Everyday Examples are set in a familiar context and yield fruitful outcomes, then the level of student engagement and learning is not influenced by the level of difficulty. So there is no need to idealise a scenario to an elementary problem prior to applying engineering principles. And here is the proverbial slam dunk, instructors who successful incorporate appropriate Everyday Examples into their lectures are likely to be rated more highly by their students, regardless of the associated level of difficulty.

Lesson plan: 5EplanNoS9_eccentric_loading

See the Everyday Examples page on this blog for more lesson plans and more background on Everyday Examples.

March Madness

Smart machines

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My enthusiasm for the concert we went to some weeks ago is only just beginning to fade [see Rhapsody in Blue posted on 5th February, 2014]. I have one of Michel Camilo’s pieces still going around in head [listen here]. On the subject of playing the piano, people are trying to build robots that can play the piano using rubbery fingers although they have had more success with a robot that can play a violin [see this Youtube clip].

These robots might be clunky or primitive compared to a maestro like Michel Camilo, but nevertheless smart machines are coming. Professor Noriko Arai is developing a computer, called Todai-Kun, that could ace college entrance exams. She hopes that by 2021 Todai-Kun will pass the entrance exam for Tokyo University, which is the top university in Japan. It is tough for graduates to find jobs at the moment, so imagine what it will be like if computers are as smart as graduates!

Mechanisation destroyed jobs on the farm, robots have replaced assembly-line workers and now smart computers are going to replace white collar workers. In the future, if you want a well-paid job you are likely to need niche skills that involve a combination of creativity, innovation, problem-solving and leadership. I am probably biased but that sounds like a professional engineer.

In the same context, David Brooks has suggested that, what he calls the ’emotive traits’ will be required for success, i.e. a voracious lust of understanding, an enthusiasm for work, the ability to grasp the gist and an empathetic sensitivity for what will attract attention, which with the exception of the last one also sound like the attributes of a professional engineer.

I have used the violin playing robot as the focus for a 5E lesson plan on the Kinematics of Rigid bodies in 3-dimensions see: 5EplanNoD10_Kinematics_of_rigid_bodies_in_3D . Not quite an ‘Everyday Example’ but one with which many students can connect.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/30/world/asia/computers-jump-to-the-head-of-the-class.html?_r=0

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/opinion/brooks-what-machines-cant-do.html?_r=0

Setting standards

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Last week I wrote about digital image correlation as a method for measuring surface strain and displacement fields. The simplicity and modest cost of the equipment required combined with the quality and quantity of the results is revolutionizing the field of experimental mechanics. It also has the potential to do the same in computational mechanics by enabling more comprehensive validation of models and thus enhancing the credibility and confidence in engineering simulations. I have written and lectured on this topic many times, see for instance my post of September 17th, 2012 entitled ‘Model credibility’ or http://sdj.sagepub.com/content/48/1.toc

At the moment, I am chair of a CEN workshop WS71 that is developing a precursor to a standard on validation of computational solid mechanics models. To inform our deliberations, we have organised an Inter-Laboratory Study (ILS) to allow people to try out the proposed validation protocol and give us feedback. If you would like to have a go then download the information pack. You don’t need to do any experiments or modelling, just try the validation procedure with some of the data sets provided. The more engineers that participate in the ILS then the better that the final CEN document is likely to be; so if you know someone who might be interested then forward this blog to them or just send them the link.

Displacement field measured using image correlation for metal wedge indenting a rubber block

Displacement field measured using digital image correlation for a metal wedge indenting a rubber block

CEN WS71: http://www.cen.eu/cen/Sectors/TechnicalCommitteesWorkshops/Workshops/Pages/WS71VANESSA.aspx

EU FP7 project VANESSA: www.engineeringvalidation.org

For information on the data field shown to the right see: http://sdj.sagepub.com/content/49/2/112.abstract

Realize Engineering

An engineering commentary for everyone on the first Wednesday of every month