2001 ASEE Southeast Section Conference 1 A MODERN UNDERGRADUATE MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Chattanooga (UTC) has been upgraded primarily through renovation of existing laboratories systems. This process was completed using engineering faculty and staff and funding from state and industrial sponsors. Computer data acquisition, analysis, presentation, and control using LabVIEW (Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench) [1] were added to all of the renovated lab systems to support use of electronic instrumentation. In the new two-hour semester lab course (one hour lecture plus a three hour lab weekly) taken by all mechanical engineering students, ten mechanical and thermal systems labs are completed with five weeks being used to complete a design project. The design project has been traditionally related to renovating other labs in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at UTC. Some of the new labs are ON-LINE and can be completed over the Internet. The paper will describe (1) general problems related to faculty developing computer and LabVIEW skills associated with developing and maintaining modern laboratory systems, (2) objectives, outcomes, and major successes related to completing the design project, (3) student benefits associated with the new lab, and (4) how the new laboratory met Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) Show Cause requirements, and (5) conclusions related to teaching the new laboaratory for four years