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The article discusses ways to teach engineering fundamentals with simple materials. Topics discussed include tips and tricks to use paper effectively to teach engineering principles to children, thousands of STEM/STEAM challenges available in books and online and working of Marina Bernasuli, Technology Coordinator at the Browning School, by using engineering with paper projects throughout the 2020-21 school year.

Digital transformation – the pervasive incorporation of digital technology into virtually every process and system – is arguably the greatest force of change within the naval engineering community. Digital innovation is disrupting traditional ship design paradigms and giving rise to new ways of modernising and sustaining a future integrated force structure. This paper highlights digital transformation as a core strategic initiative that is aligned with the U.S. Department of Defense Digital Engineering Strategy. Recognising the need to expand the U.S. Navy's advantage over its competitors, this paper identifies foundational elements required to transform current engineering design and development processes. Next, a multi-factor framework is introduced to align traditional processes employed for physical system design and development with a new digital paradigm in recognition of the highly integrated nature of Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). Finally, discussion will focus on efforts underway to leverage advanced computational models and highlight the digital engineering use case for Naval Power and Energy Systems (NPES). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, and machine learning (ML) has pioneered a transformation across several fields. Equipping electrical engineering students to remain abreast of the dynamic technological landscape is vital. This underscores the necessity for an educational tool that can be integrated into electrical engineering curricula to offer a practical way of learning the concepts and the integration of IoT, big data, and ML. Thus, this paper offers the IoT-Edu-ML-Stream open-source platform, a graphical user interface (GUI)-based emulation software tool to help electrical engineering students design and emulate IoT-based use cases with big data analytics. The tool supports the emulation or the actual connectivity of a large number of IoT devices. The emulated devices can generate realistic correlated IoT data and stream it via the message queuing telemetry transport (MQTT) protocol to a big data platform. The tool allows students to design ML models with different algorithms for their chosen use cases and train them for decision-making based on the streamed data. Moreover, the paper proposes learning outcomes to be targeted when integrating the tool into an electrical engineering curriculum. The tool is evaluated using a comprehensive survey. The survey results show that the students gained significant knowledge about IoT concepts after using the tool, even though many of them already had prior knowledge of IoT. The results also indicate that the tool noticeably improved the students' practical skills in designing real-world use cases and helped them understand fundamental machine learning analytics with an intuitive user interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socially engaged engineering provides for student learning of the design, analysis, and practices of engineering as well as the ways that engineering is situated in sociocultural contexts. This paper provides a conceptual framework regarding socially engaged engineering for K-8 educators, researchers, and curriculum designers. The framework identifies ways to support youth learning of engineering and considerations of technical, social, environmental, and ethical dimensions of engineering. As engineering enters K-8 educational settings, it is important to introduce the discipline in equity-oriented ways. We draw from the field of engineering for social justice to build this framework for examining engineering at the macro-, meso-, and microscales. Situating engineering in sociocultural contexts can be motivating to learners and provide perspectives on the nature of engineering. Our framework was concurrently designed with Youth Engineering Solutions (YES; https://YouthEngineeringSolutions.org) curricular units. To test the applicability of our principles, we applied them to K-8 YES curricula for school and out-of-school environments. Through the coevolution of principles and curricular materials, we developed age-appropriate learning objectives for three levels--lower elementary, upper elementary, and middle school. This paper shares the principles and progression, showing worked examples from curricula to demonstrate how the principles translate into curricular resources. We discuss constraints to the implementation of socially engaged engineering curricula, including those imposed in educational settings and the ideological assumptions about science, engineering, and STEM disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complexity is often regarded as a "problem" to solve. Instead of attempting to solve complexity, we follow systems engineering practices and switch back to the problem domain, where a major obstacle is the impossibility to universally define complexity. As a workaround, we explored complexity characterization and its existing shortcomings, including: lack of standardization, inconsistent semantics, system-centricity, insufficiently transparent reasoning, and lack of validation. To address these shortcomings, we proposed a compilatory framework to characterize complexity using the Five Ws information-gathering method. The answer to the WHO question proposed four complexity viewpoints; the answer to the WHY question proposed a two-dimensional structure for complexity drivers; and the answer to the WHAT question derived generalized complexity challenges. As a preliminary step to show the potential of the framework to characterize complexity, we used and validated it as a tool to structure general literature related to complexity. In general, our findings suggest that papers with complexity solutions do not frame their research within the complexity problem domain, hindering the contribution evaluation. Through the viewpoints, we identified general research gaps of six solution directions. From the drivers, we noted three observations in the discourse of complexity origins: (1) a system-driven tendency, (2) a preference for concreteness vs. abstraction, and (3) an unclear distinction between origins and effects. Through the challenges' findings we explored two hypotheses: (1) a system-centric preference; and (2) a solution-oriented vision, both of which were supported by the results (most challenges relate to the system viewpoint and challenges are defined based on solution directions). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines a PBL project module "Sustainable Urban Transformation" in an Urban Design master's education. The module combines urban design and hydrology engineering. Within the module, students are supported by lectures and study circles on various dimensions of sustainability, especially vis-a-vis climate change. However, they are left with the freedom to choose how they balance between design and engineering approaches when they give a physical form for sustainability in the site transformation projects with which they work through the semester. This paper discusses the development of their skills building on three Aristotelean concepts: techne (engineering), poiesis (aesthetic form-giving), and phronesis (making of ethical judgments). The last two concepts, the paper argues, are especially important when at issue is design education. Based on an analysis of the student projects in Fall 2022, the paper examines whether and how the students manage to find a balance between engineering skills, on the one hand, and aesthetic creativity and ethical judgement, on the other hand, in their project work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The NGSS clearly shift our teaching to include technology and engineering. The Blueprint The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) integrate engineering into science education by raising engineering design to the level of scientific inquiry at all levels, from kindergarten to grade 12. The NGSS explain engineering in this way: We use the term "engineering" in a very broad sense to mean any engagement in a systematic practice of design to achieve solutions to particular human problems. [Extracted from the article]

The Blueprint The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) integrate engineering into science education by raising engineering design to the level of scientific inquiry at all levels, from kindergarten to grade 12. The NGSS explain engineering in this way: We use the term "engineering" in a very broad sense to mean any engagement in a systematic practice of design to achieve solutions to particular human problems. The NGSS clearly shift our teaching to include technology and engineering. [Extracted from the article]

Understanding the anomalies generated by various subsurface targets and their responses to different geophysical techniques in various subsoil types is critical to near-surface geophysical investigations. Geophysical test site (GTS) plays a vital role in near-surface geophysical investigations and related Earth sciences to adequately predict the geometries and anomalies generated by the subsurface targets. Therefore, developing a GTS on a site requires some technical efficiencies, mechanical procedures, engineering concepts and scientific approach, depending on the operating environment and the purpose of construction. This paper reviews the evolving roles of GTS in engineering, sciences, and technology via remarkable pedagogical and scientific research. The procedures for designing and installing GTS were also discussed. Every constructed GTS is unique and has its operating environment and sets of scientific requirements. As a result, the execution of GTS should be subjected to numerous factors that invariably affect the overall long time usage and performance. Comparative studies of GTS activities indicate that GTS is a vital geophysical research and academic platform to enrich the outcomes of the geophysical modelling for near-surface geophysical applications in engineering, science and technology. The evolving application of GTS has greatly impacted the field of science and engineering by enhancing the knowledge and understanding of the earth's interior, which invariably affects the engineers, geophysicists, archaeologists and geologists to be critical in the analysis, interpretation, and providing precise and accurate information of subsurface anomalies underlying the uppermost soil of the earth's crust. After a critical investigation, it was noted that the installation of GTSs is usually conceived to replicate situations often encountered in field investigation contexts. Examination shows that GTS can provide an ideal platform for young geoscientists, engineers and archaeologists to acquire the requisite skills, knowledge, technical know-how, and professional techniques for resolving near-surface challenges in real-life work situations. More also, a well-developed and equipped GTS could be a watershed in technological advancement, research development, and new scientific ideas. The GTS platform also indicates a promising pedagogical approach to geophysical educational usage, research mobilization, and development of new shallow geophysical techniques for various near-surface investigation and calibrating/testing geophysical equipment, which invariably catalyzed engineering designs, scientific concepts and technological advancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal dikes have been built for millennia to protect inhabited lands from exceptional high tides and storm events. Currently, many European countries are developing specific programs to integrate the construction of new dikes (or the raising of existing ones) into the built environment to face sea level rising. Technical difficulties in succeeding in this operation are questioning the paradigm of protection for the long term, pointing out the need for alternative strategies of adaptation that are not yet fully explored. This paper elaborates on innovative models to deal with coastal flooding, presenting the results of an interdisciplinary research and design process for the case-study of Southend-on-Sea (UK). Detailed numerical simulations are used to develop a spatial strategy to accommodate water during extreme events, introducing different prototypes of dike designs that include seawalls, enhanced roughness through rock and stepped revetments, as well as vegetation. The overall goal is to push forward the traditional approach of planning water protection infrastructure within the solely field of civil engineering. It elaborates on the integration of the disciplines of spatial design and engineering and presents novel advances in terms of spatial design for the revetment of overtopping dikes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of FME Transactions is the property of University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

F. A. Votta, Jr., a design engineer, developed both the constant force springs and the constant torque springs. He made public the materials, which he was concerned with, on a bulletin of ASME, American Society of Mechanical Engineering on May 1952. We appreciate his simple analytical methods and its useful results. Those springs have been utilized still widely in fields of engineering over the world. By the author’s works so far, however, it became obvious that analytical explanations are in part insufficient and no experimental results are shown in his both papers related to the constant force and torque springs. Of the two papers above, the authors confirmed finally the validity of the expression he obtained in his paper, by using their own ideas and experiments. The authors also tried to apply the equations obtained in the constant spring force to those in constant torque springs. As the results obtained, the authors may conclude that their new analytical methods introduced in this paper are useful to know the torques to be produced in the constant torque springs. Furthermore, the authors propose ideas to reduce changes of torques, which should be primarily constant regardless of extension of springs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The semiotic nature of design and engineering communications has often evaded direct interrogation; specifically the representation of requirements using multiple semiotic modes. This paper explores the semiotic character of requirement representation in the construction project design and engineering process by mobilising a social semiotic analytic framework to reveal how project artefacts (e.g. drawings; digital imagery; physical objects) are multimodal resources that critically affect stakeholder engagement and interpretation. The focused empirical study from a hospital construction project reveals the motivations and effects of multimodal and semiotic communicative choices of different parties (e.g. client; architect; engineer; design consultant) engaged on the same project; the representation (or not) of requirements via various semiotic modes being a social and political process. The contribution of the paper is in revealing the semiotic character of requirement representation and the relevance of semiotic-informed enquiry for an industry continuing to develop new technologies (e.g. virtual reality; BIM – building information modelling) for design and construction work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the influence of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the National Research Council's (NRC) Framework for K-12 Science Education, and a socio-workforce push to increase diverse representation in STEM fields, engineering education has become more prevalent in K-12 classrooms over the past decade. Although this shift is seemingly optimistic, critical consideration must be given to the ways engineering education tends to be reductive and positivistic, mimicking engineering practices decontextualized from high-stakes socio-political and socio-ecological realities through the adherence of a closed, systematic design process. Teaching and learning that is situated within the confines of normative engineering learning fail to nurture and cultivate students' intellectual health and ontological security, and further promotes destructive settler ecologics. This study took up efforts to disrupt and desettle engineering education, which opened space for children to critically speculate about real-world engineering entanglements deeply connected to their futurities. The aims of this paper are to (1) establish the need for anticolonial engineering, and engineering education, (2) promote approaches for doing so (3) and elevate the just worlding engineering design principles put forward by radically caring children committed to socio-ecological and multispecies justice. The learning shared in this paper suggests not only why science and engineering fields and education should be reformed, but also provides guidance for evolving the designing of shared worlds, for kincentric flourishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent science education reforms emphasize the goal of developing students' science and engineering practices. To foreground those practices during science instruction, teachers need conceptual tools to guide their instructional decision-making. In this conceptual paper, I propose that thinking about science and engineering activities as educative games provides a useful model for designing productive educational experiences. Central to this argument is a recognition of the ways that games allow learners to experience and cultivate new forms of agency—including those aligned with the practice of science and engineering. When immersed in a game, a student/player pursues clearly defined goals using a limited set of available actions, and in doing so they act out and experience a form of agency that they might not otherwise have been able to access. Viewed in this way, science and engineering activities can be analyzed and evaluated with respect to the forms of agency that they cultivate in students, including the extent to which those forms of agency are consistent with those of science and engineering. In addition to presenting this way of thinking about science and engineering activities, this paper proposes a practical model to assist teachers in analyzing and designing science and engineering learning activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to determine the unusual stratum load for metro tunnel under the influence of ground fissure is a major challenge faced by the construction of Xi'an Metro in China. In this paper, based on the theories of Bierbaumer and Terzaghi, a limit equilibrium form of stratum holding effect principle is proposed as an alternative solution for calculating the unusual stratum load experienced by metro tunnels crossing ground fissures at different intersection angles. Our methodology uses the movement mode of stratum-tunnel induced by active ground fissure to construct the analysis model, while considering soil properties and strength, holding force, tunnel buried depth, segment diameter, and the intersection angle between tunnel and ground fissure. Fundamental formulae for the development of soil fracture angle during this movement process are also derived and analyzed. The methodology is also illustrated and validated by two representative examples, and the sensitivity of parameters affecting the results is discussed as well, providing some design suggestions for practical engineering. The presented alternative way of calculating the unusual stratum load in the active ground fissure site might be helpful for the design of metro engineering to meet the necessary degree of safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of teaching engineering perspective courses generally faces a number of challenges due to the nature of the course, the skills required and the large number of students. Thus, this paper aims at assessing the impact of applying a traditional integrated E-learning approach to the teaching of the Engineering Perspective course based on an online system, namely the Google Classroom application. The population of this study is composed of 130 Egyptian first-year applied arts students from the nine departments of the Faculty of Applied Arts at Damietta University during the first semester of the academic year 2019-2020. The sample is determined using Google Forms via Google Classroom. A total of 130 students participated in Google Classroom class and 84 students participated in this investigation. Results revealed that the students primarily preferred the proposed approach for its technical feasibility and its positive effect on their academic performance. Where can they access academic content anytime and anywhere for an infinite number of times? The study resulted in a proposal for a framework designed to apply the integrated approach in a comprehensive manner and adapted to its application in the design of practical engineering courses in which students are enrolled in large numbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A central challenge in engineering education is providing experiences that are appropriate for and accessible to underserved communities. However, to provide such experiences, we must better understand the process of offering a geographically distributed assetbased out-of-school program. This paper focuses on a collaborative research project that examined the broad implementation of the Summer Engineering Experiences for Kids (SEEK) program organized by the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). SEEK is a three-week summer program that engages participants in hands-on, team-based engineering design projects. NSBE's goal is to make SEEK culturally sustaining, community-connected, and scalable. The purpose of this paper is to provide a retrospective reflection on various aspects of our collaborative project and highlight a series of tradeoffs that must be carefully considered to offer and examine the effectiveness of an intervention designed both to affirm cultural background as well as to broaden access. Guided by Yosso's community cultural wealth (CCW) framework, we engaged in individual reflection and group discussions about the evolution of our three-year project. We considered the six types of capital outlined in CCW to examine various program design elements and tradeoffs. By illuminating the tradeoffs that are required, we hope this paper can help other program designers and researchers to intentionally, preemptively, and proactively consider such tradeoffs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on an invited lecture presented at the ARMA (ARMA-American Rock Mechanics Association) 2018 Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium, Seattle, WA. June 17–20, 2018. At the time of the invitation, the author was preparing an "Appendices" to a book (Sikora (2018) Charles Fairhurst—The Long Shadow published (via Amazon) by Itasca Consulting Group) to be published by Itasca Consulting Group—but page limitations required that the "Appendices" be eliminated. The invitation from ARMA provided an ideal opportunity to present the essence of the notes to professional colleagues. This paper attempts to expand on the presentation in Seattle. At the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) in 1962, Dr. Müller emphasized the central importance of large-scale discontinuities and anisotropy in rock engineering, and the need to establish a discipline distinct from the continuum fields of elasticity and plasticity. With the benefit of over 50 years of hindsight, it is clear that both elasticity and plasticity are important in rock mechanics—but discontinuities, especially on the scale of engineering projects, can be critical. Having been involved with the development of rock mechanics at the University of Minnesota since the late 1950s; with Professor Cundall as a faculty colleague since 1972; and with the founding of Itasca Consulting Group in 1981, the topic of discontinuities in rock has been a prominent long-standing concern to the 'Minnesota group'. Theoretical developments in mechanics are often stimulated by experimental observations in classical 'bench-scale' laboratories. Thus, elasticity theory was stimulated by Hooke's experiments (1678) and plasticity by Tresca's experiments (1864). Even if it was possible to construct a laboratory to test 'specimens' of a rock mass on a scale sufficient to include large discontinuities, separation from the rock mass would remove in situ forces from the specimen, resulting in unknown changes to the specimen. What are the options to establish the constitutive behavior of the rock mass? Where is the laboratory? This paper discusses past attempts to answer this question and suggests a direction for the future.Rock in situ is unlike any other material encountered in engineering. Typically, it will vary in age from several hundreds of millions to as much as a few billions of years. Rocks of different composition and mechanical properties are often adjacent to each other. Subject to changing tectonic forces and gravity over this period, the rock mass is mechanically complex, and usually contains systems of fractures and mechanical interfaces, varying from grain boundaries to tectonic plate boundaries. Within this range, discontinuities comparable in size to the dimensions of engineering projects in rock are of particular concern to designers. The International Society for Rock Mechanics [Recently re-named International Society for Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. The acronym (ISRM) has been retained] was formed in 1962 to focus attention on the need to develop mechanic-based design procedures to give due consideration to such discontinuities. The paper reflects on approaches taken to address this concern in the almost 6 decades since formation of ISRM. Early efforts concentrated on testing of large physical models in a laboratory, plus a variety of efforts to incorporate discrete discontinuities into continuum mechanics. Particular attention is given to the development of the Discrete Element Method (DEM), introduced by Cundall (Proc Symp Int'l Soc Rock Mech 2:129–132, 1971). Examples of the application of DEM to practical design problems and conclusions drawn from them are discussed. In some cases, results show important differences with the current procedures and empirical rules. Although most of the examples shown are drawn from mining, references are made to applications in other engineering fields, especially Civil Engineering and recent developments in Enhanced Geothermal Systems. Currently, the principal limitation to widespread application of DEM to rock engineering design problems is computational speed. This problem is one faced in many scientific and engineering disciplines, so it is anticipated that solutions will be developed in the coming several years. In the meantime, simpler representations of discrete fracture systems are used to develop valuable general insights to inform practical designs. Recent leadership by the US Department of Energy in rock mechanics research through FORGE and SubTER [Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE); Subsurface Science, Technology, Engineering, and R&D Crosscut (SubTER).] offers hope that the importance of subsurface engineering to the US is being recognized. A problem, mentioned recently by Hoek (2018) that needs to be addressed in the United States is that of developing an engineering workforce capable of applying analytical and numerical techniques sensibly to design in rock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of DYNA - Ingeniería e Industria is the property of Publicaciones Dyna SL and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper introduces a novel nature-inspired optimization algorithm called the Addax Optimization Algorithm (AOA), which emulates the natural behavior of addax in the wild. The core inspiration for AOA is drawn from the addax's foraging strategy and digging skills. The theoretical foundation of AOA is expounded and mathematically modeled in two phases: (i) exploration based on modeling addax position change during foraging and (ii) exploitation based on addax position change modeling during digging. The efficiency of AOA in handling real-world engineering applications is evaluated on four engineering design problems. The optimization results show that AOA is achieved effective solutions for optimization problems with its high ability in exploration, exploitation, and establishing a balance between them during the search process. The outcomes derived from applying AOA are compared with the performance of twelve well-known optimization algorithms. The simulation results show that AOA is provided superior performance compared to competitor algorithms, by achieving better results and ranking as the first best optimizer. The simulation findings show that the proposed AOA approach has an effective performance for handling optimization tasks in engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solving a multiple-criteria optimization problem with severe constraints remains a significant issue in multi-objective evolutionary algorithms. The problem primarily stems from the need for a suitable constraint handling technique. One potential approach is balancing the search in feasible and infeasible regions to find the Pareto front efficiently. The justification for such a strategy is that the infeasible region also provides valuable information, especially in problems with a small percentage of feasibility areas. To that end, this paper investigates the potential of the infeasibility-driven principle based on multiple constraint ranking-based techniques to solve a multi-objective problem with a small feasibility ratio. By analyzing the results from intensive experiments on a set of test problems, including the realistic multi-objective car structure design and actuator design problem, it is shown that there is a significant improvement gained in terms of convergence by utilizing the generalized version of the multiple constraint ranking techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to design a guide for engineering problem solving with a mathematical approach, based on the use of creative, heuristic and reasoning strategies. The research is divided in two phases: the literature review and the conception of a guide for engineering problems with an open or closed solution. This guide combines the engineering method with algorithmic and heuristic-creative components in three steps: a) understanding, approaching and characterising the problem; b) planning, tackling and deciding on the best alternative; and c) solving, reviewing and evaluating the problem. The authors conclude that this guide will allow future engineers to reach a solution to a problem considering the implications in the financial, technical, environmental and other domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-partnered engineering projects provide a mechanism for cultivating the development of sociotechnical engineers prepared to design within diverse and complex cultural, environmental, social, and other contexts. During the 2021–2022 academic year, we guided three teams of senior undergraduate engineering students through year-long community-partnered projects for their required capstone design course, which instead typically features corporate/industry-sponsored projects. We analyzed end-of-semester reflections (both fall and spring semester) from each student using inductive thematic analysis to explore how they perceived their experiences. The themes that emerged from the student reflections, including connectivity, transdisciplinary, multiple stakeholders, sustainability, justice, and ethics, are all components of the sociotechnical engineering capabilities that we are working to develop in our students. We consider these findings encouraging, and suggestive that integrating community-partnered projects into engineering capstone design offerings is worthwhile and effective. However, our implementation was not without challenges, such as trying to force the projects to fit into a course structure and timeline developed to support corporate/industry-sponsored project teams, which was burdensome to the community-partnered project teams. In this paper, we highlight both the complexities and benefits of this approach and insights gained from student and instructor reflections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to expand our knowledge on interdisciplinary design education by focusing on team development, which has remained a less explored aspect of interdisciplinary collaboration so far. An interdisciplinary design studio course, Collaborative Design, for food engineering and industrial design students in higher education provides the research context. The empirical basis of the paper comes from interviews with students on their experiences of interdisciplinary collaboration in the course, and the educator's observation notes. Drawing on these data, this article critically reflects on how and to what extent the teaching materials, methods and strategies incorporated into the course design guided and supported students' transition through the four stages of becoming a performing interdisciplinary team. The article concludes with four suggestions for design educators. First, encountering new ways of thinking, talking and doing that make sense for both disciplines engages students in interdisciplinary collaboration. Second, humour and positive social relations play an important role in team success in all stages of team development. Third, using the first weeks of the course to reveal the disciplinary differences and potential issues that would lead to conflicts through class discussions and warm-up activities facilitates a smooth transition from forming to norming. Fourth, adequate representation of each discipline should be ensured both in the design problem and solution, and among the tutors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a design-based research project undertaken to test and implement an interest-based engineering challenges framework for pre-college students. This work is motivated by the need for innovative engineering education practices in pre-college settings, and making engineering more inclusive for people from diverse backgrounds. The design-based research methodology can be challenging to implement as it comprises of multiple, cyclical research activities that provide challenges in documenting and communicating the larger study's progress. This paper presents findings from this continuously evolving study, and also the design and implementation of this design-based research at roughly the halfway point for a four-year study. Each of the consequent versions scaffold to answer the broader research questions of the study pertaining to: engineering appealing to students' personal interests, empowering underrepresented groups to find meaningful connections to engineering, leading more authentic engagement in engineering and design practices, and improving students' attitudes and perception of engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prussian blue (PB) and its analogs (PBAs) are considered one of the most promising materials for sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs). The typical PB with perfect structure and highly integrated lattice has excellent structural stability, but the possible structural defects inevitably generated in the synthesis process will deteriorate its structure during cycling, resulting in rapid capacity degradation, and impede their practical application. However, not all defects are detrimental, as proper defect construction can customize the local nature of PB to achieve outstanding new functions. This paper reviews various defect engineering designs for PBAs, such as the creation/suppression of cation or anion vacancies, the introduction of cation doping, the reduction of dislocation defects, and the construction of pore‐defect engineering. As a result, the structure–activity relationship between defects and electrochemical performance of SIBs is summarized. Moreover, the existing challenges and future development prospects are discussed, and the potential application of defect engineering in PBAs for SIBs is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biologically inspired metaheuristic algorithm obtains the optimal solution by simulating the living habits or behavior characteristics of creatures in nature. It has been widely used in many fields. A new bio-inspired algorithm, Aphids Optimization Algorithm (AOA), is proposed in this paper. This algorithm simulates the foraging process of aphids with wings, including the generation of winged aphids, flight mood, and attack mood. Concurrently, the corresponding optimization models are presented according to the above phases. At the phase of the flight mood, according to the comprehensive influence of energy and the airflow, the individuals adaptively choose the flight mode to migrate; at the phase of attack mood, individuals use their sense of smell and vision to locate food sources for movement. Experiments on benchmark test functions and two classical engineering design problems, indicate that the desired AOA is more efficient than other metaheuristic algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the requirements and needs for establishing a benchmarking protocol that considers representation characteristics, supported cognitive criteria, and enabled reasoning activities for the systematic comparison of function modeling representations. Problem types are defined as reverse engineering, familiar products, novel products, and single-component systems. As different modeling approaches share elements, a comparison of modeling approaches on multiple levels was also undertaken. It is recommended that researchers and developers of function modeling representations collaborate to define a canonically acceptable set of benchmark tests and evaluations so that clear benefits and weaknesses for the disparate collection of approaches can be compared. This paper is written as a call to action for the research community to begin establishing a benchmarking standard protocol for function modeling comparison purposes. This protocol should be refined with input from developers of the competing approaches in an academically open environment. At the same time, the benchmarking criteria identified should also serve as a guide for validating a modeling approach or analyzing its failure. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Incorporating engineering instruction into the elementary curriculum is not without challenges. Traditionally, researchers investigated using engineering design to promote students learning science concepts. More recently, researchers have conducted qualitative investigations to measure students' learning of engineering concepts after engaging in engineering design. In this study, we extended work on elementary engineering instruction by implementing an integrated engineering and writing unit with 58 third‐grade students. Using stratified random assignment based on pre‐intervention engineering vocabulary assessment scores, we assigned students to treatment (n = 28) or comparison (n = 30). During a 10‐day unit, all students participated in design challenges, emulated the practices of actual engineers, and used writing to support and document their learning, as they designed and authored their own five‐page pop‐up books. Students in the treatment condition participated in additional writing during 8 of the 10 unit lessons. During this time, they responded to journal prompts related to lesson objectives. At the same time, students in the comparison condition participated in small‐group discussions during which they discussed journal prompts orally. We found that all students made statistically significant gains from pre‐ to posttest on an engineering vocabulary assessment; total words written, number of different engineering concepts used, and depth of understanding of engineering concepts in a written essay response; and number of different engineering concepts used in an oral interview response, regardless of their incoming writing skills and regardless of whether they participated in additional writing or small‐group discussion of lesson objectives. This study is the first to quantitatively document the effectiveness of a combined elementary engineering and writing intervention for promoting students' learning of engineering concepts in multiple ways (rote recall, written representation, and oral representation). We argue that literacy, particularly writing, provides an effective and feasible method for incorporating engineering instruction into the elementary curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grain boundary engineering (GBE) is one of the most successful processing strategies to improve the properties of polycrystalline solids. However, the extensive thermomechanical processes involved during GBE restrict its use to selected applications and materials. In this viewpoint paper, we discuss the opportunity provided by additive manufacturing (AM) technology to broaden the applicability of the GBE paradigm and, consequently, the design space for engineering materials. By integrating specially-designed thermomechanical processing within AM, it would be possible to produce bulk, near-net-shape parts with complex geometry and GBE microstructure. We discuss the major challenges in this endeavor and propose some possible strategies to achieve this goal, which we refer to as "additive-GBE". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To build a sustainable future, science and engineering education programmes should emphasise scientific investigation, collaboration across traditional science topics and disciplines, and engineering design, including design and evaluation of solutions. While some research studies articulate the shifts that are needed to realise classroom learning emphasizing investigation and design, fewer research studies help us to understand how we co-design these instructional programmes, including how experts from different essential disciplines collaborate towards an interdisciplinary instructional programme. We adopted a qualitative case study design to address the research question, What is the process of team co-construction of instructional materials that emphasize learning through both science investigation and engineering design? The paper outlines the first year of our team co-construction activities involving the design, implementation, and evaluation of instructional materials for secondary science. Qualitative data included semi-structured interviews with nine team members and documentation in form of researcher field notes and learning artefacts. Two cycles of coding resulted in five major themes that served as the basis for the five-phase model of team co-construction of instructional materials. This study provides information on the kinds of partnerships and collaboration needed to realise instructional programmes for students' study of the interdisciplinary STEM-based challenges of tomorrow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results from a prediction event, organized by the University of Western Australia (UWA) and the National Geotechnical Centrifuge Facility (NGCF), and performed as part of the International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics to assess uncertainty in predicting the monotonic and cyclic lateral response of conductors. Geotechnical professionals from around the world were invited to predict the response of a model conductor (a flexible pile) subjected to a series of loading sequences in a centrifuge. A normally consolidated fine-grained soil was used in the tests, which was characterized by soil elements and in-flight T-bar penetrometer testing. While some participants provided accurate predictions, the mean response was an overestimate of the monotonic and cyclic load at the pile head, which was significant for large and very small displacements. An analysis of the submissions is presented to quantify the variability of the predictions received, assess the consequences of each design, and relay the uncertainty associated with engineering judgment in design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper raises important questions about the way we approach numerical analysis in rock engineering design. The application of advanced numerical models is essential to adequately analyze and design different geotechnical aspects of pit-to-cave transitions. We present a critical review of numerical methods centered around the hypothesis that a model is not, and cannot be, a perfect imitation of reality; therefore, numerical modelling of large-scale mining projects requires the real problem to be idealized and simplified. The discussion highlights the dichotomy of continuum vs. discontinuum modelling and the important question of whether continuum models can effectively capture dynamic continuum-to-discontinuum processes typical of cave mining. The discussion is complemented by examples of hybrid continuum-discontinuum models to analyze the important problem of transitioning from surface (open pit) mining to underground mass mining (caving). The results demonstrate the hypothesis that forward modelling should be performed in the context of a risk-based approach, with numerical models becoming investigative tools to assess risk and evaluate the impact of different unknowns, thus classifying modelling outputs in terms of expected consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a range of novel and pseudonovel optimization algorithms has been proposed for solving engineering problems. Swarm intelligence optimization algorithms (SIAs) have become popular methods, and the whale optimization algorithm (WOA) is one of the highly discussed SIAs. However, regardless of novelty concerns about this method, the basic WOA is a weak method compared to top differential evolutions and particle swarm variants, and it suffers from the problem of poor initial population quality and slow convergence speed. Accordingly, in this paper, to increase the diversity of WOA versions and enhance the performance of WOA, a new WOA variant, named LXMWOA, is proposed, and based on the L'evy initialization strategy, the directional crossover mechanism, and the directional mutation mechanism. Specifically, the introduction of the L'evy initialization strategy allows initial populations to be dynamically distributed in the search space and enhances the global search capability of the WOA. Meanwhile, the directional crossover mechanism and the directional mutation mechanism can improve the local exploitation capability of the WOA. To evaluate its performance, using a series of functions and three models of engineering optimization problems, the LXMWOA was compared with a broad array of competitive optimizers. The experimental results demonstrate that the LXMWOA is significantly superior to its exploration and exploitation capability peers. Therefore, the proposed LXMWOA has great potential to be used for solving engineering problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, an equilibrium problem for an elastic body with a thin elastic and a volume rigid inclusion is analyzed. It is assumed that the thin inclusion conjugates with the rigid inclusion at a given point. Moreover, a delamination of the thin inclusion is assumed. Inequality type boundary conditions are considered at the crack faces to prevent a mutual penetration between the faces. A passage to the limit is justified as the rigidity parameter of the thin inclusion goes to infinity. The main goal of the paper is to analyze an optimal control problem with a cost functional characterizing a deviation of the displacement field from a given function. A rigidity parameter of the thin inclusion serves as a control function. An existence theorem to this problem is proved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Engineering design and operational decisions depend largely on deep understanding of applications that requires assumptions for simplification of the problems in order to find proper solutions. Cutting-edge machine learning algorithms can be used as one of the emerging tools to simplify this process. In this paper, we propose a novel scalable and interpretable machine learning framework to automate this process and fill the current gap. Design/methodology/approach: The essential principles of the proposed pipeline are mainly (1) scalability, (2) interpretibility and (3) robust probabilistic performance across engineering problems. The lack of interpretibility of complex machine learning models prevents their use in various problems including engineering computation assessments. Many consumers of machine learning models would not trust the results if they cannot understand the method. Thus, the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) approach is employed to interpret the developed machine learning models. Findings: The proposed framework can be applied to a variety of engineering problems including seismic damage assessment of structures. The performance of the proposed framework is investigated using two case studies of failure identification in reinforcement concrete (RC) columns and shear walls. In addition, the reproducibility, reliability and generalizability of the results were validated and the results of the framework were compared to the benchmark studies. The results of the proposed framework outperformed the benchmark results with high statistical significance. Originality/value: Although, the current study reveals that the geometric input features and reinforcement indices are the most important variables in failure modes detection, better model can be achieved with employing more robust strategies to establish proper database to decrease the errors in some of the failure modes identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper seeks to examine and contextualise the role of Blanche Thornycroft within her family business of John I. Thornycroft in the first half of the twentieth century. The role of Blanche in assisting her father and, after his death, the Thornycroft Company in collecting experimental data informed the design of many vessels. Her role in testing Coastal Motor Boats is explored using the archival material discovered during the ARHC funded project 'Business, government and the workplace: John I. Thornycroft & Company Limited, and the Great War'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a constraint handling approach without the need to use a penalty function, namely Optimization Without Penalty (OWP). This approach is used on a recent optimization algorithm based on morphological filters, called Optimization by Morphological Filters (OMF). This work consists of providing a simple and effective constraint-handling approach without the necessity of the penalty for any considered optimization problem. The proposed approach is applied to 03 hard mathematical functions, 18 benchmark constraint functions presented in CEC 2010 competition on constrained real-parameter optimization, and 7 constrained engineering design problems reported in the specialized literature. According to the statistical comparison results, the performance of the OMF algorithm with OWP-based approach is better or highly competitive on most of the studied problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]