Engineering

100 с о О Figure 2. Spectrum taken in 100 seconds with the SC APS XRF Metals Sensor. Note the contaminant peaks for zinc and lead. The sample is SRM2710, Montana soil with highly elevated heavy metal contaminants (about 6000 ppm for zinc and lead). The detection limits for a ...

Early in their college career, many Civil Engineering students experience problems learning. Their problems may be associated with inadequate study skills, insufficient prerequisite knowledge, an unfamiliar environment or a host of other things that a program can neither predict nor control. Regardless of the cause, the hurdles to learning must be quickly overcome for students to progress in their degree program and be successful. Identifying learning issues mid semester or later during an advising session that is focused on selecting classes for the next term is probably too late to effectively rescue a student in the current term. The Civil Engineering Mentored Learning Environment was established to provide students access to the faculty, upper division and/or graduate student mentors and a common study area. It is a deliberate attempt to get new students to mingle with mature students and faculty without "enrolling" them in a "special" program. The program's key objective is to get students to teach each other with mentors available for support and to intervene only when necessary. Started with virtually no funding, laboratory space with 20% utilization was made available to students to study in during the unused 80% of the schedule. The program was initiated in the Fall 2011 term. The academic performance of a targeted set of at risk students was observed during the semester. The motivation for this program and its objectives are discussed. Data collected following the first semester of operation is presented and discussed. Conclusions are drawn regarding the environments impact on the program.

In engineering programs, under-represented minority students come from many segments of the nation and often experience problems with learning early in their degree programs. Their problems may be associated with inadequate study skills, insufficient prerequisite knowledge, an unfamiliar environment or a host of other things that a degree program can neither predict nor control. Regardless of the cause, the hurdles to learning must be quickly overcome for the student to progress in their degree program and be successful. For these students, identifying learning issues mid semester or later during an advising session that is focused on selecting classes for the next term is probably too late to effectively rescue the student in the current term. A Mentored Learning Environment was established to provide the predominantly Hispanic civil engineering students at the University of Texas Pan American increased access to the faculty, upper division and/or graduate student mentors and a common study area. The environment is a deliberate attempt to get the new and at risk students to mingle with mature students and faculty without enrolling them in a "special" program. The program's key objective is to get students to teach each other with mentors available to intervene only when necessary. In the Fall 2011 term, the project was started with virtually no funding. Laboratory space that was only being used 20% of the time was made available to students to study in during the unused 80% of the class schedule. The motivation for this program and its objectives are discussed. Data collected following the first semester of operation is presented and discussed. Conclusions are drawn regarding the programs impact on participating students.

Cities as an Assistant Professor of Engineering. His current academic interests include project-based learning with real-world problems, training in critical thinking for students to improve efficient problem solving skills, and enhancement of interactive teaching/learning inside and outside classroom. His main research interests are integration of high performance sensors into mechatronic systems, development of mechatronic systems using biomechanics such as surface Electromyography, and implementation of intelligent microelectronic networks for multidisciplinary applications. Dr. Shin is a member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and American Society for Engineering Education.

Dr. Pratt was selected as the first Director of the new School of Engineering and tasked to start a new general engineering program at Western Illinois University in August of 2009. The first graduates received their diplomas in May of 2011 and the program was ABET accredited in August of 2012. The School will add a separate Mechanical Engineering Degree in 2017. He has experienced a varied career in government, academia, and industry and has six patents for advanced composite materials.