A Computer-Aided, Total Quality Approach to Manufacturing Education in Engineering
IEEE transactions on Education, Vol. 39, No. 3, August 1996
G. Bengu and William Swart

This paper describes an ongoing study in improving entry-level engineering education through the deployment of new teaching and learning tools. We introduce a computer-aided interactive multimedia manufacturing courseware. Manufacturing has realized significant conceptual and technological advances over the past decade. Manufacturing education, however, is not current with recent advances of industry. To improve manufacturing education we need to change not only the process of teaching and learning, but also provide new tools and technology that promote efficient learning and make it widely available and continuously improving. To address this manufacturing education challenge, we are presently designing a program based on a new computer-aided education paradigm that embodies total quality management (TQM) and critical thinking (CT) concepts. An interactive multimedia manufacturing courseware lies at the heart of this new computer-aided education paradigm. This courseware targets early and comprehensive understanding of interdisciplinary applications of engineering systems with focus on manufacturing. The manufacturing engineering multimedia courseware (MEMC) includes: on-line lectures, audiovideo education tools, interactive computer software (Process and equipment design, simulation and animation software), on-line assignment and exams, information about faculty, and on-line evaluation tools to obtain users� feedback to enhance teaching. It also makes access available to related academia, industry, and government research and education information through the World Wide Web. Such a learning system is also believed to be the stepping stone to one that generates and rewards "active, independent, self-directed learning" for students to gather and assess data rigorously and critically. In this paper, we briefly review the status of engineering education in the United States and describe the appropriateness of unifying the concepts of TQM and CT. Additionally, we provide details of how these concepts can be used in an educational model.

Unified Matrix Presentation of Maxwell�s and Wave Equations Using Generalized Differential Matrix Operators
IEEE Transactions on Education, Vol. 41, No. 1, February 1998
Yinchao Chen, Member, IEEE, Kunquan Sun, Member, IEEE, Benjamin Beker, Senior Member, IEEE, and Raj Mittra, Life Fellow, IEEE

In this paper, we introduce the concept of generalized differential matrix operators (GDMO�s) that are useful for the formulation of electromagnetic boundary value problems in arbitrary orthogonal coordinate systems, e.g., Cartesian, cylindrical, and spherical. The most significant attribute of the GDMO approach is that their use helps to simplify the complicated manipulation of vector differential equations, especially in problems dealing with an anisotropic media. We show that the use of the GDMO�s enable one to replace, for most problems in electromagnetics, the complicated vector differenctial operations with manipulation of 3x3 matrices. In addition, we demonstrate GDMO�s are convenient for deriving many differentiation identities and integral theorems which find extensive applications in electromagnetics.

An Application-Enhanced Approach to Introductory Electromagnetics
IEEE Transactions on Education, Vol. 41, No. 1, February 1998
Benjamin Beker, Senior Member, IEEE, Daniel W. Bailey, and George J. Cokkinides, Member, IEEE

This paper describes an application-enhanced approach to teaching fundamental concepts in electromagnetics at theintroductory graduate level. A numerical tool with interactive visualization is used to aid in the presentation of engineering applications that are used to motivate basic electromagnetic concepts. The goals are to exploit design automation tools as a supplementary instructional aid, and to illustrate to students the use of theory in practice.

Photonics Laboratory with Emphasis on Technical Diversity
IEEE Transactions on Education, Vol. 41, No. 3, August 1998
Betty Lise Anderson, Senior Member, IEEE, Lawrence J. Pelz, Member, IEEE, Steven A. Ringel, Member, IEEE, Bradley D. Clymer, Senior Member, IEEE, and Stuart A. Collins, Jr.

We describe a recently developed laboratory course in photonics aimed primarily at seniors in electrical engineering. Each student performs four out of seven possible experiments during the quarter in changing teams. The experiments were designed with the following goals: expose students to widest possible variety of technologically important topics in optics, allow students the opportunity to use the widest possible variety of laboratory equipment, to foster a healthy respect for potentially dangerous lasers, to encourage individual thinking and self-reliance, and to provide a significant technical writing experience. The experiments themselves are in fiber-optic communication, optical sensing, laser physics, multiple quantum-well detectors, liquid crystals, acoustooptic modulation, and solar cells. We describe here the experiments, the specific equipment needed to perform them, and the structure of our particular course. We also have produced a detailed laboratory manual that is available to other institutions.