On-line Laboratories for a Distance Engineering Program University of North Dakota School of Engineering and Mines On-line Laboratories for a Distance Engineering Program John Watson, SEM, UND George Bibel, ME, UND Kenneth Ebeling, IME, NDSU John Erjavec, ChE, UND Hossein Salehfar, EE, UND Marcellin Zahui, ME, UND Distance Engineering Degree Program IECC 2005 A FIPSE Project

Distance Engineering Degree Program (DEDP) 1989 Initiated as 3M Program Videotaped classes, mailed to students Assignments by e-mail and FAX Advising by phone and e-mail Exams proctored at student site Enrollment - 8 1993 Corporate Engineering Degree Program 2001 Distance Engineering Degree Program 2002 FIPSE On-line Laboratory Project 2003 Electronic Delivery of Classes 2004 Enrollment - 108, 25 graduates to date

DEDP DETAIL ABET accredited programs in ChE, CE, EE and ME Programs are equivalent to on-campus programs Students are required to take labs on campus in summer 1 CH semester lab is equivalent to 5 days of condensed labs To meet the laboratory requirements of the programs, students must: spend 5-10 days each summer on campus bear the expense of travel and accommodation, and use vacation time

On-Line Laboratory Project 2002-05 FIPSE project initiated to design and implement 3 lab courses Each with 50% on-line content to reduce time required at UND. On-line content to be mix of virtual and real-time assignments

Three Laboratory Courses Selected: ChE 431 – Chemical Engineering Laboratory IV EE 306 – Circuits Laboratory I ME 486 – Mechanical Engineering Practice Each lab course has 50% on-line content consisting of : 50% virtual assignments – Packaged or Custom 50% real-time assignments – Lab Equipment + LabView and Remote Panels

VIRTUAL ASSIGNMENTS Packaged Software or Custom Built Programs for each Laboratory Course Packaged – ChemCAD for ChE process design Custom Built – LabView for EE circuits using wiring diagrams and front panels

Virtual Inverting Op-Amp EE Assignment

LabView VI – Wiring Diagram for Op-Amp

Laboratory Real-Time Assignment Equipment Schematic

Real – Time Laboratory Assignments Lab equipment operating through LabView Front Panel Internet publishing through Remote Panels Incorporating real-time video image One user in control with unlimited observers

Process Control Lab VI – Front Panel

Video Image of Process Control Equipment

Front Panel and Video Image for First Order Response

Tank Level Image Close-up

Unsteady State Thermal Conductivity Lab

Thermal Conductivity VI – Front Panel

Video Image of Thermal Conductivity Equipment

Security and Access All laboratory instructions are on UND Blackboard All required downloads are available from Blackboard site or on CD All laboratory computers are on a Virtual Private Network (VPN) User computer must link to VPN, and supply authentication data Access to the virtual and real-time assignments is from Blackboard

ASSESSMENT Several of the labs were used remotely by on-campus groups in spring semester, 2005. DEDP students will use some of the labs in the summer, and in the fall HB Associates are assisting with the assessment process which involves survey and focus groups.

Acknowledgements This project is sponsored in part by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education. The authors would also like to acknowledge the technical associates, graduate students, and undergraduate students who contributed to the project.

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