PDF1. ABET (a)-(k) Program Outcomes
The Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) is the recognized accreditation agency for colleges and university programs in the field of applied sciences, computing, engineering and technology to ensure the quality of postsecondary education that students receive. It consists of 30 professional and technical societies from these areas and is recognized by the Council of Higher Education Accreditation.
With respect to ensuring the quality of engineering education, ABET stresses program outcomes (Criterion 6 2005-06 EAC, ABET) and specifies that engineering programs must demonstrate that their students attain 11 objectives as listed in Table 1.
Table 1. ABET (a)-(k) Program Outcomes (www.abet.org)
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(a) |
An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science and engineering |
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(b) |
An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data |
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(c) |
An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability and sustainability |
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(d) |
An ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams |
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(e) |
An ability to identify, formulate and solve engineering problems |
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(f) |
An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility |
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(g) |
An ability to communicate effectively |
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(h) |
The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental and societal context |
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(i) |
A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning |
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(j) |
A knowledge of contemporary issues |
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(k) |
An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice |
It is worth noting that while objectives (f), (g), (h), (i) and (j) focus on overall development of the student through the engineering program, objectives (a), (b), (c), (d), (e)and (k) focus specifically on experiential, hands-on learning and use of tools that are industry standard. The motivation behind this is to create an environment where students learn to apply the theory they learn to real-world problems and work with real-world tools that are industry-standard so that when they enter the industry, they are prepared to contribute to the success of the company.
One of the ways that we can satisfy the objectives (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (k) is to find a platform that
- Can span across multiple disciples and classes
- Is simple, intuitive and easy-to-learn and teach
- Is an industry-standard
- Can connect to real-world signals using state-of-the-art and industry-standard hardware
- Can enable students to design, prototype and deploy systems to solve real-world problems
2. #1: LabVIEW is a versatile Simulation Environment
NI LabVIEW, the industry-standard software for measurements and instrument control is a completely graphical programming platform. Figure 1 shows a typical LabVIEW program. We have results from research that the graphical nature of LabVIEW enables engineering students to learn programming faster than with traditional text-based programming languages[Research by Dr. Mark Yoder, Rose Hulman Institute of Technology]. The block diagram in LabVIEW looks similar to flow diagrams that are used to teach engineering concepts to the students, which leads to a more intuitive transition from these concepts to programming.
Figure 1. A Typical LabVIEW Program
LabVIEW includes thousands of pre-built function blocks including functions for measurements and instrument control control & simulation, signal and image processing, communication system design and embedded programming(figure 2). With the combination of these function blocks, students can now:
- design and simulate test and measurement systems,
- construct and validate circuits with tight integration with NI Multisim,
- create sophisticated control systems and perform system identification
- perform extensive signal processing
- implement complex image processing algorithms
- build and test custom modulation/communication schemes
Figure 2. LabVIEW - A Multidisciplinary Graphical Programming Language
The power of LabVIEW’s user interface allows you to create in-class demos of the concepts you teach. These in-class demos allow the students to change parameters dynamically and see what happens to the system as a result of their changes at run-time. This gives the students an intuitive understanding of the math that they are learning in class. Let us take a look at a couple of examples.
Figure 3 shows a classic example from a typical controls class – the mass-spring-damper system to teach 2nd order systems in undergraduate engineering. With new tools like LabVIEW, you can take advantage of concepts such as the 3D Picture Toolkit which enables creation of three dimensional models that have inputs that dictate their run-time behavior, providing a visual representation to the mathematical equations.
In addition to the 3D model of the mass-spring-damper, LabVIEW enables you to use graphs, charts and other interactive UI elements to drive home the math behind the concepts and help students visualize theory. LabVIEW also handles multiple solvers thus enabling you to show the effect of different solvers. We used the Runge-Kutte 1 solver for this simulation.
Video 1 illustrates another example where the LabVIEW Graphical Programming Environment is used very effectively to teach concepts. In this case, we design an FM Radio using LabVIEW and the Modulation toolkit. This will be replaced by the Youtube version of FM Radio
3. #2: Seamless integration with hardware to design experiments
As shown in the previous example, simulation is only part of the equation. To completely understand the concepts, students need to build systems that interact with real-world signals. While other solutions require that the student to rewrite their simulation example to run with different hardware, LabVIEW provides a seamless transition from simulation to real-world hardware with minimal changes to the simulation program.
NI provides flexible and robust hardware that can be used in conjunction with LabVIEW to design and test simple experiments with a multi-instrument suite like the NI Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (ELVIS) [Resources for NI ELVIS] or conduct research with the industry-standard PXI modular instrumentation[Resources for PXI] and FPGA-based deployment targets such as the NI CompactRIO[Resources for CompactRIO ].
Figure 4 shows a multi-disciplinary teaching platform that is increasingly being used in classroom settings – NI ELVIS. Available with USB plug-and-play connectivity NI ELVIS consists of the 12 most commonly used laboratory instruments such as an oscilloscope, DMM, arbitrary waveform generator, 2-wire and 3-wire current analyzers, bode analyzer etc.
Figure 4. The NI ELVIS Educational Platform
Several other industry-standard companies make boards that plug into the NI ELVIS making it a versatile platform that can be used in several different classes. Figure 5 shows all the different companion boards available for the NI ELVIS today.
- Quiet, compact, modular 4/8/18-slot chassis for flexible lab instrumentation
- An Embedded Controller (up to Intel Dual Core Processors) capable of running windows or real-time for PXI
- PXI and CompactPCI specifications compliance
- Integrated timing and synchronization in the backplane
- Rugged, laboratory-friendly construction
- A complete set of modular instruments (Oscilloscopes, DMMs, ARBs etc) [Learn more]
Research also involves embedded prototyping and deployment. Figure 7 shows an FPGA-based platform, NI CompactRIO that is ideal for senior design projects and research. CompactRIO consists of a backplane with an FPGA and a real-time controller and includes signal conditioning such as sensors can directly be connected. CompactRIO is an embedded platform, which means that it can be deployed safely to create free-standing design examples.
5. #4: Capability to solve real-world engineering problems
A key requirement for ABET accreditation is the ability to solve real-world engineering problems. Due to the limitation of traditional tools, it was difficult to go from theory to deployment in a semester. With new tools like LabVIEW and CompactRIO, we can now teach student to learn the theory, simulate, design, prototype and deploy systems.
A very good example of this is a control design project done by the students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where the objective for the students was to build a human object transport vehicle(HOT-V). Video 3 shows a demonstration of this project.
The students went through the entire design process - theory, simulation, design, prototyping and deployment in a semester from start to finish. This was possible because the students did not have to rewrite their entire application after simulation. Also because they used LabVIEW, they did not have to rewrite their application to scale the system from the light object transport vehicle to the human object transport vehicle. This saved them enormous amount of time and led to a successful project.
6. #5: LabVIEW is an Industry-standard platform
Since its introduction in 1986, LabVIEW has become the industry standard tool for measurement and control applications. With over 25000 industrial users, LabVIEW has been used in different kinds of applications from industrial automation to teaching concepts in schools.
LabVIEW is also being used in different avenues in high-school classrooms. LabVIEW is the software that powers LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT kit. It is also used as the software of choice with the Infinity Project, a high school technology program from Southern Methodist University.
With its roots in test and measurement, LabVIEW is used to design, control and test consumer products and systems such as MP3 and DVD players, cell phones and vehicle air bag safety systems. Applications include helping to control the NASA Mars Pathfinder exploration to testing the Microsoft Xbox gaming consoles. LabVIEW is an open platform that has enabled an ecosystem to be developed including
- More than 1,500 drivers for benchtop instruments from the Instrument Driver Network
- A discussion forum where LabVIEW users interact and get support from other LabVIEW users
- A dedicated developer zone to download and upload examples
- A dedicated Academic section for resources for teaching and research
- Training and certification resources to provide continual development for engineers and scientist
Conclusion
NI LabVIEW is a platform that can be used to teach engineering concepts in a hands-on, experiential manner using industry-standard hardware to bring in real-world signals. In addition, LabVIEW is an open platform that enables us to interface with other tools used in academia. Because LabVIEW is scalable from simulation to running on hardware with minimal changes, we can now help students solve real-world problems. These are some of the benefits that LabVIEW provides to help with ABET accreditation.
