Thinking Like an Engineer An Active Learning Approach

Thinking Like an Engineer: An Active Learning Approach, Third Edition, is specifically designed to utilize an active learning environment for first-year engineering courses.

MyEngineeringLab for Thinking Like an Engineer is a complete digital solution for your first-year engineering course. MyEngineeringLab is an online homework, tutorial, and assessment program that truly engages students as it offers customized, self-paced learning with instant feedback. Students will be prepared ahead of class, allowing you to spend class time focusing on active learning.

Teaching and Learning Experience

This program will provide a better teaching and learning experience—for you and your students. It will help:

• Personalize Learning: MyEngineeringLab provides students with a personalized interactive learning environment, where they can learn at their own pace and measure their progress.
• Encourage Guided Inquiry: To create meaningful learning experiences, in-class activities include collaborative problem solving, computer-based activities, and hands-on experiments.
• Reinforce and Expand on the Activities: Homework assignments and review sections help students conceptualize topics.
• Customize your Course: Content can be customized to match the topic organization in your course syllabi.
• Keep Your Course Current: Content is refreshed to provide the most up-to-date information for your course.

Elizabeth A. Stephan is the Director of the General Engineering Program at Clemson University.  She earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from The University of Akron.  During her undergraduate work, she completed a cooperative education experience with Dow Chemical in Midland, MI, conducted research on coal purification methods, and was named the College of Engineering Outstanding Senior.  After graduation, she was employed by Boride, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical in Traverse City, MI, specializing in high-performance ceramics.  She returned to The University of Akron on a College of Engineering Fellowship, earning her PhD in Chemical Engineering focusing on multiphase transport processes.  She has taught at The University of Akron and Wayne College, and served in several post-doctoral positions.  She joined the faculty at Clemson in January, 2002 in the General Engineering Program, assuming the role of Director in 2007.  Beth has served as a national official as a district director in Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, since 1996.  She is the chief advisor for the South Carolina Alpha Chapter of Tau Beta Pi, and an advisor for the Clemson chapter of Alpha Omega Epsilon, a professional sorority. 

David R. Bowman has been teaching in the General Engineering Program at Clemson University since January, 2006.  He earned his degrees from Clemson University, including a BS and MS in Computer Engineering and is currently pursuing a PhD.  A member of ASEE, David has experience in the design and development of software tools for engineering education research and pedagogy.  During his undergraduate and graduate work, David hosted All Screams Considered, an award winning radio show on WSBF-FM, whose name apes the popular NPR program All Things Considered.  In addition to broadcasting, David enjoys performing music on acoustic, electric, and bass guitars.

William J. Park is currently an associate professor in the Engineering and Science Education Department at Clemson University. Following a few years as a cattle farmer, he completed three degrees at Clemson University:  a BS in Ornamental Horticulture with a particular emphasis on xerophytic plants, an MS in Electrical Engineering focusing on electronic music synthesis, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering conducting research in electronic counter-counter measures. Bill is currently faculty advisor for a student team renovating a very large 1970’s vintage electronic organ, and is a moderately accomplished pianist.

Benjamin L. Sill is Alumni Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering, having retired in 2008 after 32 years at Clemson University. He earned a BS and MS from N.C. State University in Aerospace Engineering and a PhD from Virginia Tech in Aerospace and Ocean Engineering. Before he joined Clemson, Ben was employed by the Naval Ordnance Station, Indian Head, MD, and by Duke Power Company, Charlotte, NC. At Clemson, he was a founder of Clemson’s Wind Load Test Facility. Beginning in 1999 he served as the Director of Clemson’s General Engineering Program. In 2007, he helped establish a new Engineering and Science Education Department at Clemson, and served as its chair until his retirement.  He is the recipient of numerous teaching and research awards, including the prestigious Clemson Class of 1939 Award.  Outside the university, he gives numerous presentations with topics ranging from humorous to educational – including talks on ancient coins, old maps, wildflowers, houseplants, snakes, birds, and hurricanes. Ben has authored three bird books, has published technical articles on snakes, frogs, fish, volleyball, and bromeliads and has created and registered many new bromeliad hybrids.

Matthew W. Ohland is currently an associate professor of Engineering Education at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.  He earned a BS in Engineering and a BA in Religion from Swarthmore College, MS degrees in both Mechanical Engineering and Materials Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida. Matt was an NSF postdoctoral fellow for science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education and joined the faculty of General Engineering at Clemson University in 2001.  In 2006, he joined the faculty at Purdue University. He was the 2002-2006 National President of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society.  He currently serves as the Chair of the Educational Research and Methods division and an ABET Program Evaluator for the American Society of Engineering Education, on the Administrative Committee of the IEEE Education Society, and as the Chair of the Steering Committee of the IEEE Transactions on Learning Technology.

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xvii

 Part 1

 ENGINEERING ESSENTIALS 1

 ENGINEERING IS AN . . . ITCH! 3

 CHAPTER 1

 EVERYDAY ENGINEERING 6

 1.1 CHOOSING A CAREER 6

 1.2 CHOOSING ENGINEERING AS A CAREER 7

 1.3 NAE GRAND CHALLENGES FOR ENGINEERING 9

 1.4 CHOOSING A SPECIFIC ENGINEERING FIELD 12

 1.5 ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY–A RELATED FIELD 20

 1.6 GATHERING INFORMATION 22

 1.7 PURSUING STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES 25

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 36

 CHAPTER 2

 ETHICS 40

 2.1 ETHICAL DECISION MAKING 41

 2.2 PLAGIARISM 46

 2.3 ENGINEERING CREED 47

 2.4 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 48

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 50

 CHAPTER 3

 DESIGN AND TEAMWORK 57

 3.1 DESIGN 57

 3.2 DEFINING THE PROBLEM OR NEED 59

 3.3 CRITERIA: DEFINING WHAT IS IMPORTANT 60

 3.4 GENERATING IDEAS 61

 3.5 COMPARING DESIGNS AND MAKING DECISIONS 65

 3.6 PROTOTYPING AND TESTING 66

 3.7 SUSTAINABILITY 68

 3.8 WORKING IN TEAMS 70

 3.9 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: PERIOD ANALYSIS 76

 3.10 PROJECT TIMELINE 79

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 81

 MINI DESIGN PROJECTS 82

 CHAPTER 4

 ENGINEERING COMMUNICATION 86

 4.1 BASIC PRESENTATION SKILLS 87

 4.2 SAMPLE PRESENTATIONS 89

 4.3 BASIC TECHNICAL WRITING SKILLS 92

 4.4 COMMON TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION FORMATS 96

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 102

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 109

 CHAPTER 5

 ESTIMATION 114

 5.1 GENERAL HINTS FOR ESTIMATION 117

 5.2 ESTIMATION BY ANALOGY 119

 5.3 ESTIMATION BY AGGREGATION 119

 5.4 ESTIMATION BY UPPER AND LOWER BOUNDS 120

 5.5 ESTIMATION USING MODELING 121

 5.6 SIGNIFICANT FIGURES 121

 5.7 REASONABLENESS 125

 5.8 NOTATION 129

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 132

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 135

 CHAPTER 6

 SOLVEM 136

 6.1 DEFINING SOLVEM 136 

 6.2 REPRESENTING FINAL RESULTS 142

 6.3 AVOIDING COMMON MISTAKES 143

 6.4 EXAMPLES OF SOLVEM 143

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 146

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 149

 Part 2

 UBIQUITOUS UNITS 151

 CHAPTER 7

 FUNDAMENTAL DIMENSIONS

 AND BASE UNITS 153

 7.1 THE METRIC SYSTEM 154

 7.2 OTHER UNIT SYSTEMS 157

 7.3 CONVERSION PROCEDURE FOR UNITS 158

 7.4 CONVERSIONS INVOLVING MULTIPLE STEPS 161

 7.5 CONVERSIONS INVOLVING “NEW” UNITS 165

 7.6 DERIVED DIMENSIONS AND UNITS 167

 7.7 EQUATION LAWS 171

 7.8 CONVERSION INVOLVING EQUATIONS 174

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 177

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 182

 CHAPTER 8

 UNIVERSAL UNITS 188

 8.1 FORCE 188

 8.2 WEIGHT 191

 8.3 DENSITY 193

 8.4 AMOUNT 197

 8.5 TEMPERATURE 201

 8.6 PRESSURE 204

 8.7 GAS PRESSURE 209

 8.8 ENERGY 211

 8.9 POWER 215

 8.10 EFFICIENCY 217

 8.11 ELECTRICAL CONCEPTS 222

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 232

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 242

 CHAPTER 9

 DIMENSIONLESS NUMBERS 248

 9.1 CONSTANTS WITH UNITS 248

 9.2 COMMON DIMENSIONLESS NUMBERS 251

 9.3 DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS 254

 9.4 RAYLEIGH’S METHOD 257

 IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES 266

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 270

 Part 3

 SCRUPULOUS

 WORKSHEETS 275 TIME MANAGEMENT 277

 CHAPTER 10

 EXCEL WORKBOOKS 280

 10.1 CELL REFERENCES 281

 10.2 FUNCTIONS IN EXCEL 284

 10.3 LOGIC AND CONDITIONALS 292

 10.4 LOOKUP AND DATA VALIDATION 300

 10.5 CONDITIONAL FORMATTING 305

 10.6 SORTING AND FILTERS 308

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 315

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 329

 CHAPTER 11

 GRAPHICAL SOLUTIONS 342

 11.1 GRAPHING TERMINOLOGY 342

 11.2 PROPER PLOTS 343

 11.3 AVAILABLE GRAPH TYPES IN EXCEL 350

 11.4 GRAPH INTERPRETATION 353

 11.5 MEANING OF LINE SHAPES 357

 11.6 GRAPHICAL SOLUTIONS 362

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 370

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 381

 CHAPTER 12

 MODELS AND SYSTEMS 393

 12.1 LINEAR FUNCTIONS 395

 12.2 LINEAR RELATIONSHIPS 398

 12.3 POWER FUNCTIONS 413

 12.4 EXPONENTIAL FUNCTIONS 417

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 422

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 432

 CHAPTER 13

 MATHEMATICAL MODELS 445

 13.1 SELECTING A TRENDLINE TYPE 446

 13.2 INTERPRETING LOGARITHMIC GRAPHS 454

 13.3 CONVERTING SCALES TO LOG IN EXCEL 459

 13.4 DEALING WITH LIMITATIONS OF EXCEL 460

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 466

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 476

 CHAPTER 14

 STATISTICS 483

 14.1 HISTOGRAMS 484

 14.2 STATISTICAL BEHAVIOR 487

 14.3 DISTRIBUTIONS 490

 14.4 CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS 496

 14.5 STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL (SPC) 499

 14.6 STATISTICS IN EXCEL 504

 14.7 STATISTICS IN MATLAB 509

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 514

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 523

 Part 4

 PUNCTILIOUS

 PROGRAMMING 525 SOME ADVANTAGES OF COMPUTERS 526

 CHAPTER 15

 ALGORITHMS 528

 15.1 SCOPE 528

 15.2 WRITTEN ALGORITHMS 530

 15.3 GRAPHICAL ALGORITHMS 532

 15.4 ALGORITHM BEST PRACTICES 537

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 544

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 547

 CHAPTER 16

 MATLAB VARIABLES AND DATA TYPES 550

 16.1 VARIABLE BASICS 551

 16.2 NUMERIC TYPES AND SCALARS 553

 16.3 VECTORS 557

 16.4 MATRICES 566

 16.5 CHARACTER STRINGS 574

 16.6 CELL ARRAYS 577

 16.7 STRUCTURE ARRAYS 584

 16.8 SAVING AND RESTORING VALUES 587

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 589

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 593

 CHAPTER 17

 PROGRAMS AND FUNCTIONS 596

 17.1 PROGRAMS 596

 17.2 FUNCTIONS 606

 17.3 DEBUGGING MATLAB CODE 612

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 615

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 621

 CHAPTER 18

 INPUT/OUTPUT IN MATLAB 627

 18.1 INPUT 627

 18.2 OUTPUT 633

 18.3 PLOTTING 637

 18.4 POLYFIT 644

 18.5 MICROSOFT EXCEL I/O 650

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 655

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 664

 CHAPTER 19

 LOGIC AND CONDITIONALS 673

 19.1 RELATIONAL AND LOGICAL OPERATORS 674

 19.2 LOGICAL VARIABLES 676

 19.3 CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS IN MATLAB 682

 19.4 switch STATEMENTS 686

 19.5 ERRORS AND WARNINGS 689

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 692

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 699

 CHAPTER 20

 LOOPING STRUCTURES 709

 20.1 for LOOPS 709

 20.2 while LOOPS 719

 20.3 APPLICATION OF LOOPS: GUI 723

 IN CLASS ACTIVITIES 735

 REVIEW QUESTIONS 744

 COMPREHENSION CHECK ANSWERS 755

 INDEX 772

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