Paper ID #23734
Implementation of an Innovation and Entrepreneur Mindset Concept intoMechanics of Materials Course
Dr. Javad Baqersad P.E., Kettering UniversityProf. Yaomin Dong, Kettering University
Dr. Yaomin Dong is Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Kettering University. He received his Ph.D.in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Kentucky in 1998. Dr. Dong has extensive R&D expe-rience in automotive industry and holds multiple patents. Dr. Dong’s areas of expertise include metal-forming processes, design with composite materials, computer graphics, computer-aided engineering andfinite element analysis.
Prof. Arnaldo Mazzei, Kettering University
Dr. Arnaldo Mazzei is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Kettering University. He specializesin dynamics and vibrations of mechanical systems and has conducted research in stability of automotivedrivetrains, modal analysis, finite element analysis and computer aided engineering. His current workrelates to system vibrations and automotive engineering. Dr. Mazzei received his Ph. D. in MechanicalEngineering from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and both his M. Sc. and B. Sc. in MechanicalEngineering from the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil). He is an active member of SAE and SEM.
Dr. Azadeh Sheidaei, Iowa State University
Azadeh Sheidaei received her BSc in Aerospace Engineering from Sharif University of Technology andMSc and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University. Before joining IowaState University, she was an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Kettering University inMichigan. Sheidaei’s main research area is ”multiscale characterization and computational modeling ofadvanced material systems such as polymer reinforced composites”. During her graduate study at MSU(2007-2015), she worked at Composite Vehicle Research Center (CVRC) where she worked on numerousresearch and industrial projects. Those span over the areas of structural integrity of composites, develop-ment of constitutive models and computational tools to predict the mechanical behavior of novel materialssuch as nanocomposites, computational modeling of soft tissue and power sources such as lithium-ionbattery and fuel cells. Sheidaei is a member of the American Society for Composite (ASC), Society forEngineering Education (ASEE), Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and Society of Women Engi-neers (SWE). Sheidaei has received several research and educational grants from NSF, CAAT (Center forAdvanced Automotive Technology) and KEEN (The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network). Shei-daei is a recipient of the Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship, which is presented to womenpursuing a doctoral degree who demonstrate a superior academic record in the field of aerospace-relatedsciences and engineering. She has also received dissertation competition award while being selected asthe outstanding graduate student by the ME Department at Michigan State University.
Dr. Basem Alzahabi, Alghurair University
Dr. Basem Alzahabi became the second President of Al Ghurair in July 2017.
Dr. Alzahabi came from Kettering University in the United States of America where he
was a Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department and served as the Director
of the Office of International Programs (2011-2017), an Associate Department Head
(2010-2012), and a Director of the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Program(2004-2006).
Dr. Alzahabi attended advanced training in Higher Education Leadership &
Management at Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2012 and 2015.
At Kettering University, Dr. Alzahabi provided significant and vital institutional and
departmental leadership related to curriculum development, improvement, and assessment.
c©American Society for Engineering Education, 2018
Paper ID #23734
These contributions were critical to Kettering receiving consecutive 6-year accreditation
NGR (Next General review) ratings in two ABET reviews visits in 2003 and in 2009.
Dr. Alzahabi is a highly recognized educator who won numerous educational awards.
They include the ”Educational Scholar” award, the ”Professor of Excellence” award,
the ”Professor of the Year” award, and the Greek Life ”Faculty Advisor of the Year”.
In addition to his teaching excellence and extensive departmental and institutional
leadership roles, Dr. Alzahabi maintained a high level of technical research activities
and industrial consulting that resulted in $1,500,000 of external funding and 45
technical and educational publications. He is a member of the Editorial Board of
the International Journal of Multiphysics since 2012.
Nationally, Dr. Alzahabi served as a reviewer for the National Science Foundation
”Assessment of Student Achievement” (ASA) Program proposals in 2001 and 2002 and
attended multiple national conferences and workshops on curriculum development,
assessment, and ABET Accreditation.
Internationally, Dr. Alzahabi participated in collaborative research and educational
activities with multiple international institutions, including the Technical University
of Belfort, France (1999), Wessex Institute of Technology, England (2004), Alhosn
University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (2010), Balamand University, Tripoli,
Lebanon (2010), the University of Maribor, Slovenia (2005 and 2013), the University of
Modern Sciences, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (2013), and The University of the Arctic, Tromso, Nor-way (2017).
Dr. Alzahabi conducted technical training to the automotive industry in the United
States (General Motors, 2003-2006), South Korea (Hyundai, 2000-2001), and most
recently in China (SGMW, 2014-2017).
Before joining Kettering University in 1998, Dr. Basem Alzahabi had 11 years of
extensive industrial experience in the automotive industry at the Ford Motor Company,
Optimal CAE Inc., Novi, MI, and Automated Analysis Corporation, Ann Arbor, MI.
Dr. Alzahabi holds three graduate degrees from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor:
a Ph.D. in Structural Mechanics (1996), a M.S. in Applied Mechanics (1988), and
a M.S. in Structural Engineering (1986).
He obtained his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering in 1981 from the University of Damascus.
President Alzahabi along with the AGU Board of Trustees is developing a very ambitious vision for thefuture of the institution.
He hopes to lead AGU into a remarkable academic and physical transformation.
Dr. Alzahabi and his wife, Sana, recently moved to Dubai.
They have four adult children, Rasha, Reem, Majed, and Ahmad, who all live in the United States.
Dr. Alzahabi enjoys reading, sports, and traveling. Expect to see him teaching in the classroom.
c©American Society for Engineering Education, 2018
Implementation of an Innovation and Entrepreneur Mindset
Concept into Mechanics of Materials Course
Abstract
Mechanics of Materials is a fundamental course which mechanical engineering students need to
take to fulfill the requirements of their program. Usually, the course is offered based on the
traditional textbook approach. The material in the textbook is presented in the class and students
are required to work on problems in the textbook as part of the course assignment. As instructors
of this course, the authors have observed that many students are not successful in the course
because they do not appreciate the real-world applications of the course. Many students believe
concepts in this course are over-simplified and may not have real-world applications. As part of
a Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network (KEEN) project, we propose using a real-world
structure (wind turbine) to show the applications of the theory in this course. In this project,
students need to use concepts they have learned in the Mechanics of Materials course to analyze
a utility-scale wind turbine. Students also learn how to integrate and use their engineering
knowledge from other subjects such as physics, CAD, statics, electrical engineering, and fluid
mechanics to solve real-world problems. This is an open-ended problem and challenges the
students to search and use innovative ideas to optimize the designs. The final part of the project
asks students to calculate how the optimized design of the structure can economically impact the
overall cost of the wind turbine. The results of a survey taken from the students in this course
show that students appreciate the concept materials better when they see the real-world
application of the subject.
1. Introduction
The Mechanics of Materials is a required fundamental course in many programs such as
Mechanical, Industrial, Civil, Chemical, Physics, and Electrical Engineering. It is commonly a
“gatekeeper” course, whereby students may exit the engineering major path if they do not do
well academically. The course is generally considered “difficult” because the content and
terminology are new to students. The main objective of this course is to teach students how to
analyze a structure subjected to loading and how to identify and characterize critical locations on
a component with higher stress values. The stress and strain calculations will also be used in
other courses such as Machine Design.
Currently, there are several challenges to the current course offering:
One of the challenges we currently face in this course is that for any given concept,
students can only solve a problem if it is clearly presented in a textbook style. Students
fail to connect the course concepts to real-world applications.
Most of the subjects (tensile, torsion, shear, and bending stresses) presented in this course
are applied to beams and shafts. Students believe these theories do not have any practical
applications due to their simplistic nature. With the current course module, students do
not realize that many structures can indeed be modeled as beams with high accuracy.
Furthermore, they do not realize the connection between this course and other courses
they study throughout their programs such as fluid mechanics, electrical engineering,
material science, and physics. They do not realize how the course that they take are
interconnected. It is never considered that the distributed load can be in the form of a
wind gust applied on a turbine blade.
The economic impact of the subject has not been revealed for the students. The course
should contain modules to emphasize that this course can help to create value and make
the designs more cost-efficient.
To prepare the students to apply their knowledge in real-world problems, an entrepreneurship
module will be added to the current course materials. The students will be asked to analyze and
optimize a wind turbine structure.
Current Course Information
There are nine topics covered in the current course of Mechanics of Materials:
Review of Statics: Internal Forces
Concept of Stress and Strain
Axial Loading
Torsion
Pure Bending
Analysis of Beams for Bending
Shearing Stresses in Beams and Thin-Walled Members
Stress Transformation, Principal Stresses and Failure Theories
Deflection of Beams
The course learning objectives (CLOs) are as follow. By the end of this course, students can
Apply the principles of Statics to determine the forces and moments on load carrying
members.
Analyze the stresses in load carrying members due to axial forces, bearing forces,
torsional moments, bending moments and shear forces.
Analyze the combined stresses in load carrying members due to axial forces, torsional
moments, and bending moments acting together.
Determine the principal stress at a point in a structure
Determine the deflection of load carrying members due to axial loads, torsional moments
and bending moments.
Calculate the Euler’s buckling load of straight columns with different end conditions.
Apply the principles learned from the objectives 1 through 6 to perform basic analysis
and sizing of different structural members.
2. Project: Stress Analysis of a Wind Turbine
This project aims to show the practical applications of Mechanics of Material. In this project, a
wind turbine system is analyzed, and the stress values in different components are calculated. An
optimization process and a cost analysis for a wind turbine will also be performed. The following
sections of the current paper provide a summary of the project.
Introduction
As a result of continued industrial development and population expansion, global demands for
sustainable energy have steadily increased. Wind energy is known as a promising source of clean
and renewable energy that helps to offset greenhouse gas emissions. Wind turbines have grown
significantly in size as the need for more consumable energy increases and these machines are
predicted to continue to grow in the decades to come (Figure 1). However, as the size of these
machines scales to meet energy demands, wind turbines are subjected to a combination of
increased static and dynamic loading that has an impact on their performance, efficiency, and
reliability [1]. Modeling wind turbines using beams is widely used by engineers in the wind
industry. There are software programs developed by research institutes that use beam elements
for structural analysis of wind turbines (BModes, and DYMORE) [2-4]. This project
demonstrates how a real-world structure can be analyzed using the equations presented in
Mechanics of Materials.
Major Components of a Wind Turbine
Figure 1 shows a schematic of the components of a wind turbine. The function of each
component in the wind turbine is described below.
Figure 1 A schematic of wind turbine components [5]
A summary about all components of the wind turbine is included in the project for students in
this section, but is not presented in this paper due to the space limitations.
Wind Turbine Operation
The wind rotates the blades connected to the gearbox. The gearbox converts the rotation of the
rotor into high-speed motion for the electrical generator. An exciter is needed to give the
required excitation to the coil to generate the required voltage. The exciter current is controlled
by a turbine controller which senses the wind speed based on which it calculates the power we
can achieve at that wind speed. Then the output voltage of the electrical generator is given to a
rectifier and the rectifier output is given to a line converter unit which stabilizes the output AC
that is feed to the grid by a high voltage transformer. An extra unit called Internal Supply Unit
(ISU) is used to power the internal auxiliaries of the wind turbine (Example: Battery, Motor,
etc.). ISU takes power from the wind as well as the grid.
For this project, we will use a sample wind turbine from General Electric (GE's 3.2-3.8 MW
Platform). The specification of the turbine is summarized in Table 1. More information can be
found about this wind turbines using the link below.
https://www.gerenewableenergy.com/wind-energy/turbines.html
To gain a better understanding of wind turbine operation, you can watch the following videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSWm_nprfqE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNXTm7aHvWc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vj6GwVhQT0
Table 1 – Specification of the sample wind turbine
Turbine Model GE's 3.2-3.8 MW Platform
Wind Speed 15 m/s
Hub Height 110 m
Tower Type Tubular
Tower Mass 275,000 Kg
Frequency 60 Hz
Tip Height 167 m
Blade length 57 m
Number of Blades 3
Blade Mass 8,550 Kg
Rotor Mass (including the blades) 98,000 Kg
Rotor Location Upwind
Swept Area 10,201.86 m2
Rotation Speed 10.5 rpm
Nacelle Mass 138,000 Kg
Gearbox Ratio 1:120
Number of generator poles 4
Rated Power 3.2 MW
Numerical Problems based on the forces acting on the wind turbine
1. The first part of the project is to find the static compressive axial stress in the tower of the
wind turbine. The tower is subjected to compressive stress due to the weight of the nacelle and
rotor (assume Young’s Modulus = 200 GPa for the tower).
a. Calculate the axial compression stress at the top of the tower of the wind turbine due to
the static weight of the rotor and nacelle. The tower is circular with the outer diameter of 3.4m and
inner diameter of 2.8m (see Figure 2).
b. Calculate the compressive stress at the bottom of the tower
due to the weight of the rotor, nacelle, and the tower itself.
c. Calculate the deformation in the tower. Note that the force
on each section of the tower is different because the weight of the
tower above it is added to each section. Thus, use a small element
with the height of “dy” to calculate the deformation of each section
and integrate it to calculate the overall deformation.
2. In this part of the project, the static forces in the bearings
supporting the wind turbine shaft are being found and will be used
to calculate the bearing stress in them. Figure 3 shows the two
bearings that are used to support the main shaft.
Figure 2. A schematic of a wind turbine tower
Figure 3. Wind turbine Drivetrain (components in the nacelle) [6]
a. The main shaft (low-speed shaft connected to the rotor) can be considered as a simply
supported beam with overhanging length on one side. Consider the static weight of the
rotor acting on the shaft. Calculate the reactions at bearings A and B (see Figure 4).
Figure 4. A schematic of a wind turbine main shaft
b. The reaction forces of the bearings calculated in the previous question, induce bearing
stress between the shaft and the bearing. Consider the shaft has a diameter of 0.8m and
the width of the bearings are 195mm, calculate the bearing stresses in each of the
bearings (see Figure 5).
Figure 5. A schematic of a wind turbine main shaft and bearings
c. The bearing is supported on a collar. If the outer diameter of the bearing is 3.2m,
calculate the bearing stress between the collar and the bearing.
3. In this section, the compression stress in the main shaft due to aerodynamic force needs to be
calculated. The aerodynamic force is consisted of: Lift and Drag. The definition of lift and drag
forces for a sample airfoil is shown in Figure 6. The lift force is the main force that rotates the
blade.
Figure 6. Lift and drag forces for a sample airfoil and a schematic of how the lift can rotate the
blades of the turbine [7].
a. Calculate the drag force acting on the blades of the wind turbine considering the length of
the blade as 57m. Use the equation below.
𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑔 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 (𝐹𝑑) = 0.5 𝜌𝑣2𝐶𝑑𝐴
ρ – Density of Air = 1.225 Kg/m3
v – Wind Speed = 15m/s
Cd – Drag Coefficient = 0.58
A – Swept Area = πr2, where “r” is the radius of the blades.
b. Calculate the compressive stress in the main shaft of the wind turbine due to the axial
force generated by drag (Figure 7).
Figure 7. A schematic of wind turbine blades and the shaft
4. In this section, the torsion stress in the shafts needs to be calculated.
a. The turbine generates 3.2MW of power. If the turbine is rotating with a speed of 10.5
rpm and generating full power (3.2 MW), calculate the torque in the main shaft. Calculate
the torsional stress in the main shaft. The shaft is 8m. (Assume Shear Modulus = 79GPa)
b. Calculate the twist angle of the 8m-long low-speed shaft connecting the rotor to the
gearbox (see Figure 8)
c. Calculate the torsional stress and twist angle in the high-speed shaft connecting the
gearbox to the generator if the gearbox ratio is 1:120. The shaft is 6m. (Assume Shear
Modulus = 79GPa).
d. Calculate the twist angle of the rotor with respect to the generator.
Figure 8. A schematic of the low-speed shaft (connected to the rotor) and high-speed shaft
(connected to the generator)
5. Qualifying and certifying blades is an important part of the design process to verify structural
integrity as well as fatigue life (Figure 9). In this process, the blade is supported in a
cantilevered condition and is subjected to static and fatigue loads.
Figure 9. A wind turbine blade tested in a cantilevered condition (Massachusetts Wind Turbine
Testing Center).
Beam modeling is widely used in the analysis of wind turbine blades. To simplify the structural
analysis of wind turbine blades, engineers usually divide the blade to different sections. In this
analysis, the entire blade is constructed of a limited number of beams with constant sections (the
more sections, the more accurate model), as shown in Figure 10.
Figure 10. Cross-sections of a wind turbine blade
Figure 11 shows the coordinate system used to describe the cross-section properties of a wind
turbine blade. The cross-section properties of the sample wind turbine blade in different sections
are shown in Table 2.
Figure 11. Coordinate system used to describe the blade dimensions [10]
Table 2 – Beam Cross-section properties
Distance from the root (m)
A (m2) Qx(m3) Qy(m3^3) Ixx(m4) Iyy(m4) Xmax(m) Ymax(m)
1 0.07 0.0112 0.0112 1.45 1.47 0.16 0.16
5 0.08 0.0168 0.0096 1.43 1.97 0.21 0.12
10 0.06 0.0108 0.003 1.37 1.37 0.18 0.05
15 0.04 0.0056 0.0004 4.13 4.14 0.14 0.01
20 0.03 0.0042 -0.00024 6.78 6.79 0.14 -0.008
25 0.02 0.0014 -0.0004 8.96 8.96 0.07 -0.02
30 0.01 0.0004 -0.0003 10.69 10.69 0.04 -0.03
35 0.01 0.0002 -0.0003 12.18 12.18 0.02 -0.03
40 0.01 0.0001 -0.0003 13.24 13.24 0.01 -0.03
45 0.009 0.000009
-0.00027 14.14 14.14 0.001 -0.03
55 0.007 -0.00007 -0.00021 15.04 15.04 -0.01 -0.03
A pluck test is performed on the blade as part of the certification process. For this measurement,
using a saddle a concentrated force will be applied to a section of the blade (F = 2.53 MN).
If the load is applied to the 20m length of the blade, determine the maximum stress in the 1-
meter section of the blade (Figure 12).
Figure 12. Coordinate system used to describe the blade dimensions
F = 2.53MN
a. Determine the maximum stress in the 5m section of the
blade caused by the concentrated force acting at 20m
from the root.
6. In this part of the project, the bending in the wind turbine
tower due to the drag force is calculated.
a. The drag force acting on the wind turbine blade causes
bending stress in the tower of the wind turbine (see
Figure 13). Find the maximum and minimum bending
stress in the tower. The distance between the center of
the wind turbine and the top of the tower is 2 meters.
b. Calculate the lateral deflection of the tip of the tower
due to the drag force. (Assume Young’s Modulus = 200GPa).
7. In this section, we calculate the shear stress in the
tower.
a. Calculate the shear stress in the tower of the
wind turbine due to drag force at the 2 points
marked in red (points A and B). A is located in
front of the wind turbine and B is on the side
section (see Figure 14).
a. Calculate the overall stress at
points A and B located at the root of the
wind turbine tower due to axial, bending,
and shear stress. Draw the stress elements
for both points.
b. Draw the Mohr’s circle and find
the principal stresses for them (optional).
8. Considering the type of stress applied to the tower,
propose an optimized cross section and best design for
the tower (e.g if it should be circular or rectangular,
what should be the diameters?, should it be constant
cross-section?, or what is the best material?). This is
an open-ended question, try to elaborate on this part.
9. Perform a cost analysis of a wind turbine and estimate the final price of a 3.2MW wind
turbine based on its components. Prepare a table, show the material that each component is made
of and estimate how much each component costs.
Figure 13. A schematic of wind turbine tower and
nacelle
Figure 14.A schematic of wind turbine tower and nacelle and showing points A and B that the stress needs to be calculated at
3. Survey results
A preliminary assessment of the approach was conducted in the Mechanics of Materials class
during the summer semester of 2017. The survey contained questions aiming to gauge students’
overall opinion of the course with the use of the project. The answers to the questions were as
follows: Strongly Disagree, Somewhat Disagree, Neutral, Somewhat Agree, and Strongly Agree.
The results are shown in Appendix I and are also summarized below in a series of pie-charts. The
charts include the survey questions and the percentages of responses.
This paper introduces a real-world project to this course to improve the entrepreneurial mindset
set in the students. The entrepreneurially mindset leering helps students to be able to apply creative
thinking, integrate material from different subjects, collaborate in a team, and foster curiosity in
their work [18]. The other KEEN objectives include: effective communication, creativity,
innovation, critical thinking, and considering economic impacts [19-22].
It is seen that overall results are very promising and warrant further exploration and use of the
approach. The results show that students appreciate the fact that they will be able to analyze real
world problems and apply entrepreneurial skills (KEEN objective).
Conclusions
The project
References
I am able to apply the principles to determine the forces and moments on load carrying
members.
Strongly DisagreeSomewhat DisagreeNeutralSomewhat AgreeStrongly Agree
I am able to analyze the stresses load carrying members due to
axial forces,bearing forces, and shear forces.
Strongly DisagreeSomewhat DisagreeNeutralSomewhat AgreeStrongly Agree
I am able to analyze the stresses in members subjected to bending
moments.
Strongly Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Neutral
Somewhat Agree
Strongly Agree
I am able to analyze the combined stresses in load carrying members
due to axial forces, torsional moments, and bending moments
acting together.Strongly Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Neutral
Somewhat Agree
Strongly Agree
I am able to identify proper assumptions to solve real world
problem.
Strongly Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Neutral
Somewhat Agree
Strongly Agree
I am able to realize the connection between this course
and other courses in my program (e.g. fluid mechanics, electrical …
Strongly Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Neutral
Somewhat Agree
Strongly Agree
When trying to find a solution for a problem, I don't care how it
works as long as it works.
Strongly Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Neutral
Somewhat Agree
Strongly Agree
I get discouraged when my solution fails.
Strongly DisagreeSomewhat DisagreeNeutralSomewhat AgreeStrongly Agree
I am able to effectively present the results of my analysis.
Strongly Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Neutral
Somewhat Agree
Strongly Agree
I ask relevant questions to clarify situations and gain new
knowledge.
StronglyDisagree
SomewhatDisagree
Neutral
I am able to independently gain new information from various
sources.
Strongly Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Neutral
Somewhat Agree
Strongly Agree
I accept responsibility for my actions and the work I produce.
Strongly Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Neutral
Somewhat Agree
Strongly Agree
I am a creative person.
Strongly Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Neutral
Somewhat Agree
Strongly Agree
I see how problem identification and solving builds
entrepreneurial skills.
Strongly Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Neutral
Somewhat Agree
Strongly Agree
4. Future research
The authors, in collaboration with other instructors in the Mechanical Department, will continue
to assess student interest in improving and adopting the project. Some questions may be replaced
with better mechanics models. The level of student engagement will be measured by conducting
new surveys.
5. Conclusions
As part of a Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network (KEEN) project, a real-world structure of
wind turbine as a course project has been developed and integrated to show the applications of
the theory in Mechanics of Materials. This project includes all the major components of a utility-
scale wind turbine. Students need to use concepts and theory that they have learned in the
Mechanics of Materials course to analyze and calculate how the optimized design of the structure
can economically impact the overall cost of the wind turbine. The results of a survey taken from
the students in this course showed that students appreciated the concept materials better when
they see the real-world application of the subject. The work on this project has concluded and so
far only one instructor has provided initial feedback. Student reactions to the assignment have
been generally positive. The authors will use results of future surveys to assess the success of
this project and to improve student engagement.
I am able to analyze a real-world problem using the information I
gained in this course.
Strongly Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Neutral
Somewhat Agree
Strongly Agree
It is clear to me that teamwork skills are
crucial to my …
StronglyDisagree
SomewhatDisagree
I contribute an equal share in team-based activities.
Strongly Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Neutral
Somewhat Agree
Strongly Agree
I collaborate well with others to develop appropriate solutions to
problems.
Strongly Disagree
Somewhat Disagree
Neutral
Somewhat Agree
Strongly Agree
Acknowledgments
The research presented in this paper is partly supported by the Kern Family Foundation grant
entitled “Implementation of Innovation and Entrepreneur Mindset Concept into Mechanics of
Materials”. We would like to acknowledge and appreciate the supports by Dr. Massoud Tavakoli
and Dr. Mohammad Torfeh, principal investigators of the grant at Kettering University. Any
opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of
the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring organizations.
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Appendix I
1: Strongly Disagree; 2: Somewhat Disagree, 3: Neutral, 4: Somewhat Agree, 5: Strongly Agree
How much do you agree or disagree with these sentences? 1 2 3 4 5
1 I am able to apply the principles to determine the forces and moments on load carrying members.
0% 0% 6% 43% 52%
2 I am able to analyze the stresses load carrying members due to axial forces, bearing forces, and shear forces.
0% 2% 4% 57% 37%
3 I am able to analyze the stresses in member subjected to torsional moments. 0% 4% 6% 58% 32%
4 I am able to analyze the stresses in member subjected to bending moments 0% 7% 17% 39% 37%
5 I am able to analyze the combined stresses in load carrying member due to axial forces, torsional moments, and bending moments acting together.
2% 0% 28% 43% 28%
6 I am able to determine the deflection of load carrying, members due to axial loads, torsional moments and bending moments.
2% 2% 9% 48% 39%
7 I am able to analyze a real-world problem using the information I gained in this course.
0% 2% 19% 46% 33%
8 I am able to identify proper assumptions to solve real world problem. 0% 7% 17% 33% 43%
9 I am able to understand how the information from this course can be used to help me develop new cost-effective design.
0% 11% 9% 33% 46%
10 I am able to realize the connection between this course and other courses in my program (e.g. fluid mechanics, electrical engineering, and physics).
0% 2% 17% 30% 52%
11 I am able to write the problem in the form of Given-Find to implement creative solution for my problem.
0% 7% 17% 35% 41%
12 When confronting a new problem, I am good at devising many possible solutions. 2% 13% 17% 38% 29%
13 When trying to find a solution for a problem, I don't care how it works as long as it works.
17% 26% 17% 26% 15%
14 I get discouraged when my solution fails. 11% 20% 24% 31% 13%
15 I am able to identify information relevant to my problem 0% 2% 17% 58% 23%
16 I ask relevant questions to clarify situations and gain new knowledge. 2% 13% 25% 40% 21%
17 I am able to independently gain new information from various sources. 0% 11% 11% 53% 25%
18 I produce quality work in terms of thoroughness, neatness and accuracy. 0% 2% 25% 36% 38%
19 I accept responsibility for my actions and the work I produce. 0% 0% 4% 43% 53%
20 I am a creative person. 2% 4% 21% 38% 35%
21 I understand the concept of appropriate "value proposition" , based on customer needs.
2% 15% 26% 40% 17%
22 I see how problem identification and solving builds entrepreneurial skills. 0% 0% 17% 43% 40%
23 I collaborate well with others to develop appropriate solutions to problems. 0% 2% 6% 43% 49%
24 I develop and maintain good interpersonal relationships with team members. 0% 2% 9% 38% 51%
25 I contribute an equal share in team-based activities. 0% 0% 8% 32% 60%
26 it is clear to me that teamwork skills are crucial to my education and future profession.
0% 0% 6% 26% 68%
27 when dealing with challenges I like to analyze the situation and make connections to related ideas that could help me solve the problem.
0% 0% 11% 40% 49%
28 I am able to effectively present the results of my analysis. 0% 2% 11% 51% 36%