NSF Award
9551812
The Laboratory for the Simulation and Experimentation with Electronic Devices (SEED) is designed for freshman students in the dual-degree engineering program (DDP) and for science students from chemistry, physics, biology, and environmental science. It is hands-on, multidisciplinary, project-driven, and team-based. It focuses on the design of functional module assemblies that interface various data acquisition devices with the computer for simulation and analysis. SEED surveys micro-electronics, functional modules, and prototype boards. Multidisciplinary project development is a major component of SEED: teams design the signal acquisition system starting with the probe and ending with the computer. The students gather the data and use the computer to analyze it and simulate the system's dynamics. The students deal with the macro-aspect of the designs rather than the in-depth electronic treatment of the separate components. Various issues, such as compatibility, resonance, feedback, impedance matching, and analog-to-digital conversions, are explored. The SEED lab also enhances the existing electronics laboratory and transforms it into an advanced instrumentation lab. It will play an instrumental role in alleviating the current DDP's retention problem by adding an element of excitement to the lower-level curriculum and will set the tone for the whole program. SEED will also affect some of the advanced science laboratories in which measurement, and not only analysis, is computer-based. SEED, a DDP requirement and a science recommended elective fulfilling a lab degree requirement, supports five different stations (3 students per station); it directly involves 60 students during its first 2 years of operation.
