This project describes a suite of experiments for improving experiential learning opportunities for students in thermodynamics and heat transfer courses. The courses in question are not only offered for mechanical (ME) and aerospace (AE) engineering students, the traditional audience, but also for electrical (EE) and computer (CMPE) engineering majors. This is in response to the growing need for more integrated inter-disciplinary engineering education to prepare undergraduates for systems engineering approaches to problem solving. Some of the proposed experiments are intended for the traditional delivery mechanism, i.e., a formal laboratory. Other facilities are suited to demonstrations in classroom lecture settings, a proven method for boosting student interest in a topic. All of the apparatus described herein provide students with physical insights into abstract topics, such as heat, which is invisible. Nearly all of the experiments are to be constructed by senior mechanical engineering majors. There are several benefits afforded by this plan. First, over the two year course of the project, the students constructing the apparatus will gain invaluable design experience and practical know-how. Second, future students will be provided access to state of the art, innovative experiments that are superior in many respects to commercially available facilities. Third, the ME Department will save a considerable amount of money in re-equipping the ME 114 laboratory. Fourth, the designs, manuals, and software resultant from this project can be disseminated nationally to assist other engineering schools in developing relatively inexpensive, innovative, interesting experiments and demonstrations in thermodynamics and heat transfer.
