Increased visual reinforcement and hands-on experiences promote learning. In addition, it has been found that repetitive use of a software package in a number of undergraduate courses and use of state-of-the-art commercial software is beneficial for enhanced learning. In view of these principles, this project integrates the use of the data acquisition and control software LabVIEW throughout the mechanical engineering curriculum. LabVIEW is one of the most sophisticated data acquisition and control programs available and is heavily used in industry. Implementation of seven carefully planned experiments into six separate courses ensures that students are using LabVIEW during each year of the curriculum. The experiments begin with introductory laboratories in the freshman and sophomore years. Junior- and senior-year experiments are more complex and include control as well as data acquisition. Furthermore, the software and hardware for the experiments can be made available for final projects in courses in instrumentation, controls, and the capstone senior design project. Demonstrations that use the project's equipment are planned in several other courses as well as in presentations given to K 12 students to promote interest in engineering. For this project, LabVIEW software, various data acquisition hardware and additional computers are required. Each of the seven experiments stresses the visualization and hands-on capabilities made available by LabVIEW through its graphical programming environment and data flow visualization capabilities. National Instruments (producer of LabVIEW) has committed to work with the university to publish results of this project both in their trade journal and in the university portion of their Web pages. *
