New Design Education Lab Sparks Next Generation of Electrical and Computer Engineers

Electrical & Computer

PITTSBURGH (October 16, 2018) … Sometimes a learning environment needs to not only be inspiring, but also “electrifying.”The Swanson School of Engineering’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering opened its Design Education Laboratory at the beginning of the fall semester 2018. The space combines cutting-edge technology with a sleek, contemporary design to reflect the modernization of the department, which has been taking place over the past few semesters.“The new lab is the showcase of the ECE department, not just for its looks but also the functionality,” says James Lyle, ECE department technology lead. “The space brings together everything an electrical and computer engineer can do. It provides an environment for our students to gain the knowledge and experience to build things on their own.”Located on the 12th floor of Benedum Hall, the lab serves as a classroom, a meeting place for workshops and study space. It’s open 24 hours and gives students access to a variety of tools and equipment. Features include: Custom-designed work benches Testing equipment (soldering stations, power supplies, multimeters, oscilloscopes, etc.) Five smart TVs Clean, wireless workspaces Professors and instructors can use the smart TVs during their lessons and demonstrations, and students can use them to facilitate group projects. They are fully accessible by students for wireless pairing with their smart phones, laptops or other devices. Pitt ECE alumni Thomas Cook and Corey Weimann led the design of the "work benches" while undergraduate students. Credit: Swanson School of Engineering/Ric Evans Photography “Students today embrace technology, and they know how this stuff works. It only makes sense to give them access to it,” says William McGahey , ECE department technology lead. Pitt ECE alumni Thomas Cook and Corey Weimann led the design of the room’s “work benches” while they were still undergraduate students. Instead of a typical, austere work bench, the lab’s benches are topped with butcher block to provide a non-conductive, durable surface for working on electronic projects. Cook and Weimann also designed the benches to complement the room’s aesthetics. “Since the room is entirely glassed in, we designed the benches to look appealing to people walking past the lab, especially prospective students who are on tours with family,” says Cook. “Another goal of the room and desks was to make students comfortable and give them lots of space to learn and work on their projects without being confined to a small area.” Dr. Alan George , who joined the Swanson School as chair of the ECE department in January 2017, has encouraged students and the department to undertake projects that are large in scope and require a range of skills to complete. “The lab provides students with a space to design and test hardware. It was common for students to develop software for their senior design projects in the past, now we’re seeing a lot more complex projects with software and hardware components,” says Samuel Dickerson , assistant professor and undergraduate director of computer engineering. For example, Dr. Dickerson and ECE Assistant Professor Dr. Ahmed Dallal advised a team of electrical engineers for the Swanson School’s Spring 2018 Design Expo . The team, called SoleSense, designed an IoT-enabled shoe with biometric capabilities and won the prize for Best Overall Project. “The Design Education Laboratory is another valuable asset for providing our students with the resources and knowledge they need to take on these complex projects,” says Dr. Dickerson. “I think we’re going to see a lot more ECE students winning design competitions like the SoleSense team, and I really look forward to the caliber of Senior Design project in upcoming semesters.” ### Prof. Dickerson (right) with ECE student Jennifer Gingerich (left). ECE 1895: Junior Design course. ECE Department Technology Leads William McGahey (left) and James Lyle (right). The ECE Design Education Laboratory. *All photo credits: Swanson School of Engineering/Ric Evans Photography
Matt Cichowicz, Communications Writer

NSF Awards Pitt Engineers $200K to Study the Impact of Reflection on Learning

Electrical & Computer, Industrial

PITTSBURGH (September 25, 2018) … University of Pittsburgh professors Samuel Dickerson and Renee Clark received an NSF grant to help students in the Swanson School of Engineering start to think about thinking. The two-year, $200,000 award will support a project to improve learning and development by promoting the frequent use of reflection and “metacognition” among students in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dickerson, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, believes that the Swanson School is perfect for this kind of project. “Engineering is different from other disciplines because this type of thought process isn’t inherent in our training,” he said. “Reflection and metacognition are not skills that are regularly cultivated or practiced in the engineering curriculum - in the classroom we are more focused on immediate problem-solving rather than pausing and looking at the big picture, which is more common in the engineering workplace.” They hope to change that standard at Pitt by first introducing these skills to electrical and computer engineering students in Dickerson’s ECE-0257 microelectronic circuits course. According to Clark, assistant professor of industrial engineering, it is easier for a student in a classroom environment to ask a professor or teaching assistant to help them solve a problem. Outside of college however, there may be fewer resources on which to rely. Dickerson and Clark want to encourage engineering students to develop lifelong learning skills that will help them independently learn how to find a solution and ultimately give them an advantage when they join the workforce. “When a student faces an obstacle in class or doesn’t perform to the level he/she should, we don’t typically ask them to critically reflect on how they got there, what they can do to solve it, or how they can perform better,” said Clark, who is  also director of assessment for the Engineering Education Research Center (EERC). “Our goal is to utilize frequent activities that prompt students to reflect and better understand their learning processes.” “Metacognition is a useful skill that helps students take a deeper look at their learning processes by simply thinking about their thinking,” said Dickerson. “Reflection is a closely related skill where students are asked to critically analyze something they have done. In this project, we want to encourage students to use both metacognition and reflection to guide their own learning during new tasks.” A unique aspect of their research is the use of SPICE simulation tools to drive students to analyze their work and gain insight into success as well as mistakes. “I will ask the students in my class to use engineering theory to complete a problem and then compare their answer to a computed result using SPICE, the standard simulation environment used by professionals to predict electronic circuit behavior,” explained Dickerson. “I want them to reflect on the gaps in their understanding, thereby taking a deeper look at their learning process and understanding.” Dickerson and Clark will examine the impact of frequent reflection using SPICE by looking at both quantitative and qualitative data. In addition to monitoring exam scores, they will distribute surveys, conduct interviews, and hold focus groups. They will be using a system to measure the depth of the students’ reflections and will evaluate the content to see if it is showing growth in students’ professional development. “The results we are looking for are not necessarily better exam scores,” said Clark. “We want to know if we have cultivated reflective and metacognitive skills in engineering students and if we have made an impact on their development.  We will be analyzing both the depth and content of their reflections using a systematic approach that has been working for us in our preliminary research.” With the use of these skills, Dickerson and Clark hope that ECE students will become better students, learners, and professionals by developing the ability to critically reflect on their own performance. These types of reflective activities are applicable across disciplines and can be easily implemented in any classroom at the University. Clark said, “We hope that these efforts will help our students develop lifelong learning skills that will make them better prepared for the professional world.” ###