Engineering Courses Taught at James Madison University

ENGR 112 – Engineering Decisions: Freshman engineering course focused on human-centered design, engineering decision making, and project management through a community-based project. Current applications use a tethered weather balloon to monitor environment conditions and create value for a local community stakeholder. Additional skills learned include MATLAB, SolidWorks, and Arduino with sensors and actuators.

ENGR 231 – Engineering Design: Sophomore engineering course teaching the fundamentals of engineering design process including stakeholder identification, design objectives, specifications, constraints, and preliminary design. Students develop a human-powered vehicle for persons with disabilities. End of the semester results in a preliminary design and the project is continued into the Spring. Additional topics covered include teaming, project management, static analysis, and machining.

ENGR 298 - Engineering Analysis and Decision Making: An introduction to modern programming languages and their application within the larger engineering field. The course will focus on modeling, mathematical and statistical analysis, data visualization, and programming techniques that can be used in engineering design and decision making. Integrated code development tools will be utilized to maintain programming environments and allow for code management and collaboration.

ENGR 313 – Circuits and Instrumentation: Junior/senior course covering broad topics in DC/AC circuits and power analysis. Course prepares students for capstone work involving electronics and for the FE exam. Topics covered include: resistive circuit analysis, transistors, operational amplifiers, first-order circuits, second-order circuits, analog and digital filters, and phasor space analysis. Lecture topics are reinforced via weekly lab sessions and include two design-build projects throughout the semester.

ENGR 498 - Design for the Internet of Things: Junior/Senior engineering elective is a project-based course that prepares students to design novel computing systems involving sensing, actuation, and networking. A semester long project covers various topics such as: computer organization and architecture, peripheral interfaces, energy efficiency and power-aware coding, task scheduling, and wireless communication methods. At the conclusion of the semester students will design, test, and fabricate their own wearable pedometer to accurately measure step counts.

Engineering Courses Taught at York College of Pennsylvania

FYS 100 – Creative Computing: First year seminar engages freshman students in employing computing systems to develop artistic and creative applications. Students utilize Processing, Arduino, and Raspberry Pi computers to create interactive installations as a final project. Hands-on labs, contemporary readings, and class discussions center around the broader them of “Can computers create art?”

EGR 100 – Engineering Practice and Design Studio: Introductory engineering course for freshman students shared between the Mechanical and Electrical and Computer Engineering programs. Students engage in hands-on learning with basic electronics and computing systems to develop design and debugging skills. Final project uses a small robotic platform and an Arduino to create a line-following robot.

ECE 220 – Design and Analysis of Digital Circuits: Sophomore course introducing electrical and computer engineering students to digital circuit design including combinational and sequential circuits. Associated lab section provides instruction in circuit design using discrete ICs as well as projects in Verilog HDL.

ECE 370 – Microprocessor System Design: Junior combined lecture/lab course providing in-depth instruction on microprocessor architecture, organization, and associated peripherals. Students utilize Silicon Labs ARM processor and C++ to design energy efficient applications using a variety of external sensors. Topics on PCB design, embedded tool chains, and processor initialization are also covered.

ECE 400 – Capstone Design I: Multidisciplinary design experience for electrical, computer, and mechanical engineers. Projects provide a substantial design, build, and test experience over a one year period. Recent projects have focused on community service and include development of an automated greenhouse for a local school, prototype medical devices, and assistive technologies for persons with mental and physical disabilities.

ECE 420 – Embedded System Design: Culminating course for electrical and computer engineering students combining all aspects of microprocessor systems. Semester long project focuses on development and optimization of wearable pedometer system. Each student must conduct research towards a selected optimization goal of energy efficiency, step count accuracy, or physical size minimization.