Systems, Accounting, and
Modeling Approach to Engineering Science
of Key Concepts in the Systems, Accounting, and Modeling Approach
paper that discusses this approach as it applies to integrating the
engineering science component of the mechanical engineering curriculum.
Includes several worked out example problems that demonstrate this approach:
D. E. Richards, "Integrating the Mechanical
Engineering Core," Proceedings of the 2001 ASEE Annual Conference &
Exposition, American Society for Engineering Education, Washington
D.C., 2001. Presented 26 June 2001 in Albuquerque, NM.
Workshop materials on "A Unified Approach
to Engineering Science" that describes the motivation and key features
of this approach. (Presentation
slides ----- Handout
problems using this approach). See next section for material on how
this approach can be used as the basis for an engineering science curriculum.
Textbooks that use this approach:
D. E. Richards. Basic Engineering Science
-- A Systems, Accounting, and Modeling Approach, 2001. Available from
the author at Rose-Hulman
Institute of Technology. This text presents six physical laws -- conservation
of mass, conservation of charge, conservation of linear and angular momentum,
conservation of energy, and accounting of entropy -- using a common framework
and applies these principles to the solution of typical engineering problems
using a common problem solving approach. More information can be obtained
from the Preface and Table
C. J. Glover, K. M. Lunsford, and J. A. Fleming.
Principles and the Structure of Engineering, McGraw-Hill College Custom
Series, New York, 1992. The original engineering textbook that demonstrated
how this approach can be used at the undergraduate level for engineering
W. C. Reynolds. Introduction to Engineering
Analysis: An integrated approach to the fundamental principles that underlie
all engineering analysis, Preliminary Edition, Spring 2000. Available
from the author at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University.
H. U. Fuchs. The Dynamics of Heat,
Springer-Verlag, New York, 1996. A physicist's perspective on system
M. T. Holtzapple and W. D. Reece. Foundations
of Engineering, McGraw-Hill, Boston, 2000. A freshman engineering text
that introduces this approach.
A comparison of student performance solving
dynamics problems between traditionally-educated students and students
taught using the systems, accounting, and modeling approach is discussed
in a paper
by P. Cornwell and J. Fine. Similar paper published as
P. J. Cornwell and J. M. Fine, "Mechanics
in the Rose-Hulman Foundation Coalition Sophomore Curriculum," International
Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 16, No. 5, pp. 441-446, 2000.