Engineering of Everyday Things

The The Engineering of Everyday Things (EET) is an NSF-sponsored Research Project with the goal of improving how engineering students learn core concepts in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer. The curriculum involves laboratory exercises in which students investigate the behavior of everyday technology -- blenders, hair dryers, bicycle pumps, toasters. The laboratory exercises are based on a guided inquiry approach that seeks to

• engage students in problem-solving as they conduct the experiment, not waiting until they write a lab report;
• expose and correct misperceptions;
• develop the ability to reason qualitatively.

The motivation and theoretical framework for this work is described on a separate page.

In-class Demonstrations and Laboratory Exercises

The EET curriculum consists of hands-on exercises for students to perform in a laboratory setting. Most of these exercises have corresponding in-class demonstrations designed to engage students and provide concrete examples of difficult concepts. Follow these links for more information on the EET exercises and equipment.

• Blender
• Hair Dryer
• Toaster
• Sudden Expansion in a Pipe
• Tank Filling
• Tank Draining
• Computer power supply

Curriculum Booklet

Samples of laboratory exercises and in-class demonstrations are provided in the EET Curriculum Booklet (13 MByte PDF).

Publications

Papers and presentations describing the EET project are listed on a separate page.