Undergraduate engineering students investigate inexpensive seismometer design

Using seismometers as a catalyst for learning, the IRIS Consortium has partnered with the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to intensively expose the 2002 CSM freshman engineering class to geophysics instrument design. These students worked to design inexpensive seismic recording systems for use in educational environments as part of the Engineering Practices Introductory Course Sequence (EPICS). Through the EPICS courses, CSM strives to strengthen the ability of first-year engineering students to resolve open-ended problems in a team environment and learn skills that are vital to their success as engineers. Students learn AutoCAD, technical drawing/drafting skills, prototyping, analysis skills, and communication skills necessary to present and promote engineering design solutions to the professional community. These engineering skills, introduced through coursework, are applied to an open-ended engineering challenge throughout the semester. Although the CSM faculty clearly has skills and expertise in engineering, as well as the pedagogy to deliver this information, the program needs exciting, real-world engineering challenges, technical support to develop the problem, and the human resources and experience to provide students with sufficient content knowledge to attempt the challenge.

[1]  S. Chisholm,et al.  Nutrient gradients in the western North Atlantic Ocean: Relationship to microbial community structure and comparison to patterns in the Pacific Ocean , 2001 .

[2]  D. A. Case.  The inventory, seasonality and stoichiometry of the major phosphorus pools in the Sargasso Sea , 2001 .

[3]  C. Gobler,et al.  Phosphorus limitation of nitrogen fixation by Trichodesmium in the central Atlantic Ocean , 2001, Nature.

[4]  Ricardo M Letelier,et al.  Ecological nitrogen-to-phosphorus stoichiometry at station ALOHA , 2001 .

[5]  E. Boyle,et al.  Phosphate depletion in the western North Atlantic Ocean. , 2000, Science.

[6]  Edward J. Carpenter,et al.  Trichodesmium, a Globally Significant Marine Cyanobacterium , 1997 .

[7]  Application of molecular techniques to addressing the role of P as a key effector in marine ecosystems , 1999 .

[8]  D. Karl,et al.  Element Stoichiometry, New Production and Nitrogen Fixation , 2001 .

[9]  J. Cotner,et al.  Phosphorus-limited bacterioplankton growth in the Sargasso Sea , 1997 .

[10]  R. Hecky,et al.  Total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and nutrient limitation in lakes and oceans: Is there a common relationship? , 2000 .

[11]  D. Karl,et al.  Phosphorus dynamics in the North Pacific subtropical gyre , 2000 .

[12]  Nicolas Gruber,et al.  Global patterns of marine nitrogen fixation and denitrification , 1997 .

[13]  Larry L. Stowe,et al.  Characterization of tropospheric aerosols over the oceans with the NOAA advanced very high resolution radiometer optical thickness operational product , 1997 .

[14]  Lars-Anders Hansson,et al.  Cell‐specific detection of phosphorus stress in Trichodesmium from the Western North Atlantic , 2002 .