Instrumentation Theory And Practice For Engineers

Introduction While there are a plethora of electrical engineers out there who by nature are attracted to magnetism and electron flow, a large number of non-electrical engineering students consider the Elements of Electrical Engineering (or some other incarnation) as one of those “only because I have to take it” courses necessary for their degree. In fact, several students that have completed the course, to their dismay, did not perform very well on the electrical portion of the Fundamentals Exam. While the course does provide quite detailed theoretical information, what we felt it lacked was numerous practical examples geared towards the FE exam. We also believe that understanding, say Wheatstone bridges, is indeed valuable, actual hands on usage of sensors that employ a bridge circuit would be even more beneficial. Finally, graduating engineers that have actual experience hooking up; calibrating, conducting and reducing data might appeal to potential employers. That is to say, by introducing the students to basic circuit analysis, including operational amplifiers, strain gages, pressure transducers, load cells, accelerometers, temperature sensors, pH meters etc. should be beneficial in both the short and long run.