Preparing Students for Innovation with Real-World Circuits Applications

[jboone]

Today’s students will be the future engineers and scientists in the  workplace who tackle society’s increasingly large and complex  challenges. The electronics and telecommunications (EET/TET) program at  Texas A&M University (TAMU) is developing courses with an emphasis  on innovation and a holistic approach to product development. By  selecting industry-accepted software including NI Multisim, Ultiboard, and LabVIEW,  TAMU is creating a dynamic learning environment in a range of classes,  starting in the sophomore year with the Circuits Analysis II course and  culminating with the senior design Capstone project.

A recent TAMU Capstone project team, FourTel, recognized the need for  quick and reliable public communication when emergency situations  arose. They designed an operational product prototype called Interactive  FM Radio Messaging Service (InFoRMS), which an operator uses to send  real-time text messages to remote and mobile LED marquees using  high-definition (HD) FM transmission. The team won first place in a  campus-wide competition and received a cash prize and legal assistance  to obtain a provisional patent for their idea. A local company is in the  process of licensing the intellectual property (IP) for  commercialization.

Every year university teams worldwide participate in the Formula  Student competition run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers  (IMechE). Student teams are given the challenge of designing, building,  marketing, and racing a single-seat race car. Students at the University  of Manchester chose Multisim software to simulate the entire wiring  loom and power distribution circuits of a vehicle prior to buying any  components or printed circuit boards (PCBs), which saved the team time  and unnecessary cost.

Students at the University of Manchester practiced professional
design principles using Multisim software.

Students in these programs are graduating prepared for the workforce  with an in-depth understanding of innovation, system-level thinking, and  entrepreneurship – a solid foundation in engineering and product design  principles.