ENGR 302

Engineering Electromagnetics

“The beauty of electricity . . . [is] that it is under law.” Michael Faraday

An Independent Study / Research Approach

2004 Class Proceedings

(under construction)

Calvin College

Engineering Department

Supervised and Edited by Paulo F. Ribeiro, PhD

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“The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.”
CS Lewis

“It often happens that two students can solve difficulties in their work for one another better than the master can. When you took the problem to a master, as we all remember, he was very likely to explain what you understood already, to add a great deal of information which you didn’t want, and say nothing at all about the thing that was puzzling you. I have watched this from both sides of the net; for when, as a teacher myself, I have tried to answer questions brought me by students, I have sometimes, after a minute, seen that expression settle down on their faces which assured me that they were suffering exactly the same frustration which I had suffered from my own teachers. The fellow-student can help more than the master because he knows less. The difficulty we want him to explain is one he has recently met. The expert met it so long ago that he has forgotten. He sees the whole subject, by now, in a different light that he cannot conceive what is really troubling the student; he sees a dozen other difficulties which ought to be troubling him but aren’t.”
CS Lewis
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Preface (provisional)

The following impressive list of papers is a clear demonstration of the ability of undergraduate students to learn via independent study and research.

These papers were written as a partial requirement for an Electromagnetics Engineering course. Each student selected a topic of his or her own interest, and met with the instructor every two weeks. Progress reports were required for monitoring the process. The final draft was required to follow strict IEEE Transaction / Conference paper publication format.

Although class attendance was not required, once a week the instructor leactured on introdutory and application aspects of each chapter and was available during the other class periods to discuss/assist students with their questions. Half of the class attended the introduction sessions and a smaller group of students spent the class periods working on their homework and or research projects. The instructor made extensive use of e-mail to interact with the students and provided additional references / research materials and feedback.

The course webpage provided resource materials, internet links and math-interactive (MathCAD) notes covering each topic of the textbook.

The instructor has used this research approach many times, and despite possible short-comings of the less structured classroom situation, the results and amount of learning for the student and instructor is invaluable, and worth of new attempts. The variety and depth of the topics speak for itself. It is expected that some of the papers will be submitted to IEEE and other conferences and publications. Also a paper for the American Society for Engineering Enducation is in preparation.

Exiting interviews indicated that a fair number of students appreciated the learning approach and freedom, while others had some difficulties with the lack of structure. See below a sample of the feedback from some studentst: positive and negative aspects:

Considering that the objective of the course is to go beyond the fundamentals (seen in Physics) and apply electromagnetics to engineering applications the research paper part seem to have achieved its objective. Some adjustments will have to be made to keep the students from discourament from reviewing the fundamental concepts, which need to be put into practice, rather than memorized. The overall the experience, however, seemed to have been positive with regard to the independent study / research part of course. After all, learning how to learn is one of the important functions of college education.

Enjoy the reading, and let me know of any suggestions for future experiments.

Paulo F. Ribeiro

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Quote from Derek Brewer about the way Lewis taught at Oxford (through tutoring):

“It conceived of learning as a way of life, exemplified by the bachelor fellows who normally lived in the college. They read books in their own rooms, where they lived, not in “offices”: they had no secretaries. Their reading, thinking and writing were part of a unified life, neither “job” nor “recreation,” because they were both. They did not, strictly speaking, “teach.” In the morning and evenings of the term they were visited in their rooms by arrangement by their pupils, who “read the subject with them.” It was not exactly an egalitarian society, but there was a sense of fundamental equality and unity, divided into ranks and stages. I had not doubt, at the age of eighteen, that for all the differences of temperament, intelligence, ability, learning, repute, and age between me and this distinguished, jolly man, we were nevertheless of the same kind, engaged in the same pursuit. And the reason I felt this was no doubt because that was how Lewis treated me. I was not a school boy to be taught and disciplined, not a “student,” but a “man”

Content

Paper links are written in Word, except where indicated (PDF and MathCAD)

1 - Finite Element Analysis for the Masses: An Introduction

Corrin J. Meyer

2 - An Introduction to the Use of Electromagnetics in Musical Instruments: Basic Analytical and Practical Approaches

Matthew Edwards

3 - Lightning Protection for Power Systems: A Primer for Undergraduate Students

Michael J. Bloem

4 - An Introduction to Magnetic Levitation And it’s Applications

Kevin J. Van Dyke

5 - Cell Phone Antennas: A look at the History and Design of VHF Antennas

Daniel Mouw