Follow-up on the Loaned Equipment:

In November 2001, we followed up on the fiber optic equipment loaned to California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) by the Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA) on April 20, 2000.

We found that the loan of this equipment is having far reaching benefits. Not only are University students using the equipment, but teachers from area high schools who attend Dr. Ramesh's seminars are gaining knowledge to better prepare their students to pursue engineering and scientific careers.

DMEA-Loaned Equipment Helping CSUS Students
The Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at CSUS is using many of the loaned components in their Electro Optics Engineering Lab, EE 167, a senior-level course. Dr. S.K. Ramesh, Department Chair, states that this equipment minimizes the time required to set up the lab experiments, and allows several different experiments to be run simultaneously, a large reduction in wear and tear on the equipment. Prior to receiving this equipment, only one experiment at a time could be conducted, and much time was required to convert from one configuration to another.

The center piece of the loaned equipment, the laser welder for optics, is the subject of a research project being undertaken by senior engineering student, Charly Dux (photo above). She is installing new software (Lab View 6) to increase the efficiency of the welder, and at the same time is upgrading the lab where the equipment is located to ensure that all safety requirements are in place prior to activating the laser. Once these tasks are completed, this equipment will be incorporated into the lab course curriculum and will be utilized for student research projects.

Charly is a native of Sacramento, and is the only member of her family to pursue
an engineering degree, although she does have a sister who is in the nursing career field. Upon graduation, Charly plans to work in the bio-medical engineering field, an area where fiber optic technology is heavily utilized. Therefore this project is giving her valuable experience.

The FTC is proud to have played a part in facilitating the loan of this equipment. One of our main goals as a Partnership Intermediary for DMEA is to promote cooperation between academic institutions, small businesses and DMEA to ensure that highly skilled engineers will be available to support continued economic growth in Sacramento area high-technology companies.

CSUS Motivates High School Teachers To Inspire Students in Pursuing Engineering
On October 5-6, 2001, The California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) Electrical & Electronic Engineering (E & EE) Department held the third annual High School Teachers Workshop. This workshop, entitled "Developing and Articulating Pre-Engineering Curricula," was designed to motivate high school teachers to develop and teach pre-engineering courses that will inspire their students to consider becoming engineers.

The teachers in attendance represented the following public Sacramento-area High Schools: Center, Cordova, Elk Grove, Florin, Folsom, Grant Joint Foothill, Rocklin, Sheldon, and St. Francis, a private high school. Additionally, one teacher represented Monte Vista High School from the San Francisco area.
Dr. S.K. Ramesh, the Workshop Coordinator, Professor and Department Chair of the E & EE Department at CSUS reported "the evaluations from the teachers have been overwhelmingly positive…" and "it was especially gratifying to note that several teachers [intended] to use the concepts and materials from the workshop." Dr. Ramesh affirmed that this workshop is "bound to impact the quality and preparation of students entering [CSUS] programs for years ahead."

The Federal Technology Center (The FTC) is proud to have contributed a small part in making this event possible by facilitating the loan of over $1 Million of electro optical equipment from the Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA) to CSUS in April 2000. Equipment components used in the Electro Optics Engineering Lab during the teachers' workshop were part of this equipment loaned from DMEA. Our goal is to promote economic development in the rapidly growing high-tech sector of the Sacramento region. By inspiring high school students to become future engineers, we are confident that it will have a positive influence on our economy, since technology is very vital to economic development in the Sacramento region.

Ramesh's New Textbook Integrates Use of $1 Million Equipment for Laboratory "Hands On"
During the period from January - June 2001, Dr. S. K. Ramesh, CSUS Professor and Chair of the Electrical & Electronic Engineering (E & EE) Department, took a sabbatical to write a textbook on optical fiber communications. With the increasing prominence of optical fiber communications in the undergraduate Electrical Engineering curriculum, there was a need for a new textbook to present the topic in an integrative context as optical fiber communications requires a thorough understanding of linear systems, electronics, solid state physics, electromagnetics and communications.

A novel feature of Dr. Ramesh's textbook will be a companion laboratory manual that will allow instructors to integrate "hands on" experiments to enhance the quality of instruction. Using LabVIEW, or Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Engineering Workbench, a graphical programming language, students can focus on the course material, instead of getting bogged down in programming problems. LabVIEW based experiments will introduce readers to a "virtual laboratory" environment where some of the abstract theoretical concepts "virtually" spring to life when presented in the right context.

Some of the DMEA equipment transferred "on loan" to CSUS on April 20, 2000 will be dedicated to this "virtual lab station". Students will continue to benefit from this equipment, excess to current government needs, for many years to come.

To learn more about how your college or university can partner with our organization email Bill Vanden Bosch at bill@TheFTC.org.

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