2300 Exam 1 Summer 2000 .edu



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ECE 1100 -- Exam #1

September 28, 2000

1. This exam is open book, open notes.

2. Write your explanations in complete, English sentences. If the grader cannot read or understand what you have written, no credit will be given. If you do not write in complete sentences, then credit will be deducted.

3. You will have 40 minutes to work on this exam.

1. ________________/30

2. ________________/10

3. ________________/10

4. ________________/15

5. ________________/20

6. ________________/15

1) (30 Points) In the video we watched in class, Gilbane Gold, David Jackson chose to give information to the media about his company’s discharge of arsenic and lead in the city water treatment facilities. Do you believe that he did the correct thing? If yes, explain why. If not, explain what you believe he should have done and why. Write your answer in one or two paragraphs, using complete sentences.

Solution:

There is no single solution to this problem. The answer given should be reasonable, in the sense that it reflects the facts of the situation, and a consideration of ethical actions for an engineer. The facts of the situation are as follows.

Z-Corp is an electronics manufacturing company in the heart of a Texas farming town known as Gilbane. Several years previous, Gilbane had encouraged Z-Corp to build its plants within city limits by offering heavy tax breaks. At the time, Z-Corp informed Gilbane that part of its manufacturing process involved the use of the heavy metals lead and arsenic, and that it would be discharging a certain amount of these into the sewer system. Gilbane was concerned about this discharge, because the town processes sewer sludge into a very profitable fertilizer product known as Gilbane Gold. The town council decided that a small amount of lead and arsenic would be tolerable, but to be safe, they put severe limits on the concentration of metals that Z-Corp would be allowed to discharge. The limits the town council set were ten times smaller than those allowed by federal law, but Z-Corp agreed to abide by them.

David Jackson is the environmental engineer at Z-Corp. He suspects that for the last few months, the company has been discharging more lead and arsenic than the sewer system can handle, even though Z-Corp is spending a lot of money to treat the water to remove the contaminants. The city is also testing the waste water, but Jackson knows that their test is not very sensitive, and that they are probably not aware of the increased heavy metal content. Even worse, he knows that the company's production will be increased by about 5 times over the next two years. When Jackson informs his supervisors of his fears, they deny that there is a problem. He presses the issue, but they tell them that all he needs to do is to increase the amount of water that is discharged with the metals, thereby diluting the lead and arsenic and bringing it under city limits. However, Jackson thinks that the effects of lead and arsenic are cumulative, and that increasing their amounts will be harmful to Gilbane Gold even if the concentration is reduced.

A TV reporter gets wind of the report that Z-Corp's production capacity will increase, and she also is suspicious that Z-Corp's lead and arsenic discharge will be too much for the city. She tries to get Jackson to give her the story, pressuring him to tell her what he knows. At first, Jackson denies the problem. But after thinking it over and consulting friends in the environmental business, Jackson meets with the reporter and tells her that Z-Corp's lead and arsenic discharges may exceed safe levels for the production of Gilbane Gold. The story is broadcast the next night on local TV. As the video ends, David Jackson is listening to a phone message from one of Z-Corp’s lawyers, who is asking him to meet the following morning.

2) (10 Points) If you choose to pursue an undergraduate degree in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, how many ways can you do this? List the ways, along with a brief description of the differences between them. Which one is best?

Solution:

There are three ways to pursue an undergraduate degree in this department. The ways follow.

BSEE, EE Option – This is an accredited degree program, which has the least percentage of computer/programming courses, and the greatest degree of flexibility in choice of electives.

BSEE, CpE Option – This is an accredited degree program, which has a moderate percentage of computer/programming courses, and some flexibility in choice of electives.

BSCpE – This is a degree program which is not yet accredited, which has the largest percentage of computer/programming courses, and the greatest portion of computer science courses.

3) (10 Points) What are the common engineering disciplines in which you can pursue a bachelor’s degree? List them. In addition, list three less common engineering disciplines.

Solution:

The most common disciplines in which you can pursue a bachelor’s degree are:

Civil Engineering

Electrical Engineering

Industrial Engineering

Computer Engineering

Chemical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Three less common engineering disciplines might be taken from the list that follows:

Aerospace Engineering

Materials Engineering

Metallurgical Engineering

Bioengineering

Biomedical Engineering

Architectural Engineering

Ocean Engineering

Naval Architecture

Ceramic Engineering

Systems Engineering

Agricultural Engineering

Petroleum Engineering

Mining Engineering

Geological Engineering

Nuclear Engineering

Manufacturing Engineering

4) (15 Points) A student works 36 hours per week at a job, working four days a week. The job is a half an hour from her home. She is taking 15 semester credit hours of engineering courses at UH, attending classes four days a week. She lives 30 minutes away from school. Assume that she sleeps seven hours a night, and eats/cooks three hours a day. Assume that she plays on a softball team, which requires about 10 hours of time each week. Under the “Rule of 4”, does she have an appropriate schedule? Explain, briefly.

Solution:

The student described here has a schedule which includes the following time commitments, per week:

Work 36 hours

Travel to/from work 4 hours

Travel to/from school 4 hours

Coursework, by rule of 4 60 hours

Sleep 49 hours

Softball 10 hours

Eating/Cooking 21 hours

Total 184 hours/week

However, a typical week includes only 24X7 = 168 hours. (Due to daylight savings time transitions, some weeks have one fewer or one more hour.) Therefore, this student does not have an appropriate schedule. If she spends the time typically required to do well in these courses, she will not have time for something else. Something needs to be removed from her schedule.

5) (20 Points) Describe one of the episodes of The Engines of Our Ingenuity, by John Lienhard. What was the episode about? Use about three complete sentences to describe the episode, including the episode number.

Solution:

This was a homework assignment, to read three of the episodes and write about them in your journal. Here, you should pick one of the ones you wrote about, and describe it, using about three complete sentences.

As an example, you might write the following.

Episode 411 was about Stonehenge, and the history of the study of what Stonehenge was used for. There is a discussion of some of the astronomical features of this location. The conclusion is that the exact answer to the question of the purpose of Stonehenge is unknown, at least at this point, and may always be unknown.

6) (15 Points) Pretend that you are writing to a high school senior who is considering career paths. Describe the fields of engineering and science, how they are similar, and how they are different. Write one brief paragraph.

Solution:

I would expect that this paragraph would, at the least, mention the idea that engineering is a problem solving discipline, and science is a knowledge gaining discipline. The engineers gain knowledge to solve problems, while the scientists solve problems to gain knowledge. It might also be appropriate to refer to the idea of engineers using science, and to turn ideas into reality.

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