In many ways, Quanser is in the midst of an epic business
challenge as we systematically transition from our hard-earned reputation as
the company with the best open-architecture control system plants, to the
company delivering effective, practical technology solutions for a broad range
of critical problems in modern engineering education and research. Last week at
the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) annual conference in San
Antonio, Texas, the company debuted its new generation of solution concepts
built on our core technology platform and generated a lot of buzz in a
typically, well-behaved conference.
Business folks will use the term “Crossing the Chasm”
in reference to the challenges that technology companies face as they strive to
grow from a small company surviving on the vision of “early adopters” who
intuitively understand the benefit and value of a new technology, to a large
diversified company that has figured out how to transform a unique new
technology to a more richer offering that appeals to a broader audience – “the
majority”. Companies who successfully do this cross the proverbial chasm. The
reality is most small technology companies fail to do this and indeed they crash
and burn in that same chasm.
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| Dr. Tom Lee, Quanser's Chief Education Officer addresses the audience at the Quasner Innovation Hub and outlines the pedagogy and technology behind the Quanser Driving Simulator. |
Prior to joining Quanser last year, I had seen the Quanser
exhibits at previous ASEE conferences and, in general, was impressed by the
overall creativity and richness of the presentation. But definitely, this year,
our presence was markedly different in both tone and impact.
Quanser had two primary exhibits. The first was the big red
display that usually adorns the conferences we attend. But the most memorable
exhibit was the Quanser Innovation Hub: a large theater area highlighting the
creative application of new technology to enhance engineering education. This
year, Quanser focused on the Quanser Driving Simulator (QDS) that mapped an
exciting race car simulation experience to a rigorous Hardware In the Loop
(HIL) framework using Quanser hardware and software and LabVIEW™
software from National Instruments.
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| As a conference attendee puts the QDS through its paces, Quanser's Derry Cyrmble outlines her real-time progress with engaging Hardware-in-the-Loop race car simulation. |
The audience was presented with an overview of the pedagogy
and technology of the system and then was invited to take a test drive, which
challenged their driving ability (the fun part) and their engineering intuition
(the rigorous part). The drivers with the best lap times at the end of the
conference were rewarded with gifts and the eternal adoration of their peers!
You couldn’t miss the spectacle. It was one of the largest
displays at the conference. It had a genuine NASCAR racing car as a part of the
display, and every square inch was decorated to support the theme of an
exciting autorace. The visuals notwithstanding, the most impressive quality of
the Innovation Hub was audience engagement. As expected, the audience enjoyed
both the thought-provoking formal presentation and the hands-on competition.
What we didn’t expect was the raw emotional response of many individuals who really
took the challenge to heart.
There were many who returned to the display to take a
second, or third drive. Some dragged their colleagues to the Hub, not only take
a test drive, but to show them the rich education potential of the system. Many
kept popping back in simply to check the emerging lap times to ensure that they
were still competitive. In the end a young student won the grand prize. But he
didn’t win because he was a video game wizard with years spent in his teen-cave
in his parents’ basement, honing his game control skills. He won because he
augmented his natural gaming skills with real engineering insight by manually
tuning the vehicle dynamics parameters to give him a competitive edge. Yes,
this was not only legal but encouraged. When he noticed that others were
catching up, he pestered Quanser resident automotive simulation expert Peter
Martin on the meaning and influence of the core engineering parameters… in
other words, he used engineering concepts to win in a competitive situation. We
couldn’t have asked for a better validation of the educational principles of
the QDS.
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| The Quanser Innovation Hub drew enthusiastic crowds through all three days of the conference. |
From a business perspective, what we experienced with the
Innovation Hub is very much the kind of thing you do to help a company cross
the chasm. Creatively reconfiguring abstract technology to one that intuitively
connects with critical challenges that your constituents face. And the positive
reaction we received from the audience definitely bodes well for the future. In
our case, however, we actually had a double chasm to cross. I often remark
about the chasms in the university curriculum where tradition has yet to catch
up to modern reality. One of the biggest among such curricular chasms is the
one between the high school experience and the first year university or
freshman experience in undergraduate engineering.
Various organizations have done a remarkable job in raising
the awareness of engineering and other technical professions. If you look at
the prevalence of robotics activities or technology-themed TV series, a
generation of students who are leaving high school with energy and enthusiasm
about a future career in engineering, we have an unprecedented opportunity as a
society to nurture the next generation of leaders. Once they get onto campus
however, all too many students are “welcomed” with an intense mix of classical
mathematics, science, programming, along with generally dry and abstract
treatments of the foundational techniques of engineering. Consequently, we have
alarming dropout rates from engineering programs. In many ways, a large number
of students fall off the freshman cliff and into the chasm.
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| Academic Solutions Advisor Leor Grebler talks with one of the many attendees who dropped by the Quanser Booth in the Exhibit Hall. |
The QDS, from a pedagogical perspective, takes a bold step
in helping students cross this particular chasm. Part of the story we told at
the Innovation Hub was that of using strong applications properly integrated
with real engineering hardware systems to truly motivate students. Not just in
the control systems courses in their senior year but right into the freshman
curriculum. “Let them do real engineering from day one!” is the message, and we
at Quanser, believe that modern technology has all of the flexibility needed to
bring advanced, hands-on enrichment to the freshman experience in a way that is
motivating and conceptually reinforcing. Motivation can come from very
emotional elements like fun and familiarity. In contrast, the same fun
application also does a great job in introducing some very serious concepts in
measurement, data analysis, modeling, and control. In this sense, fun and
motivation are part of the framework that we can use to finally build a bridge
across that curriculum chasm.
I have been a part of countless conference exhibits in my
career and I must say that the Quanser ASEE exhibits were the most enjoyable
and fulfilling for me. As a business veteran of 25 years, I sensed that the
company had reached some very significant milestones. As someone immersed in
the education scene, and as a parent of teenage children, I sensed that some
very important concepts have now been introduced to a broad audience and the
hard work of discussing, refining, and deploying these great new ideas can now
begin in collaboration with our academic partners. For a brief few days, I
completely forgot about the Alamo in San Antonio, and San Antonio became the
center of the education universe.
- Tom Lee
As Chief
Education Officer at Quanser, Tom Lee is focused on spearheading the
development of Quanser's global academic community. He is closely involved with
Quanser's technology and solution development process and the company's partner
and alliance programs. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, and an MASc and
BASc in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo.
