Growing The Next Generation of Innovative Engineers

Back in the 1950's and 1960's, when NASA's space program was getting off the ground, aerospace engineers' average age was in their 20's. Today, aerospace engineers have an average age of around 55. Ten years from now, those engineers will be retired. So it's fair to ask, "Who will take their place?" That's a question many people in the scientific community, including leading entrepreneur, innovator and founder of FIRST robotic competition Dean Kamen, have posed for some time now. It's obviously an important issue for us at Quanser too, since our major focus is on creating educational products and curriculum for control engineering education.

Are young people sufficiently excited by science education today? It certainly doesn't seem so. Engineering school enrollments are down in North America, and a smaller percentage of students graduate than in past years. The fact is, while it may have been cool to be an aerospace engineer in the 1960's, young people today have largely found their heroes in the world of entertainment and professional sports. They're keeping their eyes on the ball alright, but in our opinion, in most cases it's the wrong ball. Instead of a basketball, it should be a ball bearing in a Ball and Beam experiment!

Our motto is "Captivate. Motivate. Educate." and we bring that spirit to the classroom. Our control products, experiments and curriculum are expressly designed with these goals in mind. Dean Kamen has the same goals. Two decades ago he founded FIRST, an organization dedicated to inspiring young people's interest and participation in science and technology. FIRST is like an all-star game for young science and engineering students, and Quanser is proud to be a part of it. Our engineers are committed to it, acting as coaches for the high school teams and also judging the competitions. This week, March 24 - 26, we'll be doing both in Waterloo, Ontario as 30 teams of the smartest, most inquisitive students in Ontario show us their stuff. Stay tuned for a report on what went on.

We've no doubt that the engineering superstars of tomorrow will be nurtured by competitions and collaborations like these. So while our focus is creating exciting, new, cost-effective university-level engineering education hardware and software, in our spare time we're dedicated to ensuring that the excitement of engineering education is ignited – as early as grade school. That way, we're covering all the bases and preparing more students to be part of the next generation of technical innovators and entrepreneurs.

Watch a short interview with Paul Karam, Director of Engineering at Quanser to find out why he thinks competitions like FIRST are important for students - and for companies like Quanser.

Quanser Expertise Attracts Advanced Motion Research Projects

As part of his latest experimental research, Professor Venkat Krovi, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at SUNY Buffalo, was looking to develop a prototype of a 6 DOF motion platform. This platform would move over a fixed base and be interconnected by several legs.

To ensure the smoothest possible working relationship and achieve their goals in a timely, cost-efficient manner, Dr. Krovi and his team at the Automation, Robotics and Mechatronics (ARM) Lab engaged Quanser, a world leader in the design and manufacture of real-time control systems.

Dr. Krovi’s confidence in Quanser was based on experience. He’d worked with Quanser’s engineers before as one of the first users of our brand new High Definition Haptic Device HD2.

From the very beginning, the ARM Lab and Quanser spoke the same language. To generate the mathematical basis for the motion platform project, Dr. Krovi‘s team used Maplesoft's MapleSim mathematical modeling software. Maplesoft is a Quanser development partner, and Quanser’s expertise with MapleSim modeling contributed significantly to the speed and effectiveness of the collaborative process.

Equally important to Dr. Krovi was the fact that Quanser management and engineers fully understood his world. As he put it, “The process became very easy when working with Quanser’s team - from engineering through management, everyone was very cooperative.”

He also found that they could devise solutions in a relatively short timeframe. “We were able to quickly nail down the specifications and proceed through various stages of the design cycle which paved the way to the project and its timely completion.”

The entire process - from concept to working prototype - only took two months, less time than normal in a university setting. This allowed Dr. Krovi’s grad students to remain closely involved throughout. The final product ­ the 6 DOF motion platform Quanser developed with the ARM Lab ­is known as the Hexapod, and it is a key part of Quanser’s Mechatronics Controls Collection.

Quanser's Hexapod is a six degrees of freedom motion platform suitable for research in areas such as earthquake simulation, flight simulation and vibration studies.

Like all Quanser devices, the Hexapod is multi-faceted and designed to work in conjunction with other tools to accomplish a wide range of research goals. Currently, at SUNY Buffalo, the Quanser Hexapod is being used in conjunction with the Quanser Haptic Device HD2 to further needle insertion research by helping design a surgical training simulator for biopsy procedures.

- Note: the Hexapod is no longer available for purchase in North America, Europe, Japan and Taiwan. -

New Approaches in Training Future Engineers: Quanser Speaks at 2011 ECEDHA Conference

Quanser will attend the 2011 ECEDHA Conference in Phoenix, Arizona (March 11 – 15) and take the opportunity to share insights on some exciting ways leaders in engineering education are responding to the challenges of training tomorrow’s engineers.

On Sunday, March 13 at 12:30 p.m., Leor Grebler, Quanser’s Academic Solutions Advisor, will present a Spotlight Session titled “A Renaissance in Engineering Education: How Hands-on Learning is Transforming Future Engineers”.

Leor will outline how schools are transforming future engineers through:

• Hands-on learning
• Cross-departmental collaboration
• International cooperation

These valuable insights have been gained through interactions with almost 100 engineering schools in the US and Canada as well as over 500 university clients of Quanser worldwide. Together they form the basis for high-level learning approaches that are new, efficient and very effective.

As the world leader in education and research for real-time control design and implementation, Quanser offers cost-effective solutions that assist universities in producing graduates with real-world, industry-relevant skills.

For an overview of how Quanser provides added value to universities, click here.

Quanser’s presentation is open to all attendees.

Attracting Students with the Cutting-Edge Technology

Research interests of Dr. Youmin Zhang, Associate Professor at the Concordia University's Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering spin around avionics, guidance, navigation and flight control of unmanned aerial vehicles. And acquiring Quanser's Qball-X4, an unmanned aerial vehicle system with the OptiTrack camera system and a ground station PC, allowed Dr. Zhang to effectively continue his research in these areas. But Dr. Zhang is also passionate about teaching and sharing the latest research results with his students. With the support of his department, he introduced his undergraduate and graduate students to this cutting-edge technology.

In the fall of 2010, students enrolled in the Flight Control Systems Course were able to use the Qball-X4 for the first time. The Qball system was also used in a newly offered graduate course Fault Diagnosis and Fault Tolerant Control Systems. Concordia University thus became the first academic institution in the world to use such a cutting-edge physical UAV system to teach a flight control course. Dr. Zhang brought his latest research results to the classroom and gave students a chance to get hands-on experience with the unmanned aerial technology. Students could implement a control algorithm they designed on a real unmanned aerial vehicle and test it - something they did not have the chance to do before.

UVS Lab at Concordia University. Image courtesy of Dr. Youmin Zhang.

Using cutting-edge and industry-relevant technologies in the labs help professors to attract the brightest students and motivate them to continue in their engineering career. Quanser systems allow professors to perform their research, as well as to teach various control concepts and theories. Contact our academic solutions advisors at info@quanser.com to learn more.

Quanser Partners with the Regional Creative Hub

Markham region, where Quanser head office is located, is home to the largest cluster of technology and life sciences companies in Canada. Little wonder that this leading hub of technological innovation, creativity and education was where the Ontario provincial government came to announce the creation of a new innovation center called VentureLab. The establishment of the new innovation centre along with more than $1 million in funding for it, was announced by Glen Murray, Ontario's Minister of Research and Innovation.

Linking together the town of Markham, provincial and federal governments, and industry and academic professionals, VentureLab will focus on creating innovative companies and new technologies. As a part of ONE, the Ontario Network of Excellence, it will help local entrepreneurs bring their ideas to marketplace and give them access to a broad network of experts and resources. VentureLab will operate from the Markham Convergence Centre, a unique business ecosystem that also houses several entrepreneurial companies from the health sciences sector. This close proximity will offer even more opportunities for collaboration and fostering innovation in Markham Region.

Ontario's Minister of Research and Innovation Glen Murrey announcing creation of the VentureLab.

As one of the region's leading engineering companies, Quanser was invited to the announcement event to showcase the innovation that already exists in the region. The guests had an opportunity to see live demonstration of a cutting-edge Quanser technology: the tele-operation system developed by Quanser in collaboration with the University of Western Ontario. The system is used as a surgical simulator in training of health care professionals.

Quanser's engineers demonstrate the cutting-edge High definition Haptic Device HD^2 to the Counsellor Howard Sharp and Minister Glen Murrey

Quanser is prepared to support VentureLab clients in the future, providing engineering mentoring and using its expertise to help bring new technologies to market.

Grade 8 Girls Enjoy Quanser's Ball and Beam Experiment

Every year, Blair McKay, the electronics teacher at Listowel District Secondary School, invites Grade 8 students to his custom-designed electronics lab - eLab. During the electronics workshops - eDays - the students can find out more about electronics and robotics and engage in hands-on activities.

The eDays are held separately for boys and girls. For the girls' eDay, the guest speakers are all women who have exciting careers in electrical engineering, computer engineering and mechatronics. I have been a guest speaker at eDays since 2004. This year, I talked to the girls about how much fun I have working at Quanser, and I showed them Quanser's Ball and Beam experiment. I demonstrated how the computer can control the position of the ball on the beam, and then I let the girls try to control the experiment manually by moving the mouse. All the girls were eager to participate, and although no one was able to control the position of the ball as quickly as the computer, everyone had fun trying!

The eDay workshops are clearly successful at attracting young women to take electronics in high school. At Listowel District Secondary School, Grade 9 electronics is taught as part of an Introduction to Technology class, and there are typically two full all-girl classes!

Quanser Linear Current Amplifier on the Way to Space

There was nothing unusual about the request for information on Quanser's control hardware that we received few months ago, except for the note: "FYI. We use a pair of your LCAMs to drive the beam director of our 8 kw laser power beaming system for NASA Space Elevator Games. We finished second last year." Well, that sparked some interest, because how higher can Quanser system ever get?!

Surprisingly, the competing team is not affiliated to any university or college. A group of hobbiests took on the challenge. "The competition has caught my attention," explained Brian Turner, the captain of the Kansas City Space Pirates team, " because it's something new that hasn't been done before. It's truly a multi-discipline challenge."

Brian gathered a team of other enthusiasts with knowledge and skills in different areas - electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, specialists on solar energy and optics. But the team is not limited to professionals: Dan Leafblad joined as a student at the age of 14.

As the NASA Space Elevator Games rules evolved, requiring the climber to go higher and higher, KC Space Pirates had to turn to more sophisticated system design. Mirrors focusing the sun beam were not sufficient to power the climber up to 1km. Instead, the team turned to laser. More complex system meant more design challenges. "In order to keep the laser aimed as the climber goes up, you need to track it," explained Brian. "We augmented the laser system so that it was able to tell whether the climber was moving upwards, downwards, left or right and used a fast steering mirror to steer the beam. The steering mirror was driven by voice coils." Powering the voice coils turned out to be an issue. After trying several other options, the team came across Quanser's LCAM - linear current amplifier. LCAMs proved to provide ideal operation range in terms of current, voltage and resistance. "We just did the calibration and your solution worked for us beautifully - there was no longer a problem," Brain commented.

Although the team did not win the prize in the 2010, they came pretty close. But what KC Space Pirates can claim are kids inspired to pursue science and engineering not only as a hobby, but also as a career. KC Space Pirates team members often visit middle and high schools to talk about science and engineering. "Competitions like this," says Brian, " turn science into sport. The kids see that participation in science can be fun and cool, just as the participation in sports."

Take Dan Leafblad, one of the KC Space Pirates. He himself joined the team at 14, after hearing Brian talking at the local science club. "Before getting involved with the team, I had no deep interest in science or robotics," says Dan. "After few months with the Space Pirates, it was clear to me I want to do engineering in the future. " As Dan explained, it was great for him to see that he can use the math he learned at home in a real application and design a part of the system. Last fall Dan started his first year at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla. And no wonder right in his freshmen year, Dan became a member of the Missouri S&T Solar Car Team.

And as for the LCAM, we have to see whether it will "reach" the space. It's great to know it has the power to do so.