Steffen Peuker

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Associate) at California Polytechnic State University

University students benefit academically, personally and professionally from an expansion of their in‐class social network. To facilitate this, we present a novel and broadly‐applicable optimization approach that exposes individuals to as many as possible peers that they do not know. This novel class of “social seating assignment problems” is param...

The class social network is a momentous factor when it comes to educational, personal and professional student success as well as achieving course learning outcomes. Students and teachers benefit from expanded network connectivity via augmented engagement, more inclusivity, and efficient diffusion of information. We present a novel method for posit...

The purpose of this work in progress is to provide preliminary findings from efforts to develop a valid and reliable instrument to measure students’ attitudes, beliefs, and intentions related to social justice in engineering contexts. As researchers continue to demonstrate the critical links between engineering topics and social justice and advocat...

The class social network is a momentous factor when it comes to educational, personal and professional student success as well as achieving course learning outcomes. Students and teachers benefit from expanded network connectivity via augmented engagement , more inclusivity, and efficient diffusion of information. We present a novel method for posi...

Food analysis courses introduce the theory and application of analytical procedures to characterize foods and their ingredients. Students learn the principles behind analytical techniques commonly used to analyze foods in the industry and evaluate their suitability for the analysis of specific food products. Food analysis courses have traditionally...

An experimental investigation of thermoelectric cooling using a Peltier element to dehumidify moist air under controlled, high relative humidity conditions has been conducted. The influence of the cold side heatsink orientation on the water collection rate was experimentally determined. One finned heatsink-fan combination was used on the heat rejec...

Studying Engineering is the best-selling Introduction to Engineering textbook. The book is a powerful tool to improve academic performance and retention rates since it equips students to develop their full potential to achieve success in engineering study. Over 300 U.S. institutions have adopted Studying Engineering for their Introduction to Engine...

This work in progress paper summarizes initial work conducted to understand how students discuss their self-regulated learning skills through an end of semester reflective assignment. As part of a first year seminar course for engineering students, students are asked to complete weekly reflective assignments relating the week's topic to their own p...

During the 2014–2015 academic year, engineering faculty members and students at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) met monthly in a collaborative inquiry dialogue group to discuss the role of reflection in transforming engineering education. This project is part of the larger Consortium to Promote Reflection in Engineering Education...

Achieving high functioning teams is essential for successfully implementing flipped classrooms methods relying on collaborative learning. Team-Based Learning is a unique approach to flipping a classroom because of its prescribed framework. This paper provides quantitative and qualitative data showing that teams are high functioning and high perform...

Ensuring student accountability and engagement can be a concern for faculty wanting to utilize a flipped classroom; however, Team-Based Learning (TBL) achieves both student engagement and accountability in engineering courses as a result of its coherent framework. The Team-Based Learning Student Assessment Instrument, grades from in-class quizzes,...

To strengthen the commitment of first-year engineering students and improve retention rates, an innovative approach has been developed linking student development focused first-year courses and a project called "Design Your Process of Becoming a World-Class Engineering Student". The project is set within first-year engineering orientation courses t...

Many students come into an engineering program lacking a strong commitment to stay in an engineering program and to graduate with an engineering degree. For students to accomplish the challenging goal of graduating in engineering requires a strong commitment, and behaviors and attitudes to follow through that commitment. To strengthen the commitmen...

Team Based Learning (TBL) is a specific pedagogical tool that emphasizes collaborative learning. Oftentimes TBL is confused with group activities and other active learning strategies involving student teams. TBL is distinct because it follows a prescribed sequence of individual work and group work, and includes immediate feedback as well as peer ev...

This study aims to compare student performance on introductory engineering statics material by comparing the exam scores of students who are given both multiple choice (MC) questions and constructed response (CR) questions to see whether the type of exam question makes a difference in student performance and understanding. Seventy-five students in...

In higher education, hands-on undergraduate education using state-of-the-art laboratory equipment is important to meet the quality standards expected in the engineering profession. However, the development of modern engineering laboratories is not only time consuming, but also budget constraints can hamper the development of needed laboratories for...

Many mechanical engineering departments offer a thermal system design (or similar) course for senior students. Some courses have a laboratory component, but many are a lecture only format. This paper demonstrates how active learning-through virtual labs, a semester long project, and in-class assignments-was incorporated into the lecture portion of...

Refrigerant mass migration and redistribution are regarded as key factors affecting the cycling performance of air conditioning and refrigeration systems. A dynamic model of an R134a automotive air conditioning system is presented as an example in this paper to capture the refrigerant migration during compressor shut-down and start-up operations. M...

Automotive air conditioning systems are subject to constantly changing operation conditions and steady state simulations are not sufficient to describe the actual performance. The refrigerant mass migration during transient events such as clutch-cycling or start-up has a direct impact on the transient performance. It is therefore necessary to devel...

The off-cycle refrigerant mass migration has a direct influence on the on-cycle performance since compressor energy is necessary to redistribute the refrigerant mass. No studies, as of today, are available in the open literature which experimentally measured the lubricant migration within a refrigeration system during cycling or stop/start transien...

This paper presents experimental techniques to determine the amount of lubricant in each of the major components of an R134a automotive A/C system using ND-8 (PAG 46) oil—compressor, condenser, liquid tube, evaporator and accumulator. Three different techniques are presented: Remove and weigh Flushing Mix and sample The advantages and disadvantages...

Automotive fixed orifice tube (FOT) systems are especially prone to cycling losses due to their clutch cycling operation. Therefore, it is important to better understand the dynamics of the refrigerant and oil migration during transient events such as cycling and start-up. To measure the refrigerant mass and oil distribution of an automotive R134a...

This document presents results of experimental and model investigations of two evaporator automotive air conditioning systems using R134a and R744 as refrigerants. The R134a system investigated originated from the vehicle air conditioning system used in the U.S. Army HMMWV (High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled vehicle). The results from the HMMWV R1...