Abstract-Based on requirements for a next-generation rocket test facility, elements of a prototype intelligent rocket test facility (IRTF) have been implemented. The preliminary results provide the basis for future advanced development and validation using rocket test stand facilities at Stennis Space Center (SSC). Key components include distributed smart sensor elements integrated using a knowledge-driven environment. One of the specific goals is to imbue sensors with the intelligence needed to perform self-diagnosis of health and to participate in a hierarchy of health determination at sensor, process, and system levels. We have identified issues important to further development of health-enabled networks, which should be of interest to others working with smart sensors and intelligent health management systems.Index Terms-Health management, IEEE 1451, integrated system health management (ISHM), integrated vehicle health monitoring (IVHM), rocket testing, sensor fusion, smart sensors.

Nomenclature ISHM= integrated system health management DIaK = data, information, and knowledge

All engineering students at Rowan University are required to take the 8-semester Engineering Clinic sequence wherein multidisciplinary student teams engage in semester-long design projects. In addition to projects that are funded by local industry, faculty research grants or departmental budgets, a Venture Capital Fund has been created, which is specifically ear-marked for the development of original student inventions. Funding of up to $2500 per student team per semester is competitively awarded based on student-generated proposals to the Venture Capital Fund, which has been created through a series of grants from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA). To qualify for funding, a multidisciplinary student team must propose, plan and implement an original, semester-long product development enterprise. To date, eleven projects have been funded through the Venture Capital Fund. This paper describes the results of several student entrepreneurial projects and compares the results of student surveys to assess the effectiveness of entrepreneurial projects in satisfying the technical objectives of the Engineering Clinic. The results suggest that students engaged in entrepreneurial projects devote more hours per week on their projects, have more "ownership" in their projects, and have a better understanding of the technical aspects and societal impact of their projects than their counterparts who are engaged in the more traditional engineering design projects. Over the past five years, he has been active in the development of Rowan's Engineering Clinic curriculum. The upper division clinics provide a structure for multidisciplinary projects and entrepreneurship. His other interests include instrumentation and laboratory development. Presenters IntroductionIn 1992, the local industrialist Henry M. Rowan made a $100 million donation to the then Glassboro State College in order to establish a high-quality engineering school in southern New Jersey. This gift has enabled the university to create a bold, innovative and forward-looking engineering program. The College of Engineering at Rowan University is composed of four departments: Chemical Engineering (ChE); Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE); Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE); and Mechanical Engineering (ME). Each department has been designed to serve 25 to 30 students per year, resulting in 100 to 120 students per year in the College of Engineering. The size of the college has been optimized such that it is large enough to provide specialization in separate and credible departments, yet small enough to permit the creation of a truly multidisciplinary curriculum in which laboratory/design courses are offered simultaneously to all engineering students in all four disciplines. Indeed, the hallmark of the engineering program at Rowan University is the multidisciplinary, project-oriented Engineering Clinic sequence.

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Abstract-In today's quickly changing and increasingly competitive market place, it is imperative that manufacturers keep abreast of the technological advances and design innovations incorporated into competing product lines. The term competitive assessment (or benchmarking) has been coined by manufacturers to describe the process of ethically acquiring, inspecting, analyzing, instrumenting, and testing the product lines of other manufacturers. The Competitive Assessment Laboratory at Rowan University is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). In the laboratory, multidisciplinary teams of freshman engineering students from each of the four engineering departments perform each of the above tasks on a consumer product. The laboratory contains a series of consumer appliance test stations featuring PC-based data acquisition systems capable of measuring thermocouple and voltage/current signals. Each station is also equipped with mechanical measurement equipment and portable materials testing equipment. In addition to introducing students to the science and art of design, the Competitive Assessment Laboratory enables the faculty to assess the constantly evolving initial conditions under which the typical engineering student enters his or her course of study.