A proposed vision to reinvent the mechanical engineering department's instrumentation and thermal sciences laboratories

The Mechanical Engineering Departments' Instrumentation and Thermal Sciences Laboratories serve as sites for the experimental work of junior, senior, and graduate engineering student research. The laboratories allow for hands-on experience with instrumentation and industrial process control, provide opportunities for application of knowledge gained in prerequisite and previously studied courses, and the affirmation of knowledge gained in concurrently studied courses.; This work is in turn focused around a vision for reinventing these laboratories, one of enhancing their current pedagogical role of bridging the gap between theory and practice, and exposing future engineers to interesting and creative team-oriented challenges and problems encountered in the field of professional practice. This vision would be made possible through the use of products and solutions supplied by National Instruments Corp. and Omega Engineering, Inc. for the realization of the laboratories' original concepts in a manner suitable for the 21st century.