Student projects for an electromagnetics course

Abstract

The course on electromagnetics, which is a mainstay of many electrical engineering programs, is typically taught in the junior year as a theory course without a lab. Several abstract and difficult concepts are introduced and often, even good students, will leave the course having mastered the mathematics but with little intuition about how the theory they know relates to the physical world of engineering. Concepts introduced include movement of charge, capacitance, inductance, static magnetic fields, and electromagnetic waves. In the electromagnetics course at the University of Evansville, projects have been introduced to help students relate the theory from class to the real world. Projects are completed outside of the classroom and open project labs provide access to lab equipment at all hours. Projects are done in teams of two and each team typically does three projects over the semester. This paper describes seven projects which have been used in the course to illustrate concepts. Student feedback is presented along with practical implementation strategies for success. The six projects are: 1 Capacitive Rain Gauge: Students design a gauge that is sensitive to the fluid level in the gauge. This gauge is based on the principle that capacitance is dependent on the dielectric constant of the material between two conductors. 1. Transmission Line Characteristics: Students must calculate characteristic impedance and propagation speed of a coaxial cable based on measured dimensions. 2. DC Electric Field Probe: Students design a non-contact probe that can detect the presence and polarity of a static (or slowly varying) electric field in air. 3. AC Current Meter: Students design a non-contact AC current meter. 3. Metal Detector: Students design a metal detecting device based on mutual inductance.