Engineering science and mechanics professor will use grant to restructure course

4/23/2020

By Tessa Woodring

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Parisa Shokouhi, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics, recently received a 2020 American Society of Nondestructive Testing, Inc. (ASNT) Faculty Grant for her proposed revitalization of EMCH/MATSE 440, a senior-level elective that is housed in two departments: the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Each year, the ASNT provides faculty members from engineering and science programs across the country with financial support to revise existing courses or to develop new courses that are related to nondestructive testing (NDT) and nondestructive evaluation.

Shokouhi’s proposed revisions to EMCH/MATSE 440 include moving away from a lecture-based format and introducing an active problem-based learning environment that will be supported through supervised physical and virtual laboratory exercises.

“An improved curriculum can potentially attract many more junior and senior students and spark their interest in pursuing graduate studies or careers in NDT,” Shokouhi noted in her proposal. “This class has attracted a diverse body of students from different departments across the College of Engineering as well as the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. An enhanced curriculum has the potential to expand this reach to other programs such as industrial and manufacturing engineering.”

According to Shokouhi, her revitalizations to this course will improve the quality of NDT education at Penn State and also increase student motivation, interest and participation in the field of NDT. Shokouhi noted in her proposal that the fast pace of technological developments in the NDT field makes using textbooks or other lecture-based resources challenging. An active, visual learning environment would potentially promote a more effective classroom experience and increase knowledge retention for students.

Shokouhi will be featured in the upcoming issue of ASNT’s monthly journal, “Materials Evaluation,” and she will be recognized at the 2020 ASNT Annual Conference that will take place later this year.

 

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MEDIA CONTACT:

Megan Lakatos

mkl5024@psu.edu

Parisa Shokouhi headshot

Parisa Shokouhi, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics. IMAGE: PENN STATE