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Research and academia have been recently affected by the Coronavirus (COVID-19), and physical classrooms and laboratory experiments have been affected significantly due to the recent laboratory closures. This has led to innovative approaches to curb this problem. To address these difficulties in teaching bioengineering related courses that is of significant interest to students of the Faculty of Engineering in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, and of course, useful for engineering-based higher education institutions (HEI), a transitional pedagogy: Communicate, Active, Collaborate, Problem-based Solving, Learning and Assessment (CACPLA), which encompasses blended learning, was developed as a new teaching and learning strategy. In this study, we show that this new strategy can initiate a steady transition from physical classrooms to full online instruction for some subjects in engineering. This method has been trialled as an exercise for a module as part of an envisioned biomedical engineering degree programme which can be integrated with local industries and research institutions in sub-Saharan Africa. The teaching materials and environment were carefully designed and 253 students of third and final year classes participated as the experimental group. Also, the effect of critical thinking, pre-lecture, and post lecture on the overall performance of the students was assessed. Two questionnaires were designed for data collection, (a) for technical questions, (b) for receptiveness. The result of a student survey suggests favourable reception of the teaching methodology, which aided their understanding of the general bioengineering concept as applied to the materials chemistry and mechanical measurements context. It was noticed that 80% of the students indicated that the blended learning method was sufficient in achieving the learning outcomes of the study. The method is envisioned as a useful and sustainable complement to traditional teaching pedagogies and workshops due to the convenience and relatively high accessibility to Zoom and Google Meet Apps which can be readily employed without incurring significant costs.

In this paper, we present the results of finite element analysis (FEA) performed to investigate nature of stress and their distribution at optimum point along the two turning tables of a micro-controller based versatile machine tool desktop learning module. Commercial Autodesk Inventor was used to create both three-dimensional (3-D) and 2-D models as well as performing simulation. Dynamics simulation generated the motion load expected to act on the tables when used for real-life operation which were in turn used to perform FEA. The motion of the dc servo motor driving the tables and other parts of the module is designed to be controlled by programmable chips. Before creating FEA simulation for the tables, numerical divergence were prevented by varying the mesh settings to obtain the settings at which the results of the analyses converges which was obtained at 0.03 average element size and 0.04 minimum element size. Finite element analysis carried out on the tables shows that aluminium alloy 4032-T6 chosen will serve in the fabrication of physical prototype. FEA revealed the nature and level of stresses that will be experienced on the tables, it also revealed region where these stresses will concentrate on them. The analysis also estimated the expected weight of the turning tables 1&2 to be 1.23536 to 0.257182 Kg respectively and show that the minimum factor of safety was constantly 15 ul within the tables which shows that they will not fail during operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, kaolin based ceramics using styrofoam, sawdust, and powdery high density polyethylene as pore formers were experimentally investigated. Prior to batch formulations, the kaolinite used was wet beneficiated. This was followed by mixing starting materials with pore formers, producing green bodies which were then uni-axially compacted into standard sample dimensions and fired at various sintering temperatures of 850°C, 1000°C and 1150°C for 2 hours in a furnace. The physical and mechanical properties of the sintered samples were investigated and the generated data analysed. It was observed that the apparent porosity and water absorption of the samples decreased with increased sintering temperature, while the bulk density, apparent density and cold crushing strength of the samples increased with increased sintering temperature. It was concluded that the samples which were sintered at 850°C with 5% wt pore former of powdery high density polyethylene gave the optimum properties in terms of the porosity and mechanical strength of the samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]