Message from the Editor - Sessions of Change
Abstract
The leaves in the Midwest are shifting their colors to crimson red, orange, and goldenrod. As I take a deep breath, I notice that the West Lafayette air now has a special crispness about it. Yes, it is getting chilly at night, and we have to shut our windows because Father Winter is creeping around the corner. As seasons change in the Midwest, it gives me the opportunity to regroup and begin again.
As we begin the academic year, it is a good time to review the reasons why we exist. The Engineering Design Graphics Division exists to coordinate and promote interests and activities that pertain to engineering graphics, design and education. We do this by supporting those engaged in the teaching and application of graphics in engineering, design and technology, investigating the evolution and impact of computer graphics on engineering design graphics, informing members of current and future trends, promoting and developing ideas for professional conversations, and maintaining our connections with industry, government, and other professional societies. Our address has changed - so update your favorites list to http://edgd.asee.org/
As the Autumn Issue of the Engineering Design Graphics Journal goes to press, there is change in the air. There is talk of renaming the division and the Journal. There is talk of going totally online. There is talk of rethinking who our audience is. That’s the one thing you can always count on… Technology means change. The Engineering Design Graphics Division (EDGD), founded in 1928, is the oldest division within the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE).
This Autumn Issue of the Engineering Design Graphics Journal presents two refereed papers that were blind-reviewed with an acceptance rate of 30 percent. The first article “Examining the Spatial Ability Phenomenon from the Student’s Perspective” is written by one of my colleagues, Dr. J. L. Mohler of Purdue University. He examines the experiences of technically-oriented students attempting to answer the question, “What was it like for a student to experience the spatial ability phenomenon?” The paper discusses the emerging holistic, structural description of the spatial phenomenon from the perspective of the participants, as well as four of the five invariant themes that emerged.
The second is authored by Professor Suing Ding of Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne. It is titled “Representing the Past by Solid Modeling + Golden Ratio Analysis.” This article focuses on the Golden Ratio analysis and the procedures of reconstructing ancient architecture using solid modeling with geometric analysis. Two case studies are investigated using the application of solid modeling with an approach from geometric construction perspective, along with data collection, literature review and photography analysis.
Investigative research and experimentation often continues during retirement for some driven professors. The third paper is worthy of publishing, not as a research paper, but as an experimental piece contributing to the body of knowledge. It is titled “Distortion in Perspective Projection” and is authored by retired Professor Robert P. Kelso, Sr., of Louisiana Tech University. This paper is explorative in nature and uses an experimental study, rather than theory-testing academic research. The paper presents Professor Kelso’s original ideas associating perspective projection with the image beheld by the eye and demonstrates that all graphical and photographic perspective projections must contain distortion when compared to the image beheld by the eye.
So there you have it. Three very di? erent articles contributing to our body of knowledge. Enjoy.
-- La Verne Abe Harris
