Student-initiated projects as part of an instrumentation and data acquisition course for sophomore-level electronics engineering technology students are presented. The three instrumentation projects reported in this paper are a dc motor drive system, a liquid level control system, and an environmental automation system. All three projects focused on instrumentation system development incorporating multiple sensors/actuators, GPIB-interfaced instrument control, data acquisition hardware, LabVIEW

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... software, and implementation of hysteresis or on/off control scheme. These projects were carried out during the final four weeks of the semester after eleven weeks of lecture/lab sessions. Success of the student project experience was assessed based on defined learning and teaching objectives. Early in the semester students develop project topics with appropriate feedback/guidance from the instructor. A feasibility report is required of each group by the eighth week of the fifteenweek semester. The feasibility study is quite detailed as it requires preliminary ideas supported by circuit schematics, parts list, LabVIEW program flow chart, and project completion schedule. Students are in charge of selecting the necessary sensors and actuators. If a part needs to be (a) Pump input power, water level, and flow rate plots (b) Level, flow and current sensing, and hysteresis controller implementation (c) Programmable power supply on/off control Figure 9 Liquid level control graphical displays and VI block diagram.