The School of Engineering and Architecture is committed to providing hands-on measurements and experimentation as a viable component of the educational programs. In this regard, the instructional laboratories are continuously receiving considerable attention. In addition to providing specific instructional functions, all engineering laboratories provide a common set of computing services which include a unified username/password giving them access to a private, secure account where students work on their various projects and assignments as well as browse the internet using LAU’s broadband connection. In addition, all labs are equipped with fast network printers to accommodate the students’ requirements.
The Architecture and Design Shop provides support to the architecture and design programs. The facilities are composed of the woodshop and the metal shop, as well as the model-making laser cutter shop. The location of the shop in the architecture building and its proximity to the studios insures that students execute all their models at school, and benefit from the convenience and support of these facilities in realizing their work.
Orientation sessions on operation and safety rules are required before allowing students to use the shop.
The materials testing laboratory is equipped with a 400-ton Forney hydraulic testing rig, a high precision displacement controlled Instron testing frame, a full soil testing laboratory including automated direct shear boxes, triaxial cells, permeability cells, and a full SHARP asphalt concrete testing laboratory, in addition to a reflected light high precision microscope facility.
The GPS and topography laboratory is equipped with mobile stations and the only continuous monitoring GPS station in Lebanon, the LAUG station which is part of the UNAVCO consortium in the U.S. and the International GPS Service (IGS).
The water and environmental laboratory is equipped with sampling devices and quality analysis of water/wastewater, jar tests, stream gauging, top of the line point and depth sediment samplers, bed load samplers, fluorometers, UV-visible spectrophotometers, colorimeters, peristaltic pumps, gas meters, centrifuges, incubators, and furnaces, in addition to mobile environmental monitoring stations for air pollution field measurements.
The Micro-Computer Laboratory is a general engineering area where students from all engineering majors gather to work on their assignments and projects or simply browse the internet. It is composed of high-end workstations, dual booting Microsoft Windows and Red Hat Linux operating systems. Most of the general engineering applications as well as office productivity software are centralized in this area. This lab opens up at 8 a.m. and closes at 8 p.m. During rush periods, the lab is open late and sometimes overnight.
The Digital Design Laboratory is the home of all microprocessor design and reconfigurable computing courses. Students taking microprocessor programming courses come in with real life, stepby- step processor programming. They learn to program, at the assembly level, all types of devices and appliances: a small video game, a digital clock and stopwatch, etc. In addition, FPGA-based hardware boards are used for rapid prototyping. Students use hardware languages such as VHDL to design more complex digital circuits such as pipelined simple processors, VGA controllers, and neural networks, and execute them on the FPGA platforms.
The Linux Programming Laboratory is targeted towards the Linux operating system environment. Linux and UNIX have always been the best platforms in terms of reliability and many reputable companies use UNIX servers for their core network services. Courses such as Operating Systems, Networks and other advanced topics courses use extensively this lab.
The Advanced Networking Laboratory features the latest networking devices from Cisco Systems. It places students in direct contact with advanced LAN and WAN devices, performing various real-life operations, including simulated router traffic, problem troubleshooting, and company-wide configurations.
The Communication Systems Laboratory introduces students to different analog and digital communication systems using educational modulation and demodulation boards. The data acquisition for the associated experiments is done using MATALAB/SIMULINK, which provide a display of various signals in time and frequency domain.
The Control Systems Laboratory introduces students to the implementation of PID-controllers and two-step controllers to first order delay as well as third order delay systems using educational PID boards and DC servo boards. Experimentations and analysis use industrial standard oscilloscopes and data-acquisition boards interfaced via SIMULINK/MATLAB.
The Advanced Technology Laboratory features different technologies, such as: Microwave and various types of antennas with design and testing package for test reception, radiation pattern, and various other parameters on the airwaves; A highend GPS station with differential base station (DGPS) used for various field experiments; A 6 DOF Robot manipulator section used in various automated applications; A 6 DOF Inertial Measurement Unit used in aerospace applications. In addition, this lab features a variety of state of the art software to be used for analysis and design of telecommunication systems.
The Instrumentation and Electronics Laboratory features the practical and technical aspects of electric and electronic circuitry. The student learns how to design and analyze basic and advanced circuits through the usage of state of the art digital equipment such as oscilloscopes, function generators, and multimeters.
The Electromechanics and Power Laboratory features test benches for testing three phase circuits, single and three phase transformers, AC machines both synchronous and induction, and DC machines. A model of a transmission line is also available for simulating power line capability and compensation. A power electronics test bench can simulate AC/DC DC/AC DC/DC conversions using thyristors, GTOs and MOSFETs.
The Fluid Mechanics Laboratory consists of a range of equipment designed to allow students to understand the behavior of fluids. It includes apparatus for the measurement of different fluid properties (density, viscosity, capillarity, etc.), and different methods for measuring fluid flow (venturimeter, orifice plate, rotameter). The lab also includes equipment for measuring the losses in piping systems, as well as different types of pumps.