2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Networking courses are an integral part of electrical engineering technology programs as the majority of electronics in the modern day are required to communicate with each other. They are also getting more attention in manufacturing engineering technology programs because of the development of emerging technologies in Industry 4.0 arena. From laptops, computers, cellphones, modern day vehicles and smart refrigerators, these devices require a certain level of networking in order to communicate with other devices, whether it be locally, or even across the other side of the world. The objective of networking courses in an electrical engineering program is to demonstrate concepts such as local-area networks (LANs), wide-area networks (WANs), network topologies, data transmission, wireless communication protocols, supporting industry-related devices such as radio frequency supported devices and wireless sensors. Within the fields of electrical engineering technology and manufacturing engineering technology, these topics became essential for emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), computing systems, and cyber-physical systems. Therefore, these concepts have to be integrated in modern curricula, including nontraditional electrical-related courses. Most of the time, course material in networking classes is dispersed through lectures and textbooks since the concepts may be difficult to demonstrate and implement with hands-on activities in the classroom. However, simulation tools may prove beneficial in learning about topics in networking. One of these tools is OMNeT++, a powerful and flexible simulation environment with the ability to display a variety of communication networks. This paper discusses the significance of networking classes and modules within electrical and manufacturing engineering technology programs, the advantages of integrating the OMNeT++ simulator within networking courses, as well as sample cases of communication network simulations.