Designing an undergraduate course in static electricity for engineering technology students

A course in static electricty at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell is described. This is a three-credit technical elective course which contains two major parts. The first physics of electrostatics and to learn the hazards of electrostatic discharge, identifying the most vulnerable products, recognizing the economic value of electrostatic discharge control, and adopting effective control measures to reduce costly rework. The second part provides students with the practical applications knowledge of static electricity such as seed sorting, mine separating, flocking, precipitation, air pollution control, xerography, pesticides application, horticultural growth, and insect control. A few laboratory sessions are included for students to become familiar with equipment such as the electrostatic locator, the ionizer, the high resistance meter, and the decay meter