Introduction to Engineering: A Project-Based Experience in Engineering Methods

Introduction to Engineering is a project-based learning experience for engineering students, who are tasked with designing a hypersonic trans-atmospheric vehicle. It leads students through the same process that a team of engineers would follow by breaking a large design problem into smaller, more tractable sub-problems. Materials feature both a book and electronic course materials necessary for students to complete the course, including: Course Text; Handouts; Engineering and Teamwork Questions; Example Spreadsheets; Illustrations; Videos. To help students understand the challenge they confront, a statement of work (SOW) specifies exactly what type of test vehicle they must design, build, demonstrate, and deliver to fulfill the requirements of the course, and what performance capabilities and physical characteristics that vehicle must possess. The first phase of this vehicle's mission profile is a vertical launch like a rocket. Students begin by studying Newton's laws and the principles of rocket propulsion and aerodynamics. Armed with this knowledge, they will design, build, and launch a test vehicle.For this first test vehicle and all subsequent models built during the course, engineering disciplines such as mechanical engineering, environmental engineering, and electrical engineering will be brought to bear to ensure that the test vehicle is strong, functional, safe, and environmentally friendly. By the time students complete this course, they will be familiar with, and have practice in, each of the major engineering disciplines. After flying to the edge of space, the hypersonic trans-atmospheric vehicle will slow down and glide back to a horizontal landing on the earth. Students study this second phase of the mission, learning about glider aerodynamics and performance, as well the shaping required for hypersonic vehicles. Once more, they will design, build, and launch a test vehicle to learn more about this second phase of the vehicle's mission. Test vehicles and the final concept demonstrator will be subscale, model-rocket-sized vehicles, but they will demonstrate the basic physics, techniques, and technologies required to design the full-scale vehicle. By the end of this course students will learn one fundamental lesson inherent in most problem-solving.Life is full of challenges for which we are not prepared. An engineer, or any creative problem solver, first determines what knowledge and skills are necessary to solve a problem. Then they identify those facts and skills they need to know but they don't yet know, and they set out to learn them. In the process, students will discover the fascinating, challenging, and motivating world of engineering.