Engineering

Full- year course. Can you turn an idea into something real? Can you replicate the mechanical achievements of ancient times? Can you design the infrastructure to help a baby elephant with multiple challenges, or offset the devastation of a 100-year flood? Can you ensure food security for the future? Can you make a model that will change the world? Welcome to Engineering!

Explore how engineers improve the world around them through problem-solving, product design, infrastructure, sustainability, and more. Learn to apply principles of design to create solutions to the world’s problems. Through participation in hands-on design challenges, students will become creative problem-solvers as they investigate the fields of engineering, including biomedical engineering, agricultural engineering, and aerospace engineering.Topics covered in this course include defining a design process, problem definition, conceptual design, technical drawing and computer assisted design, project management principles, ethics in design, and technical communication. Project-based learning methods and case studies will serve to provide an authentic engineering experience. The capstone project will allow students to pursue their own interests in engineering and the student portfolio will document their contributions throughout the course!

“Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them!” – James A. Michner

Regular lecture attendance is expected since peer-review and collaboration is required. Students are expected to arrive to class having viewed or read the assigned pre-class materials, prepared to discuss problems, and to contribute individually and in groups. Students should expect to spend 5-7 hours each week working on assignments for this course. 

Prerequisite: Successful completion or co-enrollment in Algebra I is required.

Students should be comfortable using a keyboard to input work. Students must have access to Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and PowerPoint or similar programs, which contain an equation editor so that mathematical equations can be entered into text. Students should sign up for a free account at OnShape, a computer aided design (CAD) software. https://www.onshape.com/en/