The project that the students work on across the three classes represents an aerospace vehicle need identified by current faculty or industry sponsored research. This year, for example, the vehicle was an uninhabited airborne vehicle capable of carrying emerging sensor platforms in harsh polar climates such as Antarctica to measure the effects of global warming on the polar ice sheet mass balance. I define the basics, and the students fill in the details. They can move or change different components, such as the wings, tail, or engine, but they are completely responsible for integrating the design details selected. There is an advantage and disadvantage to some discipline for each change, and by writing about that change, the students are required to detail why they made that decision.
Students will use writing to make explicit connections between curricula.
Students will learn how to handle engineering ideas verbally.
Writing will allow students to reflect on their choices.
These projects will provide students with an opportunity to listen to "experts"—and then decide what is the best way to proceed on their project.
Students will be able to synthesize material in order to tell a story about their project and why they made the choices they have. Also, they'll be able to articulate why their choices are better than those made by other student groups.
