These classes are part of a system of systems. Each class that the students take represents a system, but that’s not the way the world works. Instead of implicit connections, I want students to make explicit connections, and that is done through writing. Reports show this when a student says, "I wanted to do this or that, but this was a better choice for this reason. . ."
Engineering documents are opinion pieces. They’re a combination of professional judgment and appropriate analytical facts that support it. By using writing, the students just keep getting better at making connections between disciplines.
The emphasis on both writing and activities is not limited to my courses but is important across the entire AE curriculum. The department is currently planning to extend the sequence of courses for undergraduates to five classes of structure, materials, and propulsion. AE 507, taken before 410 and 508, focuses on simple concepts. AE 430, the final course in the sequence, looks at the experimental characterization of the project: it breaks down where the design’s weaknesses are. We want to engage the other two classes in this type of discussion through reports that they will use.
