Introduction to Engineering: A Project-Based Experience in Engineering Methods (AIAA Education Series) - Softcover

Martiqua L. Post; Steven A. Brandt; D. Neal Barlow

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1624104592 ISBN 13: 9781624104596

Publisher: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2017

Synopsis

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 thesame 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.

About this title

About the Authors

Martiqua L. Post, PhD, is Associate Professor of Aeronautics at the United States Air Force Academy. She holds a private pilot’s license, is an Associate Fellow of AIAA, and a member of the AIAA Applied Aeronautics Technical Committee.

Steven A. Brandt, PhD, Lt. Col. USAF (Ret.), is Professor of Aeronautics at the United States Air Force Academy. He is an engineer and a pilot with over 3000 hours’ flying time in jet fighter and training aircraft, and over 30 years’ experience as a platform instructor. He has taught the capstone aircraft design course at USAFA for 25 years and was a pioneer in the use of design/build/fly as an instructional method. He is author of the textbook Introduction to Aeronautics, and currently leads aircraft design projects for a number of government agencies and private corporations.

D. Neal Barlow, PhD, Brig. Gen. USAF (Ret.), is Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Arkansas Tech University. He served as Head, Department of Aeronautics, at the United States Air Force Academy from 2000-2015.

Edition details

• Publisher: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1624104592
• ISBN 13: 9781624104596
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 317