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Session 2325

Design and Implementation of an Aeronautical Design-Build-Fly Course Peter W. Young1, Olivier L. de Weck2, and Charles P. Coleman3

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge Massachusetts

Introduction

Teaching aeronautical vehicle design is a significant challenge. We have found that teaching the design process in a pure, traditional lecture-style format is ineffective. Undergraduate students yearn for hands-on experiences that allow them to integrate theory and practice. At the undergraduate level, the complexity, expense, and time requirements of real world aeronautical systems seems to impose insurmountable barriers and detracts from learning the key principles. Furthermore, conveying key aspects of aerodynamic design and flight performance in a real flying context is challenging, to say the least.

This paper presents a potential remedy to these dilemmas in the form of a design-build-fly (DBF) course in aeronautics. Sophomore students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics work in small teams to design, build, and fly small radio-controlled electric propulsion aircraft as part of their 2nd term (spring) semester in the Unified Engineering curriculum. An integral part of the Department’s CDIO (conceive – design – implement -operate) educational strategy, the Unified Engineering DBF course is in its fifth year of development with continuous improvements incorporated each year.

This paper will provide an overview of the educational strategies employed, the learning objectives, and their connection to the Department’s CDIO Syllabus. Fundamental assumptions and cognitive progression of teaching design-by-redesign will also be discussed.

1 Senior Lecturer, Colonel USAF (ret.), Room 33-240, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge MA 02139, telephone: (617) 253-5340, e-mail: pwyoung@mit.edu – corresponding author 2 Assistant Professor, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Engineering Systems Division, Room 33-406, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge MA 02139, telephone: (617) 253-0255, e-mail: deweck@mit.edu 3 Assistant Professor, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Engineering Systems Division, Room 33-311, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge MA 02139, telephone: (617) 253-3640, e-mail: ccoleman@mit.edu

Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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Young, P. (2003, June), Design And Implementation Of An Aeronautical Design Build Fly Course Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12610