Conference Session

Aircraft Design Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David B. Kanipe, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Aerospace

, due to his 38 years of experience in the Space Program covering many projects and programs, the Head of the Aerospace Engineering Department at Texas A&M University asked him to come to A&M and teach a senior capstone design course in spacecraft design. As he puts it, he spent 38 years at NASA preparing to teach this course. Page 25.780.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2012 Injecting the Real World into the Capstone Design ExperienceThe engineering community, in many ways, has remained unchanged from previous decades

Conference Session

Aerospace Technical Session

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adeel Khalid, Southern Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Aerospace

the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory,’ Proceedings of 2011 ASEE Southeast Section Conference5. Jang, S., Markowitz, K., ‘Initiating the Undergraduate Research Study through NYC-LSAMP Summer Fellowship Program,’ Proceedings of 2010 ASEE Southeast Section Conference6. The Peach State Louis Stokes Alliance at Southern Polytechnic State University http://pslsamp.spsu.edu/index.html, last visited on Dec 7, 20117. Anderson, J., ‘Introduction to Flight,’ McGraw Hill Companies, 20011, ISBN: 00733802458. Butler, M. W., Terpenny, P. J., Goff, R. M., ‘An Experiment in Learner – Centered Instruction in Aerospace Engineering capstone design, 2010 ASEE Southeast Section Conference9. Sinha, A., ‘High Altitude Student Ballooning Project: An

Conference Session

Aerospace Technical Session

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

M. Javed Khan, Tuskegee University; Bruce Edward Heath, Tuskegee University

Tagged Divisions

Aerospace

-based learning and active learning, also referred to as inductive learning have been extensivelyresearched. While the results of these various pedagogies vary, in general, their effect on studentlearning has been demonstrated to be positive in comparison to traditional lecturing.A hands-on approach to learning concepts of aerospace engineering is therefore not a newpedagogical approach and has found wide usage, and enhanced learning has been reported in theliterature. This aspect has been acknowledged by professional societies who have supported itsadoption. Thus, while engineering education over the years has emphasized capstone designactivities, more recently aerospace engineering curricula have incorporated elements of buildingand flying

Conference Session

Aerospace Technical Session

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wallace T. Fowler P.E., University of Texas, Austin

Tagged Divisions

Aerospace

. Page 25.97.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2012 A Quarter-Century of Teaching Spacecraft-Mission DesignAfter more than twenty five years of teaching a capstone spacecraft-mission design course in anaerospace engineering curriculum, the instructor looks back on the evolution of the course andchanges in student capabilities. The evolution in course structure, types of projects, projectdepth, and instructor understanding of the design process are discussed. The effect of thetremendous increase in information available to students through the Internet is discussed.Instructor BackgroundThe author became a member of the faculty at The University of Texas at Austin in September1965. From 1965

Conference Session

Spacecraft Design Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael A. Swartwout, Saint Louis University; Sanjay Jayaram, Saint Louis University

Tagged Divisions

Aerospace

). They also created a risk assessment process (outcome 1).Outcome 4 was addressed at a macro scale because of the effects of NASA’s schedule slips onour project, but otherwise could not be directly assessed.Of the 13 students who completed the course, two have graduated, four are seniors now pursuinga spacecraft project as their capstone design, and three are working directly on the COPPERproject. The other four students are not involved with SSRL activities. Student surveys indicatethat they were satisfied with the pace and rigor of the course, but were very unsatisfied with theschedule delays. (A sentiment we share.)As noted above, the primary challenge was our dependence on external resources to completecourse objectives. The effect of the

Conference Session

Aerospace Technical Session

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adeel Khalid, Southern Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Aerospace

them the autonomy to choosetheir own project formulations and strategies, which in turn increases their motivation. Some ofthe past students projects include designing and building of wind tunnel models, 3-D aerospacemodels, variable pitch thrust measurement apparatus, flight simulation frame, water tunnel etc.All of these products become part of the aerospace laboratory to be used by future students.Project based learning at the individual course level is familiar in engineering education. It isused almost universally in capstone design and laboratory courses. There has been growingfrequency of project based learning approach in first year engineering courses and courses thatengage students in consulting projects [5, 7]. Because of its