Introduction to Engineering Design
The major focus of this course is to expose students to the design process, research and analysis, teamwork, various communication methods, engineering standards, and technical documentation. Students will progress through the course by doing hands-on projects and apply engineering standards while they document their designs. Students will use industry-standard 3D modeling software to help design solutions to solve proposed problems, document work using an engineer’s notebook, and communicate solutions to peers and members of the professional community. The course assumes no previous knowledge. College dual credit and articulated college credit may be available. Please see the instructor for details.
Introduction to Engineering Design is a foundation course in the Project Lead The Way high school pre-engineering program. The course applies and concurrently develops secondary-level knowledge and skills in mathematics, science, and technology.
Principles of Engineering
This class is divided into 4 units:
Unit 1 Energy and Power
The goal of Unit 1 is to introduce students to mechanisms, energy sources, and alternative energy applications. Students will gain an understanding of mechanisms through the application of theory-based calculations accompanied by lab experimentation.
Unit 2 Materials and Structures
The goal of Unit 2 is for students to have a more concrete understanding of engineering through materials properties and statics. Students begin by learning about beam deflection and then forces on truss structures. They learn to identify forces acting on those structures and then gain the ability to calculate internal and external forces acting on those structures.
Unit 3 Control Systems
The goal of Unit 3 is for students to recognize the abundance of and infinite variety of computer use in our daily lives.
Unit 4 Statistics and Kinematics
In Unit 4 students are engaged in learning to use statistics to evaluate an experiment. Later they begin a study of dynamics, specifically kinematics, and apply statistical skills to study freefall motion.
