A pioneering engineering course focused on hands-on design got off to a flying start earlier this year. The three-credit Engineering Team Airship Design course gives students an experiential learning opportunity to gain practical knowledge of different elements of life as an engineer under the supervision of faculty, from innovation and solution-building to working in teams.

 

The course, which allows students to "feel" like an engineer, is a significant example of the tri-modal education approach that is now one of the School's main focuses. Tri-modal education seeks to enable students to explore and focus on their key career objective, be it research, becoming an engineering professional, or entrepreneurship, with the School offering appropriate tools to achieve their goal.

 

The culmination of the course was an airship competition held in April. Ten student teams were tasked with building a model airship to carry out a mock fire-fighting drill, with Team 7 the eventual winner. Faculty supervisors, teaching assistants, and student technical advisors were drawn from the disciplines of civil engineering, computer science and electronic engineering.