Abstract

The engineering curriculum is at a crossroads: students must continue to understand the traditional “fundamentals ” attributed to the Aerospace field, but it also is recognized that 21st century students must be adept with systems and software. Given pressure to maintain four-year degree programs, many Universities have restricted their initiatives to technical electives and fostered the development of extra-curricular student teams; at best programs have introduced one new software or project-based course while maintaining legacy requirements nearly as they were decades ago. This paper examines a series of courses, currently electives, that if adopted into the required curriculum can offer Aerospace students exposure in each undergraduate year to progressively more advanced computing theory/practice in the context of motivational project-based activities. We focus on a series of project activities in use at the University of Michigan aimed at giving students a “fundamental ” understanding of the Aerospace system and its software we hope will ultimately approach the level of understanding students have traditionally gained in mathematical and physics-based concepts. I.