Space Engineering Projects in Design Methodology

NASA/USRA is an ongoing sponsor of space design projects in the senior design courses of the Mechanical Engineering Department at The University of Texas at Austin. This paper describes the UT senior design sequence, focusing on the first-semester design methodology course. The philosophical basis and pedagogical structure of this course is summarized. A history of the Department's activities in the Advanced Design Program is then presented. The paper includes a summary of the projects completed during the 1992-93 Academic Year in the methodology course, and concludes with an example of two projects completed by student design teams.