Engineering: Flavors, Models and SystemsBite of Science Presentation, 26 September 2012

Barrett S. Caldwell, PhDProfessor, School of Industrial Engineering / Aeronautics & Astronautics Director, Indiana Space Grant Consortium

I’m a Systems Engineer!Studying How People Get, Share, and

Use Information Well, in Teams◦I was on the faculty of Industrial

Engineering at Univ. Wisconsin, 1990-2000◦I’ve been at Purdue since 2000

My undergraduate degrees are in Aeronautics / Astronautics, and Humanities (Psychology), from MIT

My graduate degrees are in Psychology, from Univ. California—Davis

Why I’m an EngineerI stayed up on Christmas Eve to

listen to (Indiana native) Astronaut Frank Borman on Apollo 8

Building Rockets, Reading Science & Fiction, Psychology, Writing (Things I Loved)

Supportive Teachers and High School Introduction to Engineering (MITE) Program

ModelsA model is a simplified

description of the world. Models help us ask and answer the right questions, and test how to solve problems.

There is no one “right” or “best” model. Different models answer different questions.

Models Are Interactive Engineering Tools

Courtesy Carol Stwalley, Minority Engineering Program

SystemsSystems are groups of items and

their connections that are organized and function together.

Studying engineering systems is one of “grain size”. The definition of system that works best is the one that helps focus on the questions most important to you.

Models Help Us Study How Real Systems Work

Courtesy Carol Stwalley, Minority Engineering Program

Passion and ProductivityBeing an engineer (for me) is

about passion: internal motivations, not just external expectations

Doing things I loved, and doing well

Positive outcomes, external and internal

Don’t You Have to Love Math and Science?

Ask a medical doctor if she or he liked Organic Chemistry (probably not)◦Being good at it is important; loving it for

recreation is not.◦There are lots of areas of math, and many different

kinds of science I don’t like biology or bugsFluid dynamics has equations I find really hardI don’t do Engineering instead of people; I do

Engineering to study people better ◦Math and Science are good ways to talk about a

subject—you can be consistent and specific

Flavors of Systems EngineeringNot Everyone Agrees on What

Systems Engineering (or Systems, or Engineering) Means

Some Ideas and Examples to Think about, and Use with Students◦I’m not good at K-12 lesson plans or

exercises◦I will talk about some examples I’ve

seen or tried to use

Systems Engineering 1, 2How Things Connect

◦Factors that relate to each other: relationships, time, flows

◦Ecology webs, How many students in a school, Ordering toys for Christmas sales

◦Note that we don’t have to talk about math yetMathematical Descriptions

◦Some of the people I work with love to spend their time here

◦Fox-rabbit populations, Dangers of unvaccinated kids, Forces on rockets as they burn fuel

Systems Engineering 3, 4Parts, Wholes, and How to Put Things

Together◦ Instructions and rules for creating and

using things◦How to build models and things that

work, over and overRules for Managing Projects

◦Timelines, milestones, who does what in which order

◦Some people call this management◦This isn’t really complex math either

Who Can Do Engineering? (More than you think)

Courtesy Carol Stwalley, Minority Engineering Program

Teach Your Kids to Be Engineers!Lego™ are fantastic ways to

teach and learn about building a complex thing out of simple pieces◦The instructions are engineering

process rules ◦Exercises at: http://ceeo.tufts.edu

Airplane and Rocket Models◦These are tools for asking and

answering questions, too◦HS and College students can keep

doing this

Issues in Doing “Real” EngineeringReal Engineering isn’t about

memorizing lots of math equations; it’s about solving problems◦Read

Chris Rogers’ thoughts on STEM education

My frustration about single-purpose Lego™ and over-constrained tasks◦Learning to explore, find out what

might (not) work… being okay with failing and learning

Great Examples of Engaging Young Engineers (with Project Activities)Purdue Space Day

◦~150 undergrads and grads, Purdue alum astronaut, >500 kids (grades 3-8)

◦Each fall, Purdue football not home (logistics)◦Examples of Activities

Grades 3-4 Grades 5-6 Grades 7-8

◦Past Activity Books? Interesting for you?NASA Rockets to Race Cars

◦Celebrate Science, Oct 6

Questions and Thank YouBarrett Caldwell

◦bscaldwell@purdue.edu

Indiana Space Grant Consortium◦http://www.insgc.org◦insgc@purdue.edu◦765.494.5873