How engineers turn ideas into real things.

Imagine it. Draw it. Model it. Make it. Improve it.

In Design & Modeling, students learn the design process engineers use to solve problems. They define the problem, brainstorm, sketch, model, prototype, test, and improve. The course is built on Project Lead The Way's Gateway curriculum, with added practice, original projects, and extra support built in.

What students learn

Technical sketching: thumbnail, isometric, multiview, and perspective drawings.

Measurement and precision: dimensions matter. A hole a millimeter too small means two parts won't fit, and students learn to design with that in mind.

CAD: using Onshape to turn sketches into accurate 3D models, from single parts to multi-part assemblies that fit together, using the same browser-based software professional engineers use.

Prototyping: testing ideas quickly with cardboard and paper, then 3D printing. Students learn to prepare a model for printing, inspect the result, and revise when something doesn't fit or work.

Documentation: recording ideas, sketches, measurements, decisions, and test results in an engineering notebook.

What students build

Seeing engineering everywhere. Students start by taking apart the design of everyday objects: who uses them, what problem they solve, and what the designer could have done better.

The Language of Sketching. Students learn to communicate ideas the way engineers do. They build physical objects from linking cubes, then draw them from every angle.

Design challenges. Students get a problem and a set of constraints, then develop their own solution. They go from sketch to CAD model to 3D-printed prototype, testing and improving each version.

Version two (and three). A first prototype is rarely the final one. Students learn to treat a failed test as information and use it to redesign.

Product design challenge. Students find a real problem, then take their own solution from research and sketches to a tested, improved prototype they present to the class.

Student showcase
[Photos of sketches, CAD models, and printed prototypes]

Current students
[Links to activity guides, slides, and assignments]
Need an extra copy of Mr. Register's engineering notebook?  [Engineering Notebook link]