Principles of Applied Engineering

Principles of Applied Engineering (PRAPPENG) is a one-year high school engineering curriculum developed by the Cockrell School of Engineering at University of Texas at Austin in collaboration with the National Science Foundation and NASA. This hands-on, project-based course emphasizes the historic achievements and contemporary challenges of engineers, the engineering design process, and the skills and habits of mind that engineers find most essential in their work. Our first unit focuses on establishing norms for all of our group interactions and for effective documentation of our projects in our engineering notebooks. The next six units all involve designing, building, and testing devices or systems of devices to accomplish specific tasks in response to customer needs. Each unit also emphasizes several specific aspects of the work of professional engineers. The remaining units are: 2. Pinhole Cameras (Discovering Design), 3. Designing Coffee (Understanding Data), 4. Earthquake Simulator (Designing with Data), 4. Piggy Flashlights (Reverse Engineering and Redesign), 5. Programming Electronic Music (Microprocessors), and 6. Aerial Imaging (Systems). Please note that the projects to be implemented during virtual learning may alter due to resources accessible or available to students.