Design Project

A&AE 251 Introduction to Aerospace Design
Professor Williams

Spring 2004
DESIGN PROJECT
[Description] -

[Spring 2004 Teams] -

 [Team Grading] -

[Spring  2004 RFP]-

[F02 RFP] - [S02 RFP] - [S01 RFP] - [S00 RFP] - [S99 RFP]
OTHER PAGES
[Homepage] - [Syllabus] - [Schedule] - [Homework] - [Exams]
[Vehicle of the Week] - [Other Stuff]

Description

The A&AE 251 class culminates in a design project. This project gives students the opportunity to apply knowledge gained during the class to develop the conceptual design of an aerospace vehicle system. For this project students will work with several other students in a team, gaining experience in teaming skills.

This project will include giving a technical presentation of the design, as well as writing a design proposal.

Each semester, the best reports are eligible for the Thiokol-Purdue "SPACE" awards, which support excellence in technical communication. After the written reports are graded by the instructor, they are evaluated by Thiokol engineers. The winning team receives a prize and has their names added to the A&AE 251 plaque on display in Grissom Hall. Winners are typically announced during the following semester.

Spring 2004 Teams

There will be 24 design teams this year, 8 in each of the three recitation sections consisting of five or six students. 

Team Assignments

Procedure for Transferring to a New Team

Final Presenation Schedule

Teams Concept Definition Ideas

 

Grading


Because this is a team project, there is often great concern about the "unfairness" of assigning one grade to all team members, especially when some of the group members feel that they have been conducting a disproportionately large portion of the work. To try to resolve some of these issues, an analogy is made between the A&AE 251 design teams and aerospace industry design groups.

When working in industry, engineers are rewared with money (they get paid for their work). In the university class, students are rewarded with a grade. Engineers usually receive a "salary", and at the end of the year or after completion of a major project, they often receive a "raise". One way that these raises are often distributed is through a "merit pool" increase. A block of money is allocated to the team, and then the team's manager and/or members decide how much each team member is awarded as his or her raise.

The A&AE 251 design project grades will also be assigned via a merit pool approach. Here is an example of how this will work:

A team of five students has worked on the design project. When they turn in their final report to the instructor, they will also turn in that group's decision as to how the merit pool should be distributed. In this group, the following distribution has been turned in:
 

Team Member
Merit Pool
Student A 
30 % 
Student B
25 % 
Student C 
20 % 
Student D 
15 % 
Student E 
10 % 

Now, the instructor assigns a grade to the project report and presentation. For this example, the overall project score was an 89. Then, each team member receives the "base pay" of 84, five points less than the overall score. The available merit pool for this team is 25 points (five points multiplied by five team members). With this "base pay" grade and the merit pool distribution, scores are assigned to each team member equal to the sum of the base grade and each member's share of the merit pool:
 

Team Member
Base Grade
Merit Pool Grade
Total Project Grade
Student A 
84.00 
7.50 
91.50 
Student B 
84.00 
6.25 
90.25 
Student C 
84.00 
5.00 
89.00 
Student D 
84.00 
3.75 
87.75 
Student E 
84.00 
2.50 
86.50 

This is a different approach to traditional grading of group reports, and it provides some opportunity for abuse by irresponsible team members. Because of this, the instructor will still retain ultimate authority over assigning the final project grades.

Spring 2004 Project

This Request for Proposal is a "combined cycle" launch system specially intended for putting amateur satellites into low earth orbit. The booster is either an airplane or a rocket that can fly back to the launch site as an airplane.

Fall 2003 Project

See Prof. Sullivan's web page for RFP and example reports

 

Spring 2003 Project

See Prof. Sullivan's web page for RFP and example reports

 

Fall 2002 Project

This Request for Proposal is a version of the Mars Airplane System modified from the Spring 2002 semester.  This system incorporates the Earth-Mars transfer stage(s), the Mars reentry vehicle and the Mars aircraft.  Several different NASA studies have investigated this as an alternative to rovers for exploring large areas of the Martian surface.  See the Other Stuff page for several links to information about Mars airplane studies.

Spring 2002 Project

This Request for Proposal asks for design studies of a Mars Airplane System.

Spring 2001 Project

This semester's Request for Proposal addresses a Low-Earth Orbit Satellite Resupply System.  This system could allow longer useful mission lifetimes for satellites while also reducing overall launch costs.

Spring 2000 Project

This semester's Request for Proposal provides the opportunity to design a Crew Transport System for the International Space Station.  This system could see dual use as part of a space tourism program.

Spring 1999 Project

This semester's Request for Proposal is an aircraft / rocket system to place small satellites in low Earth orbit.


 
Modified January 10, 2004
wiliams@purdue.edu