ANALYSIS AND OUTREACH RESULTS OF A MOBILE WIND TUNNEL STEM LEARNING TOOL

摘要

In the course of pursuing an undergraduate degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), students at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) are required to complete a capstone design course; the purpose of which is to challenge students to design, fabricate, test, refine, and deliver a product to a customer. Throughout the design effort, students develop critical thinking, communication, research, analysis, and team skills that will prove to be invaluable in the professional world. At UAH, a number of these projects take the form of educational tools focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Designed to stimulate interest in primary and secondary school students, STEM tools provide an interactive and hands-on method of teaching and learning. The efforts of the current project team yielded a mobile, small-scale, low velocity wind tunnel with the intent of teaching students in the North Alabama region the basic fundamentals of aerodynamics and the principles regarding flight and various aerodynamic forces. The project requirements were defined not only via the capstone design class requirements, but also by input from the secondary school teacher and students that will utilize the tool. Market surveys and outreach efforts by the UAH team ensured that the end product met the specifications required for the classroom and that student interests and desires were considered in the design process. Once the design process reached the end phase of fabrication, the product was delivered to the recipient middle school and evaluated to verify that all requirements and criteria had been met to the satisfaction of the teacher and students. Key factors considered during product verification included design considerations such as performance, safety, overall functionality, durability and life cycle, ease of maintenance, and overall reliability of the system. The current wind tunnel STEM tool -as well as past tools- been proven to generate an increased interest in the STEM fields by providing a hands-on educational tool that allows interaction and observation of the principles being taught. The present paper describes the process that a team of UAH MAE students followed in the development of the wind tunnel through all phases of the design process, including the outreach efforts undertaken by the team and results of a student survey showing the beneficial impact that the STEM tool had on the students.