Philosophy Statement

The vision for the engineering program at DWC is for students to have an educational experience that is intense, personal, and exciting, and that firmly grounds them in theory and design, and makes them both competent and confident to take on any challenges they may face as a practicing engineer.

The DWC programs require a firm grasp of the theoretical underpinnings of engineering, the ability to apply the principles of design to open-ended problems, and a concurrent hands-on design experience. 

To demonstrate their grasp of fundamental concepts, students do frequent presentations on their solutions to various problems.  In most engineering courses, students will work in teams of two and do these presentations weekly.  They are required to state, explain, and justify the assumptions they make in obtaining their solutions.

The four-year Aeronautical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering curricula both contain a five-semester design sequence that emphasizes the use of hands-on design projects. These projects require students to work in and manage teams and apply the theories they are learning in the classroom to the solution of open-ended problems. Commitment and responsibility to the “design team” are required and continually emphasized.  As a result of this experience students gain both the confidence and competence necessary to tackle open-ended design problems and to excel in a team environment.  They will be able to learn quickly and efficiently and to think strategically about the multiple issues involved in a project.  We believe that this is of critical importance for today’s engineers.

The curricula also include concurrent design experience.  In concurrent engineering design, all phases of product development are considered simultaneously.  A common database is used for geometric modeling, engineering analysis, animation, computer controlled manufacturing, and product documentation.  This approach is used to improve quality and reduce design cycle time.  When working on their design projects the students must make appropriate simplifying assumptions in order to do a manual analysis of their systems to determine things like maximum stresses and deflections, accelerations, and the required time for certain movements.  They then perform the same analysis using the simulation software.  Next they use CAM software to generate G and M code in order to machine their parts.  Finally they assemble and test their systems and compare the experimental results to the manual and computer simulation results. The advances in the software have made it possible for students to quickly learn how to produce quality models and analyze them. The importance of paying attention to detail and “doing things right,” and providing clear documentation of the system are also emphasized.

The design sequence also provides students with systems integration experience which incorporates things such as vision systems, sensors, controls, and the software that ties them together.   Examples of potential project work are unmanned flight applications, which could include aerospace, geographic and topographic exploration, atmospheric re-search and security, and the application of advanced technology to the design of robots, automated systems, and medical devices.

One of the highlights of the Aeronautical Engineering program occurs in the senior year when engineering students are paired up with senior aviation students to perform in-flight experiments in the flight mechanics course.

Finally, the faculty at DWC is dedicated to student success. We assure prospective students at that if they are willing to work hard, we will give them all the help they need to succeed.