Arizona State University Develops Aerospace Engineering Curriculum Based on MATLAB and Simulink

By DE Editors

MathWorks has announced that Arizona State University (ASU) redesigned the curriculum of its aerospace engineering program to emphasize independent discovery and the use of MATLAB and Simulink for exploring aerodynamics, aircraft stability, and control concepts. As a result, ASU faculty found that student confidence in these fields has increased, final exam scores have improved by 18%, and fewer demands have been placed on lab resources, according to the company.

Traditional teaching practices often emphasize classical methods, mostly based on the derivation and analysis of symbolic linear models. ASU revamped two core aerospace engineering courses to emphasize the discovery of critical concepts through solving real-world problems. The university also provided campus-wide access to MATLAB and Simulink for students and faculty, which enabled broader, more convenient access to the tools and eliminated time constraints associated with having to work in a computer lab.

“In the aerospace industry, engineers use computational methods and simulation for design and analysis. One of our goals was to incorporate more computational work to prepare our students. Secondly, rather than focus on deriving theories on paper, we wanted to implement pedagogical methods that would enable the understanding of theory through simulation and visualization,” says Dr. Praveen Shankar, lecturer of Aerospace Engineering at ASU’s School for Engineering of Matter, Transport, and Energy.

For more information, visit MathWorks.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.