Sharp turns
Undergraduates in Engineering Sciences 51: “Computer-Aided Machine Design” spent a semester learning to design gadgets in SolidWorks, building candy-flinging catapults, and mastering the use of the soldering iron. Then came the jaw-dropping final assignment: Transform a cordless power screwdriver into a functional all-terrain vehicle. Students from the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) were given a small kit of extra materials, including gears, screws, and wheels, beyond the three allotted screwdrivers, but — five weeks from start to finish — this do-it-yourself construction project was no Lego set. “The goal is to teach them the basics of design,” said Neil Tenenholtz, a second-year graduate student and teaching fellow for the course, who helped students assemble chassis and controllers in the lab. “Until this point in the class, we’d give them a design and say, ‘Go make this.’ Now we’ll see if they can put the two parts together.” “We teach them in...