Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Seagram Building, 375 Park Avenue, New York City (1958) Speakers: Dr. Matthew Postal, Dr. Steven Zucker. Note: In the video we call Le Corbusier a French architect, but he was born in Swizerland and became a French citizen in 1930. Created by Beth Harris, Steven Zucker, and Smarthistory.

As students learn about the creation of biodomes, they are introduced to the steps of the engineering design process, including guidelines for brainstorming. Students learn how engineers are involved in the design and construction of biodomes and use brainstorming to come up with ideas for possible biodome designs. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.

The application of engineering principles is explored in the creation of mobiles. As students create their own mobiles, they take into consideration the forces of gravity and convection air currents. They learn how an understanding of balancing forces is important in both art and engineering design.

Students investigate the ways in which ancient technologies six types of simple machines and combinations are used to construct modern buildings. As they work together to solve a design problem (designing and building a modern structure), they brainstorm ideas, decide on a design, and submit it to a design review before acquiring materials to create it (in this case, a mural depicting it). Emphasis is placed on cooperative, creative teamwork and the steps of the engineering design process.

Multi-scale systems (MuSS) consist of components from two or more length scales (nano, micro, meso, or macro-scales). In MuSS, the engineering modeling, design principles, and fabrication processes of the components are fundamentally different. The challenge is to make these components so they are conceptually and model-wise compatible with other-scale components with which they interface. This course covers the fundamental properties of scales, design theories, modeling methods and manufacturing issues which must be addressed in these systems. Examples of MuSS include precision instruments, nanomanipulators, fiber optics, micro/nano-photonics, nanorobotics, MEMS (piezoelectric driven manipulators and optics), X-Ray telescopes and carbon nano-tube assemblies. Students master the materials through problem sets and a project literature critique.

Jared Leidich talks about what big, important projects take -- teamwork, communication and failure.

Today, computer-based simulations are becoming increasingly popular, especially when daylighting and energy conservation are amongst the key goals for a project. This two-week workshop will expose participants to the current daylighting simulation models and beyond, by introducing realistic and dynamic assessment methods through hands-on exercises and application to a design project. Open to students and practitioners.
This course is offered during the Independent Activities Period (IAP), which is a special 4-week term at MIT that runs from the first week of January until the end of the month.

Students work in teams to design a tabletop supply organizer inspired by the natural home of an insect species. Their prototype stores the group’s classroom supplies (scissors, crayon boxes, pencils, and glue sticks). In addition to following measurement constraints that apply to their prototype, students must design their supply organizer with the idea that supplies must be easily retrievable and the organizer must be sturdy enough to withstand everyday classroom wear and tear. Students test their prototype in the classroom for a period of 5 days and evaluate its effectiveness.

The course draws on faculty members from the Center for Real Estate, the City Design and Development Group (Department of Urban Studies and Planning), and the Media Lab to explore extraordinary projects that challenge conventional approaches to real estate development, urban design, and advanced digital technology.

This customized independent study course puts Sloan Fellows MBA students into direct contact with innovators tackling global needs in education, healthcare, and energy/environment. Co-designed projects address low-income markets in the U.S. or globally, focusing on the application of new ideas and technology rooted in MIT innovations or the Boston ecosystem. Every project aims to develop better ways for the right innovations to reach scale, sustainability, and quality, thereby improving lives and uncovering opportunities in underserved markets.

Student groups are challenged to design and construct model towers out of newspaper. They are given limited supplies including newspaper, tape and scissors, paralleling the real-world limitations faced by engineers, such as economic restrictions as to how much material can be used in a structure. Students aim to build their towers for height and stability, as well as the strength to withstand a simulated lateral "wind" load.

This is a template intended to be used by participants in the OER Design Challenge to copy, remix, upload and insert media, write, describe, align to standards, license and publish their remixed OER.

This lesson focuses on the importance of ocean exploration as a way to learn how to capture, control, and distribute renewable ocean energy resources. Students begin by identifying ways the ocean can generate energy and then research one ocean energy source using the Internet. Finally, students build a Micro-Hydro Electric Generator.

This hands-on activity will provide students with an understanding of the issues that surround environmental clean-up. Students will create their own oil spill, try different methods for cleaning it up, and then discuss the merits of each method in terms of effectiveness (cleanliness) and cost. They will be asked to put themselves in the place of both an environmental engineer and an oil company owner who are responsible for the clean-up.

This document provides a template for students to design and execute a three phase project as an alternative to a default 3 phase project. Its original usage was in art, design, and game classes that devided a class quarter into 4 projects, each taking roughly two to three weeks and broken into three default phases (preproduction, revisions, and final.)  Students should start by creating a copy of the example three phase project template and replacing sections with their own project-specific content. This framework pursued educational concepts such as choice-based arts education, teaching for artistic behavior, project-based learning, differentiated instruction and constructivism as natural complements to the process of open pedagogy and non-disposable assignments. 

Student groups are challenged to create food packages for specific foods. They focus on three components in the design of their food packages; the packages must keep the food clean, protect or aid in the physical and chemical changes that can take place in the food, and present the food appealingly. They design their packaging to meet these requirements.

The difference between an architect and an engineer is sometimes confusing because their roles in building design can be similar. Students experience a bit of both professions by following a set of requirements and meeting given constraints as they create a model parking garage. They experience the engineering design process first-hand as they design, build and test their models. They draw a blueprint for their design, select the construction materials and budget their expenditures. They also test their structures for strength and find their maximum loads.

The Periodic Table of Visualization Methods organizes a broad variety of visual representations by specific information problems. This interactive tool includes definitions and models of data, information, concept, strategy, metaphor, compound, process and structure visualization.

Since the first spacewalk, designers have attempted to create gloves that are comfortable, flexible under pressure, provide protection, and offer warmth.