After an introduction to the hit show "Shark Tank," students will identify an area of improvement for a product and attempt to sell their idea and/or prototype to potential (mock) buyers in the "Bear's Tank."

D-Lab: Design addresses problems faced by undeserved communities with a focus on design, experimentation, and prototyping processes. Particular attention is placed on constraints faced when designing for developing countries. Multidisciplinary teams work on semester-long projects in collaboration with community partners, field practitioners, and experts in relevant fields. Topics covered include design for affordability, design for manufacture, sustainability, and strategies for working effectively with community partners and customers. Students may continue projects begun in SP.721/11.025J/11.472 D-Lab Development.

In this Design Challenge, families and friends work together to design the tallest structure that they can, using only the materials provided.

This course is designed to provide both undergraduate and graduate students with a fundamental understanding of human factors that must be taken into account in the design and engineering of complex aviation and space systems. The primary focus is the derivation of human engineering design criteria from sensory, motor, and cognitive sources to include principles of displays, controls and ergonomics, manual control, the nature of human error, basic experimental design, and human-computer interaction in supervisory control settings. Undergraduate students will demonstrate proficiency through aviation accident case presentations, quizzes, homework assignments, and hands-on projects. Graduate students will complete all the undergraduate assignments; however, they are expected to complete a research-oriented project with a final written report and an oral presentation.

From Site:
NASA and DESIGN SQUAD developed this online workshop for educators and afterschool leaders who want to build their skills and confidence in guiding kids through engineering activities.

Whether you're experienced or new at this, you'll come away with insights and strategies for strengthening your kids' critical-thinking abilities and getting them excited about using the design process, the series of steps engineers use to arrive at solutions.

In this self-guided workshop, you'll:

Experience the design process in action. Learn and reflect on ways you can use the design process to tap into your kids' problem-solving skills and creativity.

Watch an engineering activity. See how easy it is to integrate the design process into the hands-on activities you do with your kids.

Get resources. Discover a variety of engineering activities from NASA and DESIGN SQUAD for kids in grades K–12.

This video segment, adapted fromThinking Big, Building Small, demonstrates each part of the engineering design process, which is fundamental to any successful project. Though it does this in the context of building skyscrapers, the process is applicable to any sort of project, including constructing schools, building bridges, and even manufacturing sneakers. Students will recognize the value of going through its steps sequentially when constructing scale models. Recommended for: Grades 3-12