The 21st century is the era of design. Design separates elegant from cumbersome, sustainable from wasteful, intuitive from confusing. Design is interwoven into every Bay School class, nowhere more so than in our Engineering Program. A truly interdisciplinary study, Engineering at Bay incorporates arts and science, requires collaboration and communication, and depends upon a reasoned understanding of the world in which we live. Whether they are 9th graders learning engineering in Bay’s Freshman Seminar or 12th graders in an advanced Engineering course, Bay’s young engineers learn the process of understanding a problem, testing possible responses, crafting a solution, and honing that solution through iterative testing and improvement. Working in Bay’s unique Project Center, students use industrial tools and processes as well as technological resources to build real devices, crafting real solutions to real problems. By empowering our students to dream, investigate, and literally engineer their way out of a problem, we prepare them to think about the world’s problems in a new way.

Engineering Design l. This one-trimester course provides an introduction to the various methods and skills involved in design and engineering, from methodology, basic modeling and drawing skills, to material shaping in metal, plastic, and wood using both machine and hand tools. This is a project-based class in which students learn the skills to transform the raw materials into sculpture, architecture, machinery, gizmos, etc. We will explore 3-4 projects during the course, increasing the complexity of the design and building methods along the way. No prerequisite.

Engineering Design II: Design Focus. Engineering is basic to human nature. From flint-napping to make hunting tools to particle accelerators, a methodology of design is the thread common to any manmade object. In this course students will explore how to design. The process is an experience in problem solving, from defining what needs to be designed to finding and refining creative solutions to building working prototypes. This project-based one-trimester course will continue to explore design methodology to solve more complex problems. It will focus on finding elegant solutions using a language of engineering and aesthetics to accomplish this goal. Continued development of fabrication methods as well as more in-depth exploration of materials will be used on various assigned and student defined projects. Prerequisite: Engineering Design 1, or instructor permission.

Engineering Design II: Mechanical Focus. Making working mechanical objects is challenging. We take for granted that our cars or our computers work reliably and consistently. Experiencing just how much thought and effort goes into the simplest mechanical device is an exciting exploration. In this one-trimester course, students focus on mechanical devices, gaining a greater understanding of how design decisions made along the way inform the reliability and functionality of objects. Using the machine shop and fabrication tools as well as CAD and other visualization methods, students will work on several projects, both assigned and student-defined, to make functional and working devices. Prerequisites: Engineering Design l, or instructor permission.

Robotics: Robotics requires a working combination of several skill sets. Using design methodology to solve problems, students will learn to use the Vex Robotics System to construct working robots able to accomplish specific game-related tasks. Students will be asked to formulate mechanical solutions, fabrication methods and programming skills and integrate them into an automated human-controlled robot. This one-trimester course will be a fun, challenging and rewarding exploration of what it takes to make things that work. Prerequisites: none.