I use design-and-build projects to connect mechanics with engineering decisions. Students first analyze a system and predict its behavior. Then they build it and test it. Comparing the predictions with the measurements helps them question their assumptions and understand why a design works or fails.

In Statics, past projects include bridges and towers. In Dynamics, students have designed and tested catapults. Much of the learning happens in the gap between a model and a physical system.

I am also building interactive animations for my Statics and Dynamics courses. Each animation shows a classical problem in motion. Students change the parameters and see how the behavior changes. The animations are linked under each course below.