Origins
The Department of Aerospace Engineering of The Pennsylvania State University has offered, in its undergraduate curriculum, a rather unique flight vehicle design and fabrication course that attempts to provide aerospace-engineering students with a training that is both comprehensive and applied. The course has a strong "hands-on" component, with students designing and fabricating modern high-performance sailplanes. Students experience the cooperative, multi-disciplinary team environment that is essential for solving problems related to the design of an aerospace vehicle.
The course concept is based on similar student groups at German universities, the Akademischen Fliegergruppen (Academic Flying Groups) or, abbreviated, the Akafliegs. The members of these groups concern themselves with the design, construction, testing, and flying of modern sailplanes. Although not part of the official curriculum at their respective school, the groups receive some logistical support from their institutions. In brief, organizational structure is similar to that of an American Greek-letter social fraternity, except that the focus of interest revolves around soaring. At eleven German colleges, these groups, some which have been in existence since the early 1920s, are strongly involved in sailplane related research, often with the support by the German Aerospace Research Center, DLR, which viewes these organizationthis as an effective and uncomplicated way of training future engineers.
In 1990, a report from the Engineering Coalition of Schools for Excellence in Engineering Leadership (ECSEL) found that American schools didn't promote group work, creativity or hands-on training. Maughmer and another Penn State faculty member created the course to combat these shortcomings. The course doesn't rely on traditional tests or even a set course syllabus. Instead, specific lectures are given to address whatever problems the students would be having in the construction of their gliders. Since then in inception of AERSP 404H, they students has started many projects and reached many milestones. Early on, work was focused on the design and testing of small radio-controlled gliders and the first full-scale student sailplane design.
Read more about this topic: AERSP 404H
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