By Kate McAlpine, Originally published by Michigan Engineering News
In March 2020, George Halow set out to close a significant gap between industry and academia. A professor of practice in aerospace engineering and former Ford executive, he had plans for a course giving undergrads hands-on experiences with technology that was rapidly becoming the industry gold standard for complex product development.
The Model-based Systems Engineering Leadership Lab was launched in September 2021, a first-of-its-kind facility for aerospace engineering students.
What exactly does it teach? Model-based systems engineering, or MBSE, models an entire engineering system digitally before anything is built. With huge potential for cost savings in new engineering designs, it has rapidly risen to prominence in the aerospace, automotive, naval and defense sectors.