Community. One of the central motivations for deciding to depart from the electric car project was to engage in more meaningful work. The car project culminated in simply racing a car against other cars, which in practice allowed the students to take ownership of a design and compare it against other designs. Beyond that, however, the project really did not present any additional significance. With that in mind I wanted to design a project that had a “so what?” for the students, the faculty, and the school as a whole. Considering this project’s significance to both the values of the school and its student body, which has faced two vehicle-related deaths in as many years, the research and development of this technology serves as the single most relevant project idea. Heilmeier’s Nine Critical Questions for Research Proposals In defense of my choice of project, I will now answer the Heilmeier Catechism in reference to the project. Answering these questions should help make clear the feasibility of actually implementing the project. What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon. What is the problem? Why is it hard? What we are trying to do is build a system for autonomous vehicles that allows the car to drive itself. In addition to simply designing the technology, the focus is to work with non-engineering students to design both a system and a set of policies that would maximize functionality and safety. Secondarily, the aim of the engineering side is research. This technology
Community. One of the central motivations for deciding to depart from the electric car project was to engage in more meaningful work. The car project culminated in simply racing a car against other cars, which in practice allowed the students to take ownership of a design and compare it against other designs. Beyond that, however, the project really did not present any additional significance. With that in mind I wanted to design a project that had a “so what?” for the students, the faculty, and the school as a whole. Considering this project’s significance to both the values of the school and its student body, which has faced two vehicle-related deaths in as many years, the research and development of this technology serves as the single most relevant project idea. Heilmeier’s Nine Critical Questions for Research Proposals In defense of my choice of project, I will now answer the Heilmeier Catechism in reference to the project. Answering these questions should help make clear the feasibility of actually implementing the project. What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon. What is the problem? Why is it hard? What we are trying to do is build a system for autonomous vehicles that allows the car to drive itself. In addition to simply designing the technology, the focus is to work with non-engineering students to design both a system and a set of policies that would maximize functionality and safety. Secondarily, the aim of the engineering side is research. This technology
492-Research-Proposal.docx