Aerospace Professors Nominated for ENGR 100 Section of the Year Award

Professors at U-M have a passion and dedication towards teaching and helping develop the next generation of leaders and best. This pride carries on throughout departments and colleges within the University, and was recently recognized among aerospace engineering professors. 

This recognition came when ENGR 100-700 (Introduction to Aerospace Engineering) was nominated for the prestigious ENGR 100 Section of the Year Award. This award was created by U-M to highlight the hard work and dedication of instructors who create engaging, hands-on learning experiences geared towards first year students. ENGR 100 is a student’s first taste of what it is to be a practicing engineer and is designed to simulate a real-world engineering environment.

Nominations for this award were submitted by students in ENGR 100 this academic year and were reviewed based on the number of nominations received for the section teaching team, content of nomination statements and course evaluations for the nominated section. One student nomination stated, “This teaching team treats their students with the respect and confidence to allow us to make our own mistakes and figure things out on our own, without leaving us completely stranded. This class was great because I got thrown into engineering headfirst, and that allowed me to really pick it up and run.”

The ENGR 100-700 course has continuously combined engineering, communication and interpersonal skills in one exciting setting led by the instructional team of Pete Washabaugh, Christian Casper. The course teaches students the basics in engineering required to design, simulate, fabricate, test, code and ultimately fly a hovercraft by the end of the course.

While another section was selected to receive the award for this year, the nomination committee was thoroughly impressed with the enthusiasm conveyed in the student nominees’ statements. Another student who nominated the course commented, “I appreciate how the teaching team is strongly focused on introducing and having us learn and grow, rather than memorizing material or reading from a textbook.”

ENGR 100-700 previously won the ENGR 100 Section of the Year Award back in 2022 and the instructional team continues to be dedicated and passionate educators, determined to continue this trend. Michigan Aerospace would like to congratulate the team for their nomination and thank them for their hard-work creating a welcoming, enriching and memorable learning environment for students as part of their first year experience.