Class project on airborne radar system design and development for remote sensing applications

A unique experiment on remote sensing education has recently been undertaken involving an educational institution (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) and a government agency involved in remote sensing (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center). The centerpiece of this experiment is the assignment of an airborne radar system design project to students enrolled in a senior undergraduate and graduate level class on radar systems. The class was split into two competing teams. A fictitious request for proposal (RFP) was issued by NASA GSFC, and the teams responded to the RFP by proposing and defending competing designs. The teams also prepared final design reports, and made oral presentations on their designs during the final examination week. Individual and team scores assigned to each student was included in his/her overall grade for the course. The authors' experience shows that this technique was very successful, and the students came up with excellent designs. It also provided students with an opportunity for enhancing team work, addressing multidisciplinary science aspects, perfecting technical writing and presentation skills, and responding to agency RFPs.