Interdisciplinary (99) The use of models is ubiquitous and essential in undergraduate engineering education. However, students often do not understand the distinction between a mathematical model and a real system because they do not have enough opportunities to compare the behavior of models with the behavior of real systems. This project is developing an integrated dynamical systems modeling laboratory shared between the departments of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at Rose-Hulman. The laboratory is modeled after and adapted from the Interdisciplinary Controls Lab developed at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs by Plett and Schmidt, and the Dynamic Systems and Controls Lab developed at Northwestern University by Freeman. Our laboratory involves all mechanical and electrical engineering students at Rose-Hulman, as well as middle/high school students through our Explore Engineering outreach program. Exposing students to dynamical systems in a laboratory setting, in which mathematical models often lead to only an approximate description of the system behavior, helps the students better understand the uses and limitations of models.
