Abstract
Frequently, undergraduates are exposed only to principles and concepts of HF engineering. However, the application of published guidelines will not answer all design questions. An HF course has been introduced at the USAF Academy which attempts to give the students design experience as well as exposing them to the complexities of design integration. The course is structured to parallel the design process and culminates in a final design project. Each class selected a major human-machine system. Then, each selected a subsystem for his/her individual project. First, students optimized the design of the selected subsystems. The second part of the project addressed the problem of system integration. Each class, as a group, evaluated trade-offs between subsystems to develop a coherent overall design. This type of exercise is recommended for educators trying to bridge the gap between the classroom and the reality of system design.
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