Educational Initiatives

CDIO
An application of the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department's Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate syllabus, our educational initiative is to provide an environment that allows students to master a deeper working knowledge of technical fundamentals experience the creation and operation of new products and systems understand the importance and strategic value of their work.

Why Sports Products?
From a pedagogical perspective, sports products are an ideal topic. Sports products typically involve one- to two-year product development cycles thus, students can be involved through the entire product development process sports development projects lend themselves to small student teams projects are of manageable size that students see as an entire system Students participating in the program may well see products they've developed marketed (and their friends purchasing them) prior to graduation!

From a business perspective, the sports industry is always hungry for new products and ideas. Industry leaders recognize the commercial potential of innovation, particularly those that apply advanced aerospace technology.

From Lab to Classroom
Sports technology projects and initiatives often make their appearance in the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department's classrooms. Students have investigated the performance of many sports products in the capstone Experimental Projects Course (16.621/622) in the department of Aeronautics and Astronutics and as senior thesis projects in the department of Mechanical Engineering.

8.01 Sports Physics is a version of MIT's 8.01 Classical Mechanics with sports based hands-on demos and labs. Sports Physics is taught jointly by staff from MIT's Experimental Study Group and MIT's Athletic Department.

Freshman are offered an early introduction into sports technology 16.A21 Sports Dynamics and Technology

Sudents interested in the business aspects of sports should contact the Entertainment, Media and Sports Club in the MIT Sloan School of Management.