Make to Innovate (M2I) is a program in the Aerospace Engineering department at Iowa State University. Students gain real-world experience, develop hands-on skills, and work with companies to gain proficiency in tasks that are highly sought after in industry. Students can join from all disciplines including engineering, business, science, and design to work on these different projects. These projects are designed to reach goals such as launching a rocket, building an analog Mars rover, developing a satellite for technology demonstration in LEO, and much more.
M2I began ten years ago in the Fall Semester of 2011. The Aerospace Engineering department chair at that time, Dr. Richard Wlezien, wanted to create a program that gave students hands on experience in engineering. This program would unify several projects and student groups in the department under one program. Matthew Nelson, a member of the Aerospace Engineering staff at that time, was tasked with starting the program. Dr. Wlezien helped to support the program with initial funding and securing a workspace that Make to Innovate could call home. Overseeing the current program is Professor Matthew Nelson, who serves as the program director, and Christine Nelson, who serves as the program coordinator.
Matthew graduated from Iowa State University with his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and continued his education with a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State. He is currently working on a Ph.D. in Human Computer Interaction with an emphasis on Education. Christine graduated from Iowa State University with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering as an alum of the Make to Innovate program and continued her education with a Master of Engineering in Engineering Management from Iowa State. Matthew’s educational background allows for him to be a sounding board on electrical questions that all students groups have while Christine’s background allows for students to reach out on managerial and interpersonal questions.
The M2I program began with fifteen projects and 54 students. Many of the projects came from the former Space Systems and Controls Lab, a program initially funded with funds from the Iowa Space Grant Consortium. As the program progressed, more students became interested in the program and the number of students and projects in the program started to grow. In the Fall Semester of 2012, Boeing started to support the program by both providing financial support and providing engineers that would help to advise the teams as Technical Advisors. In the Fall of 2017, Rockwell Collins became the second company to support the program financially and with technical expertise.
Student growth led to the program growing to as high as 285 students in the Fall of 2017. Since then, student enrollment has normalized around 150 students. However, with further support from both companies, the Aerospace Engineering department, and collaboration with the Student Innovation Center, this number is expected to grow again.
Projects within Make to Innovate currently fall into four categories: Industry-driven, research-driven, service-driven, and competition-driven. One example of a competition-driven project is MAVRIC. They are currently pursuing entry into the University Rover Challenge (URC). When projects can compete against students of similar skill sets, it’s a great way to show off the students’ accomplishments and see how the finalization of the project performs. The goal of these competition is to allow for the rover (in this example) to earn points as they complete a series of tasks. An example of a task expected from the rover would be analyzing soil samples for a specific substance, manipulating tools to complete repairs, drilling into the ground, and driving autonomously.
Another way that M2I provides experience in working with people who have different backgrounds. Some projects, like Removable Coating for Cold Welding (RECO, a research-driven project), have students that work with other students from around the nation. The team leader is here at Iowa State University, but there are also team members in other states such as Arizona and Connecticut. This shows the collaboration that can be done virtually. M2I is inclusive of all students, and this is a prime example of learning how to work around differing schedules and differing backgrounds.
Multiple industry-driven projects get to work directly with Boeing along with other companies, like Nanoracks and NASA. This provides great experience of working with the students on these projects. Students get the knowledge from those in that field and can learn from it. This also helps students take advantage of opportunities to make connections and prepare for their future following graduation.
Make to Innovate provides a hands-on experience that students would not normally be able to get in their normal classes. Rather than reading from a textbook, skills are taught that prepare for situations that occur in those careers following college. All of projects are possible because of the connections M2I makes for its students. Make to Innovate brings these opportunities where students can meet others around the nation who also work on similar projects. Providing an experience to see the other ideas outside of M2I gives good practice to understand different backgrounds and different knowledge. Make to Innovate is creating bridges between the college experience and industry to create the well-rounded engineers of the future.